A Decorated Ivory Belt from Tilla Bulak, Southern Uzbekistan

Abstract

The ivory belt-plate, one of two found in a burial at the site of Tilla Bulak, Uzbekistan, shows a battle scene between two groups of mounted warriors. It belongs to a small group of figural belt plates from the region and is dated iconographically to the 1 st century BC / 1 st century AD. The elephant tooth from which it was worked was more than 2000 years old at the time.

Introduction: archaeological ivories in a global perspective

“…BC but was engraved in Ionic style consistent with a date of production sometime between the first century BC and the first century AD (Gruber, Il'yasov and Kaniuth 2012). Answering such questions requires the application of multiple strands of evidence and, as the articles in this issue illustrate, the deployment of a range of methodological, analytical and interpretative approaches to the origins, date, diversity, functions and symbolism of different archaeological ivories.…”