The Cheek-Pieces with a Sacrifice Scene from the Kuban Region

Abstract. The article is about the cheek-pieces of the Hellenistic helmet with a scene of sacrifice from the ritual complex of the barrow 1 burial IV in the Novolabinskoe hillfort. The most important item for determining the chronology of the entire funerary inventory is the Rhodian amphora stamp. The article is focused on the iconography of embossed images on the cheek-pieces. The cheek-pieces belong to the Hellenistic helmet of Chalcidian type, type V (of G. Pflug typology), or less likely, to the Attic type helmet. The images show a ram being sacrificed by a hero (warrior in “heroic nudity”) who kneels on its body and is about to cut its throat with a xiphos. The images were badly damaged, but some details offered clues to original placement of the fragments. According to author’s opinion, this helmet probably has been made in Macedonia in the 3rd century.

Keywords: Hellenism, the Kuban region, Helmet, Sacrifice, Macedonia, Maeotians, ritual complex.