Archaeological Finds reflecting Folklore-Motives from Central Asia

Archaeological Finds reflecting Folklore-Motives from Central Asia

Erika Taube

(53rd Annual Meeting of the PIAC, St. Petersburg 2010)

Among the archaeological finds from Central Asia, some of them kept in the Hermitage in St. Peterburg within the collection of Peter the Great. There are not only special figures and objects, but also scenic representations. Both of them may be interpreted by motifs from oral folklore traditions collected in this very area, thus giving bearing witness to the existence of vivid and highly developped oral and even epic traditions corresponding to the fine material artefacts from Scythian times.