Discovering gold in the Steppe

 

Gold relief of a stag. The catalogue states it is recumbent, but the impression I get from it is of movement, not stasis

A fascinating exhibition at the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge (Gold of the Great Steppe, September 2021-January 2022) revealed some gorgeous work in gold from prehistoric Kazakhstan (the first millennium BCE). The quality of the work, mainly in gold, was remarkable, and the depictions of animals, especially deer and horses in movement, very fine. There is a wonderful sense of movement and grace from many of the objects. 

But the show left me wanting more. I bought the catalogue, but the catalogue (not for the first time) failed to answer all my questions, or even to include some of the things in the exhibition, notably:

• A comparative timeline of the prehistoric burials shown here, alongside what was happening in England, Greece and Rome at the same time.

• Fascinating reconstructions of costume and horse decorations. Even if conjectural, these figures bring the collection to life. Yet these reconstructions are not shown in the catalogue, and we have no way of knowing how the team established how the objects in the exhibition would be worn.
• Some idea of what other things were happening in neighbouring regions at the time. The catalogue, for example, shows an astonishing Scythian amphora from the 4th century BCE (now in the Hermitage), so contemporaneous with these burials. Was this known to the people here?

However amazing the objects and the skill in creating them, I’d like to know more – where the gold and iron came from, for example. Overall, my feeling is that the fascination of this show would be greater by seeing more context. What was the relationship between the Scythians and the Saka? Since it is referred to in the catalogue as the “Saka-Scythian era”, a comparison would be valuable. Elsewhere, there are references to the “early Saka period” and the “classical Saka period” – a timeline or chronology would help. The catalogue has no index, so for all I know these terms are explained somewhere. For simpletons like me, some more signposting would be useful: I didn’t know what a kurgan was (a burial ground, but it’s two or three bays into the exhibition before you realise this). I couldn’t find in the catalogue anything that told me when the Bronze Age was, and Wikipedia tells me it was 3300 to 1200 BCE – hence ending before the period when the objects in this exhibition were dated to (around 800 – 400 BCE). What does this mean?  Perhaps it is one sign of success for an exhibition to leave the viewer asking so many questions. At the end, what I remember most is the idea of movement conveyed by the gold objects attached to clothing.