Editing Animal style (section)

==Eastern styles==
[[File:Fibula in the Form of a Recumbent Stag, about 400 AD, Northeastern Europe, and Stag Plaque, 400-500 BC, Scythian, western Asia, gold - Cleveland Museum of Art - DSC08141.JPG|thumb|The influence of Scythian art: [[Fibula (brooch)|Fibula]] in the Form of a Recumbent Stag (below), about 400 AD, Northeastern Europe, and Stag Plaque (above), 400–500 BC, Scythian, western Asia, gold]]
{{Main|Scythian art}}

[[Scythian art]] makes great use of animal motifs, one component of the "[[Scythian]] triad" of weapons, horse-harness, and Scythian-style wild [[animal art]]. The cultures referred to as Scythian-style included the [[Cimmerian]] and [[Sarmatian]] cultures in European [[Sarmatia]] and stretched across the [[Eurasian steppe]] north of the [[Near East]] to the [[Ordos culture]] of [[Inner Mongolia]]. These cultures were extremely influential in spreading many local versions of the style.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andreeva |first=Petya |title=Fantastic Fauna from China to Crimea: Image-Making in Eurasian Nomadic Societies, 700 BCE-500 CE. |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2024 |isbn=9781399528528 |location=Edinburgh}}</ref>

[[Steppe]] jewellery features various animals including stags, cats, birds, horses, bears, wolves and mythical beasts. The gold figures of stags in a crouching position with legs tucked beneath its body, head upright and muscles bunched tight to give the impression of speed, are particularly impressive. The "looped" antlers of most figures are a distinctive feature, not found in Chinese images of deer. The species represented has seemed to many scholars to be the [[reindeer]], which was not found in the regions inhabited by the steppes peoples at this period.  The largest of these were the central ornaments for shields, while others were smaller plaques probably attached to clothing.  The stag appears to have had a special significance for the steppes peoples, perhaps as a clan [[totem]]. The most notable of these figures include the examples from:
*the [[Arzhan culture|Arzhan]] kurgan, [[Tuva]], Siberia, with animal style artifacts (8-7th century BC).
*the burial site of [[Kostromskaya (rural locality)|Kostromskaya]] in the [[Kuban]] dating from the 6th century BC (Hermitage)
*[[Tápiószentmárton]] in [[Hungary]] dating from the 5th century BC, now [[National Museum of Hungary]], [[Budapest]]
*[[Kul Oba]] in the [[Crimea]] dating from the 4th century BC (Hermitage).<ref>[[Max Loehr|Loehr, Max]], "The Stag Image in Scythia and the Far East", ''Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America'', Vol. 9, (1955), pp. 63-76, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20066973 JSTOR]</ref>

Another characteristic form is the [[openwork]] plaque including a stylized tree over the scene at one side, of which two examples are illustrated here. Later large Greek-made pieces often include a zone showing Scythian men apparently going about their daily business, in scenes more typical of Greek art than nomad-made pieces. Some scholars have attempted to attach narrative meanings to such scenes, but this remains speculative.<ref>Farkas, Ann, "Interpreting Scythian Art: East vs. West",
''Artibus Asiae'', Vol. 39, No. 2 (1977), pp. 124-138, {{doi|10.2307/3250196}}, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3250196 JSTOR]</ref>

Although gold was widely used by the ruling elite of the various Scythian tribes, the predominant material for the various animal forms was bronze. The bulk of these items were used to decorate horse harness, leather belts & personal clothing. In some cases these bronze animal figures when sewn onto stiff leather jerkins & belts, helped to act as armour.
[[Image:Permic bear.jpg|thumb|150px|Bronze idol of a [[bear]] found in the [[Perm Krai]], 6th or 7th century.]]

The use of the animal form went further than just ornament, these seemingly imbuing the owner of the item with similar prowess and powers of the animal which was depicted. Thus the use of these forms extended onto the accoutrements of warfare, be they swords, daggers, scabbards, or axes.

A distinct [[Permian bronze casts|Permian style]] of bronze or copper alloy objects from around the 5th–10th centuries AD are found near the [[Ural Mountains]] and the [[Volga]] and [[Kama River|Kama]] rivers in Russia.<ref>Ivanova, Vera, "[http://www.russia-ic.com/culture_art/visual_arts/200/ Perm Animal Style]", ''Russia.ic.com'' (23 June 2006), retrieved 23 March 2018</ref>

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Image:Bactria-Margiana, late 3rd - early 2nd BC figure.jpg|Shaft-hole Axe Head with Bird-Headed Demon, a Boar, and a Dragon figurine. From Central Asia (Bactria-Margiana), late 3rd – early 2nd millennium BC.
</gallery>