Historia study of cheek-pieces steppe zone of Eurasia bronze and early iron ages: general summary

Purpose. The article concerns is to analyze the history of the study part of a horse bridle antiquity, referred to as cheek-pieces. Cheek-pieces steppe zone of Eurasia in the bronze - early iron ages was a device of various configurations, made of horn, bone, bronze or iron. They were used in a harness for draft animals and bridles for ridings a horses. This is a rare and very colorful group of artifacts, found in the archaeological objects of different cultures. Today there are three kinds of these products: shield cheek-pieces, grooved cheek-pieces and rod-type cheek-pieces. Results. The study of cheek-pieces as evidence of the development of ancient societies horse, today has more than semi-centennial history. The attention of researchers have focused primarily on systematization of cheek-pieces, establishing their evolution, relative chronology, distribution and cultural facilities. The first stage begins at the end of the XIX century and presented works on cheek-pieces horse bridle. Detailed study has been the materials of the Caucasus and Northern Black Sea coast. At this stage, the attention of researchers has been focused around rod-type cheek-pieces Scytho-Sarmatian era. Were made the first typological scheme sets horse bridle, detected within the designated areas. The second phase begins at the end of the ХХ century. During this period the attention of researchers unique shape and design of harness cheek-pieces (shield cheek-pieces and grooved cheek-pieces). They were distributed in the steppe zone of Eurasia in the bronze age in the medium of cultures of the Andronovo cultural-historical community. Open-ended question about the place and time of occurrence of the invention. Continue to improve the system of classification and typology this colorful categories of inventory. In studies of recent years, increasingly, efforts are made systematization artifacts, based on the involvement of the methods of natural Sciences, trasology, modeling and experimental reconstruction. Conclusion. Developed a uniform algorithm documentation of cheek-pieces, as noteworthy finds category, because exactly they often serve as a kind of chronological marker in the process of interpretation of archaeological sites. The aim of the research is making a General typological schemes, that allow to trace the origin and development of this phenomenon within the Eurasian continent, that would largely contributed to the decision of questions of General chronology and cultural relationships within assigned territory. A significant drawback of the research of the past years can be called not taken into account materials Irmen, Sargarinsko-Aleseevsky, Karasuk, Bolsherechensky, Sargat and some other archaeological cultures in Western Siberia. The inclusion of these materials in systematization scheme will solve a lot of questions concerning the history of this interesting device.