A pair of cheek-pieces from the steppe Urals region

This paper is the first to publish the results of the study conducted to examine a pair of cheek-pieces retrieved from a grave in a cemetery without kurgans near the village of Belyaevka that was in operation in the initial period of the Late Bronze Age. The elements of the horse trappings always attract researchers' attention as they have clear diagnostical traits used to determine the cultural attribution and chronology of the assemblages in which they have been found. The Belyaevka antler items combine traits of the eastern (Sintashta) and the western (Don - Volga Abashevo) cheek-piece traditions, with noticeable predominance of the traits typical for the former. Intercultural contacts that influenced the morphology of the items are also emphasized by the burial rite elements and the form of the ceramic vessels.