A RARE BRONZE SWORD FROM LAKE BAIKAL SHORE

This article describes an unusual high-quality tripartite bronze sword found on the shore of Lake Baikal and apparently dating to the Scythian Age. Because the blade and the hilt are nonfunctional, the sword was not used as an actual weapon. The guard is peculiarly shaped, and decorated with stylized faces. While no exact parallels are known to us, certain features link the specimen to Scythian counterparts, and to a sword from Khotu-Talaakh, Yakutia. Special attention is paid to the semantics of the find, which possibly evidence contact with the ritual practices of the Scytho-Siberian world and those of the Siberian taiga.