Figurine of a Running Gazelle

Figurine of a Running Gazelle

Material: Gold

Dimensions: 1 x 18 cm

Location: Tuura-Suu burial site, southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul.

Excavation: Conducted by archaeologist V.P. Mokrynin in 1972.

Scholar V.P. Mokrynin believes that this sculpture captures the moment when the animal is leaning on its stretched front legs, preparing for another push with its hind legs.

This exhibit belongs to applied arts, specifically to the so-called “animal style” of the Saka tribes. These tribes lived in the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE. It’s quite possible that this running gazelle served as the apex of a headdress of the Saka Tigrahauda.