© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI: 10.1163/157005712X638654 Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 18 (2012) 51-109 brill.nl/acss Silver Phalerae with a Depiction of Bellerophon and the Chimaira from a Sarmatian Burial in Volodarka (Western Kazakhkstan). A Reappraisal of the Question of the So-Called Graeco-Bactrian Style in Hellenistic Toreutics Mikhail Yu. Treister* Abstract is article aims to publish unique specimens of Hellenistic toreutics – a pair of silver phalerae decorated with gilding and forming part of an horses’ harness, which was found during excava- tion of the Volodarka-I Burial-ground on the west bank of the River Ural in western Kazakhstan in 1981. A detailed analysis is provided of the subject depicted on the phalerae – fighting between Bellerophon seated on the winged horse Pegasos and the monster Chimaira, of the iconography of the figures, of the details and decorative elements of the depictions and the techniques used. e phalerae from Volodarka are compared with other phalerae, similar with regard to their construction and the composition of the depictions, which were found in the lower reaches of the Volga (Novouzensk), on the bank of the River Ishim and on the east bank of the Irtysh (Sidorovka), and also with phalerae of unknown origin bearing depictions of elephants from the Hermitage collection. In this connection a detailed discussion on the question of the “Graeco- Bactrian style” in toreutics and the possibility of classifying of examples of Hellenistic artwork in silver follows. e author draws the conclusion that the given phalerae cannot be regarded as examples of one particular style of Hellenistic toreutics, as certain scholars would have us believe. e analysis we have carried out shows that a subject widespread in the Classical art of the 5 th -4 th centuries BC was taken as the basis of the composition for the Volodarka phalerae, albeit with minor innovations typical for the art of the Hellenistic era. Certain difficulties arise when it comes to determining their centre of production: these make it impossible to classify them unequivocally as examples of Graeco-Bactrian or Parthian toreutics. Observations regarding the style, dimensions and weight of the phalerae would appear rather to point to the first option. e fact that we possess documentary confirmation (Khorezmian inscriptions and a Parthian one on vessels from Isakovka) of the probable origin of at least some silver vessels found in Isakovka as being from Parthia and Khorezm, does not, however, give us grounds for ruling out the other option. e probable historical context (the movement of nomadic tribes in Central Asia, the fall of Graeco-Bactria, incursions into Parthia by nomads) does not contradict observations made * M. Yu. Treister, Institut für vorderasiatische Archäologie, Freie-Universität Berlin; Wei- ßenburgstr. 59, D-53175 Bonn, Email mikhailtreister@yahoo.de.