FURTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT PARTHIAN AND RELATED BELT AND BELT PLAQUES BY Mikhail TREISTER (Archaeological Institute, University of Leipzig) In the article by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis on Parthian belts and belt plaques, recently published in Iranica Antiqua (Curtis 2001) there was first published as Parthian buckle a recent acquisition of the British Museum. It is a bronze clap, showing an Aphrodite on a he-goat (Curtis 2001, 306, 327, pl. XIV, a; British Museum, ANE 1995-9-30,1). The sub- ject shown on the buckle was considered by V.S. Curtis (2001, 306) as “a female figure, probably a goddess, riding on a bull”. Defining the buckle as Parthian, V.S. Curtis probably did not know that the buckle belongs to a rather rare type, showing Aphrodite Pandemos. This is the eighth known buckle of this type and all the pieces with known provenance come from the North Pontic area, primarily from the Eastern Crimea, includ- ing Pantikapaion and Nymphaion (4) and Chersonesos (1) (Bilimovich 1962, 43-45, figs. 1-5; Treister 1996, 121, fig. 37; one more piece is now on sale at the Internet auction “Ancienttouch”, www.ancienttouch.com/362.jpg). All the known buckles repeat the same composition with slight variations, thus, it was suggested that they go back to one and the same model (Bilimovich 1962, 45). Nevertheless, the figures of Aphrodite and he-goat vary in details. The lower bar of the frame is decorated either with a horizontal engraved line, as on the buckle from Nymphaion (Fig. 1) (Bilimovich 1962, 44, fig. 1; Her- mitage, inv. N.F.1949.661), or with dots, as on the buckles from Pantikapaion (Bilimovich 1962, 44, fig. 2; Antichnye gosudarstva 1984, 346, pl. CLV, 3; Hermitage, inv. P. 1875.43), Chersonesos (CR St Petersburg 1893, 60, fig. Bilimovich 1962, 44, fig. 3; Hermitage, inv. Kh.1893.68), and British Museum (Curtis 2001, 306, 327, pl. XIV, a), or with dot and notched pattern, as on the buckle of unknown provenance in the Hermitage (Bilimovich 1962, 44, fig. 5) and on the buckle from the Asliyan collection in Moscow (Fig. 2) (Treister 1996, 121, fig. 37), or with herring-bone pattern as on the buckle from Pantikapaion (Bilimovich 1962, 44, fig. 4). Also the number of loops Iranica Antiqua, vol. XXXVIII, 2003