THE EVOLUTION AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE MOTIF OF CURLED BEAST IN THE EASTERN-EUROPEAN SCYTHIAN ANIMAL STYLE
The motif of a curled beast of prey is one of the key themes of the Scythian-Siberian animal style. On the basis of morphological images classification and chronology of relevant funerary complexes the author identifies and describes 9 iconographical types involving all currently known images of curled predator of the 7 <sup>th</sup> - 4 <sup>th</sup> centuries BC of the Eastern-European local zone of the Scythian-Siberian animal style (in total 66 original images). Based on this typology two principal diochronic trends in the implementation of this motif are differentiated. The author raises the questions concerning the origin of the motif in the Scythian-Siberian animal style as a whole and in its Eastern-European zone version.