Addendum to Jangar Ilyasov, 'The Vulture on the Bone Plaque from the Orlat Cemetery' Anabasis, volume 3, p. 127 and 160.

Abstract

A set of bone plaques which were used as belt buckles with engraved miltifigured compositions was found in Barrow no. 2 of Orlat burial ground (Samarkand Province, Uzbekistan). On one of small plaques the vulture is represented. This fairly rare, if not altogether unique, representation of the vulture allows to examine in greater detail the role that this bird played in the beliefs of many ancient peoples (beginning in Neolithic societies of Göbekli Tepe and Çatal Hüyük), notwithstanding its generally negative associations today. Vultures as sacred birds were esteemed in ancient Egypt, in Zoroastrianism and, judging by their numerous images, by Iranian speaking nomads. Traces of such beliefs can be found even in the modern folklore of Central Asian peoples.