Phalera

Abstract: The paper explores a unique phalera (horse brass) found in Noin-Ula Barrow No. 20 (Northern Mongolia). The form and decoration of the medallion, its style and the composition of the scene (depicting a satyr chasing a maenad – a subject which can be traced back to metal-working of the 4th century BC ) – show that the phalera must have been made between the late-2nd or mid-1st century BC , most probably in a Pontic workshop and from the medallion of a silver plate, a phiale or a conic cup, perhaps manufactured in Asia Minor in the second half of the 1st century BC . The phalera was placed in a Hunnu burial-ground no later than in the middle of the 1st century AD , since a Chinese lacquered cup dated to the fourth year of the Yuanyan Era (9 BC ) was found in the same grave. The phalera is to date the easternmost find of Hellenistic silver plate.

Abstract: The leeches Placobdella translucens (Sawyer and Shelley, 1976) and Myzobdella reducta (Meyer, 1940) are reported from Nebraska, U.S.A. for the first time. Individuals of M. reducta were collected from the caudal fins of 4 green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus). A single pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) was infested with 2 individuals of P. translucens, constituting the first report of this species from a host. Placobdella translucens closely resembles Placobdella michiganensis (Sawyer, 1972) and Placobdella phalera (sensu Moore, 1906). In 1906, J. P. Moore established the most widely recognized concept of P. phalera when he “rather doubtfully referred” some material that he collected from Michigan to P. phalera (Graf, 1899). Placobdella phalera (Graf, 1899) was recently declared a junior synonym of Placobdella ornata. Given the similarities among the species, it is likely that at least some individuals previously identified as P. phalera (sensu Moore, 1906) represent P. translucens and/or P. michiganensis.

Abstract: In the village of Jabłonka in Głubczyce District, Opolskie Province, a bronze hoard was discovered in May 2015. It was comprised of 10 objects: 4 armlets or ankle-rings made from a bronze band decorated with grooves, a small bracelet with a decoration of transversal grooves, 2 armlets or ankle-rings made from a bar (one oval-sectioned and decorated with groups of notches and one twisted), a bronze cup with a handle, a disc with a loop (phalera), and a socketed axe. Most of the artefacts have analogies in Silesia and neighbouring regions. The hoard can be associated with the Silesian group of the Lusatian culture and dated to phase HaA2. The reasons for its deposition remain unknown.