Ornamented discs, discoids and plates

Mal'ta collection of ornamented disks, discoids and plates consists of several items, which can be classified by the type of decoration. The ornamentation includes three typical Mal'ta elements: "cupulas" (2 pcs), C-shaped marks (3 pcs) and zigzag (3 pcs). The items are made on flattened ivory flakes and blades.

M. Gerasimov thought that Mal'ta plates were items of personal ornament (e.g. "badge"). Also there is another point of view by V. Larichev. He considered Mal'ta plates as a counting calendar-astronomical table.

Collection

Big Mal'ta plate

Large plate ornamented with several spirals at the front side

Ornamented disk with a hole (from the burial)

Disс with zigzag ornament, it was found in the child's burial

Sub-squared disc with the hole

Small ivory disc with a hole in the center

Sub-squared disc

Sub-squared disc with С-shaped ornament

Large plate with a C-shaped ornament ("cigar")

Large plate ornamented with six lines of C-sharped signs at the front side

Small ivory disc with a hole ("button")

Small sub-square disc with a through-hole in the center

Sub-oval disc ("seashell")

Sub-oval disc with C-shaped ornament

Publications

Gerasimov M.M. Mal'ta. Paleoliticheskaya stoyanka (predvaritel'nye dannye): rezul'taty rabot 1928/29 g. – Irkutsk: Vlast' truda, 1931. 25 S.

Gerasimov M.M. Paleoliticheskaya stoyanka Mal'ta // Sov. etnografiya, 1958. № 3, S. 31

Kabo V.R. Krug i krest. Razmyshleniya etnologa o pervobytnoj duhovnosti. – Kanberra: Alcheringa, 2002.. 232 S.

Larichev V.E. Zarya astrologii. – Novosibirsk: iz-vo IAET SO RAN, 1999..318 S.

Larichev V.E. Mal'tinskaya plastina iz bivnya mamonta. – Novosibirsk: Inst. istorii, filologii i filosofii, 1986. 44 S.

Formozov A. A. K harakteristike paleoliticheskogo poseleniya Mal'ta. // Sovetskaya arheologiya. 1976. № 2. S.205-210.