both Median and Parthian times cattle remained the main source of meat. The real revelation, however, is the very varied character of the local horse population in these two periods. In this context the bone sample indicates that the famed pastures of Media were home to (i) large, heavy horses (with a withers height of over 150 cm), to (ii) horses of a median size (with a withers height of 135–137 cm), as well as to (iii) a miniature form of horse (such as very possibly represents an independent breed) with an average withers height of only 105–110 cm (Bökönye 1978: p. 28).
With reference to the extent to which Achaemenid art and architecture can be said to be indebted to prior Median achievements, it has recently been suggested that the innovative columned halls of eighth/seventh century Media may not have had quite such a strong influence on the evolution of the famed columned halls of Pasargadae and Persepolis as was once imagined (Gopnik 2010: p. 196). On the other hand it is clear that a number of motifs that are found in the monumental mud‐brick architecture of Media eventually re‐emerged as elegant designs, rendered both in stone and in other materials, in various late sixth‐century and later Achaemenid contexts (Roaf 2010). Since certain of these motifs are first found on the walls of the central temple at Tepe Nush‐i Jan, and since they would seem to re‐appear on occasion in equally numinous settings, it is all the more interesting to note that the stepped portion of the mud‐brick fire altar from the central temple (Stronach and Roaf 2007: fig. 2.13) almost certainly finds an echo in the stepped upper and lower extremities of the characteristic Achaemenid stone altar – actual examples of which were encountered at Pasargadae (Stronach 1978: fig. 72).
Aside from being masters of construction in mud‐brick, as well as redoubtable riders – and breeders – of horses, the Medes appear to have been celebrated, in the Achaemenid period especially, for their skills in metalworking. This is evident, not least, from a glance at the choice gifts of precious metal that are displayed by the Median delegation in the parade of subject peoples that adorns the carved socle of the Apadana at Persepolis (Schmidt 1953: pl. 27). On the other hand, the fact that Darius I chose to depict his Persian subjects in the bas‐reliefs at Persepolis in two separate forms of dress (perhaps best defined as a voluminous “court dress” and a more tight‐fitting “riding dress”) can no longer be used to support a never very convincing suggestion that those individuals in riding dress were all Medes and that, accordingly, the Medes shared the governance of the Achaemenid empire with the Persians (see, e.g. Stronach 2011: p. 477).
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FURTHER READING
1 Boucharlat, R. (2005). Iran. In P. Briant, R. Boucharlat (eds.), L’archéologie de l’empire achéménide: nouvelles recherches (Persika 6). Paris: de Boccard,