Introduction
The art of jewelry is a unique area of artistic work, that of great diapason and endless possibilities. Being the most accessible means of connection to art, products of artistic craft have always played a major role in people's lives.

The art of jewelers is one of the most pronounced phenomena in Eastern cultures. It is distinguished in its fulfillment and originality of artistic images, and carries within immense sources of expression. Jewelry art of ancient Central Asia is a complex, non-synonymous phenomenon. In order to comprehend its conformity to natural laws, as well as such conformity of Central Asian culture as a whole, it is necessary to understand its meaning on the basis of new information provided by the latest developments and discoveries in science, especially archaeology.

The period IV BC-IV AD is marked by the creation of unique, highly artistic monuments of jewelry art in Central Asia. It is a period of the greatest craft prosperity of ancient masters, who played an immense role in the establishment and development of Central Asian centers of jewelry art. These centers were formed first on the territory of ancient Bactria (modern territories of south of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the north of Afghanistan), and in XVIII, XIX and the beginning of XX centuries in Samarkand, Buchara, Ura-Tube, Khodzent, Kulyab and Baldzuan.
The art of ancient jewelers developed within a united channel of styles with other types of art, enriching and promoting the rise of diverse facets in the artistic trends of the epoch. Although distinct monuments drew the attention of historians, archaeologists and ethnographists, the history of jewelry art of Central Asia has been researched unevenly. Therefore, elaboration on the suggested theme can unravel unknown pages of birth, establishment and development of this ancient craft, centers of jewelry workshops and unique signs of the individuality of its masters.
The History of Research of the Central Asian Jewelry Art

The history of research on Central Asian jewelry art starts at the end of the last century. However, even today a comprehensive review of all of the monuments of this art is lacking, although related questions have been raised and explored in publications of historians, archaeologists, ethnographists and art historians. In contrast with other ancient works of art, the most known and researched jewelry dates to the XIX and XX centuries because it became readily available to researchers (especially to ethnographists), as a result of scientific expeditions and the studies done on the well-known collections in the museums of the former Soviet Union (in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tashkent, Frunze, Ashkhabad, Dushanbe).

While historians utilized many of the monuments of jewelry art mainly as peculiar illustrations of one epoch or another, archaeologists described jewelry in relation to other finds, and ethnographists researched the symbolism, semantics, and in later periods, the interrelation of jewelry with clothing.

The body of literature that in one way or another touches on the subject of jewelry art is very impressive. All of the currently available literature on a given problem can be subdivided into historical, archaeological, ethnographical, and as well as works devoted to questions of culture and art.

Historical literature that can be utilized as sources of information on jewelry art of ancient Central Asia includes the testimonies of Arrian [1], Herodotus[2], Kvint Kurzii Ruff[3], and Xenophon, which describe jewelry as a defining characteristic of a given epoch.

Archaeological literature serves as the fundamental source for this study. Its review allows to identify artifacts that date to the period of IV BC-IV AD.

When it comes to ethnographic literature on the subject, L.A. Chvir's monograph "Tajik jewelry"[4] is currently one of the major research works on jewelry art of Central Asia. In the introduction to this monograph she reviews the history of research done on Central Asian articles, noting that "in ethnography, research of Central Asian articles has a very brief history. It is true that the establishment of economical, democratic and cultural links between the nations of Central Asia and Eastern Europe (mostly Russia) dates back to VIII-IX centuries...However, even in systematic and detailed studies of the nations of Central Asia...few authors report concrete data on the traditional 'material' culture of the immediate population." M. and V. Nalivkin [5] in "Ocherk bita jenshin osedlogo naseleniya Fergani"(Essay of daily life of women from Fergana) describe the jewelry worn by Sarts; N.S. Likoshin's[6] "Half of life in Turkistan" also describes the jewelry worn there; N.I. Veselovskii's "Zapiski Vostochnogo otdeleniya Ruskogo arheologicheskogo obshestva" (Field notes of eastern department of Russian archaeological society) include descriptions of eastern jewelry, its symbolism and semantics, for example such works as "Basbent", "Rol streli v obryadakh i ego simvolicheskoe znachenie"(The role and symbolism of the arrow in rituals).

"Most of the collection and research on Central Asian women's jewelry," as ethnographists L.A. Chvir notes, "was done in the Soviet period," and the majority of studied jewelry dates back to the end of XVIII-XX centuries. A well-known soviet scientist-ethnograph M.S. Andreev[7], while studying the mode of life of Tajiks from the valley Huff, notes the peculiarities of their jewelry in the part "Svadba"(wedding). Tajik jewelry art is emphasized in one of the latest works by A.K. Pisarchik - in the album "Narodnoe prikladnoe iskusstvo tadjikov"[8] (Tajik Decorative Art). The album describes not only the known types of jewelry but also their technical and artistic characteristics. Another researcher, S.P. Rusyaikina, notes the characteristic nature of jewelry of Tajiks from the Garm area[9].
A vast amount of credit in the gathering and the research of tajik adornments goes to the ethnographist, N.N. Ershov[10] - the founder of a unique museum, the Museum of Ethnography in Tajikistan. The museum was established on the basis of the ethnographic collections gathered in part by the author. Ershov's research was dedicated to the promotion of studies done on these collections, including jewelry. In the work of Z.A. Shirokova, "Odejda jenshin gornogo Tadjikistana"(The clothes of women from the mountain region of Tajikistan) there exists a separate chapter "Ykrasheniya i kosmetika" (Adorments and Makeup), where in the first paragraph she provides detailed descriptions of the rings, bracelets, and jewelry worn on the neck, head, forehead and chest. The descriptions are supplemented by information on related rituals, beliefs, and traditions of wearing jewelry, well-known in the mountain region of Tajikistan.[11]

Adornments of Uzbekistan, their form, types, styles and principles of wearing, their symbolism and semantics are described in the works of well-known scientists-ethnographists such as N.G. Borozna, M.A. Bikjanova, A. Azizova, M.V. Sazonova and O.A. Sukhareva[12]. Decorative art, and adornments in particular, are described in the works of researchers of Kirgiziya such as E.I. Mahova, A.F. Burkovskii, K.I. Antipina and E. Suleimanova[13]. In the research done on Turkmenian jewelry, the works of G.P. Vasilieva[14] deserve attention. In all of the above works, the authors "rely mostly on a well-known source - clothing". And although adornments are examined in distinct areas of the research, they have are never treated as a type of artistic craft.

Art historians are only beginning to research the artistic individualities of Central Asian jewelry art. Their works focus mainly on the later historical periods, while the ancient period remains to be uncovered. An attempt to analyze jewelry art of medieval Maverannahr was made in a small article written by D.A. Fahretdinova[15]. In this article, through research of specific finds (made on the mentioned territory), the author makes conclusions on the state and development of jewelry art of the given region in the XI-XIII centuries. In her recently published monograph "Yuvelirnoe iskusstvo Uzbekistana" (Jewelry art of Uzbekistan), one chapter ¬ "Ot drevneishikh istokov"( From ancient roots), is dedicated to a short analysis of ancient jewelry from Central Asia.

Jewelry of the ancient period became known through the works of scientists-archaeologists and their publications. This allowed for the creation of tables of Central Asian jewelry. Among the scientists-archaeologists N.N. Veselovski[16] was the first to carry out scientific excavations on the territory of Central Asia. These excavations brought about interesting discoveries that included jewelry. However, the greatest scope of archaeological research dates back to the 1930's. It seems as if since this period almost all of the publications on excavations, as well as other related archaeological works describe and analyze adornments: jewelry articles from the bronze epoch in the works of A. Askarov[17], V.M. Masson[18], A.M. Mandelshtam[19], and the articles on ancient Fergana in the works of U.A. Zadneprovskii[20]. One of the works by B.A. Litvinskii is dedicated completely to the adornments of Western Fergana, their classification, dating, and possible analogies[21]. Jewelry articles from the Zeravshan valley are described in the work of Y.G. Gulyamov, Y. Islamov and A. Askarov[22], and the articles of Pre-Aral by M.A. Itina[23]. An immense amount of information on ancient articles is included in the reference book, "Srednyaya Azia v epokhy kamnya I bronzi" (Central Asia in the Stone and Bronze Age)[24]. Metallic adornments of the Bronze Age have been also examined by E.E. Kuzmina. Although she collected all of the findings from that time period on the territory of Central Asia, the artistic aspect of jewelry art was left out of her analysis[25]. Adornments from the ancient territory of southern Turkmenia and Khorezm are known through the works of M.E. Masson[26], I.N. Khlopin[27], O.A. Vishnevskaya[28], S.A. Trudnovskaya[29], S.P. Tolstov[30]. On the basis of the above archaeological research, tables have been assembled. From these tables it can be easily seen that the majority of the findings, as well as, most of the publications relate to the ancient country of Bactria.

In the ancient period, Bactria included the modern territories of southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as northern Afghanistan. The richest and most interesting finds from this territory are described in the works of A. Ascarov, M.M. Dyakonov, I.T. Kruglikova & V.I. Sarianidi, E.V. Zeimal, O. Dalton, B. Litvinskii & R. Pichikyan, G.A. Pugachenkova, A.M. Mandelshtam, E.B. Rtvetladze[31]. The indicated works represent archaeological studies that also mention adornments. However, in contrast with others, Bactrian finds are greatly distinguished by their artistic qualities. This fact allows us to continue the research of ancient Central Asian jewelry art using the monuments of Bactria as a focal point. Jewelry articles of the early medieval period are analyzed in the special work of V.I. Raspopova, "Metallicheskie izdeliya rannesrednevekovogo Sogda" (Metal items in early- medieval Sogd)[32].