Frozen Tombs of Siberia: The Pazyryk Burials of Iron Age HorsemenSergei Ivanovich Rudenko was a prominent Russian/Soviet anthropologist and archaeologist who discovered and excavated the most celebrated of Scythian burials, Pazyryk in Siberia. During the excavation of Pazyryk tombs, he discovered the world's most spectacular tattooed mummy said to belong to the Pazyryk Culture which flourished between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC. Herodotus and other ancient writers referred to the Altay as "the golden mountain". It was there that the impregnable citadel of the Scythians (or Sacae) lay hidden for centuries. Rudenko, however, was cautious enough not to assign his findings to the Scythians. He attributed the kurgan finds to the formidable Iron Age horsemen and warriors, whom he dubbed the "Pazyryks." Although they left no written records, Pazyryk artifacts are distinguished by a sophisticated level of artistry and craftsmanship. The Pazyryk tombs discovered by Rudenko were in an almost perfect state of preservation. They contained skeletons and intact bodies of horses and embalmed humans, together with a wealth of artifacts including saddles, riding gear, a chariot, rugs, clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, amulets, tools, and an "apparatus for inhaling hemp smoke." Also found in the tombs were fabrics from Persia and China, which the Pazyryks must have obtained on journeys covering thousands of miles. |
Contents
Plan of Pazyryk group of barrows | 2 |
BARROWS OF THE PAZYRYK GROUP | 13 |
Plan of Pazyryk barrow | 15 |
Sections of barrows 3 and 4 | 22 |
PHYSICAL TYPE OF THE POPULATION | 45 |
ECONOMY AND WAY OF LIFE | 67 |
CLOTHING AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT | 83 |
Plan of tomb in barrow 6 | 84 |
Pattern of weave in a textile | 203 |
Fur leather hair and wool 200 Silk minerals | 206 |
Dagger from Aragol barrow | 219 |
barrow 3 | 222 |
ART | 229 |
Decoration on saddlecover from barrow 1 | 230 |
Vertical disposition of horses and objects | 256 |
Artistic carving on side and lid of log coffin | 268 |
38 | 91 |
Reconstruction of torque from barrow 2 | 107 |
Mirror from barrow 6 | 115 |
MEANS OF LOCOMOTION | 117 |
Bridle from barrow 3 | 121 |
2 | 124 |
Wooden bridle fork from barrow 3 | 127 |
Method used in barrow 5 of attaching | 134 |
from barrow 1 | 146 |
barrow 5 | 160 |
End of lower girthstrap | 181 |
TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED IN WORKING | 195 |
Onesided horn drum from barrow 2 | 278 |
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND RITUALS | 279 |
THE DATING AND CULTURALHISTORICAL PLACE OF | 293 |
Cloth decorated with a design of women | 297 |
Inventory of Articles Found in the Pazyryk Barrows | 311 |
Part of a stoolcover or pillowcase showing | 315 |
Principal works referred to and Further Reading | 329 |
335 | |
337 | |
Corner of a felt coverlet with a ringstand | 57 |
Common terms and phrases
Altai Mountains Altaian animals antler beak Biysk Black Sea body breast-strap bridle decorations bronze burial chamber burial shaft buried cairn carpet carved wooden centimetre century B.C. cheek-pieces cheek-straps Chinese Chulyshman cloth coffin coloured copper covered with gold-leaf crupper crupper-straps curl deer diameter ears edge excavation facings feline heads felt figures found in barrow front frontal plate gold griffin hair half-horseshoe head-dress heads Pl Herodotus High Altai Hither Asia horn horse burial Karakol Katanda Kazakhs larch large barrows leather cut-out legs lion-griffin lions logs lower Massagetae middle motif mountain rams neck Noin-Ula noseband ornament palmettes pastoral pattern Pazyryk barrows pendants pieces plaques representations round Rudenko saddle arches saddle-cover saddlery saiga antelope Scythian Scyths sewn shabrack shape Shibe side sinew thread slit steppe stitched strap survived tail tattooing thick leather thin thong tiger tomb tribes Tuekta twisted Ulagan valley weft wings woollen