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ALTAI MOUNTAIN STEPPE NOMADS

In the steppe region of central Asia and the Altai Mountains, the first food production began towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The peoples who entered this region were Europoids of the Afanasiev culture who came from the Aral Sea area (Kelteminar culture). End of the 3rd millennium BC Afanasiev Culture (Neolithic) The Afanasiev people were stockbreeders of cattle, sheep, horses, but also hunted wild game. The sites of this period are burial places under low mounds (kurgans) surrounded by circular stonewalls. Associated with burials were dentate-stamped pots. Stone and bone tools were common although there were some copper ornaments. Mid 2nd millennium BC Andronovo Culture (Bronze Age) The Altai Mt. region was an important source of metallic ores. Mining was actively conducted from the 14th to 3rd century BC. The Andronovo culture made use of metal tools and this represents a departure from the stone tools of the earlier Neolithic society. The Andronovo culture is very similar across the vast steppe region from the Don River in southern Russia to the Yeneissei River although there are some local features. In the western steppe, the Andronovo culture is known as the Timber Grave Culture (ancestor of the Scythians). Andronovo people lived in permanent settlements with up to 10 semi-subterranean houses built of logs (20 x 30 to 30 x 60 m). They grew wheat and millet and raised cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs. The diet seems to have been composed largely of dairy products and cereal grains. The most common remains are the stone enclosures with underground log tombs having jointed corners and gabled roofs or stone cists. 1200-700 BC Karasuk Culture (Bronze Age) The Karasuk culture developed out of the Andronovo culture and contains elements of central Asiatic Mongoloid culture. There was a shift from settled agriculture to patterns of seasonal transhumance and a semi-nomadic life style. The primary emphasis was on sheep rearing. Burials were in stone cists covered over by a low mound surrounded by square stone enclosures. The dead were buried with a sheep, a steer or a horse. The large cemeteries indicate a larger population. In the Karasuk culture there were a large amount of bronze artifacts, woolen textiles as well as garments of skins and furs. The remains of bridles towards the end of the period suggest the beginning of horse riding on the steppe. 7th cen BC to 1st cen AD Scythian (Early Nomadic Period) Pastoral nomadism arose in the central Asiatic steppe around 1400 BC and spread through the Eurasian steppe; motivated by horse riding. This pattern was well established in southern Siberia by 700 BC. Life in the Altai region was similar to that in southern Russia. People lived in wagons and tents, moving with their flocks and enjoyed a trade with many areas due to their high mobility. Warfare was common with mounted warriors the major fighting unit. Ordinary mounted warriors or their wives were buried in a log tomb under a small mound with at least one horse beside the tomb or above the tomb. Men were buried with all of their weapons. Women were buried with a mirror and a knife. Both sexes were dressed in highly ornamented clothing. Food for the journey to the afterlife was place in jars in the tomb. Chiefs tombs were more elaborate with a great deal more burial items and a larger number of horse

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sacrifices. Iron replaced bronze in the Altai region during the 4th to 2nd centuries BC. Early Christian era Chinese influence came into the Altai through Mongolia 6th cen AD Turkish Khanate Turkish control of the area came through the movement of Turkic peoples westward from Mongolia. Their presence has been noted by runic script on monuments. The Khanate extended from Outer Mongolia to the Amu-Darya River of the Aral Sea region on the west. 13-14th centuries AD Mongols expand from Mongolia into the Altai region. PAZYRYK BARROWS, ALTAI REGION The Altai region is where Russia, China and Mongolia come together. The region is mountainous and close to the Minnusinsk basin where agriculture was practiced. Late Paleolithic sites have been found in the open steppe region. Agriculture developed here in the second millennium BC with cattle herded in the foothills and in the mountains, a transhumance pattern. The spiritual homeland of the Turkic and Mongolic pastoralists lies within the mountain zones. These uplands are covered with steppe vegetation with small clumps of larch in the valleys or on the south facing slopes. The north facing slopes are covered with a larch-fir taiga. The Pazyryk kurgans (burial mounds) are located in the flat U shaped valleys that were formed by glaciers. The valley bottoms are composed of old lake sediments. The tombs were constructed by digging a burial shaft. A log chamber was constructed at the bottom of the shaft into which the deceased with his material goods were placed. Over the log chamber were piled layers of logs and rocks. The shaft was then covered over by an earthen mound. Rocks were then piled over the mound surface. During the winter the earthen mound would freeze. This frost zone would extend downward into the rubble filled shaft causing condensation and the formation of ice. Grave robbers dug into the shafts allowing further moisture to enter the tombs and be transformed as ice. There are about 40 burial mounds (kurgans, barrows) in the Pazyryk river valley consisting of cairns, flat stone pavements of circular and oval shaped enclosures, stone circles and vertical stone alignments. The largest mounds were excavated by Sergei Rudenko of the Institute of Archaeology, St. Petersburg in the 1920s and 1940s.

Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko

Born in 1885. He was of the petty bourgeois, a low noble status. In 1924 Rudenko and M. P. Griaznov led an expedition to the Altai. It was organized by the State Ethnographic Museum in Leningrad. The expedition was maintained until 1929. The first of the great burial mounds was excavated in 1929. Burial mound 1 which was excavated in 1929 contained the freeze-dried bodies of horses that were exhibited at the Worlds Fair in Paris in 1936. Both Rudenko and Griaznov were victims of Stalins purges of 1936 for their bourgeois backgrounds. Griaznov was dismissed from the museum. Rudenko was kept on though demoted. His surveying skills proved to be useful at laying out archaeological sites and labor camps. In 1939 Griaznov was reinstated and put in charge of leading expeditions. Rudenko was similarly reinstated and after World War II conducted further excavations in the Pazyryk River valleythe second burial mound was excavated in 1947-48, the third and fourth in 1948 and the fifth in 1949.

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BURIAL MOUND 1 (excavated in 1929) Quite well looted by robbers. No bodies were found. The log coffin was decorated by frieze of cocks facing each other as in a mirror image. The burial of ten horses was not touched so there was a good collection of horse equipment recovered. BURIAL MOUND 2 (excavated 1947-48) The shaft was 7.1 x 7.8 m in cross section and 4 m deep. At the bottom there was a layer of stones on which earth had been spread and over a layer of logs. This formed the base for the outer log chamber. Within this outer log chamber was an inner chamber that measured 3.65 m long, 4.9 m wide and 1.5 m high. The upper surfaces of the ceilings of the inner and outer chamber were covered with birch bark and brush. There was a space of 10-15 cm between the inner and outer wall of the burial chamber. Nine layers of logs were placed over the top of the outer chamber. Horse burials: Next to and over the burial chamber were found seven horses as grave gifts. The horses had been covered over by beams, earth and rocks (outer part of burial mound). The horses lay higher up in the shaft and were not well frozen as items in the log chamber and were additionally crushed by the weight of the logs. The horses had been placed in a row, lying on their left or right side with their heads facing east. The horses were killed by blows to their heads. Their manes had been clipped and the hair of their tails plaited or twisted together. The horses were uniformly dark in color. Four of the horses had carved wooden cheek pieces on their halters that ended in animal heads such as a cat-like animal, a goose, sheep, or ibex. Each of the cheek pieces was covered with a tin or gold foil. Two of the horses had a mask-like headgear of felt and leather. Saddles were made of leather cushions covered by felt saddlecloths and stiffened by wooden frames. Appliqu felt designs covered the saddlecloths. Scenes are of a griffin, elk or other animals portrayed as locked in combat or of a leopard attacking an elk (moose). Next to the horse burials were placed small shields of parallel staves. One nearby fur bag contained cheese. One whip handle shows a horse in flight being pursued by a cat creature whose body is coiled around the handle. Funerary chamber- the floor was covered by a layer of ices 12 cm thick. Ice had begun to form before the grave was robbed thus aiding in the preservation of some of the grave materials. Foodstuffs in the burial chamber had, however, decomposed. Elsewhere in the chamber, a yellowish, muddy water had entered as the result of the robbers forced entry and then frozen. This also contributed to preservation of items in the burial chamber. The floor of the chamber and the walls (up to 65 cm high) were covered by black felt. A decorative trimming, consisting of a band of white felt with a frieze of colored lotus blossoms, had formed a decorative border on the black felt covering and had been ripped off by the robbers. Along the south wall stood a log coffin, along the east wall were eating utensils and musical instruments, and near the west wall were incense burners with their accessories. Four small tables with carved legs held oval shaped ceramic plates. The robbers had eaten from the plates and then smashed them. The legs of one table were shaped in the form of an elongated lion that had been covered with tin and gold foil and parts were painted. Next to the tables were clay vessels and two vase-shaped containers. Both of the containers had been covered with appliqu leather and embellished with tin. One had a frieze consisting of striding roosters, the other lotus silhouettes. Two wooden containers, and cup-like forms were nearby. A fragment of a carpet had circles of felt worked into its surface. An iron knife with a flat handle decorated with gold lay near these objects. Its wooden sheath was also close by. One of the musical instruments was a small drum in the form of an hourglass. Stringed instruments in the form of a lyre (harp) also were found. Coffin: The coffin was a hollowed out log more that 4 m in length. On the sides it had loops to aid in lowering it into the chamber. The front of the coffin was covered with birch bark and decorated with appliqu leather showing two reindeer walking behind each other. The interior of the coffin was lined with a double layer of black felt and a carpet on the bottom. The robbers had ripped off the cover of the coffin. Since the corpses, that of a man and woman were frozen, the robbers had to break open the side of the coffin to drag out the corpses. Some items were left behind in the coffin such as a wooden headrest covered with leather, a leather bag with

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carrying straps, stiffened at the top by a stick which ended in two lions heads [possibly part of the womans belongings], a round leather box filled with coriander seeds, a mirror of Greek form (two silver plates clamped together, fitted with a handle of ox horn), an iron fork with diverging prongs (use unknown), a small hide pouch containing black hair, finger-nail pairing [probably an amulet worn around the neck] that probably belonged to the robbers rather than as part the burial; a fragment of a comb made of horn, an earring that had been decorated with varied colored stones, beads of bone and cornelian [found in the coffin, on the floor of the burial chamber and in the passage made by the robbers]. Under the headrest was a diadem made up of a strip of wool covered with leather that showed a row of strutting roosters. From this band dangled small strips of sable skin that were trimmed with ornaments such as wooden figures with wings, horns, or ears of leather. A small stag with enormous antlers was found standing on a chamfered ball with a peg beneath. Two griffins with short wings and huge crests and a gold covered head of a griffin may have been part of the diadem. Also in the coffin was the head of a griffin holding in its mouth the head of a stag. On the sides of the griffin there is a bas-relief of a griffin holding a goose in its claws. Another similar piece was found outside the coffin. Both of the deceased were found outside the coffin, mutilated by the robbers in order to get at their jewelry. No single piece of clothing was left intact. A mantle made of squirrel skin with the fur inside had been slung over the shoulders of one of the individuals. It had imitation sleeves (too narrow to put on). On the outside, the parallel seams were sewn with strong sinew making the garment rather stiff. It was decorated with leather appliqu representing cocks combs covered with gold. The edges of the garment were trimmed with horse skin. An apron was also reconstructed and apparently was made by the same method as the mantle. A mans shirt of considerable length was found as well as fragments of at least three different belts decorated with leather appliqu, gold or tin or silver plates showing an ibex with its head turned to the rear and being attacked by a lion. The womans boots were decorated with a curvilinear plant-like form. The sole of each boot was decorated with a network pattern into which were worked 42 crystals of pyrite. Over the instep of the boots ran a border trimmed with small golden aquatic birds. Small glass beads were attached to trimming along the legs of the boots. Felt socks were inside the boots. Scattered over the floor of the chamber were small ornamental plaques with figures of horses, griffins, elk, etc. Corpse of Woman: Approximately 40 years old, tall and strong with delicate hands and feet. Her hair had been shaved off. The pigtail of black hair found elsewhere in the chamber was probably hers. There was a cavity in one of her teeth otherwise she was quite healthy. There was no trace of violent death, but in the Altai region women were poisoned before being buried with men. To mummify her body, the scalp had been folded back over the right parietal bone, the skull chiseled open, the brain removed and the cavity filled with some vegetable substance, the section of bone replaced and the scalp reattached with horsehair. The abdomen had also been opened, the contents removed, then filled with a vegetable material and sewn up. Similar incisions ran also from the buttocks to the thigh. Here muscular material was removed and the cavity filled. The purpose of this procedure is unknown. Grave robbers had battered the womans skull and her head, hands and feet had been chopped off and the fingers severed from the hands to get at jewelry. Corpse of Man: About 60 years of age, very powerfully built, broad cheekbones. On the right parietal bone were two oval shaped holes caused by a pick like instrument that probably caused his death, probably in warfare. He was then scalped. An incision had been made from one ear to the other and the scalp pulled off. A false scalp was laid over the skull and sewn back on with horsehair, probably by the mans relatives after the body was recovered. The mummification was similar to that of the woman, trepanned skull, eviscerated. Small incisions were made on thighs but these were only cuts. A false beard had been tied on to the mans shaven chin. Tattooed designs had been made on his chest, back, arms and legs illustrating animals in elaborate design patterns [Scythian contorted animal style]. In the burial chamber another mirror was found in a case of leopard skin that was decorated with small beads. An important discovery was a bronze cauldron with two side handles that had been covered with birch bark. The vessel had a layer of black felt on the bottom and was

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filled to the top with large stones. Among the stones were seeds of a kind of wild hemp, some charred. As hemp is a strong narcotic, the caldron would have produced a strong vapor that was apparently inhaled. Six poles lashed together at the top formed a hexapod for suspending the caldron. Associated with the caldron and stand was a leather blanket decorated with winged liongriffins that were pouncing upon elks. The blanket was likely thrown over the stand so that the owner could inhale all of the vapors. In another corner was another stand of six poles covered with birch bark and underneath a square pan supported on four legs that was also filled with rocks and hemp seeds. A small stone table with four legs was thought to be a small altar for burning sacrifices. Burial mound 2 though ransacked by robbers still contained an amazing amount of material. BURIAL MOUND 3 (excavated in 1948) Grave robbers had heavily impacted the tomb. Within the burial chamber, archaeologists found the skeleton of a man that had been thrown out of his log coffin onto the floor. In the chamber were found remains of clothing, two caps, woolen fragments, fragments of decorated arrow shafts, and hexapod stands. The burial of 14 horses over the burial chamber again provided much information on horse trappings. BURIAL MOUND 4 (excavated in 1948) In the burial chamber were the skeletons of a man and a woman lying in log coffins. The chamber was looted with little left behind. Recovered were two hexapod stands, a little table, and some beads. Fourteen horse burials with some bridle pieces, etc. had been placed over the burial chamber. BURIAL MOUND 5 (excavated in 1949) Barrow 5 had good preservation as the mans and womans corpses were quite intact. The felt wall hanging was decorated with a sphinx, a bird, and a patterned border. Other items in the burial chamber included a female head-dress and pigtail, felt stockings, a sheeps fleece, a goat skin, a horn drum, remains of cheese, rods of hexapod stand, a turquoise bead, an earthenware bottle, and seeds of cultivated coriander. Nine horses were buried outside the chamber. With the horses was a light four-wheeled carriage that had a felt canopy that was surmounted by two felt swans. There was also part of a dome of a portable dwelling, a large felt carpet or wall-hanging bearing the portrayal of a seated goddess and a rider standing before her, a pile carpet, deer antler, and wooden decorations covered with gold leaf. BURIAL MOUNDS 6, 7, 8 excavated in 1949 were heavily looted. BURIAL MOUND 6 contained the skeletons of a woman and a young girl BURIAL MOUND 7contained the skeleton of an infant BURIAL MOUND 8 contained the skeleton of a woman