In central Asia, where Russia, Mongolia, and China come together, is the rugged wilderness of the Altai Mountains. In the high valleys of the Altai are meadows where the ground is permanently frozen. These high meadows were sacred sites from the Bronze Age into medieval times, and they are dotted with monuments. Among the people who held these cold meadows holy were the horse-riding nomads of the Iron Age we call the Pazyryk Culture, and between the 6th and 3rd centuries BC they buried many of their shamans and war leaders in mountain tombs. In the 1920s Russian archaeologists began excavating these remarkable tombs. All of the tombs had been at least partially looted, so they yielded few of the golden treasures that made the Scythian tombs of Ukraine so famous. But they contain other wonders. Because they have been frozen since the burials were made, the preservation is remarkable, and the tombs have yielded many rare objects of cloth, felt, leather, and wood. Many of them are now in the
Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
The Pazyryk people were related to the Scythians, their contemporaries of the western steppe, and much of their art resembles Scythian art. The difference between the two cultures is mainly in the outside influences; whereas the Scythians were much involved with the Greeks, the people of the Altai had trading connections with the Chinese, and you can see Chinese influence in some of these objects. I already posted some items from these tombs, including reconstructions of the
elaborate horse clothes and renderings of the
tattoos found on one chieftain's body, and about a
recent study of the bones from one cemetery showing how many of them died violent deaths.
A bridal with human faces carved in wood.
Carpet fragments. We think that the interiors of Scythian tents, like those of later nomads, were hung with many carpets, so these small pieces help us imagine their world.
A highly decorated shoe.
A censer, used for burning hemp seeds.
A wooden table.
A staff finial in the shape of a stag.
In central Asia, where Russia, Mongolia, and China come together, is the rugged wilderness of the Altai Mountains. In the high valleys of the Altai are meadows where the ground is permanently frozen. These high meadows were sacred sites from the Bronze Age into medieval times, and they are dotted with monuments. Among the people who held these cold meadows holy were the horse-riding nomads of the Iron Age we call the Pazyryk Culture, and between the 6th and 3rd centuries BC they buried many of their shamans and war leaders in mountain tombs. In the 1920s Russian archaeologists began excavating these remarkable tombs. All of the tombs had been at least partially looted, so they yielded few of the golden treasures that made the Scythian tombs of Ukraine so famous. But they contain other wonders. Because they have been frozen since the burials were made, the preservation is remarkable, and the tombs have yielded many rare objects of cloth, felt, leather, and wood. Many of them are now in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
The Pazyryk people were related to the Scythians, their contemporaries of the western steppe, and much of their art resembles Scythian art. The difference between the two cultures is mainly in the outside influences; whereas the Scythians were much involved with the Greeks, the people of the Altai had trading connections with the Chinese, and you can see Chinese influence in some of these objects. I already posted some items from these tombs, including reconstructions of the elaborate horse clothes and renderings of the tattoos found on one chieftain's body, and about a recent study of the bones from one cemetery showing how many of them died violent deaths.
A bridal with human faces carved in wood.
Carpet fragments. We think that the interiors of Scythian tents, like those of later nomads, were hung with many carpets, so these small pieces help us imagine their world.
A highly decorated shoe.
A censer, used for burning hemp seeds.
A wooden table.
A staff finial in the shape of a stag.
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