The Steppes: Crucible of Eurasia - units.muohio.edu - Miami University

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Katheryn M. Linduff, Department of Anthropology and Department of the History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh (linduff@pitt.edu) Belt Buckles: Metallurgical and Iconographic Markers of Distinction Four thousand years ago cultures emerged in the area known variously as eastern Eurasia, Inner Asia, the beifang (北方), the Northern Zone, or the Northern Frontier. Delineated by Chinese historians of the second century BCE and later as a never-never land, they gave these peoples various names that marked them with a heritage distinct from peoples in the Dynastic heartland. So troublesome was this area for the dynasts, that they eventually set up a system of ‘border states’ and walls in their north that acted as a political, economic, cultural and military barrier reef meant to protect the ‘civilized’, agricultural states to their south. The signs of this separation were marked as well with lightweight and portable artifacts used in the beifang—small in scale but intricate in design—including belt plaques, appliqués for clothing as well as accompanying horse gear, bits, strap crossers and bridle ornaments and including chariot and cart fittings in gold, silver and bronze. These were neither Chinese nor steppic in type or aesthetic, but rather were inspired by both models. These pieces bear motifs of the wild animals and birds of prey that inhabited the region—tigers, boar, deer, ibex—and including some domesticates such as camels, horses, donkeys and yaks. Even swords and knives bear animal ornamentation on their hilts and pommels. These were created for the local inhabitants and the market, and most often in Chinese foundries, as best as we can tell. They have often been thought to document a mobile lifeway, although that notion is rethought here. Study of the metallographic and casting technology used to produce these materials not only offers a way to learn about their unique character, but also to discern distinctive cultural patterns and the process of interregional exchange in the region that led to their creation. Belt plaques, which I will particularly address here, were a very special category—not merely decorative, but given their final resting place in burial; their special types and iconography; their resourceful means of production; and their elaboration with inset semi-precious stones and gilding or silvering, marked them for special use. By the end of the first millennium BCE, they were in great demand in many areas of Eurasia and both the metallurgical and iconographic content are distinctive residue of invention as a result of culture contact and exchange. At the frontiers of the Chinese and Xiongnu Empires, they had become practicable signs of inter and intra community differentiation. Kenneth Lymer, Wessex Archaeology Ltd, Salisbury, UK (k.lymer@wessexarch.co.uk) Animals Entangled in Art: The Lives of Zoomorphic Imagery in Central Asia during the 1st Millennium BCE The art of early nomadic archaeological cultures that roamed the steppes of Eurasia during the 1st millennium BCE is characterised as exhibiting predominantly zoomorphic imagery, the so-called Scytho-Siberian ‘animal style’. Moreover, it could be said that the concept of the ‘animal style’ was born in Central Asian academic studies. O.M. Dalton in his monograph on the Oxus Treasure (1905) found objects recovered from what is known today as Tajikistan had a style similar to known Scythian objects recovered from the regions around the Black Sea. Furthermore, Dalton found this ‘Scythic art’ was also based upon animal decorative forms and held a uniform canon of taste that was an unmistakable characteristic of the cultures ranging from the Yenisei river to the Carpathians. The actual coining of the ‘animal style’, however, 8
came to the fore after M.I. Rostovtseff’s seminal English publication on the Iranians and Greeks in South Russia in 1922. Nevertheless, these traditional concepts of art history from the beginning of the 20th century forged an Orientalist ideal of animal art and early nomads that still continues to be drawn upon to the present day. When we place these zoomorphic artefacts on display in a museum they become isolated and disparate objects intermixed with varying items from other cultures in time and space. Set on a neutral background under focused light in the display case their exoticness becomes the focus of attention. There is no doubt to our eyes that many of these animal decorations are beautiful to look at; however, appreciating their visual aesthetics is only one aspect in the greater range of sensory experiences connected to objects. Moreover, this was not how the art was originally intended to be perceived as the gallery is a contrived effect far removed from the actual living context of the animal imagery. As ethnographic studies have pointed out time and time again, the reality of material culture exists within the lives of their owners and users. Thus, Scytho-Siberian zoomorphic decorations were not solely objects of art but were intimately entangled in the daily lives of people within past societies. This entanglement is examined through a selection of case studies that focus upon different aspects of the lives of animal decorations and zoomorphic imagery. Within the early nomadic archaeological cultures of Kazakhstan, the Altai Republic and Tuva the animal images were intimately related to how individuals created and asserted their own identities through their choices of decoration on and off their bodies, as well as the bodies of their horses. Moreover, the zoomorphics and their applications to various media embodied ‘ways of sensing’ by different societies. In particular, so-called ‘animal style’ iconography carved in the natural rock at petroglyph sites was part and parcel of sensual experiences of places and spaces in the landscape. Overall, animal decorated objects were not artefacts that operated autonomous to society but co-existed in dynamic relationships with individuals in their communities; the lives of the zoomorphic ornamentations were intimately entangled within people’s lives. Thus, it is by the closer scrutiny of their contextual complexity, as well as exploring their sensuous aspects, which enable us to explore fresher understandings about animal art in past societies in Central Asia during the first millennium BCE. Sergey Miniaev, Institute of the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg (ssmin@yandex.ru) Ordos Style Bronzes in Russia: New Discoveries In recent years during scientific digs in Xiongnu archaeological sites in Russia a lot bronzes of “Ordos style” were found. The great value of the collection is that the objects were found in undisturbed tombs. Now we can know the disposition of all finds in the tombs and the function of every find. The majority of the “Ordos bronzes” were found on women’s and men’s belts. The sizes and quantity of details on the belts depended on the sex, age and social position of the owner. Thanks to new finds we can present different versions of Xiongnu belt sets, from the simplest belt to the most complicated. The most complicated belt consisted of the central part (two bronze plaques as a rule; many plaques had a special wood lining) and diverse other details - small plaques, open-work rings, small rings, fastenings, buttons, buckles etc. Besides, the belt frequently was decorated with different beads and buckles made from minerals. All bronze plaques have scenes in “Ordos style”: a skirmish between two horses, a beast of prey catching a 9
Page 1 and 2: PROGRAM AND ABSTRACTS The Steppes:
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The Steppes: Crucible of Eurasia - units.muohio.edu - Miami University

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