Scythian Culture - Preservation of The Frozen Tombs of The Altai Mountains (UNESCO)

CHAPTER I • SCYTHIANS IN THE EURASIAN STEPPE AND THE PLACE OF THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS IN IT
There are also complexes of this kind in the
Sarmatian region of the lower Volga Valley and in
the southern Urals. While these are mostly
empty, gold artifacts have been found in them
that exhibit remarkable artistry. The princely
grave of Filippovka (4 th c. bce), close to the
mouth of the Ilek River in the Urals, might be
mentioned, for example. Here, a long dromos, or
narrow entrance passageway, leads into a tentlike
wooden construction that forms the grave
chamber, this containing gold weapons, gold and
silver plates and other prestige objects made of
precious metals. (Fig. 1)
Although substantial differences exist in the
details of the construction of the kurgans and in
the configuration of the grave chamber, they
repeat the same basic principles, connecting them
to the monumental burial mounds of the north
Pontic steppe. Beneath the monumental stone
barrow, built with enormous effort, the underground
grave construction is found, and this symbolizes
the status of the deceased through the
many prestige objects made of gold and other
precious metals found in it, as well as the numerous
valuable imported items it contains.
However, our information about the peoples
of the Central Asian steppe and their customs is
not as reliable as that about the north Pontic
Scythians. According to Herodotus, the Argippaei
people are to be found at the foot of high mountains
after crossing a vast area of steppe north of
the Caspian and Aral Seas. These people, he
writes, are typically bald from birth and have
snub noses and long chins, which could be seen
as evidence of a predominantly Mongolian-type
population in the region. While their costume,
consisting of hooded-and-belted sleeved shirts,
long trousers and boots, was like that of the
Scythians, the latter were not able to communicate
with the Argippaei without an interpreter,
leading to the conclusion that they belonged to a
different language group. (Fig. 2 and 3)
Herodotus also says (Book IV, 27) that griffins
guarding gold are to be found further east. If by
this he actually means a human tribe, then the
term “griffin” could be understood as being a
tribal symbol, because the griffin plays a prominent
role in Scythian-Siberian animal style. It is
surely no coincidence that Herodotus indicates
the presence of griffins guarding gold in an area
that seems to correspond to the Upper Ob and
the Altai Mountains. This region is rich in gold
deposits, and mineral wealth of this sort might
have led to Greek, Persian and Scythian interest
in the region.
However, the history of this region during
the 1 st millennium bce is unknown, due to a lack
of written evidence. As a result, archaeological
discoveries have an important role to play in
reconstructing the history of the ancient nomadic
horsemen of southern Siberia. Many of the
characteristics of the Scythian culture of the
northern Black Sea area can also be found here,
including the horse-based nomadic economy and
lifestyle, the use of animal style in artifacts and
the construction of monumental kurgans, which
express the social structure of a society with a
warrior elite.
As is the case in the north Pontic region, the
Siberian-Kazakh kurgans have in many cases
been looted. East of the Ural Mountains, only
one golden hoard has been found, namely that
discovered during the excavation of an undisturbed
grave in the Issyk kurgan in south-east
Kazakhstan (5 th c. bce). Here, the head-dress,
clothes and weaponry of the so-called “Golden
Man of Issyk” have been found, decorated with
innumerable sheets of gold, together with
silver plates and other items. This region was in
the south of the original steppe belt and in the
Fig. 4 Arzhan-1
kurgan excavated by
M. P. Grjaznov.
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