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

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PRESERVATION OF THE FROZEN TOMBS OF THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS Fig. 5 Steppe near Salbyk in Khakassia in southern Siberia. settlement area of the Central Asian Saka people, who ruled large parts of Central Asia from the Aral Sea in the west to the foot of the Tien Shan in the east and whose contacts reached into neighbouring parts of north-west China and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The excavated princely graves in southern Siberia are similar to the Pazyryk Culture kurgans in the Altai Mountains (Pazyryk, Tuekta and Bashadar). Seepage and condensed water collects in the tombs beneath the massive burial mound, this then freezing to form ice that not only freezes the embalmed body in the tomb, but also all the other organic materials, such as clothing, shoes, carpets, ceremonial wagons, wooden carvings, horses and their saddle blankets, head-dresses and decorative straps, etc. As a result, it has been possible to ascertain that the preserved bodies were tattooed with animal motifs. These bodies had also undergone a special embalming procedure in which the intestines, brain, muscles and other soft tissues were removed, the body stuffed with organic material and then sewn up with horsehair. Many more of these so-called frozen kurgans have been found on the Ukok Plateau (Ak-Alakha, Verkh-Kaldzhin and Ulandryk), as well as in the Kazakh (Berel’) and Mongolian parts of the Altai Mountains (Olon-Kurin-Gol). These demonstrate the lively mental world and complexity of the early nomadic horsemen, owing to their extraordinary state of preservation. Other monumental Scythian burial mounds in southern Siberia show that these originally contained golden hoards in the same way as did north Pontic catacomb graves. Tuva, a region in the heart of Asia between the western Sayan and the Tannu Mountains, has a special significance here, since along the banks of the Uyuk, a tributary of the Yenisei River, the princely necropolis of Arzhan is located. This huge cemetery, containing hundreds of kurgans, offers a rare concentration of monumental burial mounds. The Arzhan-1 kurgan was excavated by M. P. Grjaznov in the 1970s, laying bare a complex wooden construction that features a unique wheel-like burial chamber covered by a flat stone platform (Fig. 4). A doubled beam chamber in the centre contained Fig. 6 Tagar Culture kurgan near Salbyk in Khakassia in southern Siberia. Photos: © DAI, Berlin. 22
CHAPTER I • SCYTHIANS IN THE EURASIAN STEPPE AND THE PLACE OF THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS IN IT the looted burial goods that originally belonged to a princely couple. The many small gold objects left behind by the grave-robbers show the wealth that existed at the time, these graves containing weapons, ornaments, jewels and horse harnesses dating back to the late 9 th and 8 th century bce. The Arzhan necropolis in Tuva has thus far provided the oldest discoveries of Scythian-type remains. However, a few other materials found nearby (in the Minusinsk Basin and the Altai region) can be considered along with these discoveries, these additional items providing the context and real significance of the discoveries made at Arzhan, since researchers now agree that the origins of the nomadic horsemen and their related Scythian-type culture, in which animal style plays a central role, should be looked for in these areas of Siberia. (Fig. 5 and 6) The Arzhan-2 kurgan, a princely grave dating from the very late 7 th century bce and excavated at the beginning of the present century, contains over 5,600 golden objects and is the first undisturbed hoard of its kind found in Siberia. It is a little later in date than the Arzhan-1 kurgan, belonging to a later period of the early Scythian age (7 th -6 th c. bce). Numerous masterpieces in the shape of artifacts employing animal style were found in it, together with other items of a quality that had previously not been found in southern Siberia. As a result, the discovery of this kurgan Fig. 8 Princely grave 5 in the Arzhan-2 kurgan. Fig. 9 Finds and male skeleton from princely grave 5 of the Arzhan-2 kurgan. Fig. 7 Arzhan-2 kurgan during excavation. Photos: © DAI, Berlin. 23
Page 1: PRESERVATION OF THE E FROZEN TOMBS
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RECOMMENDATIONS the organisation of
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Scythian Culture - Preservation of The Frozen Tombs of The Altai Mountains (UNESCO)

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