PRESERVATION OF THE FROZEN TOMBS OF THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS CHAPTER 2 <strong>UNESCO</strong> PROJECT PRESERVATION OF FROZEN TOMBS OF THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS 48
CHAPTER II • <strong>UNESCO</strong> PROJECT PRESERVATION OF FROZEN TOMBS OF THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS Background to <strong>UNESCO</strong> <strong>Preservation</strong> <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Frozen</strong> <strong>Tombs</strong> <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Altai</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> Project and Perspectives for Transboundary Protection through the World Heritage Convention Junhi Han World Heritage Centre, <strong>Culture</strong>, <strong>UNESCO</strong> Background to <strong>UNESCO</strong> <strong>Preservation</strong> <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Frozen</strong> <strong>Tombs</strong> <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Altai</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> Project <strong>The</strong> towering, jagged <strong>Altai</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> stretch some 2,100 km across China, Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan, the Russian section <strong>of</strong> this mountain range having been inscribed as a natural site on the World Heritage List in 1998. <strong>The</strong> area inscribed includes <strong>Altai</strong>sky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Lake Teletskoye, as well as Katunsky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Mount Belukha. It also includes the Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok Plateau. <strong>The</strong> region represents the most complete sequence <strong>of</strong> altitudinal vegetation zones in central Siberia, ranging from steppe to forest-steppe and mixed forest and sub-alpine vegetation to alpine vegetation. It is also an important habitat for endangered animal species, such as the snow leopard. However, although the <strong>Altai</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> were inscribed for their outstanding natural value on the World Heritage List, their cultural value should also by no means be underestimated (Fig. 1). This is so because the <strong>Altai</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> bear unique witness to the ancient <strong>Scythian</strong> culture that flourished in the Eurasian steppe during the 1 st millennium bce. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Scythian</strong>s and other contemporary tribes in the Eurasian Steppe developed a distinct nomadic way <strong>of</strong> life that was homogenous throughout the Eurasian steppe from the Black Sea area to the Mongolian plains, and they interacted with neighbouring civilizations in China, India, Iran, Mesopotamia and Greece. As the <strong>Scythian</strong>s left little built heritage behind them and no written records, there are only two sources <strong>of</strong> information that can provide us with information about this nomadic civilization today. <strong>The</strong> first is the description left by the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who devoted the fourth book <strong>of</strong> his Histories to the <strong>Scythian</strong>s. <strong>The</strong> second is the archaeological sites, namely the <strong>Scythian</strong> burial mounds, or kurgans, that still dot the landscape and the artefacts that these contain (Fig. 2). Often very well conserved, the kurgans found in the <strong>Altai</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> are <strong>of</strong> the utmost importance as a source <strong>of</strong> information on ancient <strong>Scythian</strong> civilization. <strong>The</strong> local climate, together with the particular way the kurgans were constructed, created ideal conditions for their preservation. When rain seeped into the tombs it froze and never thawed. As a result, all the materials buried in the tombs – metal objects, gold and pottery, and organic materials such as wood, leather, textiles and even the mummified bodies <strong>of</strong> humans and sacrificed horses along with their gears such as harness and saddles – have been preserved intact over the millennia. To this day, the only frozen tombs discovered anywhere in the world are those found in the <strong>Altai</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong>. Many 19 th -century scholars were sceptical <strong>of</strong> the description <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Scythian</strong>s given by Herodotus, in spite <strong>of</strong> numerous archaeological discoveries showing that as a witness he was conscientious and trustworthy. Now the organic Fig.1.<strong>The</strong> highest peaks <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Altai</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong>: Tavan Bogd in the Mongolian section <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Altai</strong>. Fig. 2. Kurgans lying north to south in the Mongolian section <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Altai</strong>. Photos: © Gary Tepfer. Left Terminal: Griffin Holding a Stag’s Head in its Beak. Wood and leather; carved. H. 23 cm Pazyryk <strong>Culture</strong>. 5 th century bc. Inv.no. 1684/169. © <strong>The</strong> State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. 49