Pazyryk burials
Pazyryk burials | |
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Pazyryk |
The Pazyryk
Numerous comparable burials have been found in neighbouring western Mongolia.
The tombs are
The bearers of the Pazyryk culture were horse-riding pastoral
Because of a freak climatic freeze, some of the Altai-Sayan burials, notably those of the 5th century BCE at Pazyryk and neighbouring sites, such as Katanda, Shibe, and Tuekta, were isolated from external climatic variations by a protective layer of ice that conserved the organic substances buried in them. Certain geometric designs and
"At Pazyryk too are found bearded mascarons (
Pazyryk culture
Rudenko initially assigned the neutral label Pazyryk culture for these nomads and dated them to the 5th century BCE; the dating has been revised for barrows 1-5 at Pazyryk, which are now considered to date to the 4th–3rd centuries BCE.[12] The Pazyryk culture has since been connected to the Scythians whose similar tombs have been found across the steppes. The Siberian animal style tattooing is characteristic of the Scythians. The artifacts show that these ancient Altai nomads had cultural and trading links to Central Asia, China and the Near East.[13] There is evidence that Pazyryk trade routes were vast and connected with large areas of Asia including India, perhaps Pazyryk merchants largely trading in high quality horses.[6]
Discoveries
The first tomb at Pazyryk, barrow 1, was excavated by the
Cranial measurements from the Pazyryk burials performed in the 1960s suggested that the interred were largely of European ancestry with some admixture of Northeast Asian ancestry.
Pazyryk-1
Tomb number 1 at Pazyryk has numerous artifacts, including horses wearing deer antlers masks, or harnesses with human figures.[22] The tomb is dated to the 4th century BCE.[23] Its main content was looted, but the area with horse sacrifices remained intact. It was excavated by Griaznov in the 1930s.[24]
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Deer mask for a Pazyryk horse (Tomb 1).[25]
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Horse harness with human figures, Pazyryk-1.[26]
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Human figure from a harness, Pazyryk-1
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Decorated horse saddle, Pazyryk-1, 4th century BCE.[27]
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Felt band with Achaemenid-derived lion design. Pazyryk-1 tomb.[28]
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Pazyryk-1, horse harness, saddle and wood shield
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Sarcophagus from the burial chamber.[29]
Pazyryk-2 chief
Rudenko's most striking discovery in 1947 was the body of a tattooed Pazyryk chief in burial mound 2: a thick-set, powerfully built man, 176cm tall, who had died when he was between 55 and 60.[31] His tomb was monumental and lavishly equipped.[31] He died violently, and was killed with a Scythian-type battle axe, and scalped. He was carefully embalmed, and his body was covered in animal style tattoos, but not his face.[31] Parts of the body had deteriorated, but much of the tattooing was still clearly visible (see image). Subsequent investigation using reflected infrared photography revealed that all five bodies discovered in the Pazyryk kurgans were tattooed.[32] No instruments specifically designed for tattooing were found, but the Pazyryks had extremely fine needles with which they did miniature embroidery, and these were probably used for tattooing.
The chief was elaborately decorated with an interlocking series of striking designs representing a variety of fantastic beasts. The best preserved tattoos were images of a donkey, a mountain ram, two highly stylized deer with long antlers and an imaginary carnivore on the right arm. Two monsters resembling griffins decorate the chest, and on the left arm are three partially obliterated images which seem to represent two deer and a mountain goat. On the front of the right leg a fish extends from the foot to the knee. A monster crawls over the right foot, and on the inside of the shin is a series of four running rams which touch each other to form a single design. The left leg also bears tattoos, but these designs could not be clearly distinguished. In addition, the chief's back is tattooed with a series of small circles in line with the vertebral column.[33]
His embalmed head, now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, suggests a rather "Mongoloïd type".[34] He was crowned with a gilded copper tiara decorated with six winged, horned and hoofed lions ("lion griffins"). The lion griffins were made of wood, but were originally covered in gold foil before the foils were looted by tomb robbers.[35] A false beard, made of hair, sinew thread and leather, was also discovered next to him in his tomb. Its significance remaining conjectural, as all mummies recovered from Pazyryk were clean-shaven.[36] An extraordinary male headgear, a carved wooden crest representing a bird of prey with a deer head in its beak, was also found at the head of the coffin, and is thought to be the headgear of the chieftain.[37]
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Tattoos of the chief's right arm, with zoomorphic symbols.[38]
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Tattoos of the chief's back and left arm.[39]
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Tattoos of the Pazyryk-2 chief.[40]
Pazyryk-5
Pazyryk barrow 5 also contained the remains of a Saka chief.[41] It was excavated by S.I. Rudenko in 1949.[41]
The grave was formed of an inner and an outer log sarcophagus, covered with five layers of logs and a layer of boulders.[41] The tomb was looted in antiquity, but still contained the enbalmed remains of a man and a women, together with some artifacts, nine horses, either harnessed to chariot or back riding, a disassembled wagon with four large wheels on spokes, and various carpets.[41]
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Inner log sarcophagus, Pazyryk-5.[42]
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Tattoos of the man in Pazyryk-5. He has a large lion design over the left shoulder.
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The wagon, Pazyryk-5
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Carpet, Pazyryk-5
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Decorated felt piece, Pazyryk-5
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Carpet from Pazyryk-5
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Decorated carpet from Pazyryk-5, of Near-Eastern origin. This is the earliest surviving knotted-pile carpet.[43]
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Pazyryk-5 carpet, Near-Eastern horsemen detail
Ice Maiden
The most famous undisturbed Pazyryk burial so far recovered is the Ice Maiden or "Altai Lady" found by archaeologist Natalia Polosmak in 1993 at Ukok, near the Chinese border. The find was a rare example of a single woman given a full ceremonial burial in a wooden chamber tomb in the fifth century BCE, accompanied by six horses.[6] She had been buried over 2,400 years ago in a casket fashioned from the hollowed-out trunk of a Siberian larch tree. On the outside of the casket were stylized images of deer and snow leopards carved in leather. Shortly after burial the grave had apparently been flooded by freezing rain, and the entire contents of the burial chamber had remained frozen in permafrost. Six horses wearing elaborate harnesses had been sacrificed and lay to the north of the chamber.[44]
The maiden's well-preserved body, carefully embalmed with peat and bark, was arranged to lie on her side as if asleep. She was young, and her hair had been shaved off but she was wearing a wig and tall hat; she had been 167 centimetres (5 ft 6 in) tall. Even the
Two years after the discovery of the "Ice Maiden" Dr. Polosmak's husband, Vyacheslav Molodin, found a frozen man, elaborately tattooed with an elk, with two long braids that reached to his waist, buried with his weapons.
Dr Anicua also noted that her blouse was a bit stained, indicating that the material was not a new garment, made for the burial.
Pazyryk rug
One of the most famous finds at Pazyryk is the Pazyryk rug, which is probably the oldest surviving
Other findings
In a corner of one grave chamber of the Pazyryk cemetery was a fur bag containing cannabis seed, a censer filled with stones, and the hexapod frame[definition needed] of an inhalation tent[definition needed] – these are believed to have been utilized at the end of the funerary ritual for purification.
Other undisturbed kurgans have been found to contain remarkably well-preserved remains, comparable to the earlier Tarim mummies of Xinjiang. Bodies were preserved using mummification techniques and were also naturally frozen in solid ice from water seeping into the tombs. They were encased in coffins made from hollowed trunks of larch (which may have had sacral significance) and sometimes accompanied by sacrificed concubines and horses. The clustering of tombs in a single area implies that it had particular ritual significance for these people, who were likely to have been willing to transport their deceased leaders great distances for burial.
As recently as the summer of 2012, tombs have been discovered at various locations.[citation needed] In January 2007 a timber tomb of a blond chieftain warrior was unearthed in the permafrost of the Altai mountains region close to the Mongolian border.[53] The body of the presumed Pazyryk chieftain is tattooed; his sable coat is well preserved, as are some other objects, including what looks like scissors. A local archaeologist, Aleksei Tishkin, complained that the indigenous population of the region strongly disapproves of archaeological digs, prompting the scientists to move their activities across the border to Mongolia.[54]
See also
Saka kurgans[55] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes
References
Citations
- PMID 23152818.
- ^ Atwood, Christopher P.; Andreeva, Petya (2018). "Camp and audience scenes in late iron age rock drawings from Khawtsgait, Mongolia". Archaeological Research in Asia. 15: 4.
- ^ de Laet & Herrmann 1996, p. 443 "The rich kurgan burials in Pazyryk, Siberia probably were those of Saka chieftains"
- ^ Kuzmina 2008, p. 94 "Analysis of the clothing, which has analogies in the complex of Saka clothes, particularly in Pazyryk, led Wang Binghua (1987, 42) to the conclusion that they are related to the Saka Culture."
- ^ Kuzmina 2007, p. 103 "The dress of Iranian-speaking Saka and Scythians is easily reconstructed on the basis of... numerous archaeological discoveries from the Ukraine to the Altai, particularly at Issyk in Kazakhstan... at Pazyryk... and Ak-Alakha"
- ^ a b c d "Ice Mummies: Siberian Ice Maiden". PBS – NOVA. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
- ^ A Special Issue on the Dating of Pazyryk. Source: Notes in the History of Art 10, no. 4, p. 4.
- ^ "Golden Mountains of Altai". UNESCO. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
- ^ ISBN 0-8160-4051-6.
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
- ISBN 0-8135-1304-9.
- ^ See above, n. 2.
- ^ "Early Nomads of the Altaic Region". The Hermitage. Archived from the original on 2007-06-22. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
- ^ Rudenko 1970, pp. 18, 33
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- ^ "The State Hermitage Museum: Collection Highlights". 1999. Archived from the original on 6 January 2000.
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- ^ Rudenko 1970, p. 45 "Although in general the skulls in the series are of europeoid type, there are some among them with markedly mongoloid features."
- PMID 33771866.
- ^ Unterländer 2017: Data available at Supplementary Information file, page 38, Table 7. West Eurasia (WEA): 48%, East Eurasia (EEA) 52%.
- ^ "Эрмитаж.ОМП.Статья". edu.hermitage.ru. State Hermitage Museum.
- ^ "Эрмитаж.ОМП.Галлерея". edu.hermitage.ru. State Hermitage Museum.
- ISSN 0002-9114.
- ^ Jones, Robert A. "Centaurs on the silk road: recent discoveries of Hellenistic textiles in western China". Encyclopedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles.
- ^ "Эрмитаж.ОМП.Статья". edu.hermitage.ru. State Hermitage Museum.
- ^ "Эрмитаж.ОМП.Галлерея". edu.hermitage.ru. State Hermitage Museum.
- ^ Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. British Museum. p. 275, Item 189.
- ISSN 0002-9114.
- ^ Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. British Museum. pp. 106–109, Items 31, 32, 33.
- ^ a b c Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. British Museum. pp. 106–109.
- ^ Barkova, L. L.; Pankova, S. V. (2005). "Tattooed Mummies From The Large Pazyryk Mounds: New findings". Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia. 2 (22): 48–59. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
- ^ Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. British Museum. pp. 106–109, Items 31, 32, 33.
- ^ Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. British Museum. pp. 106–109, Items 31, 32, 33.
- ^ Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. British Museum. pp. 110, Item 34.
- ^ Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. British Museum. pp. 111, Item 35.
- ^ Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. British Museum. pp. 112–113, Item 36, 37.
- ^ "Siberian Princess reveals her 2,500 year old tattoos". The Siberian Times. 2012.
- ^ "Siberian Princess reveals her 2,500 year old tattoos". The Siberian Times. 2012.
- ^ Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. British Museum. pp. 106–109, Items 31, 32, 33.
- ^ ISSN 2352-2267.
- ^ Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. p. 263, Fig. 150.
- ^ Pankova, Svetlana; Simpson, St John (1 January 2017). Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia. p. 281.
- ^ Polosmak, Natalia (1994). "A Mummy Unearthed from the Pastures of Heaven." National Geographic 186:4, p. 91.
- ^ "Legal bid fails to rebury remains of 2,500 year old tattooed 'ice princess'". The Siberian Times. 2016.
- ^ Polosmak (1994), pp. 98-99.
- ^ Ulrich Schurmann (1982). The Pazyryk Its Use and Origin. p. 46.
From all the evidence available I am convinced that the Pazyryk rug was a funeral accessory and most likely a masterpiece of Armenian workmanship
- ^ Volkmar Gantzhorn (1998). Oriental Carpets: Their Iconology and Iconography, from Earliest Times to the 18th Century. Taschen. p. 51.
Thus the Pazyryk rug will have to be regarded as one of the first testimonies to early Armenian work, quite possibly produced in the vicinity of the old textile centre of Ardashad in the south-western Caucasus.
- ^ Barbara Brend (1991). Islamic Art. Harvard University Press. p. 43.
Whether the Pazyryk carpet was made in Central or Western Asia is a matter of debate, but Armenia in particular has been mentioned as a possible place of origin. As it happens, Armenia is also quoted as the source of rugs among which the Umayyad Walid b. Yazid sat to receive guests, though the technique used to make these particular floor-coverings is not certain.
- ISBN 978-0691656588.
- ^ "History of handknotted carpets". CarpetEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- ^ "Pile Carpet". Hermitage Museum. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
- ^ "Russian Archaeologists Discover Remains of Ancient Chieftain in Altai Permafrost". 2007-01-10. Archived from the original on 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
- ^ Daria Radovskaya (2007-01-10). "Кочевник был блондином". Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
- .
Sources
- ISBN 978-9004160545.
- ISBN 978-0812240412.
- de Laet, Sigfried J.; Herrmann, Joachim (1996). History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. ISBN 923102812X.
- ISBN 0520013956. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
External links
- (in Russian) A library of scholarly publications about the Altai Scythians
- A collection at Novosibirsk State University site, including Pazyryk
- Pazyryk carpet, at State Hermitage Museum
- BME wiki: Pazyryk Mummies
- Winnie Allingham, "The frozen horseman of Siberia" Archived 2008-05-09 at the Wayback Machine (Discovery Channel)
- "Ancient Mummy found in Mongolia", Der Spiegel, 2004
- "Ice Maiden recreated in photographic project", Sydney Australia, 2009
- 'The Preservation of the Frozen Tombs of the Altai Mountains', UNESCO (pdf)
- http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/pdf/Rock%20Art%20and%20Archaeology%20Field%20Report%202011%20FINAL_webv4.pdf Archived 2015-12-25 at the Wayback Machine