Hephthalite Coin from an Early Medieval Burial at Gorny-10, Northern Altai
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2021.49.4.100-108
Abstract
We describe a silver coin found in one of the burials at Gorny-10 cemetery in northern Altai, excavated by expeditions from the Altai State University in 2000–2003. The coin was discovered in a destroyed burial of children (No. 46) along with other informative artifacts, which are rather uncommon in such burials. Judging by horse harness and ornaments, the assemblage falls in the interval from the late 6th to early 8th century AD. The coin is an imitation of the drachm of the Sasanian shah Pērōz I to classify as type or emission 287, according to R. Göbl, that is one of the most common types of Hephthalite coins. The elemental concentration of the specimen has a high content of silver and no gold. The specimen has no analogs in North or Central Asia. It could have been brought to the forest-steppe Altai by Türks, who conquered the Hephthalite Empire in the fi rst decades of the late 6th century AD.
Supporting agencies: The analysis of the coin and the cultural-chronological interpretation of the complex were supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Project No. 20-78-10037). The processing of materials from the excavations of the Gorny-10 cemetery was carried under the Public Contract No. 0329-2019-0003 “Historical and Cultural Processes in Siberia and Adjacent Territories”. We express our gratitude to A.A. Tishkin for the X-ray fl uorescence analysis of the coin.
About the Authors
N. N. Seregin
Altai State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Lenina 61, Barnaul, 656049
V. V. Tishin
Altai State University; Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Lenina 61, Barnaul, 656049
Sakhyanovoy 6, Ulan-Ude, 670047
N. F. Stepanova
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
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For citations:
Seregin N.N., Tishin V.V., Stepanova N.F. Hephthalite Coin from an Early Medieval Burial at Gorny-10, Northern Altai. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2021;49(4):100-108. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2021.49.4.100-108
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