An Early Pazyryk Kurgan at Khankarinsky Dol, Northwestern Altai: Chronology and Attribution of Artifacts

Abstract

This article introduces a Pazyryk kurgan, unearthed at Khankarinsky Dol, in the northwestern Altai. On the basis of the funerary rite, burial goods, and radiocarbon analysis, the kurgan dates to the late 6th or early 5 ^th centuries BC and is one of the earliest Pazyryk kurgans in this area known to date. A detailed description of artifacts is provided, including a bimetallic dagger, bronze hairpins, a quiver hook, a mirror, a belt buckle, a slotted clip, a knife, and a torc lined with foil. Special attention is paid to the details of a horse harness, which include bronze bits, two bone plaques, cheek-pieces, four strap distributors, a shackle, two clasps, and a bone girth buckle. The analysis of zoomorphic images on cheek-pieces suggests that the images of a wolf and a short-snouted feline carnivore are interchangeable in Scythian-Saka art. Evidently, the distinction between them mattered less for the nomads than did the fact that the animal was a carnivore. The reconstruction of the early Pazyryk horse harness is proposed. The burial rite and the burial goods indicate a high social status of those buried.