Preview

Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia

Advanced search

The Triquetras from the Filippovka Kurgans, Southern Urals

https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2020.48.1.101-109

Abstract

The triquetra sign is comparatively rare in early nomadic cultures. It occurs mostly in the steppe area east of the southern Urals, specifically on petroglyphs, metal details on horse harness, bronze mirrors, metal plaques, and felted items. This article describes a series of triquetra signs from kurgans 1 and 4 at Filippovka I, representing the culture of the early nomadic elite of the southern Urals. The burials in which they were found have a “royal” status. Finds include gold onlays of wooden vessels in triquetra shapes, 20 gold argali figurines, and a horse-shaped handle of a vessel. The thighs of animals are marked with triquetras. Of particular interest is an iron sword with a gold-inlaid blade, showing scenes with humans and animals. The triquetra ornament occurs thrice in these inlays. Analysis suggests that the scenes are from Iranian mythology, and that the triquetra marks the *Hvarnah (farn). Similar scenes are found on Sasanian silver dishes, featuring Iranian kings who receive *Hvarnah. The fact that triquetra signs in Filippovka I occur only in “royal” kurgans, and that all of them are made of gold or mark the items made of gold indicates their connection with the symbolism, the use of which was the prerogative of the topranking nomadic elite of the southern Urals.

About the Author

V. K. Fedorov
Kuzeev Institute for Ethnological Studies, Ufa Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Deputy Director.

Karla Marksa 6, Ufa, 450077



References

1. Beisenov A.Z., Dzhumabekova G.S., Bazarbaeva G.A., Duisenbai D.B., Akhiyarov I.K. 2017

2. Vikhreviye kompozitsii v iskusstve sakov Tsentralnogo Kazakhstana. Arkheologiya i davnya istoriya Ukrainy, iss. 2: 40-58.

3. Chlenova N.L. 1967 Proiskhozhdeniye i rannyaya istoriya plemen tagarskoy kultury. Moscow: Nauka.

4. Devlet E.G., Devlet M.A. 2005 Mify v kamne: Mir naskalnogo iskusstva Rossii. Moscow: Aleteya.

5. Devlet M.A. 2001 Petroglify Kuilug-Khema. In Mirovozzreniye drevnego naseleniya Yevrazii. Moscow: Stariy sad, pp. 370-438.

6. Dzhumabekova G.S., Bazarbaeva G.A. 2018 Illyustratsiya k eposu ob Alpamyse i nekotoriye paralleli syuzhetu v iskusstve drevnikh kochevnikov: K izucheniyu semantiki vikhrevykh kompozitsiy. Arkheologiya Kazakhstana, No. 1/2: 106-117.

7. Fedorov V.K. 2012 Materialy k katalogu neizdannykh predmetov iz dragotsennykh metallov, naidennykh v kurgane 1 Filippovskogo mogilnika. In Pshenichnyuk A.K. Filippovka: Nekropol kochevoy znatiIVv. don.e. na Yuzhnom Urale. Ufa: IIYAL UNC RAN, pp. 235-257.

8. Golan A. 1994 Mif i simvol. Jerusalem: Tarbut; Moscow: Russlit.

9. Grach A.D. 1980 Drevniye kochevniki v tsentre Azii. Moscow: Nauka.

10. Gushchina 11, Zasetskaya IP. 1994 “Zolotoye kladbishche” Rimskoy epokhi v Prikubanye. St. Petersburg: Farn.

11. Kadyrbaev M.K. 1966 Pamyatniki tasmolinskoy kultury. In Margulan A.K., Akishev K.A., Kadyrbaev M.K., Orazbaev A.I. Drevnyaya kultura Tsentralnogo Kazakhstana. Alma-Ata: Nauka KazSSR, pp. 303-433.

12. Kilunovskaya M.E. 2003 Naskalniye izobrazheniya na gore Kherbis (Piy-Khemskiy kozhuun Respubliki Tyva). In Semenov V.A. Suglug-Khem i Khaiyrakan - mogilniki skifskogo vremeni v Tsentralno-Tuvinskoy kotlovine. St. Petersburg: Peterburg. Vostokovedeniye, pp. 214-237.

13. Kollektsii Filippovskikh kurganov iz fondov Muzeya arkheologii i etnografii IEI UFIC RAN. 2018 Ufa: Kitap.

14. Korolkova E.F. 2009 Znakovaya sistema, priyemy kompozitsii i nekotoriye ustoichiviye motivy v iskusstve zverinogo stilya (zoomorfniye svastiki i vikhreviye rozetki). Nizhnevolzhskiy arkheologicheskiy vestnik, iss. 10: 64-72.

15. Kotov V.G., Ismagil R.B. 2013 Semantika dekorirovannogo oruzhiya rannikh kochevnikov Yevrazii. Ufimskiy arkheologicheskiy vestnik, iss. 13: 68-90.

16. Kovalev A.A. 1999 O svyazyakh naseleniya Sayano-Altaya i Ordosa v V-III vv. do n.e. In Itogi izucheniya skifskoy epokhiAltaya i sopredelnykh territoriy. Barnaul: Izd. Alt. Gos. Univ., pp. 75-82.

17. Kozenkova V.I 2013 Kobanskaya kultura i okruzhayushchiy mir: Vzaimosvyazi, problemy sudby i sledov raznokulturnykh infiltratsiy v mestnoy srede. Moscow: Taus.

18. Kungurova N.Y., Oborin Y.V. 2013 A hoard found on the Uibat River, Minusinsk Basin. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, vol. 41 (2): 126-136.

19. Mackenzie D.A. 1926 The Migration of Symbols. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd.; New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

20. Marchenko I.I. 1996 Siraki Kubani: Po materialam pogrebeniy Nizhney Kubani. Krasnodar: Kuban. Gos. Univ. Plate: The King Yazdgard I, Slaying a Stag, ca. A.D. 399-420

21. Metropolitan Museum of Art. URL: https://www. metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/326007 (Accessed March 26, 2019).

22. Rak I.V. 1998 Mify drevnego i rannesrednevekovogo Irana (zoroastrizm). St. Petersburg: Zhurnal “Neva”, Moscow: Letniy sad.

23. Rudenko S.I 1960 Kultura naseleniya Tsentralnogo Altaya v skifskoye vremya. Moscow, Leningrad: Izd. AN SSSR.

24. Shulga P.I 2010 Sintszyan v VIII-III vv. do n.e.: (Pogrebalniye kompleksy. Khronologiya i periodizatsiya). Barnaul: Izd. Alt. Gos. Univ. Treister M.Y., Yablonsky L.T. 2012 K voprosu ob absolyutnoy date mogilnika Filippovka I. In Vliyaniya akhemenidskoy kultury v Yuzhnom Priuralye (V-III vv. do n.e.), M.Y. Treister and L.T. Yablonsky (eds.), vol. 1. Moscow: Taus, pp. 282-284.

25. Trever K.V., Lukonin V.G. 1987 Sasanidskoye serebro: Sobraniye Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha: Khudozhestvennaya kultura Irana III-VIII vekov. Moscow: Iskusstvo.

26. Yablonsky L.T. 2013 Zoloto sarmatskikh vozhdey: Elitniy nekropol Filippovka I (po materialam raskopok 2004-2009 gg.): Katalog kollektsii, bk. I. Moscow: IA RAN.

27. Yablonsky L.T., Rukavishnikova I.V., Shemakhanskaya M.S. 2011 “Zolotoy” mech iz tsarskogo kurgana No. 4 mogilnika Filippovka I. Vestnik drevney istorii, No. 4: 219-250.

28. Zhen Ziming. 2015 K voprosu rasprostraneniya i svyazi ordosskikh bronz v stepyakh Velikogo Shelkovogo puti. In Drevniye kultury Severnogo Kitaya, Mongolii i Baikalskoy Sibiri, vol. 1. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, pp. 377-385. (In Chinese, Russian, Mongolian, English).


Review

For citations:


Fedorov V.K. The Triquetras from the Filippovka Kurgans, Southern Urals. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2020;48(1):101-109. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2020.48.1.101-109

Views: 603


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


ISSN 1563-0110 (Print)