Volume 5 Number 2 Winter 2008 “The Bridge between Eastern and Western Cultures” In This Issue From the Editor’s Desktop
• The Mannheim Silk Road Exhibit 1 Beyond the Sensational: The Reiss- • Silk Roads in Prehistory 7 Engelhorn-Museums’ “Origins of the • Salvage of Nanhai Shipwreck 16 Silk Road” • The Boma Cup 20 • Xiongnu Elite Tomb Complexes 29 Every blockbuster exhibition Geographic and some recent • A Xiongnu Satellite Burial 36 wants the public to believe that it books (e.g., Mallory and Mair • Tahilt Archaeological Survey 42 is “sensational,” since that may 2000), the sensational part of the • Kazakh Food as Culture 48 ensure large crowds and the story—the largely “west asian” revenues to recoup the huge costs mummies unearthed in Xinjiang— involved in borrowing, trans- is, in a sense, already well known. porting and mounting the In Mannheim, the curators have In Upcoming Issues artifacts. The Reiss-Engelhorn- been rather more cautious about Museums’ current “Origins of the sensational claims concerning · Rahile Dawut on Muslim shrines in Silk Road: Sensational New Finds western influences in China. Xinjiang from Xinjiang, China” is no Theirs is a nuanced presentation · Elliot Sperling on Tibeto-Mongol exception in this regard.1 But in a which meshes very nicely with the relations world where Silk Road exhibitions lead article in this issue of our · Odbaatar on a Uighur cemetery near pop up on the landscape like journal by the distinguished Kharbalgas flowers after a thunderstorm in the German archaeologist, Hermann · Vesna Wallace on Tibeto-Mongol desert, this one goes well beyond Parzinger. Dr. Christoph Lind’s Buddhist relations the sensational. With few curatorial team in Mannheim · Staffan Rosén on Korea and the Silk exceptions, the material here, selected but one of famous Road displayed first in Berlin before mummies (a well-wrapped infant · George Saliba on Islamic Science moving to Mannheim, is being from Zaghunluq, ca. 800 BCE, and the Silk Roads shown for the first time outside of item no. 1012) and instead invites and more… Asia. Readers of this journal will us to learn about cultures whose have about a month yet in which ethnic identities remain uncertain. to visit Mannheim, before the The focus in the first instance is About exhibition closes June 1. It is the ordinary artifacts of the every- worth the trip. day lives and deaths of ihabitants The Silk Road is a semi-annual publi- in the oases and mountains of cation of the Silkroad Foundation sup- Thanks to the Public Xinjiang. We come away with an plied in a limited print run to libraries. Broadcasting System, the National appreciation for the complexity of We cannot accept individual subscrip- their cultures and tions. The journal can be viewed at: © Cultural Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang
© Cultural Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China Region, Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous © Cultural wrighul and Xiaohe near Khotan and at Zaghunluq Fig. 2. A grave excavated at Zaghunluq. [Fig. 3], not far from near Chärchän, both on the Lop Nor. Then we “Southern Silk Road.” The exhibit and some noteworthy examples of move on to other sites in the concludes with Kiziltur (just south Hellenistic artistic influences, the eastern Tarim Basin and Turfan of the Tien Shan Mountains near real interest is the material culture region (notably Subexi and Kuqa) and sites in the Ili River of clay, wood, grains and animal Yanghai). The spectacular Valley [Fig. 4], where the artifacts products such as bone and wool. “Yingpan Man” [Fig. 11, p. 4 range from striking first- As the curators recognize, a millennium BCE bronzes [Fig. 5, limitation of the selection is that facing page; no. 185] to the gold most artifacts come from burials burial mask unearthed with other [Fig. 2], not from settlement sites, Turkic period artifacts at Boma [for few of which have been located an image, see p. 26 below]. and studied. It is somewhat ironic that the chronological desig- The site at Xiaohe (“Little nations for so many of the artifacts River”; nos. 3-36) may serve to are Chinese dynastic dates, even illustrate both the promise of the though so little of the indigenous ongoing archaeological work in culture displayed here had much Xinjiang and the challenges to of anything to do with China proper scientific study of the except by the accident of politics material. Although discovered, it which finds the archaeological seems, by Ördek, who had led sites within the borders of today’s Sven Hedin to Kroraina (Lou-Lan) People’s Republic. and who would much later in 1934 guide Hedin’s archaeologist Folke The decision was made to Bergman to Xiaohe, this sizeable organize the exhibition by necropolis of some 2500 square excavation site, rather than meters was not systematically © 2008 Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen attempt to preserve a strict investigated until its re-discovery chronology throughout. Thus we Fig. 3. Archaeological sites in the east- ern Tarim Basin and in the Turfan re- in 2000. At that time, a kind of gion.
2 find and its GIS coordinates became known (Mair 2006). Unfortunately the radioactivity in the area, due to nuclear testing, has made it impossible to obtain 14C dates. Although now desert, Xiaohe must have been created in a period when the region was well watered. The boat-shaped coffins include both human remains and “substitute” figures made of organic materials. The burial of “substitute” figures or placing of anthropoid sculptures in or near the graves was not uncommon at other sites as well [Fig. 8; exhibit no. 57]. The wooden poles and “paddles” marking the graves at Xiaohe, as well as certain other objects, suggest a ritual concern over fertility and reproduction. As is the case though with so many other archaeological sites, we can only guess at the meaning of many objects — for example [Fig. 9, China Region, Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous © Cultural next page; no. 6], a small long- Fig. 8. Mask made of clay and wood, nosed wooden mask attached to Yanghai, Burial Site II, Tomb 2063, ca. 5th century BCE. the chest of a elderly woman whose attire included a striking felt cap and fur boots. Graves at known, and a perfectly preserved © Cultural Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China Region, Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous © Cultural Xiaohe contained delicately woven compound bow, arrows and arm Fig. 5. Bronze figure. 71 - baskets or sieves, throwing darts guard from Subexi (nos. 77, 78). Tuanchang, Burial Site, 5th-3rd cen- bound with feathers, arrows, raw Among the most important tury BCE. sheep’s wool and woolen textiles. exhibits are some of those which make the least striking visual “salvage archaeology” became Of particular interest are a 5th- impression. For example, there necessary [cf. Figs. 6, 7], to stay century BCE five-stringed is a rare 5th century BCE ahead of the looters, who were at Konghou harp found at Yanghai earthenware bellows valve from work as soon as the news of the (no. 69), the oldest such yet Figs. 6, 7. Chinese excavations in © Cultural Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China Xinjiang.
3 offerings, including meat cubes and millet; a pouch from Sampula (no. 129), dated to the Han Dynasty era, contains millet biscuits. Among the numerous examples of pottery are a rare early 2nd-mil- lennium BCE vessel decorated with an image of a man and a woman (geometric designs are the more common), a unique 5th century BCE twin cup (no. 73), and a rare, for Sampula, wheel-turned © Cultural Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur © Cultural China Region, Autonomous earthenware jug Fig. 9. Mask, willow wood, with strings, textile fibers and red paint, (no.125). Spindles with Xiaohe, Tomb C, Bronze Age (ca. carved weights may be 2200-1100 BCE. common enough (nos. 95, 97), but rarely do Yanghai (no. 61), part of the they preserve traces of equipment needed for smelting yarn. Thread spools (no. ore. A set of bowls (no. 79) from 127) (possibly originally th rd Subexi, dating from the 5 -3 attached to a loom?) are centuries BCE, contains food unusual.
Fig. 10. Details of textiles on The most vivid “Yingpan Man.” memory of the exhi- bition for me is the quality and variety of the textiles. Naturally, one’s attention is drawn to Yingpan Man [Figs. 10, 11] and the now well known fragment of a large wall hanging with Hellenistic motifs from which trousers were sewn for a burial at Sampula [Fig. 12, facing page; no. 113].3 Un- doubtedly the garments in those graves were sewn specifically for the burials, as were some other objects (socks, gloves). However, for the most part we are seeing what appear to
have been every-day China Region, Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous © Cultural clothes, some soiled or worn from wear. There Fig. 11. Burial outfit of a deceased man, Yingpan, are trousers, skirts, Tomb 15, Eastern Han to Jin Period (25-420 CE); wool and silk. kaftans, shirt fronts, and hats. The great majority are showing an exquisite ribbed mesh crafted from wool, some examples weave technique. Some of the
© Cultural Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China Region, Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous © Cultural (e.g., the caps, nos. 86, 87) weaves are plain; others brightly
4 woven bands mounted its Afghan treasures depicting bac- exhibition last year in Paris. trian camels, Apart from the Silk Road trees or fan- exhibition in Mannheim, I would tastic creatures strongly recommend that those (nos. 102, 104, interested in archaeology visit the 106, and 117). excellent Palatinate Museum in There is at least historic Heidelberg, only 15 one textile minutes away on the train. There fragment (no. one can enjoy a rich collection of 152), probably pre-historic and Roman period imported, with material. If your calendar an unusual ta- excludes Mannheim before June, queté weaving then at very least obtain the technique. catalogue of the Silk Road exhibit With one pos- (Ursprünge 2007), in which you sible exception can view the objects and read a (no. 96), all the number of interesting essays, silks date from including one on daily life in the the Han Dyn- early Xinjiang communities written asty period or by Dr. Ulf Jäger, a contributor to later. this journal. And in the meantime, The spa- enjoy on the pages below a ciousness of substantial amount of new the display information about other dis- area is one of coveries which are expanding our the great vir- knowledge about cultures of the tues of the silk roads, their pre-history, and exhibition. their legacy down to the present. These often quite ordinary Daniel C. Waugh clothes of or- Professor Emeritus dinary people The University of Washington, are not rele- Seattle gated to ob-
© Cultural Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China Region, Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous © Cultural and the Mystery of the Earliest the exhibit Peoples from the West. London: Fig. 12. Trouser fragment, made, apparently, from a large before its for- Thames and Hudson, 2000. wall hanging, Sampula, Tomb I, Han Period (206 BCE- mal opening 220CE). The provenance of the textile is uncertain. hour, but even Ursprünge 2007 once the public Ursprünge der Seidenstraße: colored (e.g., no. 99, a dress with began to arrive, I never felt that I Sensationelle Neufunde aus brown skirt but bright red and blue was being hurried along by crowds Xinjiang, China, Alfried Wieczorek checker pattern top and red as had been the case in the and Christoph Lind, eds. piping). Of particular interst are cramped and poorly laid out space Stuttgart: Konrad Theiss Verlag, several skirts from Sampula with in which the Musée Guimet 2007. ISBN 978-3-8062-2160-2.
5 Notes organizers, my images here are limited to the few publicity photos 1. The curatorial team for the made available by the Cultural exhibition was headed by Dr. Heritage Bureau of the Xinjiang Christoph Lind; apart from the Uighur Autonomous Region, Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen in China. The item numbers are Mannheim, the presenters in- those in the caption list kindly sent cluded the Martin-Gropius-Bau me by Dr. Christoph Lind; I Berlin and the Eurasia Department assume they correspond to the of the German Archaeological published catalogue numbers, Institute. Funding was provided which I have not yet had the by several institutional and opportunity to check. corporate sponsors. The ex- 3. The Sampula textile was also hibition objects are from the part of the Metropolitan Museum’s Cultural Heritage Bureau of the exhibition “China: Dawn of a Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Golden Age, 200-750 AD”; see Region, China.
Fig. 13. Gold foil belt buckle ornament depicting a griffin attacking a tiger, Jiaohe-Gou Bei, Tomb 1-mb, Han period (206 BCE- 220 CE).
6 The ‘Silk Roads’ Concept Reconsidered: About Transfers, Transportation and Transcontinental Interactions in Prehistory
Hermann Parzinger branch left the northern route at Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz Turfan and continued in a northwesterly direction towards Berlin southeastern Kazakhstan (Semi- rechye). Today’s widely used designation, dictated the route to be taken. the “Silk Road,” goes back to the Therefore a knowledge of the Northern and southern routes German scholar Ferdinand von geographical framework is converged in Kashgar in western Richthofen, who travelled essential for understanding the Xinjiang, whence the main extensively in China during the distribution of cultures and their connection to the west crossed the second half of the 19th century. He contacts since earliest times. western fringes of the Tian Shan formulated the term “the silk as well as the Pamir range to attain The eastern terminus of the roads” (Höllmann 2004, 37; the Ferghana basin. Despite low classical, major route of the silk Waugh 2007). In doing so, he precipitation, the fruitfulness of roads was the old imperial city chose the plural form, being quite the Ferghana basin is ensured by Chang’an (Xi’an) in northern China cognisant that not just one single rivers that are fed by the melted (Höllmann 2004; Debaine- track was involved, but a widely snow and ice from the surrounding Francfort and Idriss 2000; Baumer branching and ancient trans- mountains. The most important 2002). The track ran westward continental network of east-west route left the Ferghana and crossed the Huangho (Yellow transportation and communica- basin, passing through the River) in the province of Gansu, tion. Yet, now, at the beginning of Tashkent oasis to Sogdia, where whence it then led further to the the 21st century the plural form is it traversed the Zeravshan valley, northwest [Fig. 1]. At the nearly forgotten; instead, the bridged the Amu Darya river, and, southwestern reaches of the Gobi singular form, the Silk Road, is after crossing the Karakum desert, desert the main road forked into commonly used to designate what progressed across the northern a southern and a northern route. Richthofen meant. In fact, the Iranian highlands ultimately to The southern route ran parallel to plural is more correct and reflects reach Mesopotamia and the the Kunlun mountain range along more precisely what this Mediterranean Sea. There was the southern fringe of the transcontinental travel and undoubtedly also a route that Taklamakan in the region now communication network really circumvented the Caspian Sea to known as Xinjiang. The northern was. This system of travel and the north and then advanced track first crossed the Gobi desert, trade routes is indeed ancient and across the Eurasian steppe. then circumvented the northern developed over millennia. rim of the Taklamakan, following The development of this Archaeological evidence, which is the Tian Shan mountains. A complex and widely branching our focus here, has greatly extended our knowledge of the cultural exchange across Eurasia from prehistoric times and demonstrates the antiquity of this network.
The geographical setting of the silk roads: barriers and routes
The natural environment of the regions through which the silk roads proceeded is exceedingly varied. High, precipitous moun- tains covered with snow and seemingly endless deserts were obstacles along the silk roads. Copyright © 2008 Hermann Parzinger These natural barriers often Fig. 1. The “Silk Roads” and other trading routes crossing Central Asia.
7 1992; Parzinger 2006). As many other prehistoric cultures, it is mainly defined by its material remains, especially a rather specific pottery with different S- shaped vessels and incised geometric ornaments [Fig. 3, facing page]. Bronze metallurgy and stock breeding are typical features of this culture, although their roots date back to the 3rd millennium BCE. Tin bronzes had been invented even before the Middle Bronze Age, but the Andonovo culture is connected with the first large scale Copyright © 2008 Hermann Parzinger production of jewellery, weapons Fig. 2. Map of the Andronovo culture and its diffusion south- and eastwards and instruments made of tin nd during the Late Early and Middle Bronze Age (first half of the 2 millennium bronze (Chernykh 1992; Parzinger BCE). 2006) [Fig. 3]. Sheep, goats, transportation network – that is, communication network that cattle and horses were the emergence of the silk roads – linked them appears, a network widespread, and stock breeding cannot be dated with certainty. that in its beginnings as well as was the economic basis of the Historical sources scarcely aid in much later enabled migrations of Andronovo population. Not only reconstructing this wearisome population groups as well as the the horse, but also the camel was process. For example, in China transfer of goods and knowledge. of crucial importance for the Zhang Qian is considered the mobility of this culture, and the “progenitor” of the silk roads. He Between north and south: the camel even enabled the was an imperial envoy who role of Andronovo herdsmen Andronovo population to cross journeyed twice to the west in the and metallurgists large and extremely dry areas. late 2nd century BCE. During his From the steppe and forest-steppe travels he was in Ferghana and Looking back into the depths of regions between the Ural and the reached the upper Amu Darya prehistory – and that we must do, Yenisei rivers we know a lot about (Höllmann 2004). The information if we wish to study the emergence settlements of this period, some which Zhang Qian gathered about of the silk roads – we depend of them rather large. Clearly, these distant trans-Pamir regions exclusively upon archaeological sedentary life was quite drew close attention at the sources. Long-distance relations in developed, but the question of the Chinese imperial court. Yet it is the area of the later silk roads had degree to which agriculture was rather improbable that Zhang Qian always been present, perceptible known is still open. Part of the was really the first Chinese who to varying degrees of clarity in Andronovo population was not ever reached these areas; more archaeological contexts. The concentrated in villages but lived likely, his report is the first that migration of certain groups of as mobile herdsmen. has been preserved. peoples along natural trails, later During the first half of the 2nd utilized for the silk roads, can be The travel and communication millennium BCE mobile groups of delineated with increasing networks across Central Asia this Andronovo culture wandered confidence in the first half of the which were described later as the to the south. They survived the dry 2nd millennium BCE. During this “silk roads” were neither an steppes and deserts of Middle period diverse regional groups of achievement of the ancient world Asia, some groups ultimately the Andronovo culture had spread nor even the medieval world. Their reaching the area of the Namazga into distant parts of Eurasia. From beginnings lie long before the VI culture in southern Turk- their origins in present-day millennium in which Buddhism menistan and others the territory western Siberia and northern emerged. The fact that com- of the Sapalli culture in Bactria. Kazakhstan, they expanded their paratively little is known today Both the Namazga VI and the territory to the east as far as the about these early times is Sapalli cultures are fundamentally Yenisei River [Fig. 2]. primarily due to an insufficient different from Andronovo. In amount of research, which The Andronovo culture is a southern Turkmenistan (Namazga however has been expanding year widely spread cultural complex, VI) as well as in southwestern by year. The more knowledge representing the Middle Bronze Uzbekistan (Sapalli) quite a large gained about the early cultures of Age in a great part of the eastern number of tell settlements have Central Asia, the older the Eurasian steppe belt (Chernykh been investigated. Both cultures
8 Zeravshan valley in Sogdia, the Ferghana basin, the Tashkent oasis and Semirechye in southeastern Kazakhstan were integrated into the sphere of the Andronovo cultural community, and thenceforth they followed the development in the steppe farther north rather than that in areas of oases to the south.
The reasons for the southern expansion of the Andronovo culture, with some of its groups moving even farther south to the borders of Iran and Afghanistan, are unknown. Nonetheless, it is remarkable that the appearance of the Andronovo culture in Middle Asia was always associated with metallurgical activities (Chernykh 1992; Parzinger 2006). Numerous artifacts and other evidence point towards mining as well as the processing of ores. Prehistoric mines and settlements in which ores were extracted and processed, ascribable to the Andronovo culture, are known in areas in the modern states of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Moreover, not only copper ores were mined, but also tin – that indispensable component for the production of bronze. Whereas copper ores were available farther north in the region of the Ural mountains and elsewhere, the Fig. 3. Typical pottery and bronze objects of the Andronovo culture much coveted tin was found only in Siberia and Kazakhstan. After Parzinger 2006. in Middle Asia. The exploitation of tin in the Zeravshan valley and in are characterized by complex At the protourban center of eastern Kazakhstan by the societies, living in early urban Gonur in Margiana, one of the Andronovo culture has been centres with public buildings, most important sites of Namazga confirmed (Parzinger and Boroffka sanctuaries, workshop areas, VI culture in southeastern 2003). Although objects made of living quarters and even Turkmenistan, a temporary camp tin bronze are already known prior fortifications (Kohl 1984, 1992). of mobile Andronovo herdsmen to this time, they were first Irrigation enabled their popu- existed in the immediate vicinity produced on a large scale by lations to develop agriculture with of this large, coeval tell settlement craftsmen of the Andronovo field crops and even garden (Hiebert 1994). This shows that culture and thence became products. The centers of these individual Andronovo groups lived widespread in all of western cultures concentrate in the oases near these central communities of Siberia and Middle Asia. The of the large Central Asian river the south, yet without causing any peoples of the Andronovo culture valleys, surrounded by dry steppe change in these more advanced were not only herdsmen, but they or desert. Although there was as cultures. Areas in the north of were also highly experienced yet no writing, Namazga VI and Middle Asia, by contrast, were miners and adept metalworkers. Sapalli cultures are part of the broadly settled by Andronovo Possibly it was the abundance of northeastern periphery of the groups. At that time Khwarezm on ores in those particular mountain Ancient Near East. the lower Amu Darya river, the ranges in Middle Asia that
9 China and southeastern Kazakhstan continued. Necro- polises in Dzungaria yield pottery that displays little recognisable similarity to that of cultures in central and southern Xinjiang and in Gansu; instead it can be assigned to the sphere of the Late Bronze Age Karasuk and in particular Begazy-Dandybay cultures in southern Siberia and Fig. 4. Andronovo pottery from Sazi in Xinjiang. After Mei 2000. Kazakhstan (Mei 2000). So these populations of the late 2nd attracted the Andronovo culture to The Andronovo culture played millennium BCE followed the same the south. a central role in the dissemination routes to the south as had the Andronovo groups previously. Yet Farther south in Xinjiang, of the knowledge of bronze movements of these northern during the period of the Afanasevo metallurgy in wide parts of cultures farther south cannot be and Okunev cultures of the 3rd and Eurasia. Therefore, it seems detected, the archaeological beginning of the 2nd millennium reasonable to assume that the evidence thus suggesting that BCE, there are signs of contact culture’s penetration into Xinjiang migrations from the north to the with the steppe cultures of the exerted considerable influence south started becoming less north. The latter extended as far upon the beginnings of metallurgy intensive. This is one of the basic east as Gansu, as evidenced by there and possibly in neighbouring changes connected with the certain bronze objects of the Gansu, through which its effects transition from the Middle Sejma-Turbino type from the Qijia were felt even farther in central (Andronovo) to the Late Bronze culture (Debaine-Francfort 1995). areas of China. However, more Age (Karasuk, Begazy-Dandybay) Yet it was not until the first half of research must be conducted first in Middle Asia around the middle the 2nd millennium BCE that in order better to comprehend and of the 2nd millennium BCE. Andronovo groups from explain these connections. southeastern Kazakhstan slowly Meanwhile a large part of the penetrated the Dzungarian basin Between east and west: the regions of the so-called silk roads by means of the Ili River valley, emergence of new cultures was less influenced from the thereby making use of a route that north. Cultures of the more later was one of the northern During the following centuries, southerly parts of Central Asia branches of the silk roads (Mei from the mid 2nd to the start of became dominant and changed 2000). This passageway through the 1st millennium BCE, ties the cultural picture of the whole the mountains made it easy to between the north and the south, area [Fig. 5]. At that time there reach China from Middle Asia especially between northwestern was a characteristic handmade, without over- coming high pass- es or impene- trable deserts. Dzungarian cemeteries such as Sazi have revealed typical Andronovo pottery [Fig. 4], while bronze objects of the Andronovo type are known in the entire region. So it seems that Dzungaria was a part of the large Andronovo cultural sphere during the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Copyright © 2008 Hermann Parzinger Fig. 5. Late Bronze Age cultures in Central Asia in late 2nd and early 1st millennium BCE.
10 the immigration of foreign peoples was presumed to be the cause of this break in ceramic development. Yet their origin cannot be determined with certainty. Further, because cultures with similar material possessions were present in the Tashkent oasis (Burgulyuk) and in the Ferghana basin (Chust) [Fig. 5], with comparable material reported from Xinjiang as well, one is inclined to presume that these groups advanced from east to west through the Ferghana valley. In other words, the movement was in the opposite direction to that of the spread of metalworking a few centuries before.
Comparison of the structures of these cultures demonstrates that the urban-like oasis settlements Fig. 6. Handmade painted pottery from Xinjiang. After Mei 2000. with mudbrick architecture and irrigated agriculture are the painted pottery, widespread areas had used exlusively primary characteristics of the Iron between the Caspian Sea and monochrome wheelmade wares, Age Oxus culture, which is based China [Fig. 6]. Hence it has become of considerable interest to study the patterns of distribution and directions of dissemination, especially since the cultures in question occupied areas through which the silk roads later passed. Debates about the evidence intensified when in recent years improved research in Xinjiang discovered cultures connected with this handmade, painted pottery. The question is not simply where was the new pottery produced first and how it spread. What is far more crucial is the question as to whether the spread of this pottery can be connected with other cultural developments and population groups.
Research has recently linked cultures with handmade, painted wares found in western Central Asia with an “Iron Age Oxus culture,” which includes the groups Jaz in southern Turkmenistan, Tillia in northern Afghanistan and Kuchuk in southeastern Uzbek- istan [Fig. 7] (Francfort 2001; Shaidullaev 2002; Parzinger 2006). Since previously these Fig. 7. Handmade painted pottery from Kuchuk in Uzbekistan. After Shaidullaev 2002.
11 other regions – the coexistence and symbiotic relationship of peoples living in urban centers and farming irrigated fields together with nomadic stock-raisers in the environs of the oases are well- attested. Mounted nomads appeared in other parts of Central Asia as well (Parzinger 2006). There are convincing parallels between bronze objects found in many areas of Xinjiang [Fig. 8] and those in southern Siberia and even in the Ordos region – in particular, specific types of knives, daggers, arrowheads, horse-gear, mirrors and decorative fittings. The last often display the so called animal-style ornament (Tierstil), that is so typical of the nomad horsemen of the older Iron Age (Mei 2000; Parzinger 2006). Such evidence also appears along a branch of the later silk roads that leads from the western Takla- makan over the Karakorum range to the upper course of the Indus River and ultimately to the broad Indus plain in the south. In recent years increasing Fig. 8. Objects of “Scythian” character from Xinjiang. After Mei 2000. numbers of finds from cemeteries of nomadic riders of the 1st upon an uninterrupted tradition branching network of long- millennium BCE in the Karakorum from the Bronze Age. By contrast, distance travel and communi- area show a clear connection to only elements of this cultural cation routes had not already been material from Xinjiang as well as system are found in cultures present. It is surely no coincidence southern Siberia. The famous farther east. This does not refute that this network already golden necklace from Pattan in the presumed immigration of new foreshadows the underlying northern Pakistan, decorated all groups to Bactria and further features of the later silk roads. over with the typical animal style westwards to southern Turk- images (Rahman 1990), seems to menistan (Margiana), who might The first mounted nomads: a be a close parallel to the golden have brought handmade, painted new dimension in mobility necklace which we found in 2001 vessels. However, the achieve- The first millennium BCE saw the in the Scythian elite burial at ments of the Iron Age Oxus emergence in the Eurasian steppe Arzhan in Tuva [Fig. 9], not too culture in the first instance of mounted nomadism and a con- Copyright © V. Terebenin, State Her- emerged from indigenous older comitant mitage Museum, St. Petersburg. traditions and not primarily as a greater result of influences coming by way mobility of Xinjiang and Ferghana. (Parzinger Be that as it may, it is 2004; noteworthy that the change which Lebedynsky the Iron Age Oxus culture and the 2006). In other groups with handmade, large areas of painted pottery illustrate was Central Asia – complete at about the same time e.g. in Turk- –after the middle of the 2nd menistan, millennium BCE – in almost all of Bactria, Central Asia. This result certainly Sogdia, would not have been possible if a Khwarezm, comprehensive and widely Ferghana and Fig. 9. The golden necklace from Arzhan 2 in Tuva, a masterpiece of Siberian animal style. 12 far from the present Russian- Mongolian border (Chugunov, Parzinger and Nagler 2003; 2006). Many other similar examples can be adduced, all of which confirm that during the 1st millennium BCE the mobility of people and the network of cultural interactions gained a new dimension. Likewise, during this period and in the following centuries, but above all in the Christian era, the Upper Indus area was traversed in both directions by countless merchants and pilgrims. This is evident from large numbers of rock inscriptions written in Sogdian, Brahmi, Kharosthi, Persian, Hebrew, Tibetan, Chinese and other languages and scripts, as well as petroglyphs and stupas from the Buddhist period Copyright © 2008 Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin (Höllmann 2004). Bronze objects Fig. 10. The mummy of a mounted warrior, preserved in the permafrost of the Mongolian Altai at Olon-Kurin-Gol 10. typical of nomad horsemen, which belong to the greater sphere of Xinjiang in the 6th–8th century CE. aside from fur, felt, wool and other material culture of the older Iron However, the problem of the materials, silk played a prominent Age attributed to the Scythians, Tocharians is thus far surrounded role. The nearly complete are indicative of the many by too many speculations and too wardrobe of trousers, skirts, influences from the Eurasian little clear evidence. The fact blouses, jackets and coats steppe. These spread rapidly remains that in almost the whole includes as well socks and boots, within Central Asia precisely via of the Eurasian steppe belt the and hood-, hat- or helm-like head the long-distance network for majority of the older Iron Age apparel (Polos’mak & Barkova travel and communication, itself mounted nomads was a European 2005; Polos’mak et al. 2006). The rooted in Bronze Age and even population, supplemented by last includes peculiar pillar-like older traditions. merely a few Mongolian indi- hats found in graves of females. viduals, who only later, above all Recent discoveries in the In addition to the afore- in the Christian era, came to be a Mongolian Altai from a permafrost mentioned bronzes a further dominant element in the grave at Olon-Kurin-Gol [Fig. 10], source of material from Xinjiang population of Central Asia. Thus, excavated by a joint German- must be emphasized, which the discovery of European Russian-Mongolian expedition illuminates the culture of that time mummies in Xinjiang is by no (Heinken 2007), confirmed these in a special manner. In the means surprising. close relations between north and cemeteries there the deceased south and showed that the were buried in tree coffins, in Yet, even more decisive than Pazyryk culture extended much containers made of reed or simply the anthropological characteri- farther to the southeast than was in shallow pits. The favourable zation of the mummies is the fact previously known [Fig. 11, next conditions in the dry desert sand that due to the excellent page]. of the Taklamakan resulted in the preservation of the clothing and excellent preservation of the dead accessories, it is possible to make It is astounding that these as well as their whole attire and a detailed reconstruction of their examples of costume, which funerary gifts of organic material attire. And here there are usually are never preserved, (Debaine-Francfort & Idriss 2000). surprisingly close similarities to manifest many more and closer As these desiccated mummies finds of the Scythian period similarities between Xinjiang and exhibit unmistakable European recovered from the frozen kurgans southern Siberia than do other features, the theory has of the Pazyryk culture in the Altai categories of finds. Hence, we are frequently been asserted that Mountains (Polos’mak 2001). The confronted with a conspicuous these were Proto-Tocharians, coincidence relates to the type of uniformity in clothing that extends ancestors of the later Indo- clothing as well as to its over a large area. Occasionally Germanic Tocharians, whom some ornamentation, color and these findings correlate with a believe could be localised in technique of production. Thus, general Indo-Iranian substratum
13 Turkmenistan to network with many branches and northwestern China. countless trails, all of which This new ware contributed in the same manner reflects a cultural to the spread of groups of peoples change, which could and the transmission of hardly have been knowledge, techniques, wares, achieved so rapidly religious ideas and forms of artistic and uniformly with- expression. Again and again out a well-func- changes took place among the tioning and broadly cultures involved in this web, branching network whereby the manner, direction of communication. A and intensity of change were web of intersecting dependent upon the most diverse relations between factors, which cannot always be
Fig. 11. Typical wooden carvings of the Pazyryk cul- © 2008 Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin north and south and reconstructed today. ture, found at Olon-Kurin-Gol 10 in the Mongolian in particular with a During recent centuries the Altai. northeast- significance of this travel and in the region. But textiles and furs southwest orientation can be communication network has were always important com- recognised through the finds left diminished greatly. In the late 19th modities of trade in Central Asia. by mounted nomads of the 1st century Russian and British Written sources verify this in later millennium BCE. The astonishing territorial interests collided in the periods in a compelling manner, similarities in attire, observable in area. For a lengthy part of the 20th and the situation was probably no general and even in details and century the millennia-old routes different during the pre-Christian found in distantly separated areas were cut off through the era. Fabrics were often traded in do not necessarily point to ethnic confrontation between the eastern the form of complete garments relationships, but rather to an and western political blocs and to too. Thus, the question arises as intensive exchange of furs, textiles no lesser a degree by the Iron to whether the similarities in and even garments. And it was at Curtain between the former Soviet costume found between Xinjiang this time that silk first played an Union and China. Only in recent and southern Siberia are to be important role. years has a serious opportunity to connected with members of one The examples presented here revivify the silk roads emerged: as and the same group of languages illustrate three main points. Firstly, a fascinating subject of further or people, or may not rather the roots of this network of long- research, and, in its original, reflect an increasingly intensive distance travel and com- millennia-long function, as a exchange of goods and in- munication routes that spanned all medium for the exchange of goods formation along the silk roads, of Central Asia reach back into the and ideas and the peaceful where the mobility of people pre-Buddhist past. The network encounter between people of reached a new dimension. developed continuously different nationality, skin colour throughout the millennia before and religion. Conclusions attaining the form in which it is known in Antiquity and the Middle Note: This essay is based on a The evidence of archaeology alone Ages as the “silk roads.” Secondly, keynote address delivered on 7 is sufficient to demonstrate the whereas in later historical periods October 2005 to the Ferdinand von existence of a widely branching gun powder, book printing, the Richthofen Symposium 2005 at network of travel and com- manufacture of porcelain and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. munication in Eurasia starting as many other things were early as the 2nd millennium BCE. transported via the silk roads About the author This can be seen in the penetration mainly from the East to the West, of Andronovo groups into the spread of knowledge and Hermann Parzinger studied Dzungaria and the ensuing spread products during Prehistory seems Prehistory in Munich, Saarbrücken of bronze metallurgy into to have been much more complex, and Ljubljana (Slovenia). As northwestern and northern China, using the same routes, but in Director at the German a transfer of technical knowledge different and continuously Archaeological Institute he from the northwest to the changing directions. And thirdly, founded its Eurasian Department southeast. A few centuries later it becomes evident that this and directed research projects in handmade, painted pottery network does not concern just one Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan, appears relatively suddenly and road or even a few main tracks, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Siberia and almost at the same time but – as in the sense of the original Mongolia. Since 1996 he has throughout the vast area definition by Ferdinand von taught Prehistory at the Free extending from southern Richthofen – an expansive University in Berlin, and in 1998
14 he was the first archaeologist to Debaine-Francfort and Idriss 2000 International Series 865. Oxford: receive the Leibniz Prize, the Corinne Debaine-Francfort and Archaeopress, 2000. highest scientific award in Abduressul Idriss. Kériya, mémoires Parzinger 2004 Germany. In 2003 he was elected d’un fleuve. Archéologie et civilisation Hermann Parzinger. Die Skythen. President of the German des oasis du Taklamakan. Paris, 2000. München: C. H. Beck, 2004. Archaeological Institute, and in Francfort 2001 March 2008 he became President Parzinger 2006 of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Henri-Paul Francfort. “The Cultures Hermann Parzinger. Die frühen Völker Foundation, which is one of the with Painted Ceramics of South Central Eurasiens. Vom Neolithikum bis zum largest cultural complexes Asia and Their Relations with the Mittelalter. München: C. H. Beck, 2006. nd worldwide. His main scientific Northeastern Steppe Zone (Late 2 – st Parzinger and Boroffka 2003 interests are the phenomena of Early 1 Millenium BC).” In: Ricardo Hermann Parzinger and Nikolaus G.O. cultural contacts in Prehistory, the Eichmann and Hermann Parzinger, eds. Boroffka. Das Zinn der Bronzezeit in beginning of sedentary life and Migration und Kulturtransfer. Der Mittelasien I. Die siedlungs- agriculture in Europe and Anatolia, Wandel vorder- und zentralasiatischer archäologischen Forschungen im the early history of metals and Kulturverhältnisse im Umbruch vom 2. Umland der Zinnlagerstätten. metallurgy and the emergence of zum 1. vorchristlichen Jahrtausend. Archäologie in Iran und Turan 5. Mainz: mounted nomadism in Eurasia. He Kolloquien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte Philipp von Zabern, 2003. is member of several Academies 6. Bonn: Habelt, 2001, pp. 231-236. of Sciences and author of more Hiebert 1994 Polos’mak 2001 than 12 books and 200 articles. Fredrik T. Hiebert. Origins of the Bronze Nataliia V. Polos’mak. Vsadniki Ukoka Age Oasis Civilization in Central Asia. (The Horsemen of the Ukok). Cambridge, Mass.: Peabody Museum Novosibirsk: Infolio-press, 2001. References of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Polos’mak and Barkova 2005 Baumer 2002 University, 1994. Nataliia V. Polos’mak and L. L. Barkova. Christoph Baumer. Die südliche Heinken 2007 Kostium i tekstil’ pazyryktsev Altaia Seidenstraße. Inseln im Sandmeer. Siebo Heinken.”Der Krieger vom Altai. (IV-III vv. do n. e.) (Costume and th rd Versunkene Kulturen der Wüste Was eine Mumie aus der Skythenzeit Textiles of the Altai Pazyryks [4 -3 Taklamakan. Zaberns Bildbände der über die Geschichte eines antiken centuries BCE]). Novosibirsk: Infolio- Archäologie. Sonderbände der Antiken Steppenvolks erzählt.” National press, 2005. Welt. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 2002. Geographic (Deutschland) 2007, no. 6 Polos’mak et al. 2006 (Juni): 116-129. Chernykh 1992 Nataliia V. Polos’mak et al., Tekstil’ iz Evgenii Nikolaevich Chernykh. Ancient Höllmann 2004 ‘zamerzshikh’ mogil Gornogo Altaia IV- Metallurgy in the USSR. The Early Metal Thomas O. Höllmann. Die Seiden- III vv. do n. e. (opyt mezh- Age. Tr. Sarah Wright. New York: straße. München: C. H. Beck, 2004. distsiplinarnogo issledovaniia) (Textiles from the “frozen” tombs of the Cambridge University Press, 1992. Kohl 1984 Mountain Altai 4th-3rd centuries BCE [an Chugunov, Parzinger and Nagler 2003 Philip L. Kohl. Central Asia. Palaeolithic experiment in interdisciplinary Konstantin V. Chugunov, Hermann Beginnings to the Iron Age. Paris: research]). Novosibirsk: Izd-vo Parzinger and Anatoli Nagler.”Der Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, Sibirskogo otdeleniia RAN, 2006. 1984. skythische Fürstengrabhügel von Rahman 1990 Arzhan 2 in Tuva.” Eurasia Antiqua 9 Kohl 1992 S. Rahman. “Unique Find of Gold (2003): 113-162. Philip Kohl. “Central Asia (Western Ornaments from Pattan/Kohistan.” Chugunov, Parzinger and Nagler 2006 Turkestan): Neolithic to Early Iron Age.” Journal of Central Asia 12 (1990): 5- In: Robert W. Ehrich, ed. Chronologies Konstantin V. Chugunov, Hermann 35. in Old World Archaeology. Chicago; Parzinger and Anatoli Nagler. Der Shaidullaev 2002 London: University of Chicago Press, Goldschatz von Arzhan. Ein 1992, pp. 179-195. Sh. Shaidullaev. “Die früheisen- Fürstengrab der Skythenzeit in der zeitlichen Siedlungslandschaften in südsibirischen Steppe. München: Lebedynsky 2006 Nordbaktrien.” Archäologie in Iran und Schirmer/Mosel, 2006. Iaroslav Lebedynsky. Les Saces. Les Turan 34 (2002): 243-340. “Scythes” d’Asie, VIIIe siècle av. J.-C. Debaine-Francfort 1995 Waugh 2007 – IVe siècle apr. J.-C. Paris: Editions Corinne Debaine-Francfort. Du Daniel C. Waugh. “Richthofen’s ‘Silk Errance, 2006. Néolithique à l’âge du Bronze en Chine Roads’: Toward the Archaeology of a du Nord-Ouest: la culture de Qijia et Mei 2000 Concept.” The Silk Road 5/1 (2007): ses connexions. Mémoires de la Mission Jianjun Mei. Copper and Bronze 1-10. On-line at:
15 The Dream and the Glory: Integral Salvage of the Nanhai No. 1 Shipwreck and Its Significance Xu Yongjie position of the wreck roughly Zhongshan University, mapped. In April 2001, a Guangzhou, China collaborative investigation (involving the Underwater The morning of 22 December 2007 Archaeology Research Center of saw the integral raising from the China and the Guangdong seabed of the steel caisson Institute of Archaeology and containing the Nanhai No. 1 Relics) drew an exact map of the shipwreck [Fig. 1]. One week after site. Subsequent study included that exciting moment, on 28 the geophysical exploration, December, the huge caisson was underwater investigation and brought into the newly established the excavation of small-scale Marine Silk Road Museum on test pits in October 2001, March Hailing Island, Guangdong 2002, August, 2002, January Province [Fig. 2]. The completion 2003, and May 2004. Aside from of the Integral Salvage Project of Fig. 1. The caisson containing Nanhai the sunken wreck’s hull, the Nanhai No. 1 was the dream of No.1 being lifted out of the sea. freeboard and the cabin, the Chinese underwater archae- researchers also found a ologists come true! number of fine artifacts: more than 4,000 pieces of Nanhai No. 1 (South China Sea unbroken ceramics, some No. 1) was a merchant ship of the lacquerware, stone imple- Song Dynasty (Northern Song, ments, ironware, bronze, 960-1127; Southern Song, 1127- sycees, a large quantity of 1279 CE) which sank in the South copper coins and so on. Sea of China 800 years ago. It was discovered by accident when the The underwater archae- Guangzhou Salvage Bureau and a ological investigations British salvage company co- showed that Nanhai No.1, a operated in searching for a very large ship with a sharp shipwreck of the East India Fig. 2. The caisson being transported to Fig. 3. The porcelain bowl and Company in August 1987. More the Marine Silk Road Museum. pot; the gilded belt. than 200 objects, such as Song and Yuan porcelains, a gold belt [Fig. 3] and silver sycee (an ingot used for currency) [Fig. 4, facing page] came out of the sunken ship. Further analysis led to the conclusion that the ship was a merchant boat of the Song-Yuan period sailing on the marine Silk Road. A series of underwater archaeological investigations began. In November 1989, the Underwater Archaeological Survey Team of the South China Sea’s Shipwrecks, including specialists from the National Museum of Chinese History and the Japanese Institute of Underwater Archae- ology, conducted the first study of the shipwreck. Some shards of porcelain were collected and the All photographs © 2008 Guangdong Provincial Institute of © 2008 Guangdong Provincial All photographs and Archaeology Relics Cultural
16 600 tons and a Zhejiang, the Dehua Kiln and the cargo capacity of Cizao Kiln of Fujian, and the 800 tons. It dates Jingdezhen Kiln of Jiangxi. most probably to the Specialists have identified some Song Dynasty. The noted products like the misty blue hull of the sunken wares of Jingdezhen [Figs. 7, 8], ship was oriented to the whitewares of Dehua [Figs. 5, the southwest, 6], the green-glazed wares of indicating the prob- Cizao and the celadon wares of the able direction it was sailing. Fig. 4. The sycees. Fig. 7 (bottom). A qingbai-glaze bowl prow, was made of red cedar. It The bundles of ceramics in the of the Jingdezhen Type. was 30.4 m long, 9.8 m wide and ship were mainly from the famous 8 m high (excluding the height of kilns of the Southern Song Fig. 8 (top). A qingbai-glaze bowl the mast), with a displacement of Dynasty: the Longquan Kiln of of the Jingdezhen Type.
Fig. 5. A whiteware pot of the Fujian Type.
Fig. 6. A whiteware pot with a handle.
17 Longquan Kiln [Figs. 9, 10]. The very well preserved. Since the copper coins discovered in the ship cargos on the ship were kept — for example, Zhi Ping Yuan Bao primarily in the hold near the hull, •¡•½Œ³, Yuan You Tong Bao the porcelain and other relics are xxxxxx, and Huang Song Tong Bao largely intact and thus constitute •c‘v’ — mostly belonged to the a national treasure. However, the Northern Song Dynasty [Fig. 11]. hydrographic circumstances of the Surprisingly, Kai Yuan Tong Bao ship’s location are very complex. ŠJŒ³’Ê› of the Tang Dynasty (618- In order to preserve completely 907) appeared in the ship. The the all the data from the ship, the Jian Yan Tong Bao Œš‰Š’ (1127- Guangdong Province Cultural 1130) and Shao Xing Tong Bao Department organized in 2002 a Ћ»’Ê (1131-1162) of the program named Integral Salvage Southern Song Dynasty belonged and Protection Plan of the Nanhai to the latest coins in the findings No.1. The experts from the and thus provide a terminus a quo Fig. 11. Copper coins of the Song Guangdong Province Cultural for the date of the ship. Dynasty. Department, the Underwater Furthermore, several very delicate Archaeology Center of the National artifacts came out, including a and a large flared celadon bowl Museum and the Guangzhou gold belt with a garland pattern [Fig. 10]. In addition, a few exotic- Salvage Bureau discussed and looking objects are revised the program six times eye-catching, such between 2002 to 2006 and as the gold belt and presented the final plan to the a cobra’s skeleton, State Administration of Cultural indicating the Heritage. In April 2007, the breadth of cultural Integral Salvage Project of Nanhai and economic inter- No.1 officially started. In the action along the process of salvage work, the maritime silk road. Guangzhou Salvage Bureau The present esti- applied some pioneering mate, still very technologies, such as the semi- rough, suggests submersible barge and girder that there were perforation under the seabed, thus 60,000 to 80,000 guaranteeing a successful objects in the cargo. outcome. The preservation of The technique of “integral the cargo notwith- salvage” involves securing the standing, no human sunken ship, the cargo and remains have been surrounding silt in a special steel discovered so far in caisson without disturbing their the ship. original context. The process lifts Fig. 9. A petaled dish of the Longquan Type. the scattered and brittle relics at Taking into account one time and integrally so that all the data, in- they can be moved to their knitted using eight golden cluding the wreck’s position and carefully prepared “crystal palace” threads, a large gold bracelet with orientation of the hull, as well as — the Marine Silk Road Museum. a dragon pattern, a black lacquer the type, quantity and details of Once there, the underwater box with red billowing cloud inlay, the cargo, it was concluded that archaeological excavation can a sunflower-shaped bronze mirror, Nanhai No. 1 was a large Chinese proceed scientifically in the new wooden ship of the environment. This approach is Southern Song different from traditional Dynasty used for operations such as coffering overseas trade. It salvage or item-by-item salvage.1 sank for reasons The salvage of Nanhai No.1 unknown when applied the integrated methods of sailing out of port to search, excavation and protection the open sea. for what is probably the first time The hull of the in the history of underwater Nanhai No.1 is still archaeology. Although relics Fig. 10. The celadon alms bowl of the Longquan Type.
18 brought up from the ocean may one-third of the entire project. Archaeology. I appreciate greatly be mysterious and impressive, Careful excavation and pre- his generous help. their interest often enhanced by servation are still to come and are media coverage, some archae- even more important for long term About the author ologists still look down on success. Many difficult and underwater archaeology, because pressing questions must be Professor Xu Yongjie xxx its methods have obvious flaws answered: What changes will take received his degrees from Jilin compared to those of land place after sunken wreck has left University. Between 1998 and archaeology. Underwater archae- the original environment? Will the 2004, he was Deputy Director of ology usually undertakes salvage fragile ship framework fall apart the Heilongjiang Provincial item by item, and thus lacks an after the box containing the vessel Institute of Cultural Relics and accurate description and records is opened? How do we dehydrate Archaeology. Since 1994 he has regarding the original context of and desalt the wooden hull and taught Chinese Archaeology in the the submarine objects. When simultaneously minimize oxi- Department of Anthropology of judged by the standard of land dation? How do we deal with the Sun Yat-sen University in archaeology, this method may probable fissures present in the Guangzhou. He is also Visiting seem blind, capricious and porcelains which may be caused Professor at the Research Center fortuitous. The integral salvage by saline crystallization on the for Frontier Archaeology in Jilin method applied for the Nanhai glazed surface? Also, how do we University and the Visiting No.1, however, turns the deal with the tension between the Researcher at the Research Center underwater operation into one requirements of careful and of Ancient Civilization in the similar to the excavation work on extended excavation, on the one Chinese Academy of Social land, and obtains the same kind hand, and on the other the urgent Sciences. Among the important of accurate recording of data demands of the local government excavations which he has directed which is possible for underground to develop tourism? are those at the Dadiwan xxx excavation. The sinking of test Site and Donghuishan xxxx Only when we are able to solve cores and methods of underwater Graveyard in Gansu, the Xinzhou these problems can the excavation which were widely Youyao xxxx Site in Shanxi, the archaeologists obtain the full used in the past are equivalent to Fenglin xxx City Site in range of information which the the selective sinking of test pits in Heilongjiang and the Jiuxianping Nanhai No.1 contains and provide very limited land excavation. In xxxx Site in Chongqing. His satisfactory explanations of its contrast, the Nanhai No.1 Integral numerous publications include mysteries, both to address the Salvage Project has recovered the some 70 articles and the following academic concerns of scholars and relics in their entirety, just as in books: The Archaeology of Minle the general curiosity of the public. the comprehensive excavation of Donghuishan (1998); The Perhaps we will then be able to a site on land. Archaeology of Shanxi Xinzhou answer such questions as: Where Youyao (2004); Qixinghe — The The year 1987 was fruitful for was the Southern Song merchant Survey Report of the Shanjiang Chinese underwater archae- ship built? From whence did the Plain Ancient Site (The Settlement ologists, for it witnessed the ship sail and where was it headed? Archaeology of the Han-Wei Sites founding of the National Was the ship owner a Chinese or in the Qixinghe Valley) (2004); Underwater Archaeology Center in a foreign merchant? How many The Genealogy of the Later Period the Chinese Historical Museum as cargos were loaded on the ship Yangshao Culture in China’s Loess well as the discovery of Nanhai No. and what kind? How were the Plateau (2007). He can be 1. The process of excavating cabins and cargos arranged? Why contacted at
19 The Byzantine Element in the Turkic Gold Cup with the Tiger Handle Excavated at Boma, Xinjiang
Lin Ying Zhongshan University, museum, first reported the A gold cup with a tiger handle Guangzhou, China treasure and published a is especially eye-catching among preliminary study in Wenwu (An these treasures that most likely 1999). After comparing the new belonged to a Turkic chieftain or In 1997, a hoard with assorted finds with other artifacts even the qaghan himself. It is 16 exquisite gold and silver vessels unearthed in its vicinity, he dated cm high, 10.5 cm in body diameter was found by the local farmers in these precious metal works to the and weighs 725 g. The rhombus Boma, Yili (Ili) county, Xinjiang sixth or seventh century CE, that (lozenge) pattern is mold-pressed [Fig. 1]. The new finds were soon is, the late Northern Dynasty to on the whole body of the cup, and sent to the Yili County Museum. early Tang period. Concerning the oval red agate is inlaid in each An Yingxin, the director of the owner of the treasure he wrote: rhombus. A tiger sculpture is “During the sixth riveted to the upper body of the century, the Tekesi work as a handle. The tiger has a River basin was the wide, round head, two erect ears, political center of and a long and narrow body. The the Western Turks. stripes that identify the tiger are The court of the etched over the whole body of the qaghan was situated animal [Figs. 2, 3]. there. The discovery The Turks were fond of drinking of these high-quality wine. Two of the ten titles of their gold and silver ob- leading officials were derived from jects will no doubt the words for wine and a drinking be helpful for lo- vessel (Cai 1998, pp. 190–91). cating the court of The gold cup from Boma the qaghan and Fig. 1. The location of Boma. resembles the drinking vessels answering other carved on certain of the Turkic related questions.” period stone images (balbals) found Tuva, southern Siberia (Sun Fig. 2 (left). The Boma 1996, p. 262, Fig. 31). It is very Cup. likely that such cups were used for wine.
Fig. 3 (below). The The combination of drinking cup handle of the Boma and tiger handle reminds us of the cup. All drawings copy- close relationship between the right © 2008 Lin Ying. tiger (also the leopard) and Photo courtesy of Prof. Wang Binghua. All rights reserved. Wang Photo courtesy of Prof.
20 Dionysus. In Greek myth, the Boma gold cup an import from Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Sasanian Iran? This seems Semele, once wandered around unlikely. First, the rhomboid Egypt and India, accompanied by pattern is rare in Sasanian gold his teacher Silenus and a group and silver works. On the other of satyrs and maenads (Cary et hand, it is closer that found on al. 1979, pp. 478–82). After that, Byzantine silverware unearthed he was worshipped by Greeks as from an Avar tomb in Albania [Fig. the god of wine. The personal 7, next page] (Daim et al. 1996, mount of Dionysus was a tiger or p. 435, no. 5.502). In addition, the leopard. Therefore, the two red stone inlay is typical animals constituted a key element decoration for the jewelry and in Greek and Roman depictions of metal work in the steppe in pre– Dionysus. Frequently, they were Islamic times. Most gold objects portrayed as lying prone on the in the Boma hoard are inset with wine vessel and drinking the wine red stones. Therefore we believe eagerly. Sculptures of the animals that the Boma gold cup was are usually similar in body shape, produced by a local Turkic but they can be distinguished by craftsman. The tiger handle the pattern on the bodies. The similarly is not likely to be an tiger is striped, while the leopard imitation of Sasanian silver work. is identified by roundels. The tiger was riveted to the upper body of the vessel where it seems The theme of Dionysus and his to be out of proportion with the tiger was also adopted by Fig. 5. Sasanian silver jug, partially gilt, th size of the cup. In contrast, the craftsman in the Parthian Empire with a tiger handle, Iran, 5 century Sasanian tiger handle is propor- (247 BCE – 226 CE). For example, CE. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Af- tionate in size to the body of the there is a Parthian drinking vessel ter Ettinghausen 1972, Fig. 28. vessel, and the head and front with a tiger handle [Fig. 4]. tableware [Figs. 5, 6] (Etting- claws of the tiger are located on Gradually the tiger image came to hausen 1972, pp. 2–8, Fig. 5). the rim of the vessel, as if the be employed for a specific type of animal is eager to drink the wine. handle not even connected with There are some similarities Thus we may conclude that the wine or Dionysus, as can be seen between the tiger sculpture on the in Sasanian and then Islamic Boma cup and the tiger handle of the Sasanian vessel: Fig. 6. (left) Bronze ewer with feline th for instance, the thin handle, Iran, 8 century CE ; (right) Bronze juglike lamp inlaid with silver body, the pattern of and copper, Seljuq period, late 12th stripe, and the century CE. The Metropolitan Museum rough treatment of of Art. After Ettinghausen 1972, Figs. the tiger’s feet. Was 30, 31.
Fig. 4. Bronze jug with feline handle, Parthian, 2nd century BCE, Cincinnati Art Museum. After Ettinghausen 1972, Fig. 27.
21 When we examine the development of sculptures depicting tigers or leopards in Byzantium from the fourth century to the sixth century, we find that the tiger handle of Boma has a closer relationship to the Byzantine works than to the Sasanian ex- ample. Small sculp- tures of tigers or leopards appeared as early as the era of the Roman Empire. By Late Antiquity, Christianity had replaced traditional worship and become the state religion. As pagan customs, the festival and cere- monies for Dionysus were finally elimin- ated. It is possibly Fig. 9. Silver lamp, Egypt, 7th century against this back- Fig. 7. Byzantine silver vessel, Varp, Albania. CE. After Ross 1962-1972, Vol. 2, Pl. After Daim et al. 1996, no. 5.502. ground that the XXIX. sculptures of tigers tiger handle of the Boma cup most and leopards lost their connection Those who have studied this hoard likely had been produced as a with wine and Dionysus began to believe that they were originally a sculpture before it was attached appear more widely on other pair of handles for a ewer. In 1992, to the cup rather than being made objects [Figs. 8, 9]. another small silver tiger was specifically as a handle to match found in the Hoxne Hoard in the vessel. In the meantime, gold and England [Fig. 11, facing page] silver drinking ves- (Bland and Johns 1993, p. 24). sels with tiger or The Hoxne tiger sculpture was leopard handles more exquisitely sculpted than continued to be made were the feline handles found at in the territory of the Traprain. The body of the tiger was Byzantine Empire. engraved with stripes and inlaid Nevertheless, with niello. In this case, as at contemporaries Traprain, the sculpture depicted a seemed to like to female tiger; most likely, paired collect the handles as with a sculpture of a male tiger, precious objects. Two the two would have been used as small silver sculp- handles for a large silver vessel. tures of a tiger and a The Hoxne Hoard, which was leopard were dis- buried in the beginning of the fifth covered in the century, included over 200 gold Traprain Hoard in and silver objects and 14,000 gold Scotland between and silver Roman coins. The good 1914 and 1919 [Fig. condition of these treasures 10, facing page] indicates that they were well (Curle 1923, pp. 1–5, preserved in their day and later 79–80). They are of placed in the hoard after careful the same size, but planning. This is further testimony Fig. 8. Gold bracelet, Egypt (?), 7th century differ in the pattern of that people liked to collect these CE. After Ross 1962-1972, Vol. 2, Pl. XXXVIII. body decoration. small tiger or leopard handles as
22 Fig. 10. Silver handles of leopards, 5 th century CE, Traprain, Scotland. After Curle 1923, Pl. XXXI. Fig. 11. (right) Silver sculpture of a tiger, 5th cen- tury CE, Hoxne Hoard, Britain. Photo copyright © 2008 Michael Greenhalgh/ArtServe. All rights reserved. separate sculptures in daily life. There is additional archae- ological evidence for the present The sixth century saw the rise argument. The Seuso Treasure, of the Western Turk Empire. which became known to the public Sizabul (Ishtemi – Shi–dian–mi in 1990, consists of 14 pieces of xxxx in Chinese sources), the Roman silver tableware. The first qaghan of the Western Turks, inscription on a silver plate sent envoys to Constantinople and indicates that they were once established diplomatic relations owned by Seuso, possibly a with the Byzantine Empire. From Roman general of Celtic origin who 568 to 576, at least five Byzantine lived in Pannonia, the Roman envoys visited his court. When province south of the frontier on Valentinus, the last Byzantine the Danube. The plate, together envoy, set out from Con- with other vessels, was produced stantinople for the territory of the around the early fifth century Western Turks, he was ac- (Painter 1990; Mango 1990; companied by 106 Turks who had Mango and Bennett 1994, pp. 195, followed the previous Roman 205–6, 238–39; for the date, see envoys back to Constantinople also Nagy and Tóth 1990). A big and now joined the delegation to silver drinking vessel (The return their homeland (Blockley Hippolytus Jug) of the Seuso 1986, pp. 171–79). In the same Treasure [Fig.12a, b] has two period, the Western Turks handles in the shape of leopards, extended their military power to whose style and technique of the eastern frontier of the sculpting resemble those of the Byzantine Empire, aiming to punish the Avars, their old enemies. When Valentinus arrived at the court of the qaghan, the Western Turk soldiers were undertaking an expedition west and invaded the Crimea (Ibid.). In this situation, the Byzantine silver objects were mostly likely carried into the Western Turk Empire as diplomatic gifts or spoils of war. Fig. 12a, b. Silver amphora and its leopard handles, 4th-5th centuries CE (?), Seuso Treasure. After Mango and Bennett 1994, Figs. 5-1, 5-50.
23 feline handles in the Traprain and We do not know the Hoxne Hoards. Prior to their being owner and source of re-attached before the auction at Seuso Treasure. Sotheby’s, the handles of the Nevertheless, the Seuso vessel had been separated inscription on the from its body. According to the silver plate illustrates studies by Marlia Mango and that Pannonia was Kenneth Painter, at least two once a station in the Roman silver vessels are similar long journey of the to the Seuso amphora. One, from treasure. Pannonia, Concesti, Romania, is in the the Roman province collection of the State Hermitage on the Danube Museum in Russia (Matzulewitsch frontier, was first 1929, pp. 131–32; Kent and conquered by Attila, Painter 1977, p. 297). The shape the leader of Huns, of the Concesti amphora is the and then became a part of same as that of the Seuso one. Ostrogothic Kingdom. The owners However, the two handles, which of the two amphorae found in had already been separated from Romania were most likely the body of the vessel, are chieftains of the Huns or Alans, sculptures of centaurs instead of who played important roles in the a tiger or leopard [Fig. 13]. The middle and lower reaches of the Danube in the fifth century.
Priscus of Panium, the Roman envoy who went to the court of Attila in 449 CE, mentioned that the Romans gave the Huns many gifts for both men and women, including silver amphorae. Possibly, Roman silver ewers with tiger or leopard handles were sent into the steppe as diplomatic gifts. In this process, the Roman habit of collecting the tiger handle as an independent sculpture might have been adopted by the nomads. A gold necklace unearthed from Simleu Silvanici, Romania, pro- vides additional evidence about the interest in objects embodying the tiger or leopard sculptures [Fig. 14a, b] (Florescu and Miclea Fig. 14a, b. Gold necklace with leopard 1979, pp. 92-95). The center decoration, Simleu Silvanici, Romania. pendant of the necklace is a large After Florescu and Miclea 1979, Figs. Fig. 13. Late Roman silver ewer, bead, enclosed by two crossed 80, 81. Concesti, Romania. After Matzulewitsch rings. Two gold leopards, their 1929, Tafel 30. front paws on the knot connecting local Dacians as the military the chain and the pendant, face vassals of Byzantine Empire. other example is some fragments each other. Although the leopards of a silver amphora unearthed at are much smaller than the handles The Xiongnu xxx (the ancestors Tauteni-Bihor, Romania [Dumi- of Roman silver vessels, in their of the Huns) had a tradition of trascu 1973, pp. 116–18]. What shape and creative concept they respecting the tiger and leopard survives of the reliefs from the side are similar. The hoard at Simleu as symbols of the heroic spirit. The of the vessel suggests that it is Silvanici dates from the fifth gold and silver works excavated most likely of the same type. This century. Its owner was some from the Xiongnu tombs in north type of amphora came from the barbarian chieftain connected with China show that the image of the eastern Mediterranean region, the Huns who had probably tiger was highly valued. Chinese especially from the workshops in immigrated to the Danube valley. sources assert that the Turks were Constantinople. These barbarian tribes ruled the descended from the Xiongnu. For
24 instance, the account of the Tujue able to imitate the tiger handles between the Roman Empire and xxx (Turks) in the Beishi xxx (the of Roman tableware. China. She may be contacted at standard history of the Northern
25 Tauteni-Bihor (The Treasure of (1990): 70-88. Archaeology (London) 1/4 (1990): 4 ff. Tauteni-Bihor). Oradea, 1973. Mango and Bennett 1994 Ettinghausen 1972 Marlia Mundell Mango and Anna Ross 1962-1972 Richard Ettinghausen. From Bennett. The Sevso Treasure. Part Marvin C. Ross. Catalogue of the Byzantium to Sasanian Iran and 1. Art historical description and Byzantine and Early Medieval the Islamic World: Three Modes inscriptions. Methods of manu- Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks of Artistic Influence. The L. A. facture and scientific analyses. Collection. 3 vols. Washington Mayor Memorial Studies in Islamic Journal of Roman Archaeology D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Art and Archaeology, v. 3. Leiden: Supplementary Series, no. 12. Byzantine Studies, 1962-1972. Brill, 1972. Ann Arbor, 1994. Rui 2001 Florescu and Miclea 1979 Matzulewitsch 1929 Rui Chuanming xxxxx. Gu Tujue Radu Florescu and Ion Miclea. Leonid Matzulewitsch. Byzan- beiming yanjiu xxxxxxxxxx (A Tezaure transilvane: la Kunst- tinische Antike: Studien auf Grund study on the ancient Turkic historisches Museum din Viena. der Silbergafässe der Ermitage. inscriptions). Shanghai: Shanghai Bucharest: “Meridiane,” 1979. Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1929. guji chubanshe, 2001. Kent and Painter 1977 Nagy and Tóth 1990 Sun 1996 John P. C. Kent and Kenneth S. Mihály Nagy and Endrével Tóth. Sun Ji xxx . Zhongguo shenghuo Painter, eds. The Wealth of the “The Seuso Cauldron: Is the Seuso xxxxxx. Shenyang: Liaoning Roman World, Gold and Silver, AD Treasure from Hungary?” Minerva: jiaoyu chubanshe, 1996. 300-700. London: British The International Review of Yu 1996 Museum, 1977. Ancient Art and Archaeology 1/10 (1990): 22-23. Yu Taishan xxxx , ed. Xiyu wen- Mango 1990 hua shi xxxxxxx (A general Marlia Mundell Mango. “Der Painter 1990 history of Xiyu). Beijing: Seuso-Schatzfund. Ein Ensemble Kenneth Painter. “The Seuso Zhongguo youyi chuban gongsi, westlichen und östlichen Kunst- Treasure.” Minerva: The Inter- 1996. schaffens.” Antike Welt, 21 national Review of Ancient Art and Copyright © Cultural Heritage Bureau of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China Region, Heritage Bureau of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Copyright © Cultural The gold mask found at Boma along with the gold cup.
26 Xiongnu Elite Tomb Complexes in the Mongolian Altai Results of the Mongol-American Hovd Archaeology Project, 2007
Bryan K. Miller, University of Pennsylvania, USA Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan, National Museum of Mongolian History, Mongolia Tseveendorj Egiimaa, National Museum of Mongolian History, Mongolia Christine Lee, Arizona State University, USA
The Altai mountains have served central Mongolia and the southern American Hovd Archaeology as an area of intensive traffic and Baikal area, remains of cemeteries Project began excavations at this interaction within Central Asia, in the Altai evidence the expansion site in order to explore imperial and the critical passes through of this nomadic conquest state into monuments at the periphery and these mountains were certainly the key peripheral region which further clarify the dynamic areas of contention over which gave them access to the oasis character of these elite varying tribes and polities states and trade routes of the Silk cemeteries. throughout history and prehistory Roads. Monumental tombs of the fought to gain control. Due to the Xiongnu elite have been Tahiltin-hotgor cemetery is unique nature of this section of documented numerous times at located in Manhan sum of Hovd Mongolia’s western frontier, the several sites in the core area of aimag and was first discovered Mongol-American Hovd Archae- Xiongnu sites throughout Mongolia and documented through trial ology Project was established to and South Siberia (Rudenko 1969; excavations of two small graves in explore the remains of early Konovalov 1976; Navaan 1999; 1961 (Volkov and Dorjsuren polities within this area and work Mission 2003; Miller et al. 2006; 1963). Further excavations were toward an understanding of how Miniaev and Sakharovskaia 2006, conducted in 1987-1990 (Navaan they both controlled and exploited 2007), but the existence of a 1999) on two mounded ramped the region. While the vast majority similar royal cemetery at Tahiltin- tombs, and in September of 2006 of archaeological sites attributed hotgor signifies a strong imperial the cemetery was mapped in to the Xiongnu empire (3rd century presence within the Altai. In preparation for further exca- BCE – 2nd century CE) lie within summer of 2007, the Mongol- vations. The cemetery stretches
Fig. 1. Tahiltin-hotgor cemetery (excavated tombs noted). Inset map indicates location in western Mongolia. Unless otherwise noted, all images are copyright © 2008 Hovd Archaeology Project.
27 east to west between two small larger tombs have been excavated stone pairs are arranged north of mountains and sits at the mouth at several of the elite cemeteries some of the tomb mounds at both of one of the major mountain in Mongolia and Buriatia, and cemeteries. These lines were passes through the Altai to the recent studies have begun to excavated for the first time in 2007 Djungar Basin of Xinjiang, address them directly as a at Tahiltin-hotgor. northwest China [Fig. 1]. Three particular phenomenon (Miniaev Square ramped tombs1 tomb complexes were in- and Sakharovskaia 2002; Miller et vestigated in 2007 with the aim al. 2006). These satellite burials The two square tombs excavated of understanding not only the average about three per tomb in 1987-1990 (Navaan 1999) are mounded tombs, which have complex and are usually arranged located in the middle of the received most of the attention of in a north-south line to the east, cemetery, and each were assigned previous excavations, but also the west, or both sides of the main a number during the 2006 survey. accompanying features of the elite tomb. A few instances of A comparison of the drawings and interments. We define a tomb significantly large lines of measurements in the original complex as a collection of features accompanying burials exist at Gol report with the tomb remains associated with the interment of Mod 2 cemetery in Arhangai (Miller visible now at the cemetery a single deceased that together et al. 2006) and confirm the arc- showed great inaccuracies, but are arranged as one group. In the shape of these arrangements of the general descriptions appear case of the Xiongnu elite tomb burials which flank the tomb more or less correct. The first complexes, three main features mounds. The satellite burials bear tomb (THL-83) was completely have been thus far documented, surface demarcations of stone excavated to expose the entire all of which are found at Tahiltin- rings, and the deceased are grave pit and the area beneath the hotgor. interred in wooden coffins ramp. At the bottom of the pit was between one to two meters a log chamber, inside of which had The first feature, and the most beneath. These resemble been placed a wood plank coffin prominent, is the square ramped standard Xiongnu burials (Torbat with golden flower decoration [Fig. tomb mound. This earthen mound 2004). The third feature of tomb 2]. The grave furnishings and the is oriented approximately north- complexes – stone lines – was remaining grave goods, including south and is held together by discovered recently at Gol Mod 2 a large pot in the log chamber and stone walls. A ramp or “funerary cemetery (Allard et al. 2002) and pieces of a chariot atop the path” (Mission 2003) leading up subsequently at Tahiltin-hotgor in chamber, appear to indicate to the top of the mound extends 2006. Parallel east-west lines of mortuary tradition similar to that out from the southern wall. The tomb mounds often have stone lines that run north-south and east-west across the surface, the most recurring instance being a north-south line running through the center of the ramp and the mound. Beneath these tomb mounds and under numerous layers of stone, earth, and/or wood, lies a burial chamber with a decorated wooden coffin inside. As mentioned before, these monumental tombs have received great attention thus far, but recent studies have begun to draw attention to the features surrounding the main tomb and the details of the pit and mound above the chamber the chamber. Small graves adjacent to the Fig. 2. Tomb 83. After Navaan 1999.
28 tomb are now on structure and the “door” closing display at the off the ramp closely resembled National Museum in those in elite tombs elsewhere. Mongolia, though Near the ground level and in the the jewelry found by center of the mound, at the exact her head and on her place where the two lines cross, waist do not reside was found a dense deposit of burnt in locatable col- earth and charcoal. The stones at lections. this intersection do not appear disturbed, and it is likely that this Tomb 64 deposit relates to the original In order to docu- interment ceremony and not the ment properly the occurrence of looting. Unlike most structure of the other tombs, the ramp only square tombs at this Fig. 3. Tomb 82. After Navaan 1999. descends to the first step ledge of documented in royal Xiongnu tombs of central Mongolia. The second tomb excavated (THL-82) contained an unlooted double nested coffin with the complete remains of a woman, thus earning it the name “the Princess Tomb” [Fig. 3]. The excavations cored a single pit into the center of this tomb to access the chamber; so no excavations were done to reveal the entire structure of this grave. A bronze spouted pot and two bronze sticks2 found in the
Fig. 5. Tomb 64.
particular site and the pit, 1.6 m below the surface compare them to and 4.4 m above the bottom of sites in central the chamber. Therefore the ramp Mongolia, we chose likely did not serve as a practical one large tomb, THL- means for rolling the coffin into its 64, and its associated final resting place, but rather took features [Figs. 4, 5]. on more of a ritually symbolic The stone cross lines function related to “funerary Fig. 4. Tomb 64 complex within the tomb paths.” The outer chamber at the
29 bottom was surrounded by stones A thin gold circle and thin gold and built from notched, crescent were found lying next to interlocking logs. Inside the log each other, and from the structure lay a wood plank coffin impressed marks and small rusted nested in the southeast corner of pin holes on both of these, they the chamber, much like the inner appear to have been previously coffin of Tomb 83 which had been mounted on a flat surface – very nested in the southwest corner. A likely the surface of the coffin lid lattice and flower iron decoration [Fig. 8] which was tossed aside covered the outside of the coffin, during looting. This circle and and scant remnants of silk confirm crescent pair echo other such pairs that the coffin would have been found in numerous Xiongnu graves wrapped entirely before the iron (Mission 2003; Torbat 2004) and are equated with Xiongnu rituals of the sun and moon. “And the chanyu Fig. 8. Gold sun and moon. [emperor] at dawn leaves camp and ladle, a painted red wooden tray, makes obeisance to a pair of chopsticks, cattle the sun’s beginning, vertebrae and a sheep/goat leg and at dusk makes bone, and a large handmade grain obeisance to the storage pot [Fig. 9]. Several moon” (Shiji 1959, turquoise tear-shaped insets, five 110: 2892). green stone insets carved in the
Fig. 6. Lattice and quadrefoil iron coffin decoration. decoration was mounted [Fig. 6]. Fig. 9. Iron ladle The wood of the coffin was fitted and bone chop- sticks. together with bow-tie shaped tenons across the planks and mortise holes with plugs inside the edges of the wood planks [Fig. 7].
Remains of food shape of scallop shells, and a bone containment and pendant which probably adorned serving were placed the deceased were found tossed inside the log cham- out of the coffin from looting [Fig. ber just north of the 10, facing page]. Lastly, to the coffin which held the north of the log chamber is a deceased: an iron semicircular niche cut into the wall Fig. 7. Coffin tenon construction.
30 Fig. 11. Satellite graves THL-64-1 & -2.
bent. The lack of wooden coffins and bending at the knees sets these burials apart from the standard Xiongnu burial of fully stretched supine bodies inside a wooden coffin (Torbat 2004).
Satellites of Tomb 64 The two satellite burials excavated to the east of tomb 64 at excavated here as well as other Tahiltin-hotgor [Fig. 11] were very Fig. 10. Turquoise inlay, scallop-shaped graves in Mongolia. Though this similar to those excavated by green stone, and bone pendant. tomb was looted, enough remains Dorjsuren, and thus quite different of the tomb pit where the skulls, that we may confidently say it is from the standard Xiongnu grave. cervical vertebrae and legs of one equitable in both structure and Both individuals were interred in horse and three horned-sheep/ burial goods to the larger elite stone cysts, not wooden coffins, goats were deposited. Two sheep Xiongnu tombs in central Mongolia and both were laid with their legs ribs were found above the log and southern Siberia. slightly bent. The second noteworthy variance from chamber, one of which has a deep Satellite burials cut mark from the process of standard Xiongnu graves is the Dorjsuren describes each of the eating the meat on it. surface demarcation. Instead of two small burials he excavated at the typical thick stone circle While only the skull, half a Tahiltin-hotgor in 1961 as lying overtop the burial pit, these, and pelvis and several other bones of directly to the east of square all the other satellite graves the deceased were found from this tombs (Volkov and Dorjsuren excavated in 2007 were marked looted tomb, this represents a 1963). From this we may deduce by a small stone cluster (which at greater yield than most royal that they were probably satellite times had been scattered) directly Xiongnu tombs and thus allows us burials. Both graves were marked over and approximately the same to gain more knowledge about the with some stones on the surface, size as the burial pit. Unlooted tomb occupant than usual. The maximum 3 m diameter scatter, satellite burials, such as THL-64- deceased was a woman 35-40 and about 1.3 m below the surface 2, have allowed us to view the years old and has evidence on the lay stone cysts with human original clustered position of the pelvis bone indicating she gave remains. No wooden coffins were surface stone demarcations. Both birth at least once. The low tooth found. In both graves the bodies of the individuals buried next to wear for her age probably related lay stretched with the head Tomb 64 were oriented just west to access to better processed oriented north. In one case the of north, as was the main tomb of food, and the gracile marks of torso and head were greatly complex 64. The accompanying muscle attachments show that she disturbed and only the legs deceased were teenagers, and did not do much manual labor. articulated, but in the other the THL-64-2 was possibly a female. Nevertheless, wear on the lower left arm lay stretched to the side, If this is true, then it would be the spine may indicate continued the right arm apparently bent at first confirmed discovery of a horseback riding, a pattern found the elbow and lying across the female in a satellite burial of elite in many of the individuals chest, and the legs were slightly Xiongnu tomb complexes. One of
31 the main reasons for choosing an on the surface with entire tomb complex to excavate scattered stones, was to see the relationship disturbed from their between those in the satellite original position, and graves and the deceased in the the deceased were main tomb. In this case, the interred about a teenagers are oriented to almost meter below the exactly the same degree as the surface in small pits central barrow, and the traits seen with neither wood in the human remains show them coffin nor stone cyst. to also be very closely related to The deceased in other Xiongnu peoples in burial THL-82-1 was Mongolia, and thus closely found lying stretched, affiliated to the woman in the main his body oriented just tomb who also appears closely west of north, with affiliated to other remains within both arms at his side, the group attributed to the but face down. This Xiongnu (Lee 2007). man had robust Fig. 13. Bone belt pieces from THL-82-1. muscle attachments Satellites of Tomb 82 for his lower arms, hands, thighs, main tomb (THL-82) excavated by Next we chose the two and right foot and is the most Navaan in 1990 also shows a close accompanying graves on either muscular individual at Takhiltin- biological affinity to the Xiongnu side of tomb 82, previously hotgor, meaning he performed group. Again, the individuals in the excavated by Navaan (1999), so more labor than the other satellite burials are closely that we could finish the full individuals. On either side of the affiliated to the main individual, investigation of this tomb complex body, probably in their original and all of them related to the [Fig. 12]. Again, both of the position, were found bone belt Xiongnu biological group (Lee accompanying graves have the clasps with small holes [Fig. 13]. 2007). same orientation as the main In burial THL-82-2, a small bone Satellites of Tomb 25 tomb. Both burials were marked pin was found beneath the skull which had been Lastly, we opened the three burials tossed aside, and flanking the east side of tomb THL- thus may have been 25, even though the main tomb a hairpin. A sheep/ was not excavated, in order goat astragulus was further to understand the nature also found to the left of accompanying burials in this of the waist. This peripheral royal cemetery [Fig. 14, man, like the first, facing page]. None of these burials also had robust showed any significant evidence muscle attachments of disturbance of the surface on the lower arms, demarcation, and all three had lower legs, and right tight clusters of stones only foot. Both of the men slightly larger than the grave pit. buried in these The burials were arranged more satellite burials were or less in a north-south arc line, Asian, and the though the third grave (THL-25- second burial had 3), when the exact positions of the enough of the skull to burial pits and bodies were show that he was viewed, did not appear to be in closely affiliated to line with the previous two graves. other Xiongnu. The Burial THL-25-1 contained the Fig. 12. Satellite graves THL-82-1 & -2. woman buried in the body of a child about 8 years old
32 oriented slightly east of of the northern line, north and laid supine directly between the and stretched, with center two pairs. The only the legs slightly two stone lines to the bent. The deceased in north of tomb 82 were burial THL-25-2 was in also excavated, and the a stretched supine ramp of tomb 82 was position, and oriented cleared so as to test the almost exactly north. relationship between He was 30-35 years the stone lines and the old, and had robust axis of the central muscular attachments. tomb. The central The condition of his north-south axis of teeth is consistent with tomb 82, measured a nomadic diet high in according to the center meat, and low in of the tomb ramp, also carbohydrates. runs directly through Additional detail about the middle of the two THL-25-2 is in the parallel stone lines to article below by the north. In both Jessieca Jones and Fig. 14. Satellite graves THL-25-1, -2, -3. cases, the stone lines Veronica Joseph. While were clearly aligned in the surface stones of burial THL- from extreme impact and most sync with the greater mortuary 25-3 appeared not to be likely relate to injuries incurred complexes. The results of disturbed, many of the deceased’s from falling off or being thrown excavation between the stone bones, including the skull cap, from a horse. The arthritic pattern pairs have begun to shed light on were found amongst the stones in in these individuals also speaks to their function and use patterns. the pit. The rest of the bones were repeated horseback riding. The The stone pairs in each line lie laid at the bottom of the pit, combined pattern of arthritis, approximately two meters apart, articulated in a stretched supine musculature, and trauma seen in though their original position position. The man in this grave the individuals here is consistent seems to have been altered in was 40-45 years old. A few iron with prolonged horseback riding. some cases, probably due to platelets were found with small stones falling or being knocked Stone lines holes in the corners which may over. Between some of the stone relate to their use as armor pieces. One or two stone lines were found pairs, and at times beneath fallen The child can be determined as to the north of eight square tombs, stones, lie deposits of burnt, Asian and related to the Xiongnu, the exception being seven parallel crushed animal bone. The bone while the two adult men, also lines north of Tomb 25. The lines fragments are high fired, resulting Asian, appear more closely related are at least fifteen meters away in completely black or white bones to individuals in Manchuria or from the tomb mounds and only a with a thin blue/black layer inside. Siberia. few meters apart from each other. There is also black ash and/or They are often oriented slightly off charcoal deposited with the burnt The recurrence of robust of an east-west axis so that they bones, but there is no evidence of muscle attachments on the men are parallel to the north wall of the burnt earth between the stones, interred in the satellite burials tomb mound, which in most cases or burning against the closely set seems to indicate intense labor. is oriented west of north. The line stones. In some cases the burnt These muscle markers may also of stone pairs north of tomb 64 is bones are found with no ash at all. relate to certain kinds of damage aligned so that the axis of the This suggests that the activity of and arthritis that recurs in almost stone line which cuts north-south burning the animal bones was not all the individuals. The patterns of through the center of the square done between the stones. The trauma, especially the severe mound and southern ramp then burning was probably done in a trauma seen in THL-64-1, come runs directly through the middle different place, after which the
33 offerings were put between the hotgor, as well as the contents of By investigating burial grounds in stones. The two easternmost the main tombs, closely resemble the open valleys and in the high stone pairs of the line in complex elite Xiongnu cemeteries found mountain passes we aim further 64 contain such deposits, but none elsewhere. The elite graves here to contextualize the burial ground of the other four pairs do. In the are undoubtedly associated with at Tahiltin-hotgor of the imperial tomb 82 complex, the first, the elite imperial culture of the Xiongnu elite in the peripheral southernmost line contains burnt Xiongnu polity and thus may be region of the Altai mountains. animal bones between or beneath considered within the limits of the every pair of stones, while only empire. Analysis of human Acknowledgements two pairs of stones in the second remains in these graves seems to Many thanks are to be given for line contain such deposits. As the corroborate this association to the work by the stupendous Mongolian stone pairs seem to “fill up” in Xiongnu nomadic polity. The students (and crew) from Hovd order from nearest stone line presence of Xiongnu peoples in and Ulaanbaatar and by the outward, this may indicate a these elite tomb complexes volunteers (and Daniel Waugh) pattern of use over time rather correlates easily to the spread of who came on the Silkroad than only at the time of interment the Xiongnu state into this western Foundation 2007 expedition. L. of the deceased in the main grave. frontier seen also in the material Nyam-Suren was of great culture. The possible presence of This custom of burning animal assistance both outside of and in people from Manchuria, seen in bones in a place outside of the final the field, and Ts. Odbaatar helped THL-25-2 and -3, suggests a great deposition area and then setting immensely in the preparations for degree of mobility of different the remains between stones, finds the pilot year of the Hovd people within the empire and wide an exact parallel in Bronze Age Archaeology Project. Last but not connections across the varied khirigsuur complexes (Allard and least, two additional scholars must regions under Xiongnu control. Erdenebaatar 2005, pp. 3-5) and be thanked for their contributions Despite the consistencies in sheds light on the rituals of the and dedication to the project: mortuary remains for the elite, Xiongnu which may connect with Prokopy B. Konovalov, for bringing evidence arises in the satellite such earlier practices. In these his vast knowledge to the further burials of differentiation from Bronze Age complexes deposits of excavations of Xiongnu remains, standard Xiongnu customs. high-fired crushed animal bones and Judy Logan for blessing the Interments in stone cysts such as were placed along with the ash project with her paramount skills THL-64-1 and THL-64-2 are from the fires inside small rings of in materials conservation. Support seldom found in other Xiongnu single stones. These stone rings was provided by the Silkroad cemeteries, and the flexed legs of were aligned in concentric rows Foundation and a dissertation these two graves and THL-25-1 around an array of stone mounds research grant from the Henry deviate from the prevailing custom containing horse heads, which Luce Foundation and American of fully stretched supine burials in were arranged in rows around a Council of Learned Societies. stone fence that enclosed a large Xiongnu graves (Torbat 2004). central stone mound. Just like the The most significant difference is About the Authors the surface demarcations. The separation between central Bryan K. Miller is a Ph.D. small tight cluster of stones over mound, horse head mounds and Candidate in the East Asian the grave pit differs greatly from stone circles of the khirigsuurs, Languages and Civilizations Dept. the tradition of stone rings. It is there is separation in the Xiongnu of University of Pennsylvania. He not clear what these variations elite tomb complexes between received his M.A. in Archaeology indicate, but it may relate to either animals placed above the from the Cotsen Institute of local variations of the Altai or chamber, to the north of the coffin Archaeology at UCLA in 2000, perhaps a social group not yet and inside the chamber, and the after which he began research in delineated within the greater burnt animal remains in the Taiwan and Mongolia and corpus of Xiongnu remains. exterior stone lines. managed the Xiongnu excavations Further excavations of Xiongnu portion of the Khanuy Valley Brief discussion graves outside this monumental Project. His present research The arrangement and components elite cemetery will be conducted concerns historical and archae- of tomb complexes at Tahiltin- in the upcoming 2008 field season. ological investigations of early
34 empires in East Asia, namely the and mobility in the Bronze Age of zakhoroneniia ‘tsarskogo’ Qin and Han of China and Xiongnu Mongolia.” Antiquity 79 (2005): 1- kompleksa no.7 v mogil’nike of Mongolia. E-mail:
35 Yeruul-Erdene 2004 Ch. Yeruul-Erdene. “Gol Modni Excavation of a Xiongnu Hunnu bulshni sudalgaani zarim ur dun.” Arheologiin Sudlal (Ulaan- Satellite Burial baatar) 22 (2004): 76-109. Jessieca Jones Notes Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich 1. A detailed description of a Veronica Joseph square tomb and its components Boston University, USA is given in Miniaev and Sakharovskaia 2006, 2007. During the 2007 field season, the pletely undisturbed and well 2. A comparison of these bronze Hovd Archaeology Project preserved and thus the artifacts sticks with others found in Xiongnu excavated several burials at the could be viewed in their original royal tombs exhibits intriguing Tahiltin-hotgor cemetery in Hovd context. similarities, though their exact aimag, Mongolia, at the foot of the Grave excavation function is still under debate Altai Mountains. A full report of the (André and Yeruul-Erdene 2004). Tahiltin-hotgor excavation is After the vegetation, consisting of included in this issue of The Silk scrubby desert bushes, sur- Road (Miller et al. 2008).1 rounding the cluster of stones was removed, the loose sandy An earlier survey of the site in sediment surrounding the stones September 2006 indicted that was cleared to define the extent there are 132 graves which make of the feature. When the surface up the many complexes in this was completely visible, a cemetery (Miller 2006). The rectangular grid was created number of satellite burials ranges around the stone cluster using from one to five per burial complex string and iron pegs. This grid was at Tahiltin-hotgor. The purpose of tied to a reference datum point at this report is to describe the the large square tomb (THL-25) excavation of one of these satellite in order to allow us to record the burials and the artifacts found location of the burial features in within it. Burial THL- 25-2 is one of the three satellite burials associated with the unexcavated tomb complex THL-25 [Fig. 1]. The three satellite burials, of which THL-25-2 was the middle one, were oriented in a gen- erally north-south line to the east of the large, square- ramped tomb mound. We have chosen to report on burial THL-25-2 be- Carved stone erected after our exca- cause the skeletal vations marking the completion of the remains were com- reconstructed Tomb 64. Fig. 1. Drawing of THL-25 grave complex. All images are copyright © 2008 Hovd Archaeology Project.
36 mound was made with a string, complex. As we excavated and coordinates were taken with beneath the stones, we could see reference to sub-datum II from bits of bones sticking out, which various parts of the stones. Once indicated that the skeletal remains this level was recorded and were directly underneath this layer photographed, we removed the of stones. After we had carefully stones and began excavating trowelled and brushed away the below the surface through the soil, we came across three small hard-packed earth. We were very loose human bones. From then on, careful at this stage so as not to every trowel movement and brush damage any of the grave contents. stroke was painstakingly executed The buckets of soil that we in order to make sure human removed were dumped outside remains and artifacts were the excavation unit so as not to exposed in their original position. clutter the working area, but not The sediment around the three too far away because it was used bones was carefully brushed away to refill the hole when the and their positions documented in excavation was concluded. situ and photographed. Before any At a depth of approximately half of the bones or artifacts was Fig. 3. The THL-25-2 grave excavated a meter (33-56 cm), we un- removed, each item was assigned to the level of the skeleton, with the covered a second layer of stones a number and then a clear plastic two large sub-surface stones still in oriented in the same north-south zip-lock bag was labeled with the place. direction. The coordinates of this assigned number. In this case, the first three bones were given the three-dimensional space with layer were recorded and the numbers THL-25-2.1, THL-25-2.2 regard to the square tomb and the features photographed. The and THL-25-2.3 (“THL-25” is the other two satellite burials in the smaller stones were removed and number assigned to the main complex. A sub-datum was we continued excavating with tomb; “-2” is the number of the created for THL-25-2 (known as trowels toward the bases of the satellite burial, and “.1” is the sub-datum II) as a reference point two large stones [Fig. 2]. As soon number of the item coming out of for taking all measurements as we reached the bases of the the burial). A log book was kept relating to this burial. Accuracy in stones, we created a pedestal as the items were taken out, recording the features is very roughly the size of the entire grave numbered, and bagged. The important during excavation so shaft so that we had enough room record in the log book had to be that the context of the artifacts is within the excavation unit to meticulous because the infor- understood and drawings of the continue working down toward the mation had to be entered into a burial can be recreated once skeleton. The soil matrix within the computer database back in our fieldwork is completed. We took grave shaft was looser than the field lab. It was important to measurements and photographs surrounding, undisturbed ground. assign one person to record- at every level of the excavation. We were able to identify the extent of the grave by the change in soil keeping so that confusion or Within our excavation unit, the consistency and the presence of discrepancies could be clarified sediment around the stones was very hard, white veins of clay in later. After the three small bones removed down to their bases, the undisturbed areas. were removed and recorded, we which represented the ground continued working down toward Human remains surface at the time the feature was the rest of the skeleton and constructed. The artist of the team There was no indication that the artifacts. These bones appeared then drew the excavation unit individual had been buried in a to have been disturbed by rodent using a meter-grid. In order to wooden coffin or stone cyst. activity, as indicated by small draw the cross-section of the Similarly, no wooden coffins or rodent skeletal remains found at burial shaft, a level north-south stone cysts were found in the this depth. As we finally exposed reference line running roughly other two satellite burials the rest of the skeleton and through the middle of the stone associated with the THL-25 tomb artifacts, it became clear that this
37 grave had not been looted. We in a supine position with legs labeled and bagged, and taken to noted that the skeleton was well extended [Fig. 3]. His body was the ger (yurt) that housed the preserved and nearly intact. oriented to the north and his left laboratory equipment. In the Preliminary analysis indicated that arm was bent across his chest. laboratory, the bones went the remains belonged to a male. The skull was oriented facing east through another cleaning process and had been slightly deformed by before being securely packed for In order to be able to make the weight of a large stone placed transportation to Ulaanbaatar. No drawings of the exposed skeleton on top of it. The skeleton was perimortem trauma to the as well as the cross-section skeleton was observed, of the grave, coordinates which most likely rules out were taken from various a violent death. Further parts of the skeleton along analysis by Christine Lee the same north-south revealed that the interred string line we created individual was an adult earlier. Day glow plastic male between 30-35 years cocktail sticks were laid in of age and 159-167 cm tall. the burial pit at strategic (Miller et al. forthcoming). points of the skeleton along Artifacts this north-south line, keeping the northern point This burial contained more consistent for all later artifacts than any of the measurements; their other satellite graves we coordinates were recorded; excavated. After all the and photos were taken skeletal remains had been directly above the ex- removed from the grave, cavated area. Later in the the same process of taking laboratory, these photos coordinates of the artifacts were used in conjunction was repeated and another with the Illustrator© photo with the day-glow program to make accurate plastic cocktail sticks was scale drawings of the taken. Correct photo- skeleton and cross-sections documentation of all the of the burial pit. The artifacts in situ is essential consistent northern point of for post-excavation re- all such photograph-based search. drawings was used to Due to the climatic overlay the consecutive conditions in this area no images in Illustrator© so organic material such as that their stratigraphic textiles, wood, or leather relationship could be were preserved at this properly understood. shallow depth. However there was some evidence of After the exposed organic residues around the remains were documented skeleton. We recovered and photographed in situ as Fig. 3. In-situ skeletal remains. several artifacts made of above, artifacts that were bone and metal. The bone above the skeleton were taken buried about a meter below the artifacts were relatively well- out, given a number and bagged ancient surface. All of these preserved but all the iron artifacts so that the full extent of the burial observations were again recorded were badly corroded. The bone position and condition of the and additional photographs made artifacts included a plate skeleton could be noted. The before the remains were removed, perforated at both ends [Fig. 4, individual in this tomb was buried superficially cleaned with brushes, facing page], approximately 16 cm
38 long , found near the left side of embedded in a the individual, within the bend of chunk of highly the left arm. The bone plate is corroded metal, just slightly curved with a small hole below the left pelvis on one end and a “T”-shaped piece near the femur. Our of metal inserted through the conservator, Judy other hole at the opposite end. Logan, devised a This plate may have been part of method to dislodge a bow, of which the rest was not the bone artifact preserved, or the handle of an from the corroded instrument. Similar bone and metal with minimal deer-horn artifacts have been damage to the found at the site of Burhan-tolgoi artifacts. After in Egiin gol Valley, Bulgan aimag studying the situ- Fig. 6. Applying the wax over the cheesecloth (Torbat et al. 2003). Near the left ation, it was decided in preparation for the block-lift. side of the pelvis, we also found a that a block-lift small, slightly flat object made of method would be the best option cheesecloth acted as a barrier bone that was rounded on both to achieve this. The artifact cluster between the artifact and the rigid ends and perforated through the was cleaned, then two layers of wax support and prevented the middle [Fig. 5]. On one side, an cheesecloth were carefully placed melted wax from sticking to the “X” was incised into the surface, on top of it. The cheesecloth was artifact. After the wax had set, and the opposite side was wetted so that it would conform an archaeological spatula was untouched. This may have been a to the surface of the object. sliced under the dirt supporting toggle used for fastening clothing. Paraffin wax pellets were softened the wax-encased artifact to in a hot-water bath and the semi- separate it from the ground. It was Around the same area, a small melted wax was slathered onto then flipped onto a piece of bone shaft that we had partly the cheesecloth on all sides, like cardboard so that the artifact was exposed earlier was found to be icing a cake [Fig. 6]. The lying on its wax-case. It was conveyed back to the laboratory for further treatment. Fig. 4. (below) Bone plate, before cleaning, with inset On each side of the pelvis we (in different scale) showing also found a pair of sheep or goat end view with iron insert. astragali (ankle bones). They were smoothed in some areas, but Fig. 5. (right) Bone toggle. otherwise undecorated. Near the right side of the pelvis, sitting on top of a chunk of corroded metal was a larger astragalus, which could be from a bovine or horse. Animal ankle bones were found in some of the other burials excavated at Tahiltin-hotgor as well as in many other Xiongnu sites throughout Mongolia and southern Siberia (see Davydova 1995, 1996; Dorjsuren 1961; Miller et al. 2006). In modern Mongolia, ankle bones are still used as gaming pieces. The burial contained many other fragments of corroded iron, but most of them were too damaged to be identified
39 in the field. However, several of Discussion carried his accessories, such as a the corroded iron artifacts were knife, the pipe-shaped object, and The purpose of these satellite intact enough so that they could astragali in a pouch of some sort burials is still being debated. THL- possibly be identified in the future on his left side just below his 25 is a typical Xiongnu elite burial using x-ray and other techniques. pelvis. The bone-plate might have with three satellite burials. The been part of his bow, and he Located on the inside of each artifacts buried in this satellite appears to have had an iron- ankle of the deceased was a piece grave are consistent with Xiongnu bladed knife. It is not certain of iron, which may have been part satellite burials of this size in other whether a corroded metal of a footwear buckle. Several other cemeteries, even though the fragment found near the left femur fragments found around and burial structure of the satellite is an arrowhead. Connections under the pelvis may have been graves at Tahilt is different (Miller between the material and human part of a metal belt or fasteners et al. 2006; Miller et al. remains found in the grave and the for clothing. A corroded metal ring forthcoming). past lifestyle and practices of the was found near the right hand. The presence of traditional ancient Xiongnu can be drawn This could be a ring used by clothing accessories such as a through the context that intact archers to protect the fingers metal belt around the waist, burials and archaeological when drawing the bowstring. footwear with buckles, and excavation provide. In this and the Back in the laboratory, dirt from astragali is common in Xiongnu other satellite burials at Tahilt, the underside of the block-lifted burials. The most unusual object unlike at Gol Mod 2, we did not artifact cluster was carefully in this grave is the bone pipe- find numerous iron arrowheads. shaped object. It is interesting to cleaned in order to expose the It is interesting to note that no note that such objects have been bone-shaft, while leaving the coffin or stone cyst was found found in the core Xiongnu areas fragile corroded metal in the among the three satellite burials as well as in the westernmost part cheesecloth-wax case. Fragments in the THL-25 complex. The of the Xiongnu Empire. This may of wood were detected at one end reasons could be due to variations point to some degree of cultural of the corroded metal, which in local tradition, given that the homogeneity among the different suggests that it could have been Tahiltin-hotgor cemetery is in the tribes which constituted the be a knife or other metal westernmost part of Mongolia, or nomadic empire. The types of instrument with a wooden handle. environmental constraints such as materials used to produce these Only further cleaning and other the shortage of wood, or the artifacts (bone, metal, etc.) are tests can reveal its form and status of the deceased. The exact also similar to Xiongnu material confirm what the object is. dating of this satellite burial, THL- culture from other burials. Meanwhile, the bone artifact 25-2, awaits further clarification revealed itself as a pipe-shaped When we reviewed the human but we can say confidently that it object – a long, faceted piece of remains and artifacts together, we shares similar burial traditions of bone with a small scoop carved wished to hypothesize this was a other Xiongnu graves. into one end [Fig. 7, facing page]. warrior not significantly past the Acknowledgements The shaft of the artifact was not prime of his life. However, the hollow which rules out the evidence about possible weaponry The authors would like to thank possibility of its being an was at best slender. He was Bryan Miller and Judy Logan for implement used for smoking. probably dressed in organic their comments and suggestions There were no visible burn marks materials (most probably wool or on earlier drafts of this article, the or residue inside the bowl of the felt) as indicated by organic Silkroad Foundation, the National object. A similar artifact was found residues all around his remains. Museum of Mongolian History and at the Burhan-tolgoi cemetery in His garment was fastened with a the University of Pennsylvania. Egiin gol valley, north Mongolia bone toggle and in Xiongnu About the authors (Torbat et al. 2003), and two fashion he wore a belt made of similar objects have also been linked metal plaques. He probably Veronica A. Joseph received her found in Sudzinsk in Il’movaia pad’ wore felt or leather boots B.S. in Anthropology from (Rudenko 1969). decorated with metal buckles and Michigan State University and is
40 currently a Ph.D. student in the siunnu, Vyp. 1. St. Petersburg: Archaeology and Ethnology 2/2 Archaeology Department at Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie, (2006): 1-21. Boston University. Her research 1995. Miller et al. forthcoming interests include the Qin and Han Davydova 1996 Bryan K. Miller, Jamranjav empires in China and their A. V. Davydova. Ivolginskii Bayarsaihan, Tseveendorj Egimaa, interactions along the Chinese arkheologicheskii kompleks. T. 2. Prokopy B. Konovalov, Judy Logan frontier with nomadic groups of Ivolginskii mogil’nik (The Ivolga and Christine Lee. “Elite Xiongnu Mongolia and Northeast Asia. She Archaeological Complex. Vol. 2. Burials at the Periphery: tomb may be contacted at:
Davydova 1995 Miller et al. 2006 1. Additional information about A. V. Davydova. Ivolginskii Bryan K. Miller, Francis Allard, Tahiltin-hotgor cemetery can be arkheologicheskii kompleks. T. 1. Dimaajav Erdenebaatar and found on-line at the Silkroad Ivolginskoe gorodishche (The Christine Lee. “A Xiongnu Tomb Foundation website:
Fig. 7. Bone “pipe-bowl.”
41 The Tahilt Region: A Preliminary Archaeological Survey of the Tahilt Surroundings to Contextualize the Tahilt Cemeteries James T. Williams Beijing; University of Pittsburgh, USA
The survey component of the 2007 pedestrian survey with transects central Mongolia, in order to Silkroad Foundation Tahilt spaced at about 500 meters, facilitate comparison with their expedition provided information terrain permitting. This region results (Wright 2006). Sites were which not only complements data allowed the survey to encompass also categorized by the number of collected by the Xiongnu period a number of environmental and features. Features are single excavations conducted by the landscape features such as rivers, archaeological elements which Mongol-American Hovd Archae- high rocks, open spaces, and make up an archaeological site. ology Project but may also stand valleys. The rationale for survey Recording the number of surface alone as a data related to broader by making large transects across features, those elements that are regional considerations. A large the region involved a number of visible from the survey, can be a scale survey can provide both a factors, the first being how best useful ranking tool in chronological and spatial context to understand the Tahilt region discriminating between larger and for particular sites, and the type quickly while at the same time smaller sites. of survey described here is having the resolution to detect What are the types and kinds intended to be the first stage in a small sites or single artifacts. The of sites that exist in the Tahilt methodology that would include methodology could be described region? more survey and more targeted as high resolution but low density. excavation, a methodology that By low density I mean that the Both artifact–based and has been successful in other areas surveyed area represents what I monument–based sites indicate of Central Asia (Honeychurch, estimate to be a ten percent that the chronology of the Tahilt Wright and Amartuvshin 2007; coverage or sample Frachetti 2004). The survey of of the 40 sq km 2007 was designed to answer region (Honey- some preliminary questions and church, Wright and assess the suitability of the region Amartuvshin 2007). for higher intensity survey in the A small area was future. Some of the questions are targeted for 100% as follows: survey coverage so • What types and kinds of sites as to prove that the exist in the Tahilt region? target area was a very low density • What types of environmental or area and not low landscape features are associated density due to the with archaeological features? survey methodology • What are the pre- and post- [Fig 1, C]. Future Xiongnu sites and how do they surveys would be compare to the Xiongnu done at 100% component in the archaeological coverage, as I will landscape? discuss below. GPS coordinates, site • What should future surveys of type and surround- this area look like and what are ing environmental the potential challenges? data have been Methodology taken to establish the context of a site. The survey was conducted over a Site typology is 40 square kilometer area similar to that of generally to the southwest of the other regional sur- Tahilt Xiongnu cemetery. It veys conducted in Fig 1. Overview of the survey region with smaller consisted of a systematic northern and south areas indicated. All images copyright © 2008 Hovd Archaeology Project.
42 region appears to be continuous Fig 3. Mesolithic and from the Paleolithic, roughly Neolithic flakes blades 100,000 B.P. based on stone tool and bladelets. typology, to the Turk period (ca. 7th century CE). Evidence for The Neolithic specific later historic periods such component is char- as Khitan or Mongol at this time acterized by smaller has not been detected. For this blade tools and more paper I designate as monumental complex tool kits sites those with architectural (Larichev, Pforr and features. I include burials and/or Chard 1962) and in tombs but do not limit the the case of Tahilt designation to these types: i.e., would include scra- all burials are monuments, but not pers and retouched all monuments are burials. Since bladelets [Fig 3]. none of them have been These were generally excavated, there is no evidence of found in close prox- the use of the monuments. This imity to Bronze Age section will address the initial monuments and question of the survey concerning pottery [Fig 4], a fact the types and kinds of sites in the which suggests that Tahilt region and give a very brief sites were used and description of them. reused over long periods of time for The Paleolithic and Mesolithic habitation and stone component in the Tahilt region is tool production. characterized by large stone Bronze Age sites chopper and axe tool types [Fig are both artifact sites 2] generally in the area and monumental. surrounding the large spring and The only pottery river fed basin [Fig 1, A], now scatters found during nearly dry. The well known Tsenker the survey are from cave Paleolithic site is upstream this period or are of this basin. So the location of modern or historic early stone tools in this area sherds which were seems to relate to the river valley. not collected. Since nomadic sites lack Fig 2. Paleolithic chipped hand tools. non-mortuary Figs. 3, 4. Flakes and blades with architectural and associated pottery. other extensive material remains, burials and other features the pottery gen- associated with those two, such erally would indicate as satellite features that are a habitation site characteristic of khirigsuurs. A which it is useful to khirigsuur is a circular pile of distinguish from a stones which may or may not monumental site. include an interment. The There are both khirigsuurs at Tahilt have not been habitation and excavated; so there is no measure monumental sites of those with interments and those for the Bronze Age, without. However, the types and but this pattern does kinds of features recall khirigsuurs not appear for later found in Central Mongolia, and the periods. The monu- percentage with interments is mental Bronze Age expected to be generally very site types found in small, if it exists at all (Wright the Tahilt region are 2006). The other characteristics of khirigsuur khirigsuurs are most often circular monuments, slab or square surrounds and small
43 Fig 5. (above) Example of a Khirigsuur with a square surround. Fig 7. Typical panel of rock art depict- Fig 6. (below) Selection of Khirigsuur types and features from the ing sheep, goats and/or deer. Tahilt region.
could be char- acterized as Xiongnu but may represent another chronological period. The fu- ture excavation of these smaller cemeteries and single burials will provide more information about their re- lationship to the major cemetery. Outside of the major cemetery complex no other square-ramped tombs have been detected. The satellite features and/or normal expectations of rock art for burials in the other cemeteries are rectangular pavements of stone this area [Fig 7]. all circular in form [Fig 8 Map; Fig [Figs. 5, 6]. 9, both, facing page]. The evidence for the Xiongnu Another site type generally and the Iron Age comes most The smallest component to the characterized as Bronze Age is obviously from the Tahilt cemetery chronology of the Tahilt region rock art. This would include any (Miller et al 2008) [Fig 1 B], but in comes from the Turk period with depiction made by humans addition there are three smaller two sites including standing stones painted or pecked into the stone cemetery sites in the area, and stone lines extending from (Jacobson-Tepfer 2006). At Tahilt containing between six and them, as is typical of balbal lines there are seven rock art sites twenty-seven features/burials. found in other areas of Mongolia. ranging from a single panel of a Furthermore there are a number The construction of the standing single animal to multiple panels of single Xiongnu burials outside monument includes base support with a variety of depictions of of the four main cemeteries and a stones generally square-shaped sheep or deer, which is within number of stone ring features that [Fig 10, facing page] and thus not
44 Fig 10. Standing stones assumed to be from the Turk period.
medieval and historic periods such as Uighur, Khitan, and Mongol. No evidence of these sites or characteristic pottery from these periods (Wright forthcoming) was detected during the survey. It is possible that the sample size is limiting the finds. However, the location of Tahilt is far from the core of any of the historic empires. In addition, What types of environmental periods such as the or landscape features are Mongol might not associated with archaeological appear, given that features? they are relatively The connections between specific short in comparison landscape features are, at this to the major periods point anecdotal. However represented at Tahilt. representing them graphically in Fig 8. Locations of three or four secondary What the preliminary Xiongnu cemeteries. a GIS is the first step to survey shows is a understanding what environ- to be confused with the deer stone continuous use of the landscape mental features are important to or Bronze Age standing stone for 100,000 years up to the Turk locations of archaeological features. period; however, the use and elements within the landscape. In understanding of this landscape the future the types of landscape The post-Turk period in within the survey area differs with features will be systematically Mongolia would encompass the culture. categorized to clarify the relationships between the archaeological record and its environment. In addition this will help better to target surveys for the future. The first of the major environmental features of the Tahilt region are the Hoyt Tsenker and Dond Tsenker rivers. These two rivers come together at the modern town of Manhan. Also at this river junction is a large site with over 40 khirigsuur monu- ments ranging in size from ten to thirty-five meters. So far this is the largest site in the area with some of the largest monuments. The other main feature is the high rocks that run between the two rivers. While the high rocks do not affect the overall site locations, the sites are fairly uniform over the Fig 9. Xiongnu burial ring from a secondary cemetery. entire survey area. The larger
45 sites, both Bronze Age and of all the periods, with 40% of all and ritual. These distinctions also Xiongnu, appear at the base of the the sites dating to the Bronze Age, bring out the behavioral high rocks and in the dry and river not including the rock art and differences between the two valleys [Fig 11]. The large basin associated Neolithic sites. The groups during these time periods. mentioned earlier is to the west relationship between these two The khirigsuurs represent of the Tahilt cemetery; some of the periods can begin to be monument and ritual without major Khirigsuur sites overlook understood even at the pre- burial. The Tahilt cemetery and this basin. To the south of the liminary stages of survey. The key Xiongnu burials represent a ritual Tahilt cemetery is a large open difference between the Bronze and mortuary site and behaviors valley. This area contained Age sites and the the Xiongnu (Miller et al. 2008). This can also evidence for modern use but was sites is that there are no artifact be seen for later periods, where almost unused in the past. A or visible Xiongnu habitation sites, we have evidence for two Turk section of this area was selected whereas in the Bronze Age we standing stones but no pottery. It for 100% total coverage survey, have both, sometimes in close is understood that two sites do not and only four sites were detected proximity to the monumental represent a significant sample, but within that area. Understanding sites. We can understand this to future survey will easily either the relationship between major mean that during the Bronze Age confirm or deny this pattern. landscape features and the the landscape was understood as surrounding archaeology both a ritual and habitation area, Future surveys strengthens our understanding of but the Xiongnu were delineating The Tahilt region is interesting each component of the chron- a separation between a ritual and archaeologically and ideal for ology. habitation space, thus creating a future regional survey. However, less homogeneous picture than What are the pre- and post- there are some challenges of the Bronze Age perspective on Xiongnu sites and how do they which we became aware during space. This may be unique to the compare to the Xiongnu the preliminary stages. Full periphery or be resulting from the component in the archae- coverage survey (that is, covering limitations of the survey method- ological landscape? 100% of the landscape) would be ology. The evidence for the ritual ideal for the Tahilt region for The pre-Xiongnu component to use of the landscape in the Bronze overcoming some of these the Tahilt region is the most visible Age is very visible and would have challenges. One of the challenges been visible to the of survey in the Tahilt region was Xiongnu. The evi- the absence of artifact sites, which dence that the makes it difficult to determine with landscape was prev- any certainty the habitation and iously used for settlement patterns for the habitation is and Xiongnu and Turks. A full coverage was less apparent. survey would detect more sites It is possible that and increase the sample size, or, this is part of the if the habitation area is in fact not criteria the Xiongnu in the Tahilt region, full coverage would have used in survey would detect this. The choosing a location same could be said for for the Tahilt ceme- understanding the Bronze Age tery. However com- complexity of the region. At this parison of other point the survey indicates where major cemetery sites seem to be located but is not sites and the Bronze representative of the emerging Age component spatial and cultural complexity would need to be studied during this period (Allard explored before we and Erdenebaatar 2005; Wright can be certain. At 2006, 2007). Expanding the Tahilt we can see the survey to include more en- Bronze Age mark on vironmental zones would also the land, and later increase the likelihood of detecting the Xiongnu use a nomadic habitation sites for the section of this Bronze Age, Xiongnu and later landscape not cur- periods. rently occupied with Fig 11. Location of larger sites or those with a monuments for their The other aspect that would higher feature count. own monuments need to be considered for future
46 surveys would be to locate source achusetts, Boston, in Archaeology and Anthropology of Eurasia 3 materials for lithics and pottery. and Art History, and will enter the (11) (2002): 32–47. Since the site locations seem to Ph.D. program in Archaeology at Jacobson-Tepfer 2006 be related to certain landscape the University of Pittsburgh in features, future surveys would autumn 2008. He has worked on Esther Jacobson-Tepfer. “The Rock also want to consider the other six different archaeological Art of Mongolia.” The Silk Road 4/ elements that might affect this projects in Mongolia, China, 1 (2006): 5-13. decision-making process. In Jordan and the U.S. He is Larichev, Pforr and Chard 1962 addition, source material studies interested in the Neolithic and V. E. Larichev, Barbara L. Pforr and have been useful in other parts of Bronze Age emergence of social Chester S. Chard. “The Microlithic Mongolia to prove whether pottery and spatial complexity in China Character of Neolithic Cultures in is locally produced or brought from and Mongolia. He may be Central Asia, Trans-Baikal, and other regions (Honeychurch, contacted at
47 observations of travelers con- Food as Culture: The Kazakh cerning the abundance of festive entertainment at weddings and Experience memorial feasts of the nomads, and also the rich materials of Alma Kunanbaeva1 folklore. The portrayal of elaborate Stanford University, USA feasts is infinitely varied and evocative, for example, in the Kazakh epic “Koblandy-batyr”, the Kyrgyz epic “Manas”, and in any The Kazakhs have an amusing what?” “Everything!” “Did you other epic tales of the Central anecdote often told at the table: give him beshbarmak?” “What Asian nomads. Once a Kazakh came to town on earth is that?” “Go buy a to buy food for an upcoming toi sheep, boil it whole in water, One of the basic reasons for (feast) celebrating the dump it in front of him, and such misunderstanding regarding expected birth of a child. He he’ll leave.” The Uzbek had no the diet of the nomads is, if you met there his Uzbek friend. choice; so he did it. And he wish, historical and ecological. Let The Uzbek was delighted at the had no sooner served the me explain. The fact is that the chance to display his hospitality meat, when the Kazakh began food values of the traditional and invited the Kazakh home to hurry, washed his hands, (steppe) and contemporary as a guest. It was impossible thanked everyone, tasted the (farmed) products of animal to refuse, and the Kazakh, meat, drank the broth and husbandry hardly bear com- even though he was in a hurry immediately began to say his parison. Above all this is to return home, agreed. The goodbyes. “I apologize, friend, connected with the nature of the Uzbek brought him home and but I’m in a rush — it’s possible vegetation cover of the pastures began to entertain him that my wife has already given and the grazing pattern of the generously. There was flat birth. I simply didn’t realize animals. Even today, the quality bread, grapes, honey, dried that your pasture is so far from of the sheep in Kazakhstan and fruits, unusual sweets and a the city. Well, so be it. the USA, for example, cannot be great deal of green tea. Farewell.” compared. Here is an example. (“Thank God, it’s hot,” the When publishing this tale, one In 2002 in Washington a Kazakh Kazakh thought, “but it’s ought to give it a title — for delegation of 18 people, invited to so...pale, it hasn’t steeped very example, “The Dumb Kazkah,” or participate in an international long.”) At the end of the day the “Dumb Uzbek,” or even “Two celebration of the countries of the they brought in a plate of worlds — Two Civilizations”….2 A historic Silk Road (The Silk Road: greasy pilaf. (“Why on earth is more academic title would be Connecting Cultures, Creating it made with raisins and nuts appropriate: “The Role of Stewed Trust. The 36th Annual Smith- — maybe they don’t have Meat in the Hospitality Ritual of the sonian Folklife Festival On the enough food?” the Kazakh said Kazakhs,” “ On the Question of the National Mall, Washington, D.C.), to himself.) After the meal the Semiotics of Food,” etc., etc. despite the perfectly satisfactory Kazakh, to the surprise of his food both in the hotel and at the Uzbek hosts, stayed for the All of the well-known literature festival grounds, decided to find a night. The wish of the guest is on the ethnography of nomads way to eat “normal” (that is, law. In the morning, they had starts with the premise about their traditional) beshbarmak3 — the tea, and again at the midday being deprived of any agricultural Kazakhs’ favorite meat dish. Our meal; in the evening they products, and, in connection with hospitable American friends served soup. (“Fairly tasty, but that, the impoverished nature of straight away found a farm located too full of potatoes.”) And the nomadic diet. It is normal to not far from the capital, took us again the Kazakh stayed for the state laconically that the basis of there, allowed our experts to night, although for some the nomad’s diet is meat and milk select the best sheep, slaughter reason he began to worry. The — that is, those things which can it on the spot and themselves host was already unhappy that be obtained directly from their begin to prepare it. The entire he had invited him home. animals. Meat and milk products procedure was videotaped. Groaning, he went off to the are distinguished for their high Everyone was bursting with market to buy something for protein content and indeed enthusiasm and taking pains to the table and in his heart maintain the energy of individuals ensure the best possible outcome, lamented that he simply engaged in heavy physical labor. but in the end they were couldn’t get rid of the Kazakh. However, the diet of the nomad in disappointed. The meat was But a wise man said, “Did you fact never was limited to them. different. The conoisseurs quickly feed him?” “Fed him.” “With One need but recall the numerous discovered the chief reason: the
48 grass in that area was too watery, dentally, “the mistake of someone most honored guest. Before resulting in meat that was who was helping,” and thus serving it, the lower jaw is cut off “watery,” lacking in flavor, and express a sense of insult. (Here and the host makes a cross- “porous.” In addition, the sheep, is a case of a play on words using shaped cut on its forehead. The which for the most part were absolute homonyms—lung, okpe, person who receives the head penned up, had not developed and insult, okpe). The guest was must share with all those present, enough muscle mass. Our then expected to explain how his accompanying his action with Kazakhs carefully considered all action in the past or unfortunate formulae of good wishes. Thus, the factors. Thus it became clear conduct had insulted the hosts and they give out the ears and eyes to that even today people can tell a insofar as possible correct his the young (so that they learn to lot from the taste of meat: the mistake. listen and be observant), the sex of the animal, whether it was tongue and palate to the poets (as The slaughter of animals, free-range or penned up, whether a symbol of eloquence) and to the carried out according to Kazakh it was a lamb or a mature sheep, singers (as the emblem of a custom (in contrast, for example, and how exactly it had been silvery, virtuosic, and ringing to the Mongolian), requires cooked. throat), and pieces of the singed maximum removal of blood: the skin (kuika) to the others. Brains blood should be carefully collected In traditional society, the sheep are not given to the young, since and buried in a safe place. It is to be slaughtered was first shown it is considered that only the wise thought that blood, if it remains to the guest, then laid on its left are worthy of that honor. A dish in the tissue, is the first thing to side, its legs tied in pairs, its throat prepared from finely chopped spoil. The division of the flesh cut without injuring the spine, and brains mixed with meat and dough requires a knowledge of animal the blood drained. Then an (mipalau – pilaf of brain) is given anatomy, since all bones need to incision was made in the skin and to toothless seniors, in the belief remain unharmed. In the case of the carcass “undressed” — the that this mixture is especially a ritual meal, the bones would be skin was peeled off by hand, nutritious. starting with the abdominal cavity, carefully collected and buried, in then the legs and finally the spine. order that the numbers of the It is clear that the ritual has a The abdomen was cut up, the herds be restored. Meat which magic function, in the course of stomach and innards carefully remained on the bones is sliced which, by partaking together, a removed and cleaned off to the and salted, whereby, according to single social group is created and side. The stomach was emptied Kazakh belief, the curing, the its structure made apparent. of its contents, turned inside out, ripening of the meat supposedly A special place in wedding ritual washed and then the lining continues. It would then be dried is occupied by a dish around which scraped off, care being taken not for at least one night, with the aim is distributed boiled and thinly to harm the walls. The intestines of removing any moisture, firming sliced tail fat and liver (kuiryk- were washed, thrice stretched on it up and concentrating its flesh. bauyr), where the alternation of the spout of a tea kettle with cold The head and extremities are the dense and dark with the water and then turned inside out. seared on an open fire, the innards tender and light symbolizes the The small intestine (ashy ishek — washed and used to make kuyrdak paired opposites of male and “sour tasting intestine”) was (boiled innards with onion), a dish female, and the liver, as the organ crushed and boiled together with that can be quickly prepared. The which generates blood, sym- the meat, as were the kidneys (a remaining meat is divided into 12 bolizes kinship and birthing. If, at treat for children). The animal’s muscle groups, parts which the time of the betrothal, both lungs were not highly valued as correspond to the 12 parts of the parties to the union receive this food, but were important in the human body or the 12-year dish, then the betrothal is healing practice of the shaman or calendrical cycle. Each part has its considered to be legally binding baqsu. Held by the windpipe, they own social status and significance and a subsequent refusal by one would be used to flagellate the ill in the subsequent sitting. Each of the sides to marry will create person in order that the disease guest, depending on his place in great unpleasantness. be transferred to the sheep’s the social order, is obliged to receive his share. To the son-in- lungs. Then the lungs would either During the wedding, when the law, for example, always goes the be given to the dogs or buried. movement of the young couple is breast (tyos) , and to the young There was one other way of using accompanied by showering them bride the kuiymshak (the last the lungs, in what we might call with grain and sweets, at the vertebrae). silent speech, a traditional way of entrance to the yurt or house of expressing an unspoken reproach. The head of the sheep, which the groom the bride feeds the fire In such a case, a piece of boiled has been cooked separately, — that is, throws on fat or pours lung would be served to a guest occupies a special place in the on it melted butter. While doing as though by oversight, acci- meal and is given to the oldest or this she invoked the goddess
49 Umai, the protector of women in — a sausage, in which large Tuzdyk can even rescue childbirth, whose name has the chunks of meat and fat are unsuccessful meat. For example, sound of the word mai (fat), and sprinkled with salt, pepper and if the meat had been stored too asks a blessing on her married life. wild (nowadays ordinary) garlic; long in the freezer, it is possible In this way the bride joins the kin karta — the tenderest part of the to freshen it after the initial boiling of her husband, since the burning large intestine which has been by braising it in tuzdyk. of the butter also symbolizes the turned inside out; zhal — the very The quality and the texture of feeding of the ancestors of the juicy part under the mane; zhaia the dough also has an infinite given clan. — the firm, cured and dried soft number of variations and depends part of the haunch. Having crossed the threshold, at very least on five basic factors: the bride meets her in-laws, who, 1. on the type of flour (finely or The techniques of preparation holding hot, freshly-baked flat coarsely ground, from milled or of horse meat include salting, bread in the bosom, embrace the whole grain, from hard or soft marinating, and also drying and bride. In this ritual the bread wheat, home-made or com- curing with juniper smoke. symbolizes the placenta, and the mercial); 2. on the nature of the Depending on the time taken for whole procedure the making of the liquid (whether the dough is mixed each procedure and the bride into a daughter.4 The with icewater, warm or hot water); combination of methods, Kazakhs say that a bride selected 3. on the amount of salt (lightly innumerable taste combinations by god is created at birth from the salted or saline solution); 4. on the may be imparted to the end remains of her future mother-in- presence or absence of eggs in the product, horse meat. This product law, who then discovers as a result dough; and, 5. on the amount of of itself has endless variety, a closer relationship with her. kneading (soft or firm dough). depending on the type of pasture, A no less magical substance is feed, the age of the animal, etc. In the preparation of the dough, the dish zharys kazan (literally, a etc. From this follows the its feel is extremely important. “cauldron-contest”), in which combination of different kinds of While working it, one pays meat is heaped up and put to boil meat into one dish, in a way particular attention to the quantity at the moment when labor in analogous to how seven notes and of liquid ingredients, adding flour childbirth begins. The readiness of three chords provide the basis for as needed and achieving the the dish, the completion of its all European music of the last requisite firmness and springiness cooking, is supposed to influence three centuries. Thus, Kazakhs by comparison with human skin — the readiness of the fetus to be perceive a symphony of aromas, for example, they say about born and facilitate a natural and tastes, colors and textures in the dough: it is light and soft like a safe birth. myriad embodiments of a single child’s cheek (or a baby’s behind), dish — et, which is known in the or it is springy and firm like the Apart from mutton, Kazakhs literature as beshbarmak (literally, breast of a nursing mother, etc. use beef, goat, camel and horse “five fingers”). It is served in The mixing of the dough always meat. The last of these is the most conjunction with dough which has alternates with letting it rest — highly valued. Only specially fed been rolled out and boiled in broth until, as they say, the dough is and tethered mares are and on which are placed pieces of “sated” and ready to be rolled out. slaughtered, ones which have stewed meat which has been cut It is rolled out with a long rolling never been ridden or used in other into large chunks. Poured over this pin of narrow diameter, to the work. The special regime of combination of dough and meat point where the dough forms a feeding such mares is called zhylki is an onion sauce, tuzdyk, whose circle of the thickness and bailau (the tying of the mare), and quality determines the taste of the transparency of a sheet of paper. the slaughter of the mare in early entire dish. Rings or half rings of Such dough when boiled will not winter, sogym. Sogym becomes a juicy, crisp onion are covered with fall apart nor will it stick to itself. holiday for the whole community, fat skimmed from the broth, each member of which receives a Such tender and white dough salted, peppered and then portion. The first meal after the goes well with tender and light- simmered on a slow flame. slaughter is one in which all colored mutton. Camel and horse Heaven help the person who members of the community meat, on the other hand, require overcooks the onion — it will all gather at one table (dastarkhan). a darker and thicker dough, pieces be spoiled! The onion should of which are cut up into smaller In a somewhat analogous retain its crispness and having just portions and boiled longer so that fashion to the white and dark meat begun to secrete onion juice, they absorb the broth. of a Christmas turkey, horse meat replaces it with concentrated broth has dozens of parts which differ and becomes transparent. Only Beshbarmak is served on in taste, texture and use. Thus: once have I tasted French onion several dishes — in earlier times kazy, whole, salted and cured ribs soup which could be compared flat wooden ones, and now in a casing of intestine; shuzhyk with the Kazakh tuzdyk sauce. enameled or ceramic ones — so
50 that one dish will serve three to await asatu as a reward and past now makes me shudder. But four individuals of the same age promise of good fortune in life. nowhere and never have I seen group. Each dish has a name such strong, healthy and hardy depending on which cuts of meat At the end of the meal they people as I did in my childhood. are on it. For example, bas tabak serve hot broth (sorpa) which, Anyway, that already is another is the main dish, zhambas tabak according to the elders, con- lifetime… has the cuts from the abdomen, tributes to easier digestion of the k’iuieu tabak is the dish with the meat. I have heard tell of special breast for the son-in-law, etc. dishes which were prepared only The meal, which begins with an by men when hunting. Along with invocation, concludes with the Beshbarmak is normally eaten ordinary meat cooked on a spit ritual bata beru (the bestowing of over an open fire, my imagination with the right hand. Eating with blessings) and dastarkhan kaiyru the hand allows one not only to is stirred by so-called esip. Elders (closure, literally the “return” of insist that the size of the stomach sense the temperature of the food the dastarkhan), after which (and thus be certain that the of any being equals the volume of people engage in relaxed its soft tissues. Thus the stomach mouth never will be burned) but conversation and music making. also assemble and combine of captured game would be stuffed according to taste the dough, a Any leftover food is taken away with its meat (with salt and wild piece of meat and some onion into and sorted, the onion removed, edible herbs), sewn up, buried in an appetizing portion. Moreover, the dough and meat stored sand and a fire lighted over it. The while sitting on the floor, it is separately. The broth is poured off, meat slowly braised literally for difficult to handle a fork with layers the bones cleaned and everything hours. The walls of the stomach of dough and pieces of meat on it left for the next day. Some people turned into a solid container, inside taken from the gravy without even prefer day-old beshbarmak, of which the aromatic and soft dripping on the table cloth, the rug when it tastes so good to eat the meat stewed in its own gravy. and one’s own clothing. In using cold meat with traces of aspic from Each time I heard these tales I a fork, it is necessary to hold out the broth in its folds along with regretted that I had not been born the left palm and inevitably scorch hot bread. Alternatively, one can a boy and thus could not go it with dripping gravy, which can cut the cooled and hardened hunting. then only be licked off or endlessly dough into narrow strips, fill it with Among the mythological cleaned with napkins. Kazakhs are small pieces of meat, and heat it hunting tales connected with food convinced that the right hand is in a little broth to prepare a special is the story about the great hunts especially suited to eating this dish, naryn, or fry the dough in of the past when a giant wild bull dish. There is even a specific joke. butter and eat it separately. When was cooked on a spit. It sup- They ask: “Why is the thumb diluted with water, the con- posedly happened in this way. The shorter than the rest of the fingers centrated broth serves as the base various kinds of game were and off to one side?” And they for soups called kespe, containing dressed, the heads and ex- answer: “So that it will be easier freshly rolled out dough which is tremities removed. Then they to shape the food into a portion, then wrapped into a roll and cut began to place one animal inside lift it to the mouth and then place into narrow strips. the other in a specific sequence. it in the mouth with a single I have always been struck by First they sewed a pigeon movement of the thumb.” this endless transformation and (kogershin) into a steppe grouse (Kazakhs know that it is especially reworking of one dish into others. (ular), then the grouse was sewn important to have a thumb when The basic principle is completely into a goat (eshki) the goat into a eating pilaf, since rice easily sticks waste-free production. Literally wild sheep (teke), and the sheep together in a lump.) everything went into the food. into a bull (buka), which had not been skinned. And all this The traditional concluding ritual Even the congealed fat removed together was roasted slowly all of the meal is now becoming but from the broth was melted and night over the fire, having been a memory — asatu, when the used for frying or in making dough hoisted on a truly gargantuan spit. elder feeds with his own hands and for bread. This fat, like butter, may Toward morning, the bull from his own dish all the young be stored for a long time in a dried practically was burned to a crisp unmarried participants in the sheep’s stomach, from whose and came apart like a ceramic meal, thus bestowing on them a walls it is believed some beneficial dish, its contents being cooked to blessing and wish for long life and substances are absorbed which perfection and ready to eat. sharing his social status. impart medicinal qualitities. Then the fat may be used to treat Children, who compete for the The confused details of this illnesses of the skin and joints. right before the meal to pour typically male dish — details water on the hands of guests for Just remembering the quantity whose symbolism already has washing and then offer a towel, of cholesterol I consumed in the been half forgotten — such as the
51 selection of animals, their number, create the impression that the stage is the addition of flour and the cutting apart of the joints of Kazakhs eat only meat, literally the mixing of a soft, non-sticking the animals and birds before the from morning to late at night. dough. At that point part of the start of the preparation process, Meat is indeed consumed by all dough is set aside in a covered and in an even greater degree — members of a Kazakh family, the container (best of all one made of the lighting of the fire and the all only exceptions being for pregnant clay or ceramic) as a reserve, and night vigil until dawn — connect women, who should not eat camel fat is added to the remainder, after in certain ways with an analogous meat or certain parts of a sheep. which the dough is formed into ritual of preparation of nauruz But in general to characterize the loaves. The leavening remains kozhe (a new year’s soup) by Kazakhs as exclusively meat alive for 7-10 days. Generally it is women in the night of the spring eaters would be a mistake. Fresh about then that it is time to bake equinox (March 21-22, the Nauruz meat is prepared primarily on the more bread for the family. holiday). Women cook soup all occasion of receiving guests; in night in a huge hemispherical the daily diet, they rely on grain The attitude of Kazakh women kettle, rythmically and without and milk products. to the ripening dough is indeed pause tracing the path of the sun maternal: it is protected from Unlike with meat, whose basic in the way they stir it with a paddle drafts, from sharp drops in qualities to a considerable degree (pispek) (from the verb pis — temperature, even from un- are predetermined by natural and cook, to be cooked, to stick into, necessary agitation. It is common seasonal conditions, products to stir up with a paddle). The to cover the dough with a specially made from flour are the main paddle is a stick with a cross-piece sewn blanket. It is even forbidden stage on which the cook may at the bottom (analogous to the to praise the rising dough, so as demonstrate her talents. There is stirring stick used for agitating not to jinx it, etc. a wide spectrum of breads and kumiss). In addition to the heaped other dishes made from flour, The cult of ancestors, which is up meat, generally they put into ranging from kuimak (a thin blin, strictly observed by Kazakhs, this soup five different grains — rather like a French crêpe), cooked requires regular preparation of millet, oats, wheat, rice and corn. on a flat frypan and made of liquid shelpek or zheti nan (seven However, the selection of batter mixed from whey and breads), round, sourdough flat ingredients may vary depending intended for immediate con- bread fried in fat. (The number on what is available (for example, sumption, to flat breads baked on of these breads should be a beans may substitute for corn), coals in two frypans, which hold multiple of the magic number and even the inclusion of water between them the sourdough. seven.) This is to be done on and meat in the number of Thursdays, or when one has countable ingredients may be Even today the most popular dreamed about deceased optional. Only women of child- food made with flour is balls of relatives, or in connection with a bearing age may participate in this dough fried in boiling oil (to a visit by guests who knew and ritual. At dawn, they give to the degree similar to small donuts). loved the deceased. It is believed elders the separately cooked head The so-called baursak or kyiksha that the spirit of the ancestors of an ox (who cooks it, where, and are not round but cut from rolled (aruakh) is fed by the aroma or how are not clear from the out sourdough. Leavening dough smoke from the frying of shelpek. stories), and then all eat nauruz with commercial yeast is a rather kozhe. There is an obvious late invention. Instead, people The best recipe for shelpek is correlation in the symbolism of used as a leavening ashytky, the to mix into soft dough one cup of these two somewhat parallel ritual remains of the previously over-ripe, even bubbling, sour dishes, the hunters’ and that for prepared bread. The art of making cream, which had been left nauruz. They both are prepared the initial ashytky was kept secret, overnight in a warm place, along at night, in both there must be five although it is possible to develop with a pinch of salt, a sprinkling ingredients. However, the one, for a certain general understanding of sugar and two pinches of soda. men, is distinguished by the fixed about the stepwise process of The dough made in that way is nature of its components, even as creating such a sourdough starter covered and left in a warm place the second is marked by their at home. The first stage is the for an entire day. Then in the fluidity. Whereas the first is liquid leavening (ashytky kamyr) evening one must carefully and entirely restricted to the closed with salt in sour milk; the second tenderly knead it and divide it into male society of the hunt, the stage is the fermentation of this seven portions, roll out the balls second involves exclusively leavening in a warm place; the with a large rolling pin and let women, although in the final third, the feeding of the leavening them rest, then fry them on both reckoning it is in principle open to with sugar or honey; the fourth sides in a deep frypan filled half the whole community. stage is an inelastic dough, mixed way with vegetable oil. It is with flour until it is about half important to have the fat at the To tell about meat products may prepared (but still sticky); the fifth right temperature, which can be
52 determined by tossing into the oil blankets and left to ferment butter creates a new delicacy — a bit of flour, which should sizzle overnight. It is essential not to let kospa. (The more delicate irimshik but not burn. Fat that is too hot it cool or to shake it. By morning is obtained from fermenting of chars the bread and does not allow there forms in the pan a product steamed milk in a calve’s stomach it time to breathe; insufficiently which compares with thick yogurt, and by subsequently boiling it hot oil begins to absorb into the which Kazakhs call katyk. Its down, although this technique is dough and makes the bread too consistency is such that when a already becoming a thing of the greasy and heavy. The bread spoonful is removed, whey quickly past.) should be enjoyable and light—it collects in its place. If the katyk is eaten hot, while declaring is passed right away through Yet one more dairy dish, which “Kabyl bolsyn” (“May it be cheesecloth, the remaining is especially appreciated in the hot accepted!”). coagulate forms so-called suzbe, summer, is a broth called kozhe from which all the acidity has been — a drink fermented from airan The process of the stepwise removed with the whey. This and boiled grain, There several transformation of the end product delicacy is a special favorite of varieties of summer broths, which can be seen especially clearly in children and elders. In order to differ depending on the kind of dairy dishes. store suzbe, one must suspend it grain: tary kozhe — millet; bidai The Kazakhs use milk from all and allow the remaining liquid to kozhe — wheat; zhugeri kozhe — types of animals in varying drain, then mix it with flour and corn; arpa kozhe — oat. These combinations. Nowadays the salt which have been roasted, cold soups even compete with majority of milk products derive form it into balls and dry it on the what the Kazakhs consider to be from cow’s milk, since it is the roof of a porch in the sun. The the royal drinks — kymys (mare’s most readily obtainable. Kazakhs result is tushy-kurt — mild cheese, milk) and shubat (camel milk). observe a single rule for all types usually rather high in fat content Well, maybe not quite…they are of milk: before beginning any and easily chewable. If katyk is so highly rated only if kumiss and preparation, the milk has to be stirred, so as to activate the shubat should not be available. scalded. Otherwise it is considered process of fermentation by Starting even as long ago as raw, unripe, and not brought to introducing air, and over the next Herodotus, much has been written life by heat. Of course this reflects 10-15 days new katyk is added, about fermented mare’s milk popular experience, since raw milk the result is a different product — being an inseparable part of may contain harmful bacteria. so-called airan, which one can nomadic culture. Here I would The cream is removed from the drink as it is or, if diluted by half note though two characteristics of boiled milk and butter made from with water, make into a drink kumiss which are not generally it in wooden churns.5 At one time called shalap. When airan has known. First of all, it is a tried the butter was preserved in the been drained, salted, rolled into and true means of treating stomachs of sheep, in which it not small balls and dried in the sun, tuberculosis. Even today there are only did not become rancid, but one gets ashy kurt — salty sour special kumiss treatment clinics, even breathed through the pores cheese, which then is broken into like sanatoria, in the Kazakh city of the skin, absorbing healing pieces and will keep as long as one of Borovoe (Burabai) in Kokchetau enzymes from the tissue of the wishes. Kurt which has been district and also in Bashkiria. A stomach. Over time such butter broken up may be added to broth, second quality of kumiss is that it became as well a healing which, in addition to sourness, is an aphrodisiac and remedy for ointment, which helped in skin acquires healing qualities and thus impotence and nervous disorders. diseases and in healing wounds. is used to treat head colds. (Since Such giants of Russian culture as it makes one sweat, the broth Lev Tolstoi and Sergei Rach- In working with milk, the made from kurt eliminates maninov in their day underwent primary task is the gradual coughing and fever.) Airan also is successful treatment with Bashkir elimination of superfluous liquid. diluted with sheep’s milk, which kumiss. Here again we have an obvious thickens in this mixture (two kinds process of thickening, con- of milk) and adds lightness as if There are certain misun- centration, and condensation — of beaten eggwhites, the resulting derstandings generally connected the change in the consistency of dish known as akta. with the neophyte’s first attempt the end product, achieved by to join the clan of kumiss means of fermentation. Sour Even the whey which remains enthusiasts. Its taste is unusual cream is added to warm milk (the after straining, rich in proteins and and unexpected for the taste temperature level is easily minerals, is not thrown away. buds, which anticipate the checked — the hand should feel When boiled down to dryness in a somewhat sweet delicacy of neither heat nor cold), mixed, and cauldron, it forms an orange- something like milk. It would be then wrapped in a specially sewn colored grainy mass, irimshik, a better approach to expect a felt cover or woolen scarves and which when mixed with melted taste which is reminiscent of beer,
53 whose varieties are indeed infinite. contains from its inception homemade dishes are, for So it is with kumiss, which varies, substances which allow it to example, pilaf, beshbarmak, for example, with the season — remain unaltered — according to shelpek and baursak. summer, autumn and winter — the Kazakh culinary under- and with the length of standing, it does not age quickly One of the dishes which has fermentation — young, one-day — despite the fact that in fresh been part of the required (saumal), two day, i.e., already milk quite naturally every day and repertoire of my family cuisine and ripe and somewhat intoxicating hour there are living processes at which accompanies me from city (tunemel), and finally, aged — work. I remember well how to city, from country to country truly intoxicating (ushkundik). Kazakh elders greeted with and from continent to continent is When first trying kumiss — this is skepticism the first refrigerators dairy suzbe, analogous to the advice for kumiss neophytes — and freezers. Although they had American farmers’ cheese one should start with small such great economic benefits, at “Friendship.” The variant of the portions and not on an empty the same time, as was believed in recipe adapted to American stomach, in order not to upset the the villages, they forced food ingredients is remarkably simple. digestion. products in a somewhat be- Pour into a heavy saucepan6 three wildered fashion to freeze in one-liter cartons (three quarts) of One of the secrets of good strange, uncomfortable and Bulgarian cultured buttermilk, kumiss is careful stirring. In the unnatural poses. It was as though place it in the evening in a cold days when kumiss had a special they were seized suddenly and oven, turn on the heat set at 350 place in a traditional yurt, a high unexpectedly by freezing and degrees (F), and cook for exactly leather bag of kumiss with a forcibly detained… one hour. Then remove and cool; paddle (pispek) in it usually stood let it rest and settle until morning. to the right of the entrance on a In considering the current stage In the morning, holding the mass wooden platform. Each person of the development of Kazakh which has formed with the hand, entering the yurt and passing by food, I can appreciate more clearly carefully pour off the whey (which it was expected to stir the kumiss how far the cuisine of the nomads can be used for preparing bread with this paddle. When kumiss has departed from its traditional or bliny or for cosmetic purposes) was poured, it was done in a sources. Possibly just as far as and serve — the suzbe is ready! steady stream using a special ladle the nomads themselves have Lovers of more solid suzbe can and raising it high to allow the moved… Instead of interaction drain the mass using cheesecloth. stream of kumiss to fall freely, with food — interaction which is At this stage of preparation, suzbe absorb oxygen and foam. very like basic human stages of is an ideal breakfast. One can add development such as recognition, to it, according to taste, sour Shubat (fermented camel milk) attachment, touching, conception, cream or yogurt, jam or dried fruit is lighter, softer and has a higher birth, growth, transformation, (fresh raisins are especially good), fat content than kumiss. This disappearance and resurrection — an apple or a banana. If one drink is not so alcoholic and is very there is the consumption of pre- strains it further, one obtains a nutritious. Shubat is especially prepared foods, prepared by new and quickly prepared dish. valuable for exhaustion and strangers. That is, it is con- For this one needs half a pound of stomach or intestinal problems as sumption of products which a suzbe, one egg, one tablespoon well as for diabetes. When person obtains without observing of sugar and one tablespoon of fermenting, camel milk does not and even knowing the processes flour. Mix it all together, and make become more concentrated or of their preparation. Modern seven balls from the mixture, solidify, but retains a naturally cuisine has become impersonal dredge them in flour, gently pat thick, almost velvety uniformity. If and part of the inexorable stream them with the hand and fry in one boils this milk, it begins to of mass industry and culture. vegetable oil on both sides until a curdle and the resulting mass, Food (tamak, as) for oneself, one’s golden crust forms — thus one which is sweet and light, becomes family and one’s guests has been gets syrniki (irimshik salyp a special dish, balkaimak (“honey transformed into a product (azyk- pisirgen nan) or cheese fritters. cream”). tulik, produktylary!), identical for They are very good served with each and every person. Natural kumiss and shubat are sour cream, preserves or honey. practically unobtainable outside There are, however, house- From the same suzbe, yet further the areas where they traditionally wives who try to preserve, if not squeezed and drained, one can were produced, just as the traditional food in all its richness even prepare homemade kurt. majority of Kazakh dairy dishes and original form, in practice For this one needs to mix with the cannot be prepared other than on impossible, then at least some suzbe, which has been sqeezed the Kazakh steppe. The apparent components of it along with the dry, two tablespoons of dry explanation is the odd fact that the procedures for their preparation at roasted flour, two tablespoons of whole milk with which one begins home. Among these still popular melted butter, half a teaspoon of
54 salt. Shape the resulting mass into minutes. Pilaf is cooked tightly shape, as is the case with the elongated “sausages” (as always, covered. All other details are left Chinese wok, allows the flame of making seven of them), and let to creativity and experience. the campfire (or gas burner) to them dry in the sun while covered heat the cauldron equally, and the with cheescloth. That’s all there Let me share a few little thickness of the wall retains the is to making kurt. (Incidentally, secrets: 1. Pilaf will be tastier if temperature well. The closest Kazakh children like kurt just as one adds apart from the meat result can be obtained by the use much as modern city kids like itself a few lamb ribs (the bones of a Dutch oven. However, we chewing gum.) intensify the flavor); 2. one should admit that Kazakh students in braise the meat before boiling off their dormitories today prepare Probably the most productive the excess moisture; 3. it is better pilaf in pots and in deep frypans. time for traditional Kazakh cuisine, to salt the meat the night before as I recall, was the period of the using it; 4. twenty minutes after Kazakh pilaf varies, and only 1970s and beginning of the 1980s, adding the boiling water to the when all are taken into account when new dishes appeared, along rice, use a flat spoon to shape the can one form a kind of idealized with the relative abundance of rice into the center of the pot like image of what it should be. To a ingredients and access to new the dome of a yurt and with the greater or lesser degree then any technology such as gas stoves, handle create an opening in the given version is a reasonable ovens and refrigerators. In the center going right down to the approximation. The same can be process of enriching and varying bottom — rather like the smoke said about any kind of popular the Kazakh table, of course a role hole in a yurt — in order that the creation: for example, the ideal was played by the interaction of rice can breathe; 5. when the form of a song is composed of the Kazakhs with the foods of a good plates have been laid and the totality of all its variants, and it is many other peoples of Central family called to the table, with the precisely this fact which makes Asia. It was then that manty burner turned off, cover the pilaf one want to listen to it again and (Chinese dumplings) became a with a clean towel and then once again… regular feature of Kazakh food, as again the pot lid in order to allow did (Dungan noodles from the pilaf to rest. The towel The kazan is the ideal vessel for stretched dough), Siberian absorbs excess moisture. In five preparing yet another popular dish pelmeni, Russo-Ukrainian borshch to ten minutes remove the lid and today, dymlama. In conclusion, with beets, and also a variety of the towel, carefully mix the lower let me share the recipe. canned preserves (marinated and layers of meat with the rice, and Dymlama is meat braised with salted tomatoes, cucumbers, serve. root vegetables. Cut the meat apples, cabbage, mushrooms), (lamb or beef) into large chunks, and piquant Korean marinades Yet one more opportunity for quickly sear it in fat, add onion, which still fill several aisles in the creativity is to add herbs salt, pepper (or other herbs) and city market of Almaty. The (barberry, cumin, peas, nuts, then add layers of various root abundance of rice grown in the raisins), but here we already are vegetables (lightly salted), sliced Kazakh south, especially in returning to the more refined pilaf to the size of a hen’s egg. This is Kyzylorda, has made pilaf, of the Uzbek neighbor, who so best done in the following especially, almost daily fare for the generously received that sequence, from the heavier and Kazakh family. apocryphal Kazakh of the anecdote with which we began our firmer to the lighter and softer: Kazakh pilaf is very simple to journey into the world of Kazakh carrot, potato, rutabaga (or prepare. It contains five basic cuisine… turnip), beets, eggplant (in its ingredients: rendered fat, mutton, skin), green cabbage cut into onion, carrots and well washed It goes without saying, that in wedges including the core, and rice, over which is poured boiling contemporary conditions, es- then at the top tomatoes, split in water. Salt and pepper to taste. pecially abroad — for example, in half, and bunches of parsley and Preparation time is an hour and a the U.S. — the demanding dill (which will be discarded when half: 20 minutes to clean and slice traditional cook will complain that the dish is done). Do not add even the vegetables, 30 minutes to the mutton is not the same, the a drop of water! Cover tightly with braise the meat (the meat is rice is not the same, the water is a lid and braise one and a half to braised separately for 10 minutes, chlorinated, etc. However, these two or even two and a half hours with the onion for another 10 excuses are not important for the over low heat. Do not open the minutes, and then another 10 true master of traditional pilaf; lid, and do not stir the contents. minutes with the carrots). After rather, what is important is the pot When the dish is done, the meat adding the rice and water (to a in which pilaf should be prepared. is completely tender and has level of one finger’s width above We are talking here of the kazan, absorbed all the juices, and each the rice), cook for another 40 the heavy metal cauldron with a vegetable retains its shape, color minutes. All in all, just 90 hemispherical bottom. That and taste. There is not much
55 gravy, but it is exceptionally tasty. as the creation of the world. That Notes As far as quantities go, one should is, we are talking here about food use approximately the same as the embodiment of the 1. This article was translated from weight of each ingredient. The organizing principle of the world, Russian by Daniel C. Waugh. choice of vegetables may vary like the above-mentioned kumiss 2. Incidentally, I never once heard with the season. The best time is paddle, which turkic cultures this story from Uzbeks, and when autumn when the vegetables have consider to be in the category of I told it I sensed their be- just been dug out. the world tree. It is no accident wilderment and embarrassment. that the process of preparing Of course it is good to have kumiss is sometimes compared recipes already at hand, and the 3. The Kazakhs themselves call metaphorically with a shamanistic more the better, since that way this dish et (meat), and act. there is a choice. Yet I believe beshbarmak (five fingers) is a that if the marvellous recipes of Underlying traditional food later Russian borrowing, derived the cuisine of our sedentarized culture is the entire traditional from the fact that a dish should Central Asian relatives should with culture of a people. It is not only have a name which distinguishes time become part of world cuisine, a culture of food, but food itself is it from the ingredients. that in no way would diminish the culture. 4. In a similar fashion childless culinary creativity rooted in the parents adopt orphans as their centuries old life experience of the About the author sons or daughters. nomads. At very least I would hope that not only the perfect final Educated in Almaty, Moscow and 5. The second half of the 20th product, but the very process of St. Petersburg, Alma Kunan- century saw the introduction of its the interaction amongst food, baeva is a Visiting Professor at innovations in the churning of people, and society at large will Stanford University’s Department butter at home. Hence the unique not be ignored by those who today of Cultural and Social Anthropol- Kazakh popular method of take an interest in our experience. ogy, where she teaches courses churning butter in first-generation Then it will become clear that on the culture of Central Asian vertical washing machines with an along with the effort to have an nomads. She has written the prin- agitator on the bottom. This has always perfect, easily repeated cipal entries on Kazakh traditional no effect on the quality of the and reliably guaranteed dish which music for the New Grove’s Dictio- butter, which, when collected, is will be completely satisfying, there nary of Music and Musicians and well rinsed and then, as a rule, is another pleasure, that of the Garland Encyclopedia of World lightly salted. unpredictability and experimen- Music, published a book, The Soul tation. There is an impressionistic of Kazakhstan, and been involved 6. I bought mine for 25 cents at a subtlety of detail and a minimal in a broad range of educational flea market in Berkeley. It is an amount of reflection in the infinite programs, among them ones aluminim pressure cooker without variations of one and almost the sponsored by the Aga Khan Trust a lid and missing its handle. same dish created without a for Culture. She is also President recipe. Its essence is to create of Silk Road House in Berkeley, a human warmth and even the soul. pioneering non-profit cultural and Thus the culinary arts become educational center supported by elevated to mythological stature the Silkroad Foundation.
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