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A SPECIAL TYPE OF EARRING FROM ALTAI SITES OF THE HUNNO-SARMATIAN PERIOD

V. Soenov, S. Trifanova

Abstract

Eleven examples of a special type of jewellery – flat, double spiral, bronze wire earrings have been recorded in monuments dated to the late Hunno-Sarmatian period. This paper analyses the main characteristics of the jewellery in question and their area of distribution. It also focuses on a likely source of origin within the culture of the Altai people. We note that neither prototypes nor analogues have been found at Altai sites dated to the Early Iron Age and Middle Ages. Nor have analogues been found in adjacent regions of South Siberia and Central Asia. Nonetheless, a detailed study of the criteria of discovery and characteristics of the earring type throws light on their date and origin. According to the authors, these artefacts date to the period between the second half of the 3rd century and the 5th century AD, and their origin is related to the appearance in Altai of samples of the Xianby material culture from Northern China via Mongolia during the time of Tobas and Muyun dynasty rule. All earrings in question were found in burials of women. Due to their unique nature, flat, double spiral-shaped earrings are established as a diagnostic attribute of the Altai archaeological culture in the late Hunno-Sarmatian period.

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