Characteristics of Bone Carving Craft in the Eurasian Nomadic Milieu during the Early Iron Age: manufacturing protective equipment parts

Abstract

This article examines the characteristics of bone working within the nomadic communities of the Eurasian Early Iron Age, specifically focusing on the production of protective armor components. The methodological foundation for studying bone artifacts—encompassing raw material processing, blank preparation, and finished products—relies on structural-technological analysis, a constructivist-morphological approach, and technical-morphological analysis, incorporating data from traceology and experimental archaeology. Horse breeding, central to the nomadic economy, was fundamentally linked not only to the broader material culture of these groups but also to bone working, which relied heavily on horses as a primary resource and raw material base. The inherent mobility of nomadic life necessitated constant horse care, a key aspect of which was hoof trimming. This routine practice appears to have directly influenced the technology used by nomads to craft protective armor from horse hoof walls. This distinctive form of armor is documented in ancient literary sources (Pausanias, Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus) and depicted in Roman monumental art, such as the bas-reliefs on Trajan's Column. Archaeological evidence corroborates these accounts: bronze hoof-trimming tools, cut marks on hoof bones themselves, and bronze replicas of armor plates made from such hoof blanks have been discovered at sites across Khakassia, Gorny Altai, and Mongolia.