COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF A PLATED BELT FROM A 6TH – 7TH CENTURY SAMODIAN BURIAL AT STRASHNY YAR-1 SITE IN THE BARNAUL OB REGION

Abstract

The sites of forest-steppe Altai dating back to the early Middle Ages contain materials reflecting the development of both Samodian traditions (house-building, funerary rites, pottery and bone carving, cult metalworking) and the material influence of the Turkic culture (armament, clothing adornments, horse harness). One of the brightest manifestations of this infl uence are the funerary complexes with plated belts crafted in the so-called heraldic style. A well-preserved belt of this type was discovered at Strashny Yar-1 burial ground in the vicinity of Barnaul. It was decorated with 21 bronze objects: plates with a heraldic shield, including
pseudo-pin pendants, round and annular plates, a pentagonal-oval plate and a T-shaped plate. These products, investigated with the aid of an X-ray fl uorescence spectrometer, have direct analogies among the materials of the Kudyrginsky stage of the Turkic culture of Altai. Of particular signifi cance are the western analogies discovered at the sites of the Bartym stage of Nevolinskaya culture in the Urals. The complex of available data allows to date the analyzed belt 2nd half of the 6th – 1st half of the 7th century. The discovered belt set originating from the archaeological sites of the forest-steppe Altai and other territories provide opportunities for comparative analysis and complex reconstructions.