Altai in the Pre-Turkic Period: Historical Fate of the Nomads of the Dyalyan Tradition of Ritual Practice

Abstract

The article presents the study of the Dyalyan tradition of ritual practice characteristic of one of the groups of the Bulan-Koby archaeological culture of Altai in the last quarter of the 1st millennium BC – the first half of the 1st millennium AD. The key features of this tradition are identified, the most significant of which is the burial of an individual oriented to the western sector of the horizon, accompanied by a horse laid “above” or “at the feet” of the buried individual. 45 similar burials localized in the northern and central Altai have been excavated to date. These burials demonstrate the features of the formation and evolution of the Dyalyan tradition throughout the entire period of the existence of the Bulan-Koby culture. This group of the population had the greatest importance in the pre-Turkic period (second half of the 4th – first half of the 5th centuries AD). New materials from the excavations of the Choburak-I necropolis, one of the demonstrative objects of which is published and analyzed in the article, confirm that in the nomads of Dyalyan tradition were representatives of the local elite in the Northern Altai. This is evidenced by the composition of the accompanying inventory from the studied burials which included advanced models of weapons and defensive armament, equipment for a person and a riding horse. The possibilities of reconstructing the historical fate of the Dyalyan tradition bearers are presented. It should be stressed that the characteristic features of the rite were not continued in the funeral practice of the early medieval Turks. The available rather fragmentary materials make it possible to outline the western direction of the migrations of the “Dyalyans” (probably as part of the Rouran community), as well as to make an assumption about their participation in the formation of certain population groups of the Srostki culture of the Forest-Steppe Altai.

Keywords

• altai
• bulan-koby culture
• dyalyan tradition
• pre-turkic period
• funeral rite
• chronology
• ethno-cultural history