Ornamented stirrup from the elite early Medieval burial at Balyk-Sook (Central Altai)

Abstract

The article presents an ornamented iron stirrup from a rich and noble early Medieval burial in the Balyk-Sook area in the central part of the Russian Altai. This burial is unique not only for South Siberia, but also for neighborring regions, as within it, with the warrior, four horses and protective armour were found. During the course of restoration work, it was established that the arcs and the plate loop of the stirrup were originally gilded and engraved with complex floral ornamentation, the stirrup foot was decorated with gold wire inlay in the form of floral curls. This is the first find of such type in Altai. The burial containing the stirrup was radiocarbon dated to the second half of the 7th — third quarter of the 8th c. The author provides a wide range of similarities among the “status” or “ceremonial” stirrups from funerary and memorial sites of nomadic nobility, including the Kagans from South Siberia, Central Asia, and Eastern and Central Europe, including the such sites of Kagan status as Shoroon Bumbagar in Central Mongolia and Yeleke sazy in Eastern Kazakhstan, Uibat and Tashebinsk Chaatases in the Minusinsk Basin, the Pereshchepinsk hoard and the Voznesenka memorial complex in Eastern Europe, rich Avar burials in Central Europe, and others. Massive and high stirrups with a plate loop were specifically considered during the Medieval period as “status” stirrups, and in some cases they were additionally decorated with ornamentation. They could be cast in gold or silver, covered with gold or silver leaf, decorated with complex ornamentation in various techniques, or decorated with shaped cuts in the stirrup foot. While Avar stirrups, based on Byzantine coins in burials, are dated to the late 6th — early 7th c., radiocarbon dating and analogies show that Central Asian stirrups belong to a later period — second half of the 7th — 8th c., and in some cases to the 9th c. Highly ornamented stirrups from the monuments of South Siberia and Central Asia were probably made on order by Chinese masters for the Turkic-speaking nobility, or may have been received as diplomatic gifts from Tang China.

Keywords

• altai
• early middle ages
• burial with a horse
• stirrup
• ornamentation
• gilding
• inlaying