Arzhan (russian: Аржан) is a site of early Scythian kurgan burials in the

Tuva Republic Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, some northwest of

Kyzyl Kyzyl (; Tuvan and russian: Кызыл; , ) is the capital city of the republic of Tuva, Russia. The name of the city means "red" or "crimson" in Tuvan (and in many other Turkic languages). Its population was History The city was founded in 1 ...

. It is on a high plateau traversed by the Uyuk River, a minor tributary of the

Yenisei River The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук ...

, in the region of

Tuva Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...

. The "Arzhan culture" is considered as forming the initial Scythian period (8th–7th century BC), and precedes the

Pazyryk culture The Pazyryk culture (russian: Пазырыкская культура ''Pazyrykskaya'' kul'tura) is a Scythian nomadic Iron Age archaeological culture (6th to 3rd centuries BC) identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans found in th ...

. The remains of Arzhan are among the earliest of all known Scythian cultures, which has led to suggestions that it is the origin of the Scythian "

Animal Style Animal style art is an approach to decoration found from China to Northern Europe in the early Iron Age, and the barbarian art of the Migration Period, characterized by its emphasis on animal motifs. The zoomorphic style of decoration was used ...

Arzhan kurgan

Arzhan-1 was excavated by M. P. Gryaznov in the 1970s, establishing the origins of Scythian culture in the region in the 9th to 8th centuries BCE. Further excavations were conducted in 1997 and in 1998-2003 (Arzhan-2). The excavations showed burials with rich

grave good Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...

s including horses and gold artifacts. There are several hundred kurgans, arranged in parallel chains. Arzhan-2 turned out to be an undisturbed burial; the builders created two central pits that were fake graves to throw off looters, and the main burial was 20 meters off-center. It was first explored by a joint German and Russian archaeological expedition from 2000 to 2004. They found the royal couple, sixteen murdered attendants, and 9,300 objects. 5,700 of these artifacts were made of gold, weighing a Siberian record-breaking twenty kilograms. The male, who researchers guess was some sort of king, wore a golden torc, a jacket decorated with 2,500 golden panther figurines, a gold-encrusted dagger on a belt, trousers sewn with golden beads, and gold-cuffed boots. The woman wore a red cloak that was also covered in 2,500 golden panther figurines, as well as a golden-hilted iron dagger, a gold comb, and a wooden ladle with a golden handle. The couple was buried together, suggesting that the woman was killed to keep the king company in the afterlife. The tomb also had thousands of beads, including over four hundred made of

Baltic amber The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than 1 ...

. In 2017, the large royal burial mound Tunnug 1 (Arzhan 0), which dates to the same period as Arzhan-1, was investigated by a Russian-Swiss expedition.

Significance

Arzhan has been a key element in archaeological evidence that now tends to suggest that the origins of Scythian culture, characterized by its

kurgans A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central Asi ...

burial mounds and its ''

Animal style Animal style art is an approach to decoration found from China to Northern Europe in the early Iron Age, and the barbarian art of the Migration Period, characterized by its emphasis on animal motifs. The zoomorphic style of decoration was used ...

'' of the 1st millennium BC, are to be found among Eastern Scythians rather than their Western counterparts: eastern

are older than western ones (such as the Altaic kurgan Arzhan 1 in

), and elements of the ''

'' are first attested in areas of the

Yenisei river The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук ...

and modern-day China in the 10th century BCE. The rapid spread of Scythian culture, from the Eastern Scythians to the Western Scythians, is also confirmed by significant east-to-west gene flow across the steppes during the 1st millennium BC. Recent archeological and genetic data suggests that the Western and Eastern Scythians of the 1st millennium BC originated independently, but both combine

Yamnaya The Yamnaya culture or the Yamna culture (russian: Ямная культура, ua, Ямна культура lit. 'culture of pits'), also known as the Pit Grave culture or Ochre Grave culture, was a late Copper Age to early Bronze Age archa ...

-related ancestry, which spread eastwards from the area of the European steppes, with an

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea a ...

-related component, which most closely corresponds to the modern North

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

Nganasan people The Nganasans (; Nganasan: ''ŋənəhsa(nəh)'', ''ńæh'') are a Uralic people of the Samoyedic branch native to the Taymyr Peninsula in north Siberia. In the Russian Federation, they are recognized as one of the indigenous peoples of the Russ ...

of the lower Yenisey River, to varying degrees, but generally higher among Eastern Scythians.

Artefacts

File:Hairpin with deer on top burial mound Arzhan (VIII.-VII. B.C.) Tuva (detail).jpg, "Animal style" deer, (8-7th century BC) Tuva. File:9. Hairpin with deer on top burial mound Arzhan (VIII.-VII. B.C.) Tuva.JPG, Hairpin with deer on top burial mound Arzhan (8-7th century BC) Tuva. File:6. Pectorale burial mound Arzhan (VIII. - VII. B. C.) Tuva.JPG, Pectoral plate, from burial mound Arzhan (8-7th century BC) Tuva. File:8. Akinak (dagger) bural mound Arzhan (VIII.-VII. B.C.) Tuva.JPG, Akinak (dagger) burial mound Arzhan (8-7th century BC) Tuva.

References

External links

Arzhan - a Scythian royal necropolis in Tuva, Southern Siberia
{{Rulers of Ancient Central Asia Archaeological sites in Russia Archaeological sites in Siberia Kurgans Iranian archaeological sites Iron Age sites in Asia Geography of Tuva Saka Cultural heritage monuments in Tuva Objects of cultural heritage of Russia of federal significance

Arzhan kurgan

Significance

Artefacts

See also

Further reading

References

External links