Abstract
In 1913, S.M. Sergeev conducted an archaeological expedition in the Minusinsk district (uezd), the Middle Yenisei. In particular, he worked near the village of Sukhaya Yerba, where, apart from excavating the Tagar burial mound, he collected archaeological material. The fi nds included 13 overhead bronze plaques on a horse bridle that subsequently entered the funds of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum. G.G. Korol referred to these; however, there is no complete publication of the plaques. The main objective of the paper is to introduce this set to the scholarly discourse. 12 out of the 13 objects are fully identical sub-rectangular plaques, and one object is a T-shaped triple belt distributor. All items are covered with fl oral pattern, which is characterized as “palmette in compositions with a central petal rosette”. The overlays are notable for a highquality embossed pattern, which is well-read even on deformed plaques. Probably the items come from a destroyed Kyrgyz kurgan burial. Such plaques were most characteristic of the period of prosperity of the Yenisei Kyrgyz culture in the second half of the 9th – 10th century (Tyuhtyat archaeological culture, according to L.R. Kyzlasov). Most overlays of this typological subgroup were found in the traditional territory of the Kyrgyz population – the Minusinsk Basin. Moreover, the set from Sukhaya Yerba is numerically the most representative. There are some analogies from the Western Sayan (Upper Yenisei, Tuva), the Kuznetsk Depression and Altai. Although Yenisei Kyrgyz settled across in the wide spread of Inner Asia, the Minusinsk Basin remained the place of the main development of their culture, which is further evidenced by the considered set of plaques from Sukhaya Yerba.
Keywords
Bronze small-form toreutics, Krasnoyarsk Museum collection, Minusinsk Basin, Middle Ages.
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