Metal works of art in belt sets of Altai nomads of the Xiongnu period (a case study of the Yaloman-II site)

Excavations of Xiongnu kurgans at Yaloman-II (Central Altai Mountains)produced metal works of art. Some are parts of belt sets. The paper publishes a collectionof toreutics items represented by belts, plaques and strap ends (Fig. 1; 2). This materialexpands the list of sources required to interpret the results obtained by excavating funeralassemblages dated to the early state of the Bulan-Koba culture of the Altai Mountains. Theanalysis of the artifacts in question helps reconstruct processes of ethnocultural interactionsas well as address the issue of establishing relative chronology of archaeological itemsfrom Central and North Asia (placing it with the range of the 2nd century BC-1st centuryAD). An important thematic area of the study is accoutrements of nomads, which describevarious aspects of a life-sustaining system in the period. In this respect, the message thatthese images made in the animal style are supposed to get across is also very important.