Weaponry complex from the Yangfutou burial ground (Yunnan province, China)

This article discusses weaponry complex excavated at the Yangfutou burial ground of the Dian culture in Guandu District of the city of Kunming, widely dated to the time from the Middle Zhanguo period to Early Eastern Han period (3rd century BC -1st century AD). Grave M113, where hundreds of bronze weapons were found, was ofparticular interest. Many of the weapons had richly decorated wooden shafts which were well-preserved due to lacquer coating. This is unique not only for that burial ground, but also for the entire Dian culture. Some adzes and hoes, which were also mounted on shafts with decorative patterns and then varnished, were found along with spears, dagger-axes, and poleaxes. This shows a conventional distinction between weaponry and tools in the history of military equipment. Particularly notable objects included massive bronze points in a form of a spear, attached perpendicularly to the shaft. Their exact typological parallels appeared among the weaponry ofthe Seima-Turbino type, discovered at the Rostovka burial ground, which clarifies their use in the ranks of the "Siberian phalanx.” A significant part of weapons from the elite burials might have had a ritual purpose and could have been made specifically as grave goods or as ceremonial or award weaponry. In any case, ancient artisans reproduced combat weapons appearing in small graves of Yangfutou, although the ratio between different types of weapons differed from the real combat specimens of Dian squads, known to us from other burial sites and scenes represented on the tops of bronze drums.