Bone plate found in Kochkor valley of Kyrgyzstan

Purpose. The article analyzes a rare finding in the form of a bone ornamented plate with two ram heads at the end looking in opposite directions. The plate was discovered accidentally, in Kochkor valley (the Tien-Shan Range, Kyrgyzstan), and was transferred to be stored in the State Historical Museum of the Kyrgyz Republic. Results. Judging by the design features of this plate, location on the inner side of the wide deepening rectangular and round holes in the corners, we firstly supposed that it was to be attached to the second similar fold. Archaeologists previously found paired bone plates of a similar form with the end in the form of a forked fish-tail, but without holes in the corners, which were decorated with ornaments or engraved battle and genre scenes, in several female burials of ancient Turks. The latter were located on the territory of Gorny Altai and the Tien-Shan range. Previously, such findings were interpreted as bone parts of needle cases. At the same time, other scientists considered needle-cases to be of a different form, namely bone ornamented tubes with iron rods inside. A pair of bone plates with a tab on one end riveted together, which was found alongside with an iron cage with the remains of a leather belt in an ancient burial with a horse on the monument Argalakti I Tuva, allows us to clarify the purpose of such items in the complex culture of the ancient Turks. We propose a new variant of reconstructing the object under study as one used as a tip of a hanging belt. The finding from Kochkor valley is a product of decorative and applied art of the ancient nomads, who inhabited the mountains and valleys of the Tien-Shan range and Semirechye in the VII-VIII centuries, in the period of Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan inhabited by western Turks with their Turkish kaganates. Despite their own cultures and the fact that such objects were found in complexes belonging to both western and eastern Turks, i.e. in different ancient Turkic states, the main components of monumental painting and decorative-applied art in these ancient complexes developed simultaneously and in certain agreement with each other. This assumption is supported by finding similar elements in the decoration of ancient anthropomorphous sculpture, usage of similar carved engraving techniques and spread of similar stories in the cliff art, which is evident due to using similar motifs in decoration. To some extent, our assumption is confirmed by finding ornaments of a similar form and with similar engraved images on the plates used for needle-cases, those whose endings had the form of a fish tail. Although the images on such objects found in the monuments of culture of ancient Turks in the Tien-Shan and in the Sayano-Altai region differ in origin, the ornament motifs on bone items demonstrate a certain similarity. They appeared repeatedly on the territories inhabited by western and eastern Turks, and we propose that such forked-end tips were used for belts to be fastened at the corners pegs. One end of such an item used to be decorated with a forked piece. Conclusion. Our finding from Kochkor valley suggests that there was certain reminiscence of ancient animal style reflected in decorative and applied art of western Turks.