On systematizing objects of armament of remote combat from the monuments of Airydash type of the Xiongnu and Xianbei times in the Altai Mountains

Purpose. As the determining role in military operations of the population of the Altai Mountains in the Xiongnu and Xianbei times belonged to weapons of remote combat, such as compound bows with bone side plates and arrows with iron and bone tips of different forms, their systematization is a topical issue. The author reviews the data available on the topic and classifies the findings. Results. Modern archaeologists and historians studying armament of the ancient peoples, who settled in the Altai Mountains in the end of the 1st millennium B.C. - the 1st millennium A.D., pay considerable attention to the bow design features and the forms of iron and bone tips of arrows popular among the representatives of Bulan-Koby and Kok-Pash cultures, as well as the weapons from the monuments of Berel type. The present article is based on the principal results of previous research done on the objects of armament of remote combat from the complex of several archaeological cultures and types of objects of the Xiongnu and Xianbei times in the Sayan and Altai Mountains. The author takes into account existing available descriptions of weapons from the objects of Berel type, bows and arrows from complexes of Kok-Pash culture in the Eastern Altai Mountains, and the armament from burial mounds of Bulan-Koby culture in the central part of the Altai Mountains. Another source of data is the results of research carried out in the past years on details of bows and tips of arrows found at the objects of Airydash type in the Middle Katun' River. Few scientific publications are available devoted to research of the weapon from Airydash complexes. Some findings of bone side plates of bow, iron and bone tips of arrows from the object Airydash I have been adduced in the monographic research of Kemerovo archaeologists, which was devoted to a Kok-Pash monument. There have already been published several articles of the author of the present article, which were devoted to the analysis of bone side plates from compound bows and iron and bone tips of arrows received as a result of excavations at the object Ulug-Choltukh disposed in the valley of the Edigan River. As a result of analyzing bone side plates of the ancient peoples bow, the author singled out two types of bows. One of them had two couples of bone side plates on both ends, two lateral and one frontal side plate in the central part of the bow. Such bows appeared in Central Asia in the era of the Xiongnu Empire. The author also defined the forms of the iron tips of arrows and classified them. The classification describes five types of arrow tips with three kinds of blades. Some of them began to be applied in the Xiongnu times while others became popular in the 3rd - 5th century A.D. Arrows with flat and lenticular tips stand apart from other arrows. Bone tips of arrows demonstrate a considerable diversity. They are subdivided into groups according to the section of the feather and to the types of their tips. Conclusion. The comparative analysis of Aidyrash bows and arrows showed that forms of bows and iron tips of arrows are characteristic for many Central Asian ancient peoples of the Xiongnu and Xianbei times. This fact can be explained by frequent contacts and interactions of the ethnic subgroups in the area of the Middle Katun' River.