Lash (scourge) handles used by nomads of Hunno-Sarmatian epoch in Southern Siberia

Purpose. Among archaeological antiquities in Siberia there are some categories of objects whose exact purpose is unknown. These include bone tubes found in archaeological sites of the Hunno-Sarmatian time in Southern Siberia and Transbaikalia. This category of archaeological sources has long been known, but they have not been mapped, classified or dated, and their purpose and methods of use have not been studied yet. We provided a system analysis of data sources relevant for the socio-economic and ethno-cultural history of the peoples of Southern Siberia. Results. The area of distribution of the bone tubes studied covers the territory of Transbaikalia, Minusinsk hollow, Tuva and the Altai Mountains (Gorny Altai). The largest number of such tubes was found on the sites of the Hunnu culture in Transbaikalia - 24 copies, and the Kokel culture of Tuva - 24 copies. They were also sufficiently represented on the sited of the Berel culture of the Altai Mountains (Gorny Altai) - 18 copies. A series of similar objects from Tes and Tashtyk ground graves in Minusinsk hollow numbers 9 copies. The bone tubes have the form of a hollow, smooth or ornamented cylinder. All bone tubes from the collection can be divided into three types - smooth, cut, and ornamented. The bone tubes have a broad chronological range. In Transbaikalia, they were used in the 1st BC -2nd AD during the rule of the nomadic Hun Empire in the steppes of Central Asia. They appeared in Tes monuments in Minusinsk hollow during the same period. In this area, they continued to be used during Tashtyk time up to the 4th AD. In Tuva and the Altai Mountains (Gorny Altai) bone tubes were found on the sites of the first half of the 1st millennium AD. Our analysis of the chronology of the sites suggests that the bone tubes found were used in Southern Siberia throughout the Hunno-Sarmatian period. Archaeologists differed in their opinions about the purpose and methods of using such bone tubes. In their publications, the tubes were called tubes (tubules)-needlecases, mouthpieces for wineskins, bone nakosniks, bone (horn) hilts, objects of unknown purpose or just bone tubes. The most popular interpretation was that the tubes were used as needlecases. However, all the tubes found in Southern Siberia and Trans-Baikal region did not contain any needles. According to our investigation based on the conditions and location of the finds in graves, the tubes seem to have been used as bone handles for lashes. Conclusion. Lashes (scourge) and whips to control horses were a necessary element among gear riders. In nomadic societies, lashes were used by both adults (men and women) and children. A simple and universal form of the bone stick whips speak on the wide territorial and chronological framework of their distribution.