Comparative analysis of offensive weaponry during Xiongnu and Xianbei times in Altai and Tian Shan

Purpose. During the Hunno-Xianbei era, the area of the Altai mountains was one of the most developed ones in the Central Asian historical and cultural region in terms of weapon complexes of ancient nomadic cultures which experienced a significant impact of the Huns and Xianbeis nomadic empires. At the same time, some materials from the archaeological sites in the steppe regions of Altai evidence that during the Hunno-Xianbei period they were inhabited by ancient nomads who, by their cultural characteristics, had a significant similarity to the population of the Kenkolski culture. The author compares the complexes of offensive weapons of remote and close combat discovered in the monuments of cultures of the Xiongnu and Xianbei times in the Altai Mountains and Tian Shan in order to attribute them to a certain culture. Results. As weaponry is concerned, the times considered differed from the previous period mainly in the complex of offensive weaponry of nomadic people formed due to the introduction of the Bulan-Kobin culture in the Altai Mountains. In the course of its development, going under the influence of Central Asian nomads in the course of transformation of the previous late phase of the Pazyryk culture, changes included the decoration of compound bows, as well as iron and bone tips of arrows. The arrows were to hit enemies without metallic armor. Such weaponry is represented as a part of Bulan-Kobin offensive weapons of close combat, such as pole weapons, spears, long swords and broadswords. A similar set of offensive weaponry was fixed in the monuments of the Berel type in the Altai Mountains, where we found bone side plates of bows, iron and bone tips of arrows, broadswords and daggers. A number of distinctive features are traced to the set of offensive weaponry found in the monuments of the Airydash type in the central part of the Altai Mountains. Such weapons comprised a compound bow and a singular set of arrows with iron and bone tips. Iron daggers also belonged to collections from the monuments of the Airydash type. We found compound bows with bone side plates, iron and bone tips of arrows of different forms, iron broadswords and daggers in the monuments of the Kok-Pash culture in the eastern part of the Altai Mountains. Such compound bows with bone site plates and arrows with iron and bone tips were also characteristic for the monuments of the Kenkol culture in Tian Shan and some adjacent regions of Kazakhstan of those times. Offensive weapons of close combat of Kenkol nomads seldom featured iron socketed tips of spears. There were swords, broadswords with long right blades and daggers found in Kenkol burial monuments. Previously, researchers suggested comparing these weapon materials with the objects of armament of the Xiongnu complex. However, presence of a considera ble number of blade weapons against single findings of spears and objects of protective armament in Kenkol weapon sets speaks in favor of the weapons investigated referring to the complex of weapons of Central Asian heavily armed nomadic warriors of the Kangju of the 1st part of the I millennium A.D. Conclusion. The results of the comparative analysis allow us to date and refer the weaponry in question to the complex of the Kangju weapons and prove that Kenkol nomads used a wide variety of weapons which gave them advantages over other groups of nomads in the Sayan-Altai region and Central Asia.