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Ancient jewelry from Central Asia
- By Neva, Elena
- Published 12 March 2008
- Jewellery - Ethnic
- Unrated
Apart from metallic adornments, some scientists have examined the emergence and spreading of glass and stone adornments found on the territory of Central Asia. Such works include those of I.V. Ptashnikova[33], G.Y. Drecvyanskaya[34], S.A. Trudnovskaya[35] and E.D. Saltovskaya[36]. There are also works that examine adornments both as archaeological and culturally-historical material (A.M. Mandelshtam[37], B.A. Litvinskii[38]).
The level of knowledge on the adornments of the ancient and medieval periods is still relatively low. Many aspects of Central Asian Jewelry art were left out of existing research and such sources as monumental paintings, sculpture, and relief were hardly utilized. An attempt at a more comprehensive approach can be seen in the works of K.V. Trever[39], in which she examines the adornments of characters found on Airtam's reliefs. In the works of L.I. Albaum[40], T.I. Zeimal & B.A. Litvinskii[41], M. Belenizki[42], researchers look into the monumental paintings found in excavations, describing the portrayed adornments. Many of the written sources and archaeological findings that date back to the late Middle Ages are currently unknown. Specific notations do exist in the works of such researchers as A.S. Bobrova[43], D.N. Varhotova[44], E.V. Kilchevskaya & N.N. Negmatov[45], G.A. Brikina[46] and E. Attagariev[47]. These authors examine jewelry articles as monuments of culture.
The history of Central Asian jewelry will not be complete until all of the finds of the last decade are included as scientific data and until written sources that contain immense amounts of useful information are published. Medieval poetry of Rumi, Rudaki, Firdousi, Khaiyama and other poets preserved for us some descriptions of jewelry. However, thus far, our knowledge of the history of adornments contains a greater than millennium "white spot".
Research Sources
Two types of sources were used in the following research: museum collections and publications on finds of adornments (monographs, albums, catalogues, articles). Museum collections researched included the Moscow, Leningrad, Dushanbe, Leninabad, Tashkent, Samarkand, Pendjikent, and Frunze museums, as well as jewelry from The British Museum exhibited in Moscow and Leningrad. The findings from Afghanistan were examined mainly through publications. Central Asia jewelry articles are found in very small numbers in the museum collections of Moscow and Leningrad. However, the articles present in these collections served as the basis for comparative analyses. The collections in Leninabad, Samarkand, Pendjikent and Frunze also contain a small number of articles that date to the researched period. These however, represent in most cases 'material', not artistic, cultural monuments.
All of the adornments found in the collections of the above museums are very diverse both in the materials and the techniques of making. They also differ from each other in their functions, forms, ornaments, etc. Articles are presented in random and do not form a discernible ensemble. An extensive review of all of the currently available literature on the subject of adornments found on the territory of Central Asia was especially helpful in this study.
Central Asian jewelry art of the IV BC-IV AD period has never been analyzed before. This paper is the first to address this particular period. However, it seems that even this study will not be able to completely uncover all of the questions that arise from such an informative material as jewelry.
The literature and museum collections utilized herein point to the fact that it is currently impossible to study the history of Central Asian jewelry art in full, for not enough information has been gathered on the various historical periods of the given region.
In the following research primarily highly artistic objects have been utilized, without any regard to their materials or techniques of making: including both separate findings and treasures of jewelry articles. The term treasure is often used to describe groups of adornments or other monuments of art found accidentally. These groups represent an ensemble of a variety of artifacts that differ not only in their types and appearances, but also in their chronology. An example is the Treasure of Oxus.
The Treasure of Oxus
A vivid illustration of the artistic tastes of the Central Asian elite of the V-IV BC, as well as material evidence for the coalescence of different cultural and artistic traditions in achaemenian Central Asia, is the well-known Treasure of Oxus, found at The British Museum in London.[48]. A legend tells that the treasure was found in the wadi of the river Amu-Darya (Oxus - as it was known in Greek sources). The treasure consists of about 220 objects, mostly coins that date back to V-III BC, minted in Greece and Asia Minor, in achaemenian Iran and the country of Selevkids[49]. In light of the newest archaeological discoveries a new hypothesis was proposed to suggest that the Treasure of Oxus was part of the treasury of the Temple of Oxus in the ancient metropolis of Takhti-Sangin, where later in the XX century the second Treasure of Oxus was found (excavations are supervised by I.R. Pichikyan). B.Y. Stavisky was the first scientist to suggest that the Treasure of Oxus I was part of the temple in Takhti-Sangin[50]
The temple of Oxus was discovered in the western half of the center of the ancient metropolis. It seems that the temple was built no later then the III century BC and was under reconstruction until the III-IV AD. Sacrifices to the treasury were very diverse, including primarily coins (a large number of which had been found), jewelry, gold and silver vessels, votive plaques, and small sculpture.
The gifts and crumbling adornments of the temple itself (where a square, four-column "White hall" is completely uncovered, and measures 12m x 12m; its columns - decorated ionic capitols; large altars were placed in the corners and in the arches) were deposited onto the floor of separate sectors, and later these sectors-treasuries were immured (the entire number of findings is over five thousand)[51]. Due to the long-term existence of the temple (several centuries), the finds include artifacts that differ tremendously from each other, both stylistically and chronologically. In the catalogues composed by O. Dalton and E. Zeimal, the articles from the Treasure of Oxus I are subdivided into seven groups, that include round sculpture, vessels, coins, a variety of small articles, plaques and finally adornments - rings, bracelets, torques, and articles with relief images[52]. The dominant artistic style during the period of the Treasure of Oxus I was the imperial art of Susa and Persepolis[53]. However, it is possible to come across articles made in the traditional styles of classical ancient East, and in the particulars of the Bactrian style. Many articles are stunning in the skill and methods of making, technical perfection, distinct styles, and the modeling of parts into a whole.
Dalversin-tepe
The other treasure examined in this study is from the metropolis of Dalversin-tepe (modern territory of southern Uzbekistan) dates back to the Kushan epoch and was found under the floor of a small room in a wealthy household (DT-5)[54]. This treasure consisted of carelessly cast disk-like slabs of gold, gold bars inscribed with weight (in some cases gratuitous), jewelry in the form of thick cylindrical or almond-like hoops, earrings, brooches, neck adornments (pectorals & necklaces), bracelets, including those in the form of a hoop with spirals rolling on both sides. Two odd earrings were made in the same technique as the bracelets; the top part of the third one resembles an ornamental cylinder with a bended eye, completed by a snake head. Neck adornments included torques, necklace, and pectoral. A large brooch is very distinct and includes a relief figure of a twisting aural animal, surrounded by heart-shaped openings for incrustation of precious stones[55].
Excavations carried out by an archaeological expedition under the supervision of G.A. Pugachenkova in the valley of Surkhandarya showed that a small Greco-bactrian town, surrounded by pakhsa (a specific type of brick) walls, existed on the territory of Dalverzin-tepe. Also here, a central part of a small buddhist temple, situated to the north of the town wall, was preserved. This may be the reason for the great diversity of articles found in Dalversin-tepe. Some of the articles are made in the artistic traditions of Gandkhara (pectoral, necklace), while others - earrings and bracelets, seem to continue the artistic line of nomads, still others - e.g. the brooch, is an "echo" of the "animal style". This co-occurance may be explained by the fact that "Buddhism was not the only nor the major religion in Bactria, here the gods of 'Avesta' and the Hellenistic gods were worshiped as well"[56]
Tillya-tepe (golden hill)
In contrast to the treasures of Oxus and Dalversin-tepe, Tillya-tepe (from northern Afghanistan) provided researchers with samples of ensembles of adornments. Here in 1978, a joint soviet-afghan expedition uncovered six rich burials (five female and one male), in which many adornments that date back to the begging of this era were preserved. Altogether, 2000 gold jewelry articles with insertions of precious and semi-precious stones were found. The female complexes differ stylistically from each other reflective not only of the differences in the ethnicity of the buried women but also of the differences in fashion. The abundance of jewelry articles in these burials suggests the existence of a jewelry workshop, for such a large amount of sew-on disks could have only been made by several masters.
Aside from treasures and ensembles of jewelry articles, other unique findings of highly artistic monuments of jewelry art from the IV BC-IV AD are rather well-known. Found mainly on the territory of ancient Bactria, these finds include an earring from Dushanbe[57]; the finds from the burials of Bishkent valley[58] - golden earrings, brooch with an image of a "rolled-up horse", beads; adornments from Dangarian burials[59], and finally the jewelry articles from the metropolis Saksanokhur[60].
Rich in jewelry are the collections from ancient Khorezm: Yigarak, Kyusai, Geok-depe, Chirik-rabat, Babish-mulla, Ayaz-kala and others (see the table of finds).
Separate finds that date to the early middle ages from Sogd: the metropolis of Shirin-I and the Kutkat burial vaults are also of great interest[61]. Classification and sorting of these finds resulted in a wider understanding of the areal of the making and the wearing of adornments, where the leading place belongs to Bactria, a country with high culture that was part of the Achaemenian empire (in the middle of the first thousand BC Bactria is mentioned in a Behistun writing of the persian king Darii I). In IV century BC Bactria was conquered by Alexander the Great. "Imported and trophy works of Greek art, as well as those components of Hellenistic art that became part of the imperial style directly or indirectly influenced the culture of Bactria"[62], in its turn influencing the neighboring countries.
The level of knowledge on the adornments of the ancient and medieval periods is still relatively low. Many aspects of Central Asian Jewelry art were left out of existing research and such sources as monumental paintings, sculpture, and relief were hardly utilized. An attempt at a more comprehensive approach can be seen in the works of K.V. Trever[39], in which she examines the adornments of characters found on Airtam's reliefs. In the works of L.I. Albaum[40], T.I. Zeimal & B.A. Litvinskii[41], M. Belenizki[42], researchers look into the monumental paintings found in excavations, describing the portrayed adornments. Many of the written sources and archaeological findings that date back to the late Middle Ages are currently unknown. Specific notations do exist in the works of such researchers as A.S. Bobrova[43], D.N. Varhotova[44], E.V. Kilchevskaya & N.N. Negmatov[45], G.A. Brikina[46] and E. Attagariev[47]. These authors examine jewelry articles as monuments of culture.
The history of Central Asian jewelry will not be complete until all of the finds of the last decade are included as scientific data and until written sources that contain immense amounts of useful information are published. Medieval poetry of Rumi, Rudaki, Firdousi, Khaiyama and other poets preserved for us some descriptions of jewelry. However, thus far, our knowledge of the history of adornments contains a greater than millennium "white spot".
Research Sources
Two types of sources were used in the following research: museum collections and publications on finds of adornments (monographs, albums, catalogues, articles). Museum collections researched included the Moscow, Leningrad, Dushanbe, Leninabad, Tashkent, Samarkand, Pendjikent, and Frunze museums, as well as jewelry from The British Museum exhibited in Moscow and Leningrad. The findings from Afghanistan were examined mainly through publications. Central Asia jewelry articles are found in very small numbers in the museum collections of Moscow and Leningrad. However, the articles present in these collections served as the basis for comparative analyses. The collections in Leninabad, Samarkand, Pendjikent and Frunze also contain a small number of articles that date to the researched period. These however, represent in most cases 'material', not artistic, cultural monuments.
All of the adornments found in the collections of the above museums are very diverse both in the materials and the techniques of making. They also differ from each other in their functions, forms, ornaments, etc. Articles are presented in random and do not form a discernible ensemble. An extensive review of all of the currently available literature on the subject of adornments found on the territory of Central Asia was especially helpful in this study.
Central Asian jewelry art of the IV BC-IV AD period has never been analyzed before. This paper is the first to address this particular period. However, it seems that even this study will not be able to completely uncover all of the questions that arise from such an informative material as jewelry.
The literature and museum collections utilized herein point to the fact that it is currently impossible to study the history of Central Asian jewelry art in full, for not enough information has been gathered on the various historical periods of the given region.
In the following research primarily highly artistic objects have been utilized, without any regard to their materials or techniques of making: including both separate findings and treasures of jewelry articles. The term treasure is often used to describe groups of adornments or other monuments of art found accidentally. These groups represent an ensemble of a variety of artifacts that differ not only in their types and appearances, but also in their chronology. An example is the Treasure of Oxus.
The Treasure of Oxus
A vivid illustration of the artistic tastes of the Central Asian elite of the V-IV BC, as well as material evidence for the coalescence of different cultural and artistic traditions in achaemenian Central Asia, is the well-known Treasure of Oxus, found at The British Museum in London.[48]. A legend tells that the treasure was found in the wadi of the river Amu-Darya (Oxus - as it was known in Greek sources). The treasure consists of about 220 objects, mostly coins that date back to V-III BC, minted in Greece and Asia Minor, in achaemenian Iran and the country of Selevkids[49]. In light of the newest archaeological discoveries a new hypothesis was proposed to suggest that the Treasure of Oxus was part of the treasury of the Temple of Oxus in the ancient metropolis of Takhti-Sangin, where later in the XX century the second Treasure of Oxus was found (excavations are supervised by I.R. Pichikyan). B.Y. Stavisky was the first scientist to suggest that the Treasure of Oxus I was part of the temple in Takhti-Sangin[50]
The temple of Oxus was discovered in the western half of the center of the ancient metropolis. It seems that the temple was built no later then the III century BC and was under reconstruction until the III-IV AD. Sacrifices to the treasury were very diverse, including primarily coins (a large number of which had been found), jewelry, gold and silver vessels, votive plaques, and small sculpture.
The gifts and crumbling adornments of the temple itself (where a square, four-column "White hall" is completely uncovered, and measures 12m x 12m; its columns - decorated ionic capitols; large altars were placed in the corners and in the arches) were deposited onto the floor of separate sectors, and later these sectors-treasuries were immured (the entire number of findings is over five thousand)[51]. Due to the long-term existence of the temple (several centuries), the finds include artifacts that differ tremendously from each other, both stylistically and chronologically. In the catalogues composed by O. Dalton and E. Zeimal, the articles from the Treasure of Oxus I are subdivided into seven groups, that include round sculpture, vessels, coins, a variety of small articles, plaques and finally adornments - rings, bracelets, torques, and articles with relief images[52]. The dominant artistic style during the period of the Treasure of Oxus I was the imperial art of Susa and Persepolis[53]. However, it is possible to come across articles made in the traditional styles of classical ancient East, and in the particulars of the Bactrian style. Many articles are stunning in the skill and methods of making, technical perfection, distinct styles, and the modeling of parts into a whole.
Dalversin-tepe
The other treasure examined in this study is from the metropolis of Dalversin-tepe (modern territory of southern Uzbekistan) dates back to the Kushan epoch and was found under the floor of a small room in a wealthy household (DT-5)[54]. This treasure consisted of carelessly cast disk-like slabs of gold, gold bars inscribed with weight (in some cases gratuitous), jewelry in the form of thick cylindrical or almond-like hoops, earrings, brooches, neck adornments (pectorals & necklaces), bracelets, including those in the form of a hoop with spirals rolling on both sides. Two odd earrings were made in the same technique as the bracelets; the top part of the third one resembles an ornamental cylinder with a bended eye, completed by a snake head. Neck adornments included torques, necklace, and pectoral. A large brooch is very distinct and includes a relief figure of a twisting aural animal, surrounded by heart-shaped openings for incrustation of precious stones[55].
Excavations carried out by an archaeological expedition under the supervision of G.A. Pugachenkova in the valley of Surkhandarya showed that a small Greco-bactrian town, surrounded by pakhsa (a specific type of brick) walls, existed on the territory of Dalverzin-tepe. Also here, a central part of a small buddhist temple, situated to the north of the town wall, was preserved. This may be the reason for the great diversity of articles found in Dalversin-tepe. Some of the articles are made in the artistic traditions of Gandkhara (pectoral, necklace), while others - earrings and bracelets, seem to continue the artistic line of nomads, still others - e.g. the brooch, is an "echo" of the "animal style". This co-occurance may be explained by the fact that "Buddhism was not the only nor the major religion in Bactria, here the gods of 'Avesta' and the Hellenistic gods were worshiped as well"[56]
Tillya-tepe (golden hill)
In contrast to the treasures of Oxus and Dalversin-tepe, Tillya-tepe (from northern Afghanistan) provided researchers with samples of ensembles of adornments. Here in 1978, a joint soviet-afghan expedition uncovered six rich burials (five female and one male), in which many adornments that date back to the begging of this era were preserved. Altogether, 2000 gold jewelry articles with insertions of precious and semi-precious stones were found. The female complexes differ stylistically from each other reflective not only of the differences in the ethnicity of the buried women but also of the differences in fashion. The abundance of jewelry articles in these burials suggests the existence of a jewelry workshop, for such a large amount of sew-on disks could have only been made by several masters.
Aside from treasures and ensembles of jewelry articles, other unique findings of highly artistic monuments of jewelry art from the IV BC-IV AD are rather well-known. Found mainly on the territory of ancient Bactria, these finds include an earring from Dushanbe[57]; the finds from the burials of Bishkent valley[58] - golden earrings, brooch with an image of a "rolled-up horse", beads; adornments from Dangarian burials[59], and finally the jewelry articles from the metropolis Saksanokhur[60].
Rich in jewelry are the collections from ancient Khorezm: Yigarak, Kyusai, Geok-depe, Chirik-rabat, Babish-mulla, Ayaz-kala and others (see the table of finds).
Separate finds that date to the early middle ages from Sogd: the metropolis of Shirin-I and the Kutkat burial vaults are also of great interest[61]. Classification and sorting of these finds resulted in a wider understanding of the areal of the making and the wearing of adornments, where the leading place belongs to Bactria, a country with high culture that was part of the Achaemenian empire (in the middle of the first thousand BC Bactria is mentioned in a Behistun writing of the persian king Darii I). In IV century BC Bactria was conquered by Alexander the Great. "Imported and trophy works of Greek art, as well as those components of Hellenistic art that became part of the imperial style directly or indirectly influenced the culture of Bactria"[62], in its turn influencing the neighboring countries.