page 77–87 RUS
ÓÄÊ 903.2 EDN: https://elibrary.ru/KTPXIP
A headdress and a set of jewelry from the female burial of the pazyryk culture at the khankarinsky dol burial ground (altai)
Dashkovskiy, Petr K., Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Regional Studies of Russia, National and State-Confessional Relations, Altai State University, Barnaul, Russia, dashkovskiy@fpn.asu.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4933-8809
Summary
The present study aims to publish the results of investigations conducted at burial mound No. 31 within the Khankharinsky Dol burial ground. This site forms part of the Chinetinsky archaeological microdistrict, located in the Krasnoshchyokovsky District of the Altai Territory (Northwestern Altai). The features of the burial rite, as well as the funerary inventory, documented during the excavations of mound No. 31, demonstrate consistent analogies with materials recovered from previously investigated sites attributed to the Pazyryk culture across various areas of the Altai Mountains. Within the framework of a comparative-historical approach, the attribution and chronological positioning of both individual categories of the inventory and burial mound No. 31 as a whole have been established, with the complex being dated to the 4th — early 3rd century BC. Particular emphasis in this study is placed on the analysis of the female jewelry assemblage, which comprises a bronze torque sheathed in gold foil, an iron hairpin, and two eight-shaped earrings fabricated from gold wire. The earrings are complemented by pendants consisting of two successively connected rings made from similar wire, as well as two disks with pendants. Based on the arrangement of the applications, foil stripes, and a trace of black pigment identified beneath the female cranium, it has been inferred that the headdress originally constituted a relatively low-profile structure. Its basis likely consisted of a carbonaceous-clay substance, hair, felt, and fabric. Zoomorphic applications in the form of a mountain goat's head and circular stripes were affixed to this base through special small perforations. The presence of a headdress, a torque, and earrings with pendants incorporating gold foil indicates a certain social status of the buried woman.
Keywords: Pazyryk culture, Altai, Scythian epoch, headdress, jewelry, funeral rite, nomads.
© Dashkovskiy P.K., 2026
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Received 20.06.2025
Accepted 02.03.2026
Article is published: 15.09.2026
Funding.
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