Collection of Iron Arrowheads of the Kyrgyz Great Power Epochs from the Kyrgyz National Museum in Bishkek City

Abstract

Purpose. We considered and analyzed the finds of iron arrowheads from a small collection of armament objects for long-range combat related to the epoch of Kyrgyz Great Power. The collection is exhibited at the moment in the National Museum of the Kyrgyz Republic in Bishkek City. Results. Precise location of these objects is not determined. However, it is known that all these objects of armament originate from the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan. The arrowheads from the collection have been preserved quite well, which distinguishes these findings from the armament objects of excavations of archaeological monuments of the cultures of ancient and medieval peoples in the Tian Shan. Having carried out a formal and typological classification analysis of the items from the collection, we determined a certain typological identity of the armament for long-range combat that were related to different groups and types of iron petiolate arrowheads according to the section and the form of feather. We found analogues to the arrows from our collection when discovered arrowheads of similar forms as a part of weapon complexes of ancient and medieval ethnicities inhabiting the Central Asian historical and cultural region during the Ancient times, Early and High Middle Ages. We traced the spread of arrowheads of different types, analyzed them as a part of our collection, and analyzed the items discovered in the course of previous research in medieval archaeological sites on the territory of northern Tian Chan Region in the bounds of Kyrgyzstan. The results of our analysis prove that all the arrowheads from the collection studied relate to the historical eras of the Early and High Middle Ages. Conclusion. A part of this collection is likely to have belonged to the complex of means for long-range combat. They used such arrowheads while shooting the enemy in the epoch of the Kyrgyz Khanate. Preponderance of armor-piercing and versatile iron arrowheads can testify the necessity to confront enemies in long-range combats and fight against adversaries who were powerfully armed and fully-equipped with metallic armor.