Seima-Turbino Celts from Xinjiang(Materials for the Academic Course “Archaeology of Siberia in the Bronze Age”)

Abstract

Some objects having the same form as Seima-Turbino bronze artifacts and found on the territory of China were first identified in this way and put into scientific circulation by S. V. Kiselev. The researcher worked with the archaeological collections of the Bronze Age in a number of Chinese museums in the middle of the last century. At present, the number of such artifacts is constantly increasing. The set of spearheads, solid daggers, scepters and rods was expanded with several bronze celts originating from Xinjiang. Similar products are widespread in the southern regions of the West Siberian Plain. There are researchers who attribute some artifacts from this set to Seima-Turbino bronzes. Finds of bronze artifacts resembling Seima-Turbino type in measurements and proportions discovered in the Xinjiang area and the adjacent regions of Central Asia allow us to consider these territories as the areas of distribution of this phenomenon. Since these materials are not readily available for European researchers but their significance for understanding the Seima-Turbino phenomenon is very high, it seems reasonable to introduce such items to a wide range of specialists. Results. At present, about ten bronze celts from the territory of Xinjiang are known to the author as associated with the Seima-Turbino community. Intense archaeological research in Xinjiang has resulted in a whole series of extremely interesting archaeological discoveries including single finds which are now scattered in numerous museums in the region. There is no doubt that due to active excavation studies in Xinjiang the number of celts that are close in appearance to classic examples of the Seima-Turbino type will only increase. Conclusion. In this paper, we describe several of the Seima-Turbino artifacts from Xinjiang available to us and prove the existence of relations between the region of Xinjiang and more northern territories of the Asian continent, in particular Siberia, during the Bronze Age. The main destination taken by the bearers of Seima-Turbino tradition seems to spread to the north along the Irtysh River. The classic types of Seima-Turbino bronze artifacts found all over the Irtysh region indicate that when they reached the steppes and forest-steppes of Western Siberia, Seima-Turbino population occupied this area and adapted to the local conditions and autochthonous cultures of the Bronze Age, such as Odino and Krotovo. Then, for some reason, they moved to the west and east in a fan-like dispersion, leaving archaeological sites and some objects of Seima-Turbino type on their way. The materials presented in this article expand our understanding of the essence of the historical and cultural processes in Central and part of North Asia in the Bronze Age and can be widely used for educational purposes in universities, as it is done at Novosibirsk State University as part of the course “Archaeology of Siberia in the Bronze Age”.