Ornamental Mace as a Strike Weapon and Symbol of Powerof a Military Commander of the Tian Shan Kyrgyz

Abstract

Purpose. We analyzed an extremely rare finding of a mace with a small ornamental iron battle top fastened to a long wooden handle. This mace is a part of a collection of armament objects acquired by museum workers in the course of expeditions on the territory of Kyrgyzstan over the past decades. At present, this collection is stored in the Russian Museum of Ethnography in Saint Petersburg. During the previous historical period, when museum workers had been searching and gathering objects of traditional culture of different peoples on the territory of Central Asia, that finding was acquired together with other characteristic objects of traditional cultures from that region on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Firstly, it was stored in the Museum of the Peoples of the USSR. We aimed at dating the artifact and identifying its purpose. Conclusion. We traced primary events in the history of studying different types of close combat strike weapons which were used by Kyrgyz warriors in Tian Shan during the Late Middle Ages and New Time. A result of the research conducted is a description of the ornamental iron battle top and the wooden handle of this mace decorated with carved rhomb ornaments. We date the artifact as belonging to the period of Late Middle Ages - New Time. According to the terms used for such types of weapons, the mace could have been used as a striking weapon; however, it its ornamental battle top is of a smaller size than that of traditional maces, so it could have been used as a symbol of power. Results. We conclude that this mace could have been a strike weapon in the course of close and hand-to-hand combats led by Kyrgyz warriors, but also it could have been used as a symbol of power by military commanders of the Kyrgyz forces.