An Iron Sword from Southern Siberia in the Collection of the Minusinsk Museum of Local History

Abstract

Purpose. We studied a rare finding of an iron sword, that was coincidentally discovered at the beginning of the 20^th Century in the outskirts of Kuragino Village on the territory of Minusinsk Hollow. At present, the finding is stored in the collection of long blade weapon objects in the Minusinsk Museum of Local History. Results. The authors traced the most significant events and results achieved in the course of previous studying of archaeological findings of ancient and medieval swords on the territory of Southern Siberia and Central Asia. Definite formal signs, considerable for identification of typological affiliation, of the sword finding from the Kuragino Village are singled out. According to the formal signs, this finding is related to a particular individual type of iron swords. The item has a long, right double-edged blade and a removable guard, which is smoothly curved to sideways of the blade, and a right handle’s haft. Conclusion. Our analysis allows us to conclude that the iron sword was likely to be used by the Yenisei Kyrgyz warriors in the course of hostilities with their adversaries among the nomads, against the Old Turks and Uyghurs people, on the territory of Southern Siberia and contiguous territories of the Central Asian region during a certain historical period, including the Early Middle Ages, in particular the third quarter of the 1^st millennium A. D. That historical period included inception of the Yenisei Kyrgyz state on the territory of the steppe regions of Minusinsk Hollow, which is located to the north of the West-Sayan Mountains.