FINDINGS OF SEVERAL OBJECTS OF ARMAMENT AND MILITARY EQUIPMENT FROM THE ANCIENT SETTLEMENT SHELJI IN TALAS VALLEY (KYRGYZSTAN)

Abstract

Purpose. We considered archaeological findings of quite uncommon objects of armament and military equipment discovered in the area of medieval ancient settlement Shelji or Sadyr-Korgon. This medieval archaeological site is located in the Talas Valley of Kyrgyzstan. Results. The items found include a curved iron plug with a chain fragment attached to it, debris of an iron axe and an iron hook of quiver among several other archaeological findings. All these objects of armament and military equipment were found at different times on the surface of that ancient settlement by schoolboys from Kyzyl-Adyr Village in the Talas Region of the Kyrgyz Republic. These archaeological findings are kept at the moment in the school museum, which is located in the secondary school in this village. We described these objects and traced the spread of analogous findings among archaeological items discovered during excavations and gathered on contiguous territories of the Central Asian region. We used traced analogies to define the chronology and cultural identity of these archaeological findings of the ancient settlement Shelji. The iron plug with a torn chain might have served as a top of a handle; it is fastened to that chain with an iron fighting weight and flail. This finding of a deformed iron plug with a fragment of chain can be dated by the era of the Late Middle Ages. There are two fragments of the same iron battle-axe that had a sharp iron back and narrow elongated wedge with a sharp blade discovered among the findings in Shelji. Another finding was an iron hook that could be hung to a quiver strap. Conclusion. These objects of armament and military equipment, namely the battle-axe and a quiver hook, can be related to the complex of armament and military equipment of the population of Tian Shan Region in the era of the High Middle Ages. The studied objects of and military equipment allow us to widen the concepts about military science of medieval population of Tian Shan available at the moment. The considered in the article archaeological findings, including fragments of the battle-axe, the hook for suspension of quiver and the iron plug with a chain should be related to the time of the medieval city of Shelji, that was a significant trade center on the territory of Central Asia in the valley of the Talas River. Merchant caravans delivered goods from that ancient settlement to several Turkic and Mongolian people, who populated the steppe areas of Inner Asia, including the Sayan and Altai Mountains and southern regions of Western Siberia.