Pages: 71-85 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp2567185
The Russian-Mongolian expedition’s investigation of three elite Xiongnu burial mounds at the Noyon Uul site led to the discovery of a substantial collection of silk textiles. These artifacts are now kept at the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences in Ulaanbaatar. This collection significantly complements the collection of textiles from the excavations of the expedition led by P. K. Kozlov in 1924—1925, stored in the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg). The article addresses the characteristics of silk textiles woven with hieroglyphic inscriptions or individual Chinese characters. The conditions of the finds and the textile fragments are described. An analysis of the woven ornament, along with deciphering and interpreting the hieroglyphic inscriptions, is included, and their relationship to the ornament is discussed. Fragments of silk fabrics from Noyon Uul burial mounds 6 and 22, bearing inscriptions that celebrate the Xin Dynasty, are crucial dating markers since the dynasty only lasted 14 years (9–23 CE).
Keywords: Xiongnu, Noyon Uul burial site, Han, inscribed silk textiles
Information about authors:
Natalia Polosmak (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-3760-265X
Maria Kudinova (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-8369-2089
Nasan-Ochir Erdene-Ochir (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. Peace Avenue, 77, Ulaanbaatar, 13330, Mongolia
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-0520-4830