Pages: 53-68

The article concerns the studying the warrior status in the society of the Turks of Central Asia. The author carried out the analysis of archaeological materials of the early Middle Ages — funerary complexes, “memorial” objects, petroglyphs. Information from written sources is used to make the results of the excavations historic. It is established that archaeological materials reflect a very high level of militarization of the nomadic society. The weapon in the burial was an indispensable indicator of the burial of a “complete” man. Some weapons (bladed weapons, battle ax, spear) were indicators of a person’s high status. Stone sculptures, as well as petroglyphs, demonstrate the addition of the canonical image of a warrior-hero in the ideas of early medieval nomads. Judging by the available information, the Turks had a special layer of professional warriors, some of which belonged to the representatives of the elite of the nomadic society. At the same time, the society of early medieval nomads was at a rather high level of development. One of the indicators of this was the presence not only of military power, but also of a kind of “managerial” or “bureaucratic” elite, not directly connected with military affairs.

Keywords: Central Asia, early Middle Ages, Turks, warrior, social history, archaeological sites, burials, stone sculptures, petroglyphs

Information about author:

Nikolai Seregin (Barnaul, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Altai State University. Lenin Ave., 61, Barnaul, 656049, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]