The Bronze Horse Bit from the Central Burial Chamber of the Kurgan Arzhan-1

Abstract

The Arzhan-1 kurgan plays a very important role in the research regarding the early Scythian age in Inner Asia and Kazakhstan. To begin with, it is one of the earliest monument to demonstrate the developed Scythian Triad. In the article, the authors will be examining the unusually structured bronze horse — bit found in the central chamber of the kurgan. The external ring of one of the parts of this bit seems to be of an elongated stirrup shape with signs of a supplementary hole. A thorough examination of the object has revealed that the two pieces of the bit are completely different from each other, not only in form but as regards their chemical composition as well. The part with rectangular relief designs in two or more rows along one side of the mouthpiece, is similar to the sets of horse trappings of the classical Novocherkassk type and early Zhabotin period in Eastern Europe dating from the end of 8th — the first half of 7th c. BC. Bronze horse bits with the “pawn shaped” external ring known from Tuva and the mountainous and foothill regions of Altai, at first sight seem similar to the presented form, but were found in the so-called Y-shaped side-structures. When studying their structural characteristics, experts determined that this type of bit and side structure is presumably an imitation of the structure of the inflexible horse-bits. Taking into account all the examined data, the location of the bit within the tomb and the circumstances of the kurgan’s excavation, it becomes obvious that the system of relationships characteristic of the Tuva region, the neighboring and further areas in the Scythian Age had begun to develop already in the Arzhan Era.