Horn objects with tamga signs: based on the materials of the Xianbi burials of the Berel necropolis

Abstract

Currently, monuments of the "transitional period" are being actively developed in Kazakhstani archaeology, reproducing the heritage of previously unnoticed, but one of the unique historical and cultural communities of steppe Eurasia - the Hun–Xianbians. Starting from 2015 and up to the present time, about 70 monuments of this period have been identified and studied by domestic specialists on the territory of the Kazakh Altai. Among the finds are two horn onlays with tamga-like signs. Bone or horn onlays with tamgas or runic inscriptions are found in the Turkic monuments of the Mountainous and Mongolian Altai, some of them are comparable to the letters of famous runic inscriptions or ethnic tamgas of medieval peoples of Eurasia. Tamga-like signs of onlays from object No. 113 of the Berel necropolis differ in that they do not resemble any of the known letters or tamga. Nevertheless, traceological studies show that these are not just traces of their use or accidental scratches, but specially engraved symbols, the meaning of which is not yet completely clear to us. Perhaps they are spells for good luck or some magical symbols that were important for the owner of these products.