Armed Violence Among the Altai Mountains Pastoralists of the Xiongnu-Sarmatian Age
Armed Violence Among the Altai Mountains Pastoralists of the Xiongnu-Sarmatian Age
DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2018.46.4.132-139
S.S. Tur1, S.S. Matrenin2, and V.I. Soenov3 1Altai State University, Pr. Lenina 61, Barnaul, 656049, Russia 2Barnaul Law Institute, Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Chkalova 49, Barnaul, 656038, Russia 3Gorno-Altaisk State University, Lenkina 1, Gorno-Altaisk, 649000, Russia
On the basis of perimortem cranial injuries, we examine armed violence among the Altai Mountains nomadic pastoralists during the Xiongnu-Sarmatian period (2nd century BC to 5th century AD), when this region was within the military and political orbit of the Central Asian nomadic empires—Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Zhouzhan. The sample included 470 crania from 20 cemeteries of the Bulan-Koba Culture. Blade wounds, depressed fractures, and penetrating projectile wounds were registered. Additionally, weapon-related lesions of the postcranial skeleton (arrowheads stuck in the bones, and blade wounds) were recorded, as well as possible cases of scalping, decapitation, and severed limbs. The frequency of perimortem cranial traumas is 13.3 % in males, 6.4 % in females, and 4.8 % in sub adults. This rate shows considerable variation across local groups. During the Xiongnu-Xianbei period (2nd century BC to early 3rd century AD), perimortem trauma among the Altai Mountains pastoralists was related mainly to interpersonal and local intergroup violence. Between the late 3rd century AD and the 5th century AD, following the disintegration of the Xianbei Empire and the rise of intergroup clashes, the Bulan-Koba people became also involved in military conflicts with foreign tribes.
