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• Hsiung-nu – Xiongnu – 3rd century BC to 4th century AD
  - Find more information, including information about these Altai tribes, on - Hsiung-nu - Xiongnu
  
• Skythes (Sakas – Sarmatians – Massagetae): 8th to 3rd centuries AD
• Tagar culture from the 9th to the 6th centuries AD
• Pazyryk culture from the 6th to the 2nd centuries AD
  
  - more information on the tribes see “History of the Equestrian Nomads“
  
  

Map of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

The immigration of the Yakuts into the Lena valley was among the last migrations of Turkic tribes from Central Asia. Unlike the other Turkic peoples, the Yakuts did not follow routes to the south or west but migrated to the northeast. Their movement began in the 12th century, and it lead them from the southern region of Lake Baikal in a northern direction, at a time when the Mongolian clans were just about to extend their sphere of control beyond the Altai. Their initial settlements are believed to have been at the upper Yenisei, as their craftwork has many parallels to the tribes there. Common life with other peoples already resident here did not always come easy. The Yakuts settled mainly on humid and fertile planes of the large Lena and Aldan arch, at the river Vilyui, and at the affluents of these major rivers. In the north, they first focussed on the humid, accessible river valleys. The indigenous Tungusic people (Evenks, Evens) were forced to retreat to the mountains, where they could still survive, as they almost exclusevily fed on reindeer breeding, just like remaining Yukaghirs in this territory, who are almost entirely extinct today. They are one of the oldest and today also the smallest people in this area. They settled here in the northeast as early as the Neolithic Era. The Taiga Yukaghirs at the upper section of the Kolyma river and the Tundra Yukaghirs north of the Polar Circle lived as reindeer breeders and hunters of fur-bearing animals.
Later, during the Iron Age, the Evens, followed by the Evenks, progressed into this area. Both are Tungusic peoples, and both were initially nomads. Up north, they bred reindeer and hunted fur-bearing animals. However, note that these areas were retreats these minorities were forced into by the heavily propagative Yakuts. Legends of the Yakuts and the Tungusic people involve fights that supposedly took place. Many of these peoples have been entirely “Yakutized” by today, like the Tungusic Dolgans. All Tungusic people had to retreat into the higher mountainous areas during the past two centuries, where they live together in peace today.

• (1) Kitan or Khitan: a Protomongolian people from Manchuria that existed as early as the 6th century AD.
• (2) Pottery: During excavations conducted mainly by Petri around Irkutsk and at Lake Koso-gol after World War One, for the first time, pots of the same design and with the same ornaments were found, from which it was concluded that at least part of it was the work of the Yakuts, who must have lived in the area that is today classified as Buryat territory. These finds belong to the early Iron Age. In the Neolithic Age on the other hand, the pots were thinner and unsuitable for transportation, which allows the assumption that a settled population resided in this area at the time. Also, not a single geometrical ornament of these products shows parallels with the Yakut pottery. In contrast, its similarity to the pottery of the Iron Age is striking. Not only are materials, production method and ornaments similar, but ceramic production must have been left to women at that time, which is concluded from the strikingly small fingerprints. Pottery products of this kind were also found in the currently Buryat area of settlement at the upper section of the Lena river, in the Silka valley and at the Selenge, and they were common even in Mongolia. In the West, the area of these ceramics was extended beyond the Sayan Mountains to the eastern hillsides of Minusinsk Hollow and the area around Krasnoyarsk. Further south, in the Russian Altai, ceramic products of this kind were produced until the 8th century AD. This means that the Yakuts probably formed a group of pottering tribes of these territories around them.
  Tokarev believes that the Quryqan could be ancestors to the Buryats, but he does not further comment on this hypothesis. It is generally doubted today.

• (1) The Dingling were a South Siberian people. They initially lived at the upper section of the Lena river, west of Lake Baikal. In the 3rd century BC they began to expand in a western direction. They were part of the realm of the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu)..
  
  

The triangle is the only motif used in a serial ornament by simply putting several triangles in a row. (Panel I, fig. 36, chest jewelry, silver, engraved). The same was done by the Buryats, the Tungusic people, the Samoyedic people, the Kets (Ostyaks) and the Voguls. Sometimes a line of triangles suspended from the top edge of the pattern is placed opposite another line based on the bottom edge, with their tips almost touching (panel I, fig. 40, cup, bone, scored).

triangle-ornament

A striking thing when comparing ceramic burial objects of early European and Chinese periods is that they were decorated with rows of triangles which resembled the Yakut pattern. As each death is associated with a rebirth, these triangles are related to the fertility symbol that represented womanhood. The Buryats are also familiar with this. These hobo signs indicate how many women live in a house. Similar examples are known from the Balkan and the Middle East, but these semantics were already known to the ancient Egyptians. It is striking that this motif very often appears together with the crest, which is also a symbol of fertility. This is also shown by examples from Indonesia, where the crest is decorated with triangular pattens in order to prevent disease. In India and China as well as in the Middle East, the triangle is a sign of womanhood. These patterns influenced Siberian peoples like the Yakuts. Among the Chuvashes, a Turkic people, graveposts were found that had such a triangle on it if a woman was buried beneath it. The other indentations represented their clothing. However, no one ever actually wore such triangles or zigzag patterns on their clothes.

An original meaning of these motifs cannot be interpreted with absolute certainty for the nomad peoples in Siberia, even though kumys containers produced for the spring feasts were decorated with such motifs. Other motifs were used, too, but they originated in the Chinese area and exhibited some similarities with those of the Indonesian population.

Triangle patterns decorated the pre-historical finds of Siberia at a very early time. In the closer and wider environment of today’s Yakutia, finds included applications among the finds from the Pazyryk culture at Altai and in the area around the southern end of Lake Baikal on ceramic products from the first centuries AD. Further west, in the Yenisei area at the time around the Nativity, these ornaments appeared on wood and clay.

Squares, rhombi and rectangles: A square or rhombus can originate from a triangle pattern (panel I, fig. 42, saddlecloth, cloth mosaic).	saddlecloth
The use of squares or rectangles resting at one side is virtually limited to the chessboard pattern (panel I, fig. 48, knife handle, horn, immersed, 49, sewing box, wood, scored, and 50, carpet, fur mosaic). Patterns of this kind were found among all the neighboring peoples as well.	chess-ornament
Two potter marks: (Panel I, fig. 52, pot, stamped, and 53, potter mark, scored into wood).	potter marks

Cross figures: A minor change in the cross ornament is performed (panel II, fig. 14, tobacco box, scored into wood). These St. Andrew’s cross ornaments are identical to those of the Kets and the Buryats and serial ornaments very often shown on kumys containers (panel II, fig. 15, wood, chip carving). A kumys container (panel II, 16, scored into wood) has interesting parallels to a Hunnic caldron found in Hungary. On this caldron, St. Andrew’s crosses and crest ornaments alternate.

andrew's cross Aandrew's cross and crest

Four of these triangles appear on ceramics with a round base (panel II, fig. 24, kumys container, scored into wood). They are called “bultavir torduja”, “rounded ridge".

triangeles with a round base

The cross patterns are particularly common. They are among the few ornaments which are found equally on kumys containers and objects manufactered at home. The principle was familiar to the Yakuts, so it was already applied in plainer forms (panel II, fig. 26, potter mark, scored into wood; 27, pot, clay, stamped, and 28, can, birch bark, bilayered work).

cross patterns

There is a motif where four squares are put together to form a single square (panel II, fig. 21, shaman’s jewelry of a black shaman, iron, engraved).

four squares

On bilayered works, very often the cross and the four squares between the arms of the cross are depicted (panel II, fig. 31, box, birch bark, bilayered work).

cross with squares

This pattern was found in Troya, for example, where it imitated female shapes. Instead of the genital, a swastika (an ancient Indian pattern, symbolizing the revolving sun) is applied on one of the urns, and a cross with four spots on another one (figs. 12 snd 13). On yet another square the swastika is found on a female shape from Romania (fig. 14).

This pattern is not very common in Yakut finds, appearing only on one can for wax candles (panel II, fig. 30, can, scored and carved into wood). Also, a ram-horn ornament was scored into the cap of the can, which must have had a cosmological meaning initially, and which was derived from China. The Buryats are familiar with this ornament, too, as revealed by finds from the upper Lena area. This shape is very old, as it was found belonging to the Pazyryk culture at the Altai.

field ornament

Like with many other motifs, parallels to Chinese signs can be found here. The cross with the four spots appears on early Chinese ceramics, as does the crossed circle. A square crossed on half of its side represents the Chinese sign for “field”. The crossed circle is another very old sign. Repeated four times, it means thunder (fig. 16). It was considered a good sign because thunder usually appears after rain.

thunder

The sign is also associated with the zigzag of thunder (fig. 17). The resulting sign, however, is considered a sun wheel, which is also known to be associated with the crossed circle. These motifs are found in Indonesia as well. It is therefore not unusual for the shamans in North Asia to depict the sun as a wheel.

thunder

As well, as do the Kets (fig. 18 – the sun on the left, the moon on the right, and the shape of the shaman and two assistants at the centre on the back of a shaman dress), the Ostyaks (fig. 19 – sun circle) or the Buryats (fig. 20 – representation of the moon on the left, the milky way in the middle and the sun on the right), where it crosses multiple concentric circles. The Altaians draw the stars the same way, sometimes but not always adding a halo around the motif (as previously in figs. 15, see above and 21 bottom right – representation of the sun, venus, the moon and other stars).

shamancloth – Kets

(19) sun circle – Ostjaks

(20) Buryats (21) Altaians

On Yakut drawings the crossed circle is also the symbol of a shaman drum.

shaman drum

Probably this sign is used for the drum because the drumheads of round drums in North Asia and Lapland almost always have a cross drawn on them, representing the shaman’s journey. (Fig. 68 – cosmos on a drum of the Kalmyks). This cross is found throughout the drum. It shows a division into four directions and 12 different spots (the months). The Mongolian world view was influenced by Buddhism to a large extent. For them, the center of the world is the world-mountain surrounded by four continents. In summary it can be said that on drawings in the Altai the stars were often shown as crossed shapes. In North Asia the sun was sometimes also represented by circles or crosses. While the circular line can be derived from the visual idea people had of the stars, the cross goes on to express the revolution of the sun. This shape is common in all of Asia with a varying number of circles (as in fig. 21, see above).

Another ornamental type of sun representation existing among the nomadic peoples of South Siberia, such as the Altaians, the Kyrgyz, the Buryats and the Yakuts, is shown in figs. 42 through 46. The beams of the sun begin to rotate, thus assuming a swastika shape. These revolving shapes are called the “sun” by the Altaians, the Kyrgyz and the Buryats. On a Yakut chest this ornament appears at the same position as on Buryat chests (panel II, fig. 45 and 46, wood, carved – 42 through 44, on a can, scored into wood). It can thus be imagined that the Yakuts and the Buryats associated the same idea with that ornament. In this context it cannot be decided for sure, whether it was adopted from Persia, where it symbolizes the sun, or maybe from China or Tibet.

(42-46) sun sign

At the center of the revolving sun symbol as a stamped ornament but also as a singular motif on silver and wood we encounter the crossed circle on which the base of the ornament is specially emphasized by four spherical triangles. This means that we see not only the pattern, which is created by a mark incised in the form of a crossed circle on pottery but also the pattern of the mark itself (panel II, figs. 40 through 42, cans, scored into wood).

(40-42) sun symbols

This motif (fig. 40) corresponds to the Buddhist “pearl of enlightenment”. Buddhists are wearing on their foreheads or chests, like on the wall paintings in Khocho (Turfan), for example, where it already appears as a textile pattern. This motif is found in the art of non-Buddhist Asian peoples as well. As an example let there be named a magic pendand of the Ossetes (fig. 22). This motif can be traced back to very early periods in Siberia. The ceramics of the Andronovo period (1700 to 1200 BC – Bronze Age) showed it in the Altai already. This is why it has not been determined, whether it is actually a Buddhist motif or a special form of the crossed circle.		magic pendand
Doubtless the cross made of five squares (panel II, fig. 32, decorative plate, silver, engraved) is also part of the group of the old cross motifs, as it appears in the Ostyak sun circle (see above in fig. 19). The Ugrics have been using this motif since the Bronze Age (1700 through 1200 BC). As a decorative motif it is found belonging to the Samoyedic people, the Nenets, the Kets, the Altaians, Tungusic tribes, Buryats and Kyrgyz.		cross motif
Ornaments on decorative leaflets represent ancient Siberian culture (figs. 35 and 36, decorative leaflet, silver, stamped). In a similar shape they are found in the Yenisei area and the Sarmatian territory east of the Black Sea. Here in the Altai they were used up to the 5th through 8th centuries AD.		decorative leaflets

Among contemporary Siberian peoples the Ostyaks are the last ones to produce patterns like this the same way the Yakuts did (panel II, fig. 26, potter mark, wood, carved).

four crosses

In the Ordos area the stitched decorative plates looked different during the period of the Han dynasty. Their pattern was a fox’s head with two rosettas. The decorative plate (panel II, fig. 38, silver, stamped), in which the smith stamped two nooks and a spot, resemble this kind of stylization.

fox's head

A very common serial ornament consists of the base of a cross pattern in the form of four squares and alternately a crossed circle with a size nine times as large (panel II, fig. 49, can, scored into wood).

squares

Another variant is “timäx tördö oju”, the button base ornament (panel II, figs. 47 and 48, kumys container, scored into wood). The motif, consisting of inscribed rhombi, has been stitched as a base onto the coats in order to avoid the buttons being torn off too easily. The singular square standing on its tip, sometimes contorted to form a rhomb, seems to be used as a sign of hallowness or blessing on ancient Chinese bronzes of the Chow culture between the beaks of animal heads. It is often replaced by two inscribed rhombi. This is just the same shape the inhabitants of Celebes (now known as the Indonesian island of Sulawesi) still use today to decorate their carved buffalo heads. The rhomb motif is not only present in Eastern Asia but also in the Middle East and in Southern Siberia.		(47+48) avoid the buttons
The crest pattern is also often associated with various cross ornaments (panel II, fig. 51, saddlecloth, cloth mosaic). For example, on a wooden container (panel II, fig. 53, tin, scored into wood), plain squares were connected by the crest pattern (panel II, fig. 52, cup, wood, carved), and a zigzag pattern was added as a third element..		cross-crest pattern

(17) carpetmotif

(13) saddlecloth

Their outlines are accompanied by a variant of the sky ornament (panel III, fig. 5, as on kumys containers, scored into wood). The execution of the squares seems to be not particularly thorough. The shape of the following ornament (panel III, fig. 7, like on coats, having silver plates stitched on) is located on the left short side. The sky ornament is emphasized by two of the figures cut out in rhomb-like shapes bearing four spots, which are derived from cross motifs.

sky ornament

sky ornament

The ornaments on one chest (fig. 15) are completely out of the ordinary.

This decoration seems alien among the remaining Yakut patterns. Maybe it is a calendrical representation, as its central part shows 15 squares (15 being half the number of days of one month), supplemented by the circular “head” and the largest of the squares. The number 15 is very important for the Yakut calendar because the Yakuts break their months into a dark and a light half. The second half, which is considered dark or “old”, was numbered backwards (i.e. the 15th, 14th, 13th day, etc.). In this but also in other details, the Yakut calculation of times bears resemblance to that of the Indians, the Persians and the Tibetans. The seven carved figures on the left short side represent the weekdays.

With the exception of a few metal works, the material for geometric ornaments is always wood, clay, cloth or fur. Smiths had their own patterns. It is virtually impossible to identify the exact origin of these plain geometric motifs. Triangles, zigzags, arches, squares, etc. occur among all neighbouring groups, and they belong to the ornamental art of various peoples.

Many of these motifs appear in finds of very early periods of Siberian history (2000 until 3000 BC).

Taotie

simple spiral

serial ornament

The spiral is a popular motif on saddlecloths. Each spiral has a different color (panel VI, figs. 4, 8 and 10, cloth, embroidery, 6 and 13, cloth, stitched, and 14, leather, stitched)..

(4) saddlecloth (8+10) saddlecloth

saddlecloth (13+14) saddlecloth

A double curl on both ends of a line is much more common than these plain spirals (panel III, figs. 25, 37, on a belt buckle, silver, semi-relief, and 39, probably depiction of a cow, carved). They extend either in two different directions, forming the so called S-shaped spiral, or both in the same direction (panel III, fig. 26, shoe on harness, silver, engraved).		spirals
In most cases, the S-shaped spirals are located not individually between the other motifs but combined to form rows together (panel III, fig. 28, lancet, iron, engraved, 29 through 31, decorative plate, silver, engraved, 32, box, scored, and 33).		(28-33) spirals
The members of a silver chain are sometimes forged the same way (panel III, fig. 38, glove, leather, stitched, panel X, 23 and 24, box, scored into wood). This motif is found on both wood and metal works.		spirals spirals

tendril

The intermittent curling tendril (figs. 3 through 7) is composed of S-shaped spirals. In the art of Greece and the Middle East, the term “curling tendril” has been established in various languages. One differentiates between a simple and an “intermittent” curling tendril, which is also relevant for the Yakut ornaments (panel IV, figs. 3 through 6, box, scored into wood, and 7, decorative plate, silver, engraved).		(3-7) intermittent curling tendril
On the other hand, the simple curling tendril is more similar to a natural stem of a plant (panel IV, fig. 10, box, scored into wood). The stem of the curling tendril was drawn with a double line.		simple curling tendril

The Yakuts always designed their intermittent curling tendrils with two lines. However, if the ends of the spiral curl very extensively, they ceased to continue the double line. They viewed these tendril ornaments mostly as plant patterns, so they rarely designed them in a different manner.

One wooden chest bears a very unusual version of the plain curling tendril (panel IV, fig. 13, kumys container, wood, chip carving).		curling tendril
On one wooden can, the intermittent curling tendril has four spots, with squares serving as fillers (panel IV, fig. 4, scored in wood).		curling tendril
In this image we see very clearly that the motif has been incorporated into the pattern (panel IV, fig. 5, box, scored into wood). The spirals are absent altogether. Another variant of the pattern has the fillers of the sky ornaments evened out (panel IV, fig. 6, box, scored into wood).		(5+6) curling tendril
(Panel IV, fig. 24, bracelet, silver, engraved): an example of the third form of the Yakut tendril. It is based on the double spiral, in which both curls are facing in the same direction, and are connected by plant motifs.		curling tendril
Parts of the pattern can be viewed in more detail in the ornament on this bracelet (panel IV, fig. 25, silver, engraved).		curling tendril

There is one pattern where the tendril ornament is comprised of double spirals facing only in one direction (panel IV, fig. 11, on calendar, silver, engraved)..	double spiral
The rounding of every double spiral is cut through twice (panel IV, fig. 12, saddle, silver, engraved).	double spiral

Here, in contrast, we have two spiral curls that do not match this idea of the lotus at all (panel IV, fig. 29, shoe on saddle, silver, engraved, and fig. 25).		(29) blossom
blossom motifs		The three arches above the little jags in the petal crown are more similar to the lotus representations of the Middle East (fig. 26).

A horizontally striped center piece of the ornamental motif is perceived as the actual blossom by the Yakuts, whereas the curls represent the calyx. This can be seen from the fact that the filler appears detached from the curls or connected to them merely by a stem (panel IV, fig. 28, shoe on harness, silver, engraved, and panel V, 4, bracelet, silver, engraved).		blossom (4) blossom
Finally, the distance between the blossom and the calyx can increase to a point where the two curls no longer appear like sepals. Instead, other, more natural sepals surround the blossom (panel V, fig. 7, saddle, silver, engraved, and 8, shoe on men’s belt, silver, engraved). Of course, if you view the curled calyx as being merely two leaves on the stem of the blossom, many of them can be arranged above one another because though one blossom has only one calyx, an infinite number of leaves can grow out of one stem. This development is exemplified by this silver shoe on a men’s belt (panel IX, fig. 4, shoe on men’s belt, silver, engraved, and panel VII, 28, decorative plate, silver, engraved). It cannot be determined with absolute certainty whether the smith wanted to depict a leaf or a bud at the tip of the stem. However, what seems clear is that a filler belongs between all these pairs of spirals that bend in opposite directions resembling curls. This becomes evident when you look at the following intermittent curling tendril, whose filler turns out to be the most important part of the ornament, more and more dwarfing the spiral branches (fig. 28).		(7+8) blossom

men's blet

decorative plate

In the case of plant ornaments the filler either consists of three arches located above every blossom shape as a remnant of the petal crown, which had been increasingly reduced in the Middle East at that time, or a stem with leaves growing from the angle formed by the spiral. Their construction is a clear parallel to the Middle Eastern “palmette tree”.

(20+21) leaves

Traditionally, the only rule for the shape of the leaf is that it has to have the outlines of, say, a willow leaf. Apart from that, it is left to the individual artist whether it is conical or rounded, curled or oval in shape or shown with or without leaf stems or veins. That way, the leaf becomes a line in brass-wire marquetry, while on scoops for kumys containers it is expressed as an indentation and so has a conically oval shape (panel V, figs. 21 through 24, spoon handle, wood, indented, and panel VI, fig. 1, spoon handle, wood, indented).

(21.24) leaves

On very small objects, however, the outline is slightly blurred and resembles the fir-tree pattern (fig. 16). Leaves are not always connected to the spiral or tendril ornament by a stem, sometimes they serve to fill otherwise empty spaces on the decorated surface (panel III, fig. 35, box, scored into wood). However, this does not apply for the works of silversmiths but only for the rare products of domestic production. This kind of shape consists of three oval leaves (panel III, fig. 19, women’s hat, textile, stitched). This way, the Yakuts combine three leaves that have an entirely circular shape, like this tendril ornament (panel IV, fig. 7, decorative plate, silver, engraved).

fire-tree pattern tendril leaves (7) leaves

This trillium is used particularly often on saddlecloths, where the spiral and the leaf cannot be told apart.

saddle cloth

saddle cloth

ram's head

ram's head – on knife handles

The finds of the early Pazyryk culture are particularly impressive. Spirals on which the coils of the ram’s horn are still depicted are found next to totally abstract spiral patterns on several saddles from the late Pazyryk culture (fig. 29).

spiral pattern

Textiles or other pieces of jewelry were not only decorated with animal motifs in the form of this largely simplified ram’s horn representation but also with plant ornaments. These motifs (figs. 30 and 31) are comparable to applications on tapestry from the Pazyryk period with the pattern of enameled bricks in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace in Babylon. These Pazyryk graves date back to the 6th through 2nd centuries BC. The Middle Eastern motifs appeared very early here. In other areas further east, such as at the Yenisei area and Mongolia, they were accepted much later, as judged from the previous finds. This is backed up by the fact that the Yenisei-based Kyrgyz and the Mongolians had ties primarily with China, while at the Altai, being located further west, relevant influences came mainly from the West, South and Southwest, i.e. from Achaemenid Persia, the realms of Mesopotamia and the western Scythians, from the Saka between the Caspian Sea and Lake Aral and the Massagetae, though parallels to later finds in Mongolia are also attestable. Finds in the area of Amudarya (a river originating at the Pamir) bear witness of how these motifs migrated.

The unbelievable splendor in the Middle Eastern realms of that period were admired not only by the Greek, who praised the hanging gardens of Nebuchadnezzar’s wife as a Wonder of the World. The nomad tribes must have been pretty impressed by all the riches as well, because they were featured on numerous imitations in their own art. Under these circumstances the patterns were obviously not adopted in terms of their religious symbolism but in order to depict extensive wealth. In a way, they had become “prestige objects”.

When you compare these motifs, which are owed to influences from the Middle East, to the Yakut forms of jewelry, some parallels are striking. Both the single and the double spiral are found not only in the Yenisei area but also often in the graves from the Pazyryk culture (fig. 32).

double spiral

On another find the pattern of the single curled tendril is partly cut out of gold foil and sewed as well as partly stitched onto a leather belt (fig. 33).		curler tendril – spiral
An application (panel IV, fig. 11, box, scored into wood) resembles this pattern. On a different one, the motif is an S-shaped spiral (panel III, fig. 38, glove, leather, stitched).		spiral spiral

However, a so called Yakut “adaptation” with S-shaped spirals does not parallel the finds from the Pazyryk culture at all (panel VII, fig. 14, decorative plates, silver, engraved).

decorative plate

It can be compared to Chinese “adaptations”. This is due to the fact that the Chinese patterns are derived from the meander. A decorative plate from the Pazyryk culture (fig. 35 – bottom) also bears striking resemblance to one Yakut counterpart (panel III, fig. 36, shoe on harness, silver, engraved).

meander

shoe on harness

The meander is an orthogonal (perpendicular) ornament that has been used since the Neolithic era (fig. 34 – above).

meander

double meander

These spiral basic shapes parallel details of plant ornaments in many respects (fig. 30). A blossom depicted on a wall hanging from the Pazyryk period looked exactly the way inhabitants of the Altai from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC used to depict them.
One Yakut ornament clearly displays parallels to the above (panel VII, fig. 14, decorative plate, silver, engraved).

blossom

(14) decorative plate

The shape of a calyx on a decorative plate (fig. 36) bears striking resemblance to the Yakut pattern or a pattern of a decorative plate (panel IX, fig. 4, shoe on men’s belt, silver, engraved).

(36) motif from the Altai

(4) men's belt

Further parallels are found between the bottom part of a blanket from the Pazyryk period (fig. 37) and a Yakut ornament (panel III, fig. 19, women’s cap, textile, stitched).

Back to the so-called “palmette tree”, and it can be compared to a Yakut representation on a belt shoe (panel IV, fig. 26, bracelet, silver, engraved, compare to fig. 38). It is from the kurgan at Cuja river (in today’s Altai Republic) from the 6th to 8th centuries AD, and it has been forged from gilded silver. .

Two felt carpets from the 6th century AD, found in Northern Mongolia at the central section of Tola (Tuul) River, are decorated with a plain curled tendril in the way known from the Yakuts. Their patterns are considered to be influenced by Sassanid sources (fig. 39).
The central pattern resembles the following carpet structure (panel VI, figs. 17 and 18, tweezers, silver, engraved).

Research on the Prehistory of the Altai area has been utterly incomplete so far. At least comparisons between Yakut ornaments with patterns of the Altai population in the last century BC and partly in the 6th and 8th centuries AD as well as a few motifs from Northern Mongolia from the 6th century prove that plant ornaments must have been part of the cultural heritage of the Turkic groups among the Yakuts. They had to have been passed down to Southern Siberia as mere decoration without any religious meaning. However, it cannot be determined who these cultures were passed down by in kurgans of the Pazyryk. A Europid woman lies buried next to a Mongolid man, so they must originate in the time when the two elements mixed in this zone. There are considerable time intervals between the individual finds.

No parallels whatsoever to this motif can be found in connection with the Yakuts’ neighboring peoples. In fact, the Kyrgyz have one they call “Two dogs fighting over a bone” (fig. 43).

lyra motif

This of course indicates that the name “lyra motif” does by far miss the orginal meaning of this ornament. It is possible that older motifs were assigned their names at a later point in time. Even the Kyrgyz were not excessively using the lyra motif, and it was in no way varied or redesigned as it was by the Yakuts.

From such representations of the animal head that were found in the first kurgans of Pazyryrk and have become a traditional shape by now, a more sophisticated motif developed that is found in a considerable number in the second kurgan (fig. 32, the ornament here is cout from gold foil, 44, on a women’s boot, 45 and 46, on a leather bottle). double spiral leather bottle

women's boot

Among the prehistoric finds the motif appears as a form of jewelry the Quryqans used to have (that is a Turkic tribe also known as Ruan Ruan or Juan Juan). Apart from that, comparisons with the prehistoric evidence in Siberia indicate the same direction already known from other spiral and plant ornaments: Parallels are found only among the objects that were excavated in Pazyryk.

Comparison of ornaments on a gold foil (fig. 32), on a women’s boot (fig. 44) and (fig. 45) on a leather bottle. (Panel VI, figs. 6 and 13, saddlecloth, textile, stitched, panel VII, 11, tag on a cross, silver, engraved, and panel VIII, 26, chest, scored into wood). saddle cloth saddle cloth Yakut motifs on wooden objects (fig. 46, above, panel VI, 15 and 16, shoe on men’s belt, silver, engraved – below). shoes on men's belts

tag (26) chest

Previous forms of these patterns are found in the first kurgan of Pazyryk. For these patterns the head of an argali was obviously imitated. The ram was already being variied like this, with its horns, to become a regular shape depicted, as tradition dictates, without imitating nature.

Argali

(fig. 50) shows a ram’s head alone.

This might explain derivations like this (figs. 47 through 49). It seems as if from reasons of tradition these representations were of relevance, and they adjusted to the shape of the Middle Eastern palmette (this little palmette tree is a symmetrical abstraction of a palm tree top as a basic ornamental shape).

One step towards the development of a mere decorative shape whose meaning the artists were unaware of must have taken place by that time. The logical consequence of this is that a certain period of time must have passed between the erection of the first and the second kurgans of Pazyryk. While jewelry and the finds from the first kurgan consist only of animal motifs, i.e. almost exclusively of the head of an argali, which would provide evidence of first traces of a certain development towards the spiral pattern, finds from the second kurgan have processed these beginnings into an abundant set of spiral ornaments. Its extensive development was aided by influences that originate in the Middle East. The two kurgans cannot be attributed to two different peoples of the same period, as they lived in relative geographical proximity to each other. One and the same burial site very often housed many generations.

(fig. 51): Ornaments from a somewhat later period show this type of development of the representation of an animal head. The horns now resemble two S-shaped spirals.

animal head

What made the inhabitants of the Altai area depict the argali’s head again and again? Why was this motif considered so important that, even when its meaning was forgotten, it continued to be one of the most popular decorative shapes? The archeological finds as such are the only sources on the religion of the Altai inhabitants. In order to understand what is expressed by them, there is no other way than to consult the old ideas that have survived among their descendants. Sheep, even wild sheep, are the most commonly sacrificed animals, like in many areas of the Old World. As reported, when the gods of the Altai people were sacrificed to, they were initially satisfied with just a picture of what was promised or a proxy offering of a very small animal. This could have been an incentive to illustrate sheep more often.

A Yakut rule defined which gods were to receive sheep sacrifices. It says that the spirits of the sky had to be offered hoofed animals, while lower spirits were to receive horned animals because hoofed animals are masculine and horned ones feminine. The distinction between horns and hoofs is not easily understood as according to the European concept, horned animals also have hoofs. As it seems, the Yakuts did not regard all artiodactyls as hoofed animals but only horses, which have a closed hoof.

In their former area of residence further south, the Yakuts must been familiar with the argali. In the northern, more humid area sheep breeding was no longer profitable. Therefore, the only available horned animal was the cow. At the spring feast some horses that were of a coloar that was as light as possible were dedicated to the sky, while Mother Earth was offered a cow. The shamans of this region used to address the “mighty bull of the Earth”. The cow as a sacrificial offering has been mentioned before. Embracing the contrast of feminine vs. masculine with the man representing the upper world and the woman the lower realms, is consistent with the practice from Christian times that involved giving deceased men their favorite horse to take with them, while women were given a cow on their way. This explains the frequence of highly schematic cow representations, which had been considered toys, just like until not so long ago dolls were thought to represent Yakut spirits.

The Buryats used sheep and horses as the main sacrificial animals. Unfortunately it has not been identified who they were offered to. The skin of the horse is flayed, like with all Altai peoples, and suspended on a high rod with the head on top. The Altai peoples themselves dedicate a horse (as light-colored as possible) to a sky god namend Ulgan (Creator). However, he must never receive it from a female shaman; it has to be a male one. During the New Age, only certain priests were allowed to perform this practice. Female shamans were only able to communicate with Erlik, the lord of the underworld, or other earthly spirits. What is more, when offering to Ulgan, women were strictly forbidden to even be present. Even when the horse was not slaughtered but simply dedicated to Ulgan and subsequently set free, women were banned from touching that horse ever again. When offering sheep and goats, however, women were involved. The same rule has been observed for the people of the Yellow Uighurs, who live in the northern foothills of Nanshan (Northwest Chinese Mountains), where women are not allowed to eat the meat of sacrificed horses.

box

box

box

box

One can assume that the symbol of the earthly gods was attributed to the sign for the sun or another celestial body. The Yakuts divided the Earth into four or eight geographic directions, and one stylized ram’s head has been inserted here for each of them. Just as the shaman bows towards each of the four directions before a ceremony, thus saluting all spiritual beings around, this quadruple repetition of the motif serves as a means of juxtaposing the whole Earth with the sun in the center. The motif represents the universe in its entirety.

Here might be another method of expressing this idea (panel IX, fig. 3, door of a birch-bark tent, birch bark with glued-on patterns, and panel VIII, tag at an earring, lead, cast), where above each lyra motif there is one section of the celestial arch ornament. The pattern represents a serial ornament, like all other forms of the celestial arch ornament.

door of a tent

earring

(14) woodenbox

button

This also applies when the pattern is very small, like on the skirts of two chests (panel X, figs. 21 through 23, scored into wood).		(21-23) ram's horn motifs
This cross has a circular top (panel X, fig. 4, box, scored into wood).		(4) woodenbox
In this case the spirals and the ends of each cross arm were polished to form a trident (panel X, fig. 10, button, silver, engraved).		button
Again, the basic shape is not easy to discern (panel X, fig. 20, box, scored into wood).		(20) woodenbox
In this central motif of a circular piece of breast jewelry (panel XI, fig. 6, decorative breast disk, silver, engraved) four blossom motifs replace the spirals.		decorative breast disk
It is even harder to see the basic shapes of the following patterns (panel XI, figs. 1 through 5, shoe on harness, silver, engraved, and panel X, 15, shoe on men’s belt, silver, engraved, 16, earring, silver, engraved, 17, decorative plate, silver, engraved). (5) shoe of a men's belt ram's horn motif		(1-4) shoe of harness

If the lyra motif is derived from the horns of the argali of the Pazyryk culture this would also explain why the motif is never absent from the summer hats of Yakut women (panel X, figs. 1 through 3, women’s cap, textile, beadwork, and panel IX, 5 through 7, women’s cap, textile, stitched). It was part of Yakut women’s headdress.

(1) headdress		(2) headdress		(3) headdress
(5) headdress				(6+7) headdress

The development that lead to this variant is illustrated in fig. 54.

Phenomena parallel to the development of this motif can be found in the ornaments of the population of Central Celebes. In fact, the key member of this series of developments is found there (fig. 55). That is to say, the same cross pattern also prevails in many parts of Indonesia.

The variation of the motif, in which it is changed to four double spirals, is not common among all the named peoples. Instead, the pattern has been change slightly. I.e. if it is used in weaving or knotting techniques, it becomes more angular (Fig. 56). In a Turkmen carpet, the basic shape of the Ersary, the „Temirdschin göl“, appears.

Turkmen carpet

The basic shape of the pattern is not to be misjudged. To our knowledge, the name of the four arms of the cross is the same among the Kyrgyz, the Kara-Kyrghyz and the Mongols: ram’s horn. The Bulgarian Shopi from close to Sofia that are known to be very conservative, call it “little horns”.

(Fig. 57) An old Kyrgyz ram horn pattern. This relates to the story of an “old master”: In the evening, at the birth of the new month, the people sat in their yurt and ate exclusively the meat of the sheep. The petering crossarms in the spirals represent the horns of the Argali, the sickle thereon represents the new month and the thick cross represents the grate of a yurt. The oval contour of the pattern represents the spoons used for eating. Many stories may seem a little far-fetched: We know for a fact of the ram’s horn ornament, pointing to the four compass points, and the crescent moon of the Kyrgyz.

carpet

Even in ancient China, the sign for sheep was written in such a manner (see the following sketch).

The origin of the pattern is not to be found among the Kyrgyz or the Chinese as previously assumed. Grave findings in the old city of Lo-lang (Naknang in Japanese), today’s Pyongyang (North Korea), have shown that the pattern already existed in North Korea (Fig. 58).		pattern
It resembles the presented motif in an astonishing degree (Panel X, Fig. 4, box, carved in wood). There is no date but it can be assumed that it stems from the period from 108 BC until 313 AD.		boxes

There is also the rhythm of 4 (2 + 3 + 2) that is depicted in accordance with Saussure without paying close attention to the actual distance of the stars that are the stations for the moon’s orbit: (fig. 59).		Lo-lang
The other organization 4 (2 + 2 + 3) is not further explained by Saussure. However, it cannot be symbolized in any other way than on the ornament from Lo-lang if one follows Saussure’s pattern (fig. 60).		Lo-lang

mirror

The outermost ring of patterns was obviously created because of the Chinese cloud ornament and symbolizes clouds. The hatched border and the outward-facing spikes are a very typical kind of decoration for all of these mirrors. It is followed, continuing inwards, by a row of characters that include the name of the master and several congratulations and these are in turn followed by an ornately decorated field that contains among other things depictions of the symbolic animals of the four seasons: in the bottom of the picture the phoenix representing the south, on top the snake and the tortoise for the north, on the left the tiger representing the west, and on the right finally one can find two unicorns instead of the dragons that normally represent the east.
On each side of the mirror, each of which is marked by an animal symbolizing a point of the compass, there are two round buttons. The border of the center square is filled with twelve animal symbols of the double hours and months in alternation with round heads. In the center lies the interesting figure, whose arms point with ram’s horns to the symbolic animals of the seasons and also to the round button that separates two seasons within the square. The smaller four arms of the double cross each point to the middle month sign within a season. The month signs for fall (autumn) lie to the left, where the tiger is in the outer field, below those for summer, followed by the ones for spring and winter. In this manner not only the separation of earth’s time but also the whole universe is portrayed. (Figs. 62 and 63) show further examples of mirrors from the Han Dynasty that have this figure in their center. In (fig. 62) the similarity of these signs with the ram’s horn pattern become especially clear. Here this early ornament is upheld next to the ram’s horns as a decorative border.

(63+62) mirror		Chines Animal Circle

The existence of these magical mirrors date back at least to the Zhou-Dynasty (ca. 1050 until 256 BC). They appear as belt decorations. They were not only used to get oneself ready but also played an important role for many cults. By using them as a burning glass, the holy fire was lit by sunbeams. One could also collect “water from the moon” by leaving a mirror outside over night with the moon reflecting itself in it: in the morning it would be covered in dew. This water was used for cultic purposes. The fine dust of ground metal mirrors was used as medicine. Most frequently, they were used as protection from evil demons. This worked in such a way that the invisible spirits became visible in the mirror and like all spirits were afraid of seeing their own face. This is why a bride wears a mirror on a chain over her heart and also why a mirror is placed on the chest of the dead to protect them on their journey through the dark region.

On the development of the pattern: It is derived from an archaic motif, that consists of four pairs of feathers that are considered to be birds after the principle of “pars pro toto” and of the sun motif in the center (fig. 64). The same sun symbol, surrounded by four crescent moons that already appears on bronzes from the time of the Shang dynasty (ca. 1450 until 1050 BC) is similar to the ram’s horn (fig. 65). These motifs were never used on mirrors.

(64+65) ram's horns

In fact, the central motif of the mirrors developed from a pattern that consisted of four leaves and a central circle that was used in the form of a flat relief on the mirrors since the 5th century BC but not after the 3rd century BC. It is reminiscent in several pieces of the pattern of the round jewelry plaque for women and the buttons that were decorated in the same manner (panel XI, fig. 9, dangling earring, silver, engraved, 10, button, silver, engraved, 14 and 16, jewelry plaque, silver, engraved).
This can also be seen in several examples in (fig. 66).

button	(66) centralmotif left
It is conspicuous that similar patterns can also be found on the top of a Yakut box. (Panel XI, fig. 7, carved in wood, see left).	(7) box

It was also preserved in other parts of Siberia. For example it creates the pattern in a glazed drinking bowl from Turkestan. The figure that is the most interesting in this context apparently developed from the previously described central figures of mirrors or buttons and so decorated the greater part of all Chinese bronze mirrors during the Han Dynasty together with symbolic animals for the four compass points or other symbols for the classification of time or world view. Finally, with the invasion of western influences, these figures were displaced by tendril ornaments in the late Han Dynasty. The mirrors from this era are known as “grape mirrors” because the most prominent decoration on them was a grapevine.

These magical mirrors have been an important export article for China since early times. In Siberia they are first found among the findings from the 6th century BC. They are also found in graves that do not contain any other Chinese import articles. They appear in the kurgans of apparently not noble, free shepherds that lived close to the Orkhon River in the 6th until 8th centuries AD.

On the other hand, mirrors that imitated the Chinese versions were also made very early on in Siberia. Mirrors with similar ram’s horns can also be found among the objects in finds that can be ascribed with certainty to the Red Huns of Hungary.

The appreciation of the mirror has been sustained equally in China and in Siberia until today. It can be traced from the peoples from China’s periphery all the way to North Siberian clans.

The Tibetan and Mongolian priests often carry a round mirror on their chest. This should not be confused with a representation of a wheel, since both often appear next to each other on a costume like on the masks of the god of riches “Namsrai” and the god of death “Yama” in Mongolia (dance masks for Buddhist ceremonies). Mongolian shamans in Inner South Mongolia also wore a typical emblem on their costumes: a silver mirror. The 12-months animals of the Chinese decorate the Mongolian mirrors.

Mirrors that are common until today outside of China don’t have the ornament on one side and the shiny field on the other as was common with the old Chinese bronze mirrors, instead the smooth and the decorated part are on the same front side. Among the Buryat shamans north of Lamaist Mongolia, the same metal mirrors decorated with the Chinese Animal Cycle are sown above the breast on a coat or worn on a chain around the neck. The shamans of the Yakuts are said to have also worn the same metal mirrors on their chests in old times like the Mongolian magical priests. The same is true for the Tungusic people.

Among the Mongolian and Tungusic peoples as among the Yakuts and Yukagirs, the round mirror is also used as breast jewelery by the women, for example in (panel XI, fig. 5, silver, engraved) by a Yakut woman and in (fig. 67) by a Tungusic woman. In this case one can recognize the ram’s horn pattern.

	(5) ram's horn pattern		(67) breastplate

Patterns on Yakutian jewelry plaques (panel XI, fig. 4, metal fittings on horse bridle, silver, engraved, 6, breast plate, silver, engraved, 11 and 16, jewelry plaque on a woman’s hat, silver, engraved, 24, breast plate on a woman’s hat, silver with enamel) show a further developed kind of ram’s horns and are also present on buttons. They are decorated with a pattern that is surprisingly similar to the mirrors with central motifs from the pre-Han era. As part of the technique, a half-relief with patterns from the Chinese, Mongolian and Tibetan motifs is imitated. Patterns from imported mirrors were quickly absorbed by the South Siberian ornament art. While they do not appear in the Pazyryk that was erected before the Han era in China, they are first found on other objects than mirrors in the kurgan “Shibe” at the Ursul (ca. 1st until 2nd centuries BC) and later probably also in Kudyrge in a kurgan that must have been erected around the year 200 AD.

			breast plates and plaques motifs on mirrors
	horse bridle

Among these Hunnic finds (among the Red Huns) in Hungary and partly in today’s Russia, where an ethnic probing was especially successful, the pattern appears on different metal objects. Oddly it later takes on the shape of the double spiral that out of today’s peoples is only characteristic for this motif among the Yakuts and the Chuva.

This shows that several of the central motifs of Yakut silver women’s breast jewelry was derived from the central figure of Chinese mirrors that are an important import article. It is very probable that the ornament was a pattern borrowed from the Chinese (panel XI, fig. 7, box, carved in wood). For the Chinese these ram patterns held more than one meaning

(7) box

This is why a similar thought process occurred among the Siberian peoples. Or was this pattern merely adopted for fashion reasons like the plant patterns? The fact that these mirrors were used not only as items for personal use but also as jewelry for shamans and other people makes this unlikely. They were, and are, worn on the chest and on headdresses above the forehead.

A corpse buried in the second kurgan of Pazyryk even carried the mirror in a leather bag above the heart, which means it may have had a cultic meaning in addition to its decorative function. A whole complex of motifs can not only prevail for fashion reasons and supplant ornaments that were previously common among the receiving peoples. But if a single motif spreads over a whole section of the earth and becomes the most often used figure in art among all the peoples that assimilate it, this leads to the assumption that the pattern came with a concept, especially if the ornaments don’t have further similarities. One example is the Christian cross.

The meaning of the pattern in Siberia can only be derived from the name itself. Among the Kyrgyz the idea of the months is connected with it. The time and world subdivision of the Yakuts and other nomadic people is similar to the Chinese presentation. But the 28 lunar stations are missing, the ram’s horn pattern with 28 endings in shapes that appeared on the clay seal from Lo-lang (fig. 58) can’t be found in Siberia either. In this case only the division into twelve, eight or four sections could be seen in the sign. The division into four or eight compass points and twelve months is a commonplace portrayal in Siberia that was already known before the Russians. According to this concept, the “Mother Earth Circle” is eight-sided according to the Yakuts.

The Tungusic peoples painted their shamans’ drums with a circle in the center drawn with a double line, from which eight lines led to the rim of the drum. They represented the eight legs on which the earth stood in the sea.

The world map of the Kalmucks (fig. 68) shows a division into four directions and twelve points.

	(58) sheep pattern North Korea		(68) shamans' drums Center of the Earth

The Mongolian world view was of course strongly influenced by Buddhism. They believed the centrail mountain lies at the center of the Earth surrounded by the four earthly realms.

The importance of this arrangement for the spiritual life of the Siberian nomads must not be underestimated. They build houses facing a suitable direction, which leads to the meanings of the Yakutian “hin” – “front part” for east, “arva” – “back part” for west, “xotu” or “xanas” – “left side” für north and “schuru” or “unuo” – “right side” for south. In every direction lie the seats of certain gods. The housing is open to the side on which the good spirits live, either the south or the east, as can be derived from their previously mentioned names. Among the Mongolians it is the south. Here in the northeast, at the point of the sunrise in the summer, the good creator “Ürüng Ajy Tojo” lives that also sometimes has his seat on the zenith. "Ulutujar Ulu Tojon", the terrible lord, lives in the west whereas the gruesome "Arsan Duolai" is in the south or the northwest. Of the lower demons, the god "Aju" (spirits of production and forthbringing) and the equally not evil "Ichi" (possessive spirits) live in the east while the "Abasy", the terrible squeezing or devouring spirits, live in the west.

When the shaman bows in a certain direction, he does so to the spirits that live there, which is why only an obeisance to the east or the south is auspicious. If the shaman bows in all four directions, this is an act of politeness towards all spirits. The same ideas exists among the nomadic peoples of South Siberia, all of which know the ram’s horn pattern. Thus, the Telengits hang the head of a sacrificial animal facing the east if it is for the good spirits and towards the west if it is for the evil spirits.

The Yakuts make prophecies by drawing two concentric circles and marking north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest and west on the outer circle. The northwest is not mentioned in this compilation. They then hold a string with a weight above the drawing. After some time the pendulum begins to move. The direction in which it is pulled decides the prophecy. The compass points have the following meanings:

	North and south are defined by the Yakuts merely as the “main path”.
	Northeast, the direction in which the sun rises during the summer solstice, brings horned cattle.
	The east is a path of good fortune.
	The southeast is the direction in which the sun rises during the winter solstice, which means that one will receive a horse.
	The southwest is called the “path into the woods” and means death.
	The due west direction is the path of evil spirits.

The calendar also decides on which day and in which direction travels should be embarked upon. If it is the wrong direction one embarks in the direction that is favorable for the beginning of a journey and then walks in a circle to go into the direction that one had planned.

Because of these observations from other researchers one can see that the Yakuts accorded the same meaning to the cardinal directions. Also, the classification of the west as the evil and the east as the good direction matches the notion of the Chinese. Then again, this does not mean much since all peoples of Central and East Asia share the same conviction that probably corresponds to the estimation of the sun among peoples living in polar regions and temperate zones that happily greet the arrival of the sun and are sad to see it go.

It can therefore be determined that the distinction between four main and in total eight points of compass was known and that these even played an important part in the culture of the Yakuts and all the peoples among whom the ram’s horns were an often used ornamental motif. It is therefore very probable that the meaning of the ornament, as it was passed on from the Chinese, was passed on along with the ornament and the object. The unusually frequent use of the pattern is explained by the fact that it contained a meaning important to the lives of the Yakuts and related peoples.

Only these facts can explain several variations of such patterns.

In (fig. 1) the ram’s horns are joined in the center by four lyra moifs, that point into the four cardinal directions instead of the sun symbol as in (fig. 1a). This symbol requires the ability to discern between the heavenly bodies and map out the cosmos, this can hardly be called coincidence. If in the same manner an inner circle with four ram’s horns is surrounded by a circle with six, this can only be considered to be half the number of months in a year (fig. 2), as they are also depicted on Buryat ram’s horn patterns (fig. 69). It is of course rather difficult to portray twelve ram’s horns in the manner that is characteristic for the Yakuts. Even the Chinese mirrors of the Han Dynasty already displayed an outer ring of twelve or six symbolic animals and an inner circle of eight or four.

	(1) ram's horn	(1a) sun symbol	(2) cosmos	(69) ram's horns

On the other hand, the center of a ram’s horn pattern often contains a cross whose meaning is considered to be a representation of a celestial body (fig. 4). Here the spot is filled with a swirling sun sign. The constellation in the middle corresponds to a depiction of the North Star as it is often found in China.

Among the Kyrgyz, the same sign can be observed along with roses or even more clearly drawn stars in the middle of the ram’s horn motifs. The central motif of the Turkmen is also formed by crosses (fig. 56). The Buryats also often draw the sun and the moon in the center of their patterns.

	sun cross		Turkmen carpet

The Huns practiced an astral religion with a sky cult, spring and fall festivals (autumn) with horseshows, horse races and horse sacrifices. They knew of the kumys.

They divided the year into a twelve-part and a 28-part cycle. They had a considerable influence on the region of the Altai and Sayan Mountains. They may therefore have played an important role in the spread of the symbol. But it was also brought to the attention of the Chinese culture via other relationships within Central Asian peoples, as other finds show.

The ram’s horns spread south from China. In Indonesia the same motif is a common jewelry among the indigenous people, it even surfaces in Polynesia and Malanesia where it appears in a certain variation on the "kpa-kape" of Santa Cruz that are generally described as sun symbols. There, the Asian ram’s horns are considered to be the footsteps of a kind of nightjar, a man-of-war bird or the horns of a water buffalo. Clans that don’t breed cattle also call the symbol “horns of the water buffalo”. This is why the name is considered to be the meaning of a much older pattern. In China, the buffalo is associated with the moon. Whether this points to an originally lunar meaning of the ram and therefore of the depiction of his horns can not be said for certain. The Indonesian version of the symbol, “snelteken”, points to the fact that it was originally jewelry reserved for the „koppensnellers“, the bounty hunters. Today it is deconsecrated. The buffalo tends to the dead warriors in the Otherworld. Buffalo horns are used as war ornaments among the Naga people of Sulawesi, Flores and Timur. In all of East Europe and parts of North Africa, the ram’s horn motifs appear as in Indonesia. But today it has been deconsecrated. The buffalo watches over the fallen warriors in the netherworld. Among the Naga people of Celebes, Flores and Timur, the buffalo horns also serve as war decorations. The basic shape of the ram’s horn motif appears not only in Indonesia but also in all of Eastern Europe and in parts of North Africa. Connections and proof of the probable origin of the ornament being in Asia can not be found.

The Yakuts do not display the ram’s horn in a different manner than arranged in a cross. In contrast, the Kyrgyz and the Buryats often display the arms of the cross with the spirals separately. A similar motif has been turned into a serial ornament on a jewelry plaque of a braided decoration (fig. 21).

The arrangement is also similar to a Han-era mirror ornament. The single motif is also used as a sign for a special day on the Yakut monthly calendars. We know that the Turkmen ancestors of the Yakuts already used it as a sign in the rock art at their previous home in the Baikal and that it originated in a Turkish runic script.

- Old Turk-Alphabet

		button	button	button
	box

The rosettes also differ in the way the center is shaped. In all but a few cases the rosettes with more than four petals have a round center, that in some cases is even accentuated by several circular lines or a dot in the middle. The four-leafed rosette often does not have this part.

The rosette is also a widely used ornament among the cattle-breeding nomads of South Siberia. The Tungusic peoples also sometimes use it, whereas the Paleosiberian clans and the peoples of Amur only know few examples of it. The discovered ornaments that have a strong Chinese influence only contain the four-leafed rosette. It fills the center of the ram’s horns that first became known to the peoples in the north of the Chinese empire as the central pattern of the magical mirror. The four-leafed rosette is itself an earlier form of the central ornament of the mirrors and apparently reached Amur from China. The four-leafed rosette of the Yakut jewelry plaques is also traceable with certainty to the Chinese influences of an early time (figs. 64 and 65).

ram's horn motif

The Chinese did not use rosettes with more than four petals on their rosettes. It can be assumed that this is why the four-petaled rosette became a frequent motif among the Yakuts. In two cases it is arranged into a serial ornament (panel XI, fig. 17, metal fittings on a bridle, silver, engraved and 22, kumys container, wood, chip carving), in the first pattern one of the four petals is always omitted.

	four petals		four petals

In the ornaments of other high cultures whose influences on the Yakuts may be assumed (these are the Russians or Persians that emigrated in the New Age), the rosette is often used and it can also be found in finds from the second Pazyryk kurgan. These motifs were used by the Persians as a sun symbol and were therefore a very popular ornament. The Kyrgyz used the rosette equally often. They mostly made it the dominant pattern, that often replaces the sun symbol. Its solar character may therefore be assumed. It was assimilated from the Persians.

The Yakuts also sometimes use the six- or eight-leafed rosette in place of the sun symbol (panel VIII, fig. 34, box, carved in wood, panel IX, fig. 2, box, wood with bone inlay and panel X, fig. 4, box, carved in wood). It is therefore not unprobable that the Yakuts, who had formerly lived further south, also assimilated this motif from the Persians, for whom it played an important role.

(34) box	box	box

Round silver disks that apparently represent the sun and are decorated with the eight-leafed rosette hang as pendants from the sky in the ornament (panel XI, fig. 18 and 23, jewelry plaque, silver, engraved).
Only once does the rosette substitute for the normally used blossom in profile in a tendril pattern (panel IV, fig. 16, box, carved in wood). In this instance it resembles the Chinese portrayals of a plant’s blossom that is considered a sign for luck and good wishes. These similarities may also be a coincidence and should not form the basis for any conclusions.

		(16) blossom
jewelry plaque	jewelry plaque

box	box

The Yakut culture was influenced by the immigration of the Russians. The first of them settled in this region in 1633 as hunters and merchants. At the end of the previous century 6500 immigrants were already living here, only half of whom lived from agriculture and animal husbandry. The great immigration occurred in the 1840ies. A large number of them were of course farmers, and many belonged to the persecuted religions that had fled and went on to have a positive influence on the area. This resulted in inter-religious marriages and everyone lived in peace with one another.

Even if the connections between Russians and Yakuts outside were less strong outside of the cities, and the Yakuts outnumbered the Russians by far, the Russian influence, coming from the leading social strata and increasingly also the spiritual upper class, was naturally more noticeable. This was also reflected in the Yakut ornaments. Russian imitations developed.

(Fig. 70) shows an acanthus tendril in the style typical for Russian ornaments. It is modified from the jagged Byzantine style in that the Russians generally reinterpreted it with round shapes (panel XII, figs. 1 and 2, sugar bowl, silver, engraved).

	acanthus tendril
		sugar bowl

These patterns also contain typically Russian elements (panel XI, fig. 37, sugar bowl, silver, engraved, panel XII, figs. 6 and 7, sugar bowl, silver, engraved, fig. 3, tea pot, silver, engraved).

sugar bowl	sugar bowl

tea pot

These motifs were also borrowed from the Russians’ material culture. The Russians introduced the Yakuts to sugar and subsequently the sugar bowl. Teapots were also of Russian origin, as the motifs on the silver tea cups and saucers show (panel XI, fig. 35, cup, silver).

tea cup

The motifs on wooden snuffboxes also only appeared after the Russians had introduced this product. They are not of a typically Yakutian style, neither chip carving nor a scoring technique were employed, instead the boxes are decorated with a slightly elevated relief whose edges are not angular but in a right angly to the surface and pattern. The base sets itself apart from the pattern by a cross hatch, which is more common in silver works (panel XI, figs. 36 and 38, snuffbox, birch bark, flat relief, panel XII, fig. 10, snuffbox, birch bark, flat relief and panel XIII, fig. 1, snuffbox, birch bark). Other boxes show patterns created with this technique that was not typical for the Yakuts: a brass wire was laid into wood (panel XII, figd. 4 and 5, snuffbox, birch nodules). This inlay technique is exclusively used on snuffboxes. The tops of boxes decorated in this manner are adorned with patterns that have neither parallels in either the Yakut nor the Russian world. They were discovered in a collection and one must assume that they originate from an artist’s creative imagination (panel XII, figs. 12 and 14, birch bark).

snuffbox		snuffbox
snuffbox		snuffbox

	snuffbox	box
				box

	(11) saddle		(19) saddle		belt buckle

(20-22) sugar box snuffbox

(3) saddlecloth

	salt shaker		salt shaker
					(19) cigarette holder

It is more difficult to find the influence of the contact with the Russians on original objects and their decorations. Take the row ornament on this kumys container, for example: (panel XI, fig. 32, kumys container, wood). Names do not always give definite information. This also applies in the case of this zigzag pattern on another kumys container (panel XII, fig. 16, kumys container, wood). It shows a tendril that consist of acanthus leaves without a stem.

kumys container

kumys container

Motifs with an enamel technique are also atypical for Yakut ornaments (panel XII, fig. 9, small jewelry plaque for women’s headwear, silver). Narrow leaves create the tendrils (panel XII, fig. 8, small jewelry plaque for women’s headwear, silver, enamel).

jewelry plaque

jewelry plaque

These patterns show no parallels to Russian ornaments. The patterns are similar and are on the rims of two silver decorative plaques for women’s headwear.

Similarities to these patterns are most likely found in the modern Chinese ornaments. The disks themselves can be traced back to the Chinese mirrors.

The fact that the Chinese mastered the enamel technique is commonly known. Therefore it can be assumed that these patterns were adopted from the Chinese rather than the Russians. This kind of a flower in the enamel technique (panel XII, Fig. 17, pearl in zinc or tin with enamel) confirms this assumption. It adorns a pearl that was made from a shell casing. It can be compared to this Chinese flower. (Fig. 71). The asymmetric composition of the whole ornaments does not match the Russian patterns.

Other pearls made from shell casings (panel XII, fig. 18, pearl in zinc or tin with enamel) have only one engraved pattern. They are symmetrical but still differ greatly from the Yakut patterns.

pearl

flower

pearl

The women’s headdress (panel XIII, fig. 6, woman’s headdress, cloth, embroidered), is cut from a piece of fabric embroidered with silver string. The rectangular shape on the front and the one on the back were attached with a backstitch and not sown in as on other headdresses. Like the jewelry plaques, they cover the already embroidered fabric with no attention to the original pattern. The ornament consists of rosettes and branches with leaves, but the structure shows no connection to the Yakut tradition, and the technique is also Russian.

woman's headdress