Open AccessMorphological Description of Horses from the Pazyryk Burials in North-Western Altai
Author(s) -
Natalya Alekseevna Plasteeva,
P Dashkovskiy,
A Tishkin,
Animal Ecology
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
teoriâ i praktika arheologičeskih issledovanij
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2712-8202
pISSN - 2307-2539
DOI - 10.14258/tpai(2020)4(32).-09
Subject(s) - withers , archaeology , geography , equidae , period (music) , biology , body weight , paleontology , art , endocrinology , aesthetics
The results of morphological examination of horse remains from the Pazyryk burials the North-Western Altai indicate a high similarity of buried animals in the height at the withers, size and proportions of their bones. Only stallions were buried in the Khankarinsky Dol, Inskoy Dol and Chineta-II burial mounds. Horses from these mounds were morphologically similar to the horses from other Pazyryk burials. The distinctive features of the Pazyryk burials in North-Western Altai are the higher proportion of young horses in the burials and the absence of animals which are above 144 cm at the withers. However, Pazyryk horses from Khankarinsky Dol, Inskoy Dol and Chineta-II burial mounds differ significantly in the size and proportions of the bones from horses which belonged to the previous Arzhano-Mayemir period of the Sayan region and the Bulan-Koby culture of the Xiongnu-Xianbei-Rouran period of the Altai. The morphological differences illustrate local characteristics of animals in the past times.