Horse-Bits and Cheek-Pieces from Early Medieval Turkic Burials of Mongolia

The article concerns systematization and analysis of one of the demonstrative categories of horse equipment — horse-bits and cheek-pieces, found during excavations of the burial complexes of the early medieval Turks in Mongolia. Such products were found in more than 20 sites, investigated in different parts of the country. In most cases these were burials with a horse, and sometimes individual graves without an animal. Classification of horse-bits and cheek-pieces allowed distinguishing eight types of products demonstrating features of the morphology of objects. All finds have numerous analogies in the materials of excavations of the Turkic complexes in the Altai-Sayan region, as well as in synchronous sites in adjacent territories. The author establishes that horse-bits and cheek-pieces from Mongolian burials demonstrate the development of this element of horse equipment during the 7th — 10th centuries AD. An important indicator is the absence of early forms of products, which were spread at the early stages of Turkic culture and known in the adjacent territories of the Altai-Sayan region. In addition, sets reflecting the influence of other nomad groups on Turks at the end of the 1st millennium AD were recorded. Comparison of the results of the analysis of horse equipment with the indicators of the funeral rites will allow us to thoroughly consider the complex ethnocultural processes that took place in various parts of Mongolia during the early Middle Ages.DOI 10.14258/izvasu(2018)2-29