Salbyk kurgan

Salbyk kurgan
Salbyk kurgan before excavation, early 20th century
Size11m high, 500m circumference
Created5th century BCE
Discovered53°53′39″N 90°46′26″E / 53.894259°N 90.773752°E / 53.894259; 90.773752
Salbyk kurgan is located in Continental Asia
Salbyk
Salbyk
Saka kurgans[1]
Arzhan-1c. 800 BCE
Shiliktyc. 700 BCE
Arzhan-2c. 650 BCE
Bes Shatyrc. 550 BCE
Taksaic. 500 BCE
Ingalac. 500 BCE
Tasmola7th-5th centuries BCE
Boraldayc. 600-400 BCE
Salbykc. 600-400 BCE
Eleke Sazyc. 600-400 BCE
Berel-1c. 350 BCE
Pazyryk-1,2c. 300 BCE
Berel-11c. 300 BCE
Issykc. 400-200 BCE
Tillya Tepe1st century BCE

The Salbyk kurgan (Bolshoi Salbykskii Kurgan, "Great Salbyk kurgan") is a Saka funerary tumulus (kurgan), belonging to the Tagar culture. It is located in the "Valley of the Kings" in the western part of the Minusinsk hollow, 45 kilometers northwest of Abakan, Khakassia, Russia, and is dated to 500-300 BCE.[2] Other sources date it to the 8th to 6th centuries BCE.[3] The tumulus was 11 meters high, and its circumference about 500 meters. It is the largest tumulus of the Tagar culture.[4] It was a tomb of a noble Saka man, with his slaves and wives.[4] There are about 30 other kurgan tumuli in the "Valley of the Kings", although smaller than the Great Salbyk kurgan.

The tumulus is surrounded by huge Devonian slabs, weighing 50-70 tons, which were brought over about 100 kilometers from the banks of the Yenisei River. They are arranged in a square, with horizontal slabs forming a wall enclosure. The megaliths may have had an astronomical role and seem to correspond to the position of the sunrises and sunsets at various times of the year.[5]

The Salbyk kurgan originally had a square pyramidal structure. It was excavated in 1954-56 by removing all the earth of the kurgan, only leaving in place the monumental slabs on the periphery. It was found that it had been looted and stripped bare in Antiquity.[6]

It is 200 km northwest of the Arzhan kurgan, and 400 km northeast of the Pazyryk kurgans.

  • Salbyk kurgan reconstruction.[7]
    Salbyk kurgan reconstruction.[7]
  • The kurgan today, with only the monumental rocks of the perimeter remaining
    The kurgan today, with only the monumental rocks of the perimeter remaining
  • Walled perimeter of the Salbyk kurgan
    Walled perimeter of the Salbyk kurgan
  • Wall structure and megaliths at the Salbyk kurgan
    Wall structure and megaliths at the Salbyk kurgan
  • Salbyk kurgan megalith
    Salbyk kurgan megalith
  • A smaller tumulus, near the Great Salbyk kurgan
    A smaller tumulus, near the Great Salbyk kurgan
  • A petroglyph from the Valley of Kings, Salbyk Kurgan Museum
    A petroglyph from the Valley of Kings, Salbyk Kurgan Museum
  • A petroglyph in animal style from the Valley of Kings, Salbyk Kurgan Museum
    A petroglyph in animal style from the Valley of Kings, Salbyk Kurgan Museum
  1. ^ Image file with complete data, Amir, Saltanat; Roberts, Rebecca C. (2023). "The Saka 'Animal Style' in Context: Material, Technology, Form and Use". Arts. 12: 23. doi:10.3390/arts12010023.
  2. ^ Haywood, Anthony (2 May 2012). Siberia: A Cultural History. Andrews UK Limited. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-908493-36-1.
  3. ^ Rozwadowski, Andrzej; Hampson, Jamie (17 June 2021). Visual Culture, Heritage and Identity: Using Rock Art to Reconnect Past and Present. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-78969-847-3.
  4. ^ a b Naumov, Igor V. (22 November 2006). The History of Siberia. Routledge. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-134-20702-2.
  5. ^ Bocharnikov, Vladimir N.; Steblyanskaya, Alina N. (25 September 2022). Humans in the Siberian Landscapes: Ethnocultural Dynamics and Interaction with Nature and Space. Springer Nature. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-3-030-90061-8.
  6. ^ Kleĭn, Lev Samuilovich (29 November 2012). Soviet Archaeology: Trends, Schools, and History. OUP Oxford. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-19-960135-6.
  7. ^ Marsadolov, L. (2014). "The Great Salbyk Barrow in Siberia (Archaeoastronomical Aspects of its Studying)". Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies. 2 (2): 59–65. S2CID 132181643.