Eearrings of the Sak epoch

The article analyzes the earrings dated from the early Iron Age which were found in the monuments of Kazakhstan. All the products are made of gold with the use of high technology and artistic techniques common for that time. They were used in ancient times as prestigious and expensive products, therefore, mark the burials of people with high social status. The main part of the discussed subjects was discovered by the author during excavations of the burial mounds in Central Kazakhstan relating to monuments of Tasmola culture. Earrings are important archaeological sources and contain a variety of information about the date of the monument, the social status of the deceased, as well as contribute to the study of various aspects of culture, ethnic and cultural contacts of their owner. Earrings are a type of quite common findings in the early Iron Age cultures of the East Eurasian steppe. Nevertheless, the level of publications in this category of objects always remains low, as is noted by many researchers. Earrings of the Saks from Kazakhstan are close to the items from synchronized monuments of Sayan-Altai, Western Siberia and South Urals. For the early Sak period (VIII - the first half of VI century BC) of Central Kazakhstan earrings in the form of a ring, made of the gold wire to the bottom of which a cone is attached by soldering, are common. The specific feature of these earrings is the covering of the cone surface by miniature gold balls. For a long time the only monument that gave a pair of conical earrings was the burial mound Zhylandy excavated by M.K. Kadyrbaev in 1972. By now, the author has found the same type of earrings in four monuments. The early Sak conical earrings are also common for the Sayan-Altai, where they appeared, possibly, through contacts with the Saks of Kazakhstan. On the basis of our analysis, earrings of this type from the burial Besoba of Savromat time in Western Kazakhstan are likely to show a connection with the same world of the Saks. A pair of earrings with a hollow cone and turquoise is dated to the early Sak period. Beading is missing on these products. Earrings in the form of large rings made of wire or plate, one end of which is decorated with spirals of cones and stone inlays belong to this period. The following types are represented by earrings with hanging chains and with welded brass plate. Probably, at the final stage of the early Sak period or at the next chronological stage earrings welded by a lower ring of smaller diameter had appeared, which then were distributed widely and universally. Later, the so-called earrings in the form of digit ‘eight’gained popularity. The considered materials do not exhaust all the varieties of earrings, especially when you consider various types of pendants. This article draws attention to the necessity to clarify the dates of a number of funerary complexes of Kazakhstan with earrings. Mainly, it is the question of ascribing a number of Zhetysu burials previously identified as belonging to Usun era to more ancient times.

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