Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38 (1) 2010

Annotation:  Siliceous Rock of the Southern Urals: Distribution and Usage in the Stone Age Periods, Boundaries, and Contact Zones in the Far Eastern Insular World of the Neolithic (Based on Oyster Cultivation and Archaeology as Producing Activities Early Iron Age Dyupsya Burial, Central Yakutia The “Osmium Trace” in Mineral Inclusions in Ancient Gold Artifacts Social Structure of the Early Medieval Population in the Upper Kama Region (Based on Evidence from t Bronze Helmet Recently Discovered in Mongolia The Matchmaker’s Staffs from Fort Nadym of the 17th–18th Centuries Dendrochronological Survey of the Towers from the Kazym Ostrog Dendrochronological Dating of the Groundsill for the Bell Tower of the Spasskaya Church in Irkutsk Marriages among the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars in the Late 18th – Early 20th Centuries The Altai Cossacks in the 18th – Early 20th Centuries ANTHROPOL A Fossil Human Humerus from Khvalynsk: Morphology and Taxonomy Skeletal Remains from Buston VI – a Sapalli Culture Cemetery in Uzbekistan New Craniometric Evidence on the Origin of the Karelians (the Kylalahti Kalmistomäki Burial Ground) The Maikop Crania Revisited   

Bronze Helmet Recently Discovered in Mongolia

Y.S. Hudiakov and N. Erdene-Ochir.

In the ancient past, bronze helmets were highly valued objects. For this reason, they are seldom found at Bronze and Early Iron Age sites in the steppe belt of Eurasia. In the 1990s, three bronze helmets of similar construction were found in Mongolia, two of which are associated with the slab grave culture. Another helmet has recently been found at Hitruun Mount (Central Mongolia). This helmet differs structurally from other helmets that have previously been found in Mongolia and the Trans-Baikal region. It has a spherical dome topped with a loop, two oval frontal notches with a nose-protecting piece between them, and holes for attaching an aventail (barmitsa) or a liner along the lower edge. The helmet resembles the protective headgear worn by the Scythians, the Saka, and the ancient nomads of Southern Manchuria. Research into this recent fi nd has made it possible to elaborate on the chronology, cultural attribution, and typology of metal helmets used by various ethnic nomadic groups of the Bronze and Early Iron Age in Central Asia. Bronze helmets began to be produced among early Central Asian nomads in response to the use of more effi cient manto- man weapons such as battleaxes and picks.

Keywords: Mongolia, eastern Trans-Baikal region, Central Asia, ancient nomads, culture of khereksurs and deer-stones, slab graves, defensive armor, bronze helmets.