Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 37 (3) 2009

Annotation:  Middle Paleolithic Industries of the Early Late Pleistocene (OIS 5) in the Southwestern Part of East Evidence of Environmental Instability of the Lake Baikal Area after the Last Glaciation (Based on P Radiocarbon Chronology of Neolithic and Bronze Age Cultures in Yakutia Clay Balls from Suchu Island as Neolithic Sacral Symbols Models of Metal Production in the Near East (Chalcolithic – Middle Bronze Age) Chinese Inscription on the Lacquer Cup from Noin Ula Mound 20 (Mongolia) Horse Forehead Pieces from the Kuban Region The Pakhomovskaya Culture of the Late Bronze Age Stone Stele Bearing a “Sun-Headed” Deity on the Tuim River, Khakassia (In commemoration of the Finni Methodological Issues in the Digital Mapping of Archaeological Sites The Church of the Saviour from Zashiversk: The Dendrochronological Aspect The “Harlequin”: An Ostyak Idol “Technological Eschatology” in Modern Traditions of Popular Orthodoxy and among the Old Believers o Mummery in the Calendar Rites of German Settlers in Siberia Silver of Kazakh Zergers: Traditions in Modern Jewelry Art Dental Remains from Mound 20 at Noin-Ula, Mongolia The Origin of the Medieval Population of the Novgorod Republic) (10th–13th centuries): A Craniometri   

Chinese Inscription on the Lacquer Cup from Noin Ula Mound 20 (Mongolia)

A.N. Chistyakova.

In 2006, the Russian-Mongolian Expedition found a lacquer cup in burial mound 20 in the Noin Ula Mountains. This article proposes reading and translation of the 46 Chinese characters carved on the bottom of the cup. The inscription has made it possible to date the cup, to identify the workshop where it was restored or improved, and to learn the ranks and names of the offi cials supervising the work. The cup, a typical artifact of the Han period, was produced at the Kaogong workshop (city of Chang’an ) which supplied the Chinese Imperial Court with the lacquer ware.

Keywords: Han Dynasty, Noin Ula mound 20, lacquer cup, Chinese inscription, Kaogong workshop, Chang’an, Sigong workshop, Shu District, Gongguan workshop, Guanghan District.