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Subeshi culture

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Subeshi culture
General location of the Subeshi culture, next to the Saka realm ( ), and contemporary Asian polities c. 325 BCE
Geographical rangeTurpan, Xinjiang, China
Dates1100-100 BCE
Preceded byChemurchek culture
Followed byXiongnu, Tashtyk culture

The Subeshi culture (1100-100 BCE, Ch: 苏贝希文化), also Subeishi or Subeixi culture, is an Iron Age culture from the area of Turfan, Xinjiang, at the eastern edge of the Tarim Basin.[1] The Subeshi culture contributes some of the later period Tarim Mummies. It might be associated with the Cheshi state (車師, Chü-shih, Jushi Kingdom) known from Chinese historical sources.[2][1] The culture includes three closely related cemeteries:

Characteristics

The origins of the Subeshi culture were influenced by the cultures of West Asia and Central Asia as far back as the late Neolithic period and the early Bronze age, when bronze technology, pottery and ornamation styles were introduced from the west, before spreading further east to the early cultures of China, such as the Siba culture (about 2000-1600 BCE), Qijia culture (2500-1500 BCE) or Chawuhugoukou culture (around 800-100 BCE).[1]

The Subeshi culture is known for its Iron Age graveyards of the 1st millenium BCE, which resemble those of the Saka (Scythian) Pazyryk culture of the Altai Mountains. In particular, weaponry, horse gear and garments are similar to those of the Pazyryk culture.[4] During this period, Central Asian styles of pottery and ornamentation, in addition to bronze techniques, were also introduced to the nearby Siba culture and Qijia culture of northwestern China.[1]

Map of the Subeshi culture sites () in the context of Iron Age continental Asia, with main sites of Subeixi, Shengjindian and Yanghai

The "Witches of Subeshi" (4th or 3rd century BCE) wore 2-foot-long (0.61 m) black felt conical hats with a flat brim.[5] Though modern Westerners tend to identify this type of hat as the headgear of a witch, there is evidence that these pointed hats were widely worn by both women and men in some Central Asian tribes. For instance, the Persian king Darius recorded a victory over the "Sakas of the pointed hats".[6] The Subeshi headgear is likely an ethnic badge or a symbol of position in the society. Also found at Subeshi was a man with traces of a surgical operation on his abdomen; the incision is sewn up with sutures made of horsehair.[7]

The Subeshi culture is a candidate for the Iron Age predecessors of the Tocharians.[8] The material culture of the Subeshi culture is very similar to that of Saka sites such as Arzhan or Tasmola, but is also known to have spread across the northern Chinese steppes from Xinjiang to the Korean Peninsula, particularly through bronze weapons, horse harnesses, and ornaments.[9] The Subeshi site of Yanghai yielded what maybe the world's oldest known horse saddle, complete with many characteristics of today's modern saddles, for which a radiocarbon date of 727–396 BCE (95.4% probability range) has been obtained: this is contemporaneous of possibly older then the previous "oldest saddle" from the Scythian Pazyryk culture site of Tuekta barrow no. 1 (430–420 BCE).[10] Knotted carpet with colorful wave-like motifs were dated to 700 BCE, and are now the oldest known knotted carpet in the world, before the 4th century BCE Pazyryk carpets.[11] Scythian-style bows were also discovered in Subeshi.[12]

In terms of genetics, Afanasievo ancestry has been identified among Iron Age Dzungarian populations.[13]

Artifacts

  • Tomb at Yanghai cemetery
    Tomb at Yanghai cemetery
  • Cone-shaped high-peaked hat, Subeshi cemetery.[14][15]
    Cone-shaped high-peaked hat, Subeshi cemetery.[14][15]
  • Subeixi horse saddle.[16]
    Subeixi horse saddle.[16]
  • Subeixi or Saka armour, 8th-3rd century BCE.[17]
    Subeixi or Saka armour, 8th-3rd century BCE.[17]
  • Wooden objects, Yanghai cemetery, Subeshi culture
    Wooden objects, Yanghai cemetery, Subeshi culture
  • Subeshi culture earthenware. Turpan Museum.[18]
    Subeshi culture earthenware. Turpan Museum.[18]
  • Helmet-shaped earflap hat, Subeshi cemetery.[19]
    Helmet-shaped earflap hat, Subeshi cemetery.[19]
  • A Subeshi culture bow from Shengjindian, Turpan Museum
    A Subeshi culture bow from Shengjindian, Turpan Museum
  • Grapevine from Yanghai, said to be the ancester of Chinese wine
    Grapevine from Yanghai, said to be the ancester of Chinese wine
  • A wooden prosthetic leg (left) from Shengjindian cemetery, circa 300 BCE, Turpan Museum. This is "the oldest functional leg prosthesis known to date".[20]
    A wooden prosthetic leg (left) from Shengjindian cemetery, circa 300 BCE, Turpan Museum. This is "the oldest functional leg prosthesis known to date".[20]
  • Carpet from Yanghai-1, 7th century BCE.[11]
    Carpet from Yanghai-1, 7th century BCE.[11]
  • Carpet from Yanghai-1, 7th century BCE.[11]
    Carpet from Yanghai-1, 7th century BCE.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Zhang, Kai (4 February 2021). "The Spread and Integration of Painted pottery Art along the Silk Road" (PDF). Region - Educational Research and Reviews. 3 (1): 18. doi:10.32629/RERR.V3I1.242. S2CID 234007445. In the late Neolithic period and the early Bronze age, pottery, ornamentation and bronze culture with the characteristics of West Asia and Central Asia were introduced into Xinjiang, including Qijia culture (2500-1500 BC), Siba culture (about 2000-1600 BC), Chawuhugoukou culture (around 800-100 BC), Turpan Subeixi culture (1100 bc-100 BC) and other cultures.
  2. ^ Beck, Ulrike; Wagner, Mayke; Li, Xiao; Durkin-Meisterernst, Desmond; Tarasov, Pavel E. (20 October 2014). "The invention of trousers and its likely affiliation with horseback riding and mobility: A case study of late 2nd millennium BC finds from Turfan in eastern Central Asia". Quaternary International. 348: 225–226. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.056. ISSN 1040-6182. The Yanghai graveyard is assigned to the Subeixi (Subeshi) culture (e.g. Jiang et al., 2006, 2009), conventionally dated to the first millennium BC (Chen, 2002; Han, 2007; Xinjiang, 2011). The culture is associated with the Cheshi (Chü-shih) state known from Chinese historical sources (Sinor, 1990).
  3. ^ Jiang, Hongen; Li, Cheng-Sen; Cao, Hongyong; Shading, Palidanmu; Cheng, Ye-Ming (July 2021). "Wood Utilization During the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age in the Turpan Basin of Xinjiang, China, With Special Emphasis on Betula (Betulaceae)". SAGE Open. 11 (3): 215824402110469. doi:10.1177/21582440211046950. ISSN 2158-2440.
  4. ^ Li, Xiao; Wagner, Mayke; Wu, Xiaohong; Tarasov, Pavel; Zhang, Yongbin; Schmidt, Arno; Goslar, Tomasz; Gresky, Julia (21 March 2013). "Archaeological and palaeopathological study on the third/second century BC grave from Turfan, China: Individual health history and regional implications". Quaternary International. 290–291: 335–343. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.05.010. ISSN 1040-6182. The whole graveyard including tomb M2 belongs to the Subeixi culture, associated with the Cheshi (Chü-shih) state known from Chinese historical sources (Sinor, 1990). Archaeological and historical data attest it as society with a developed agro-pastoral economy, that existed in and north of the Turfan Basin (Fig. 1) during the first millennium BC. The Subeixi weaponry, horse gear and garments (Mallory and Mair, 2000; Lü, 2001) resemble those of the Pazyryk culture (Molodin and Polos'mak, 2007), suggesting contacts between Subeixi and the Scythians living in the Altai Mountains.
  5. ^ "Expedition Magazine Ancient Mummies of the Tarim Basin". Expedition Magazine.
  6. ^ Beaujard, Philippe (2019). "China: From Kingdoms to Unification". The Worlds of the Indian Ocean: A Global History: Volume 1: From the Fourth Millennium BCE to the Sixth Century CE. Cambridge University Press. p. 522. ISBN 978-1-108-42456-1. Hats either of the "Phrygian" type (Cherchen) or high and pointed (Subeshi, east of Turfan, c. fifth century bce) have been discovered in the tombs; both are reminiscent of Iranian culture (Mallory and Mair Reference Mallory and Mair2000: figs. 111 and 125; Barber Reference Barber and Ten Grotenhuis2002: 64).
  7. ^ "The Mummies of Xinjiang". Discover. 1 April 1994.
  8. ^ Mallory, J. P. (2015). "The Problem of Tocharian Origins: An Archaeological Perspective" (PDF). SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS: 24.
  9. ^ Wagner, Mayke; Wu, Xinhua; Tarasov, Pavel; Aisha, Ailijiang; Ramsey, Christopher Bronk; Schultz, Michael; Schmidt-Schultz, Tyede; Gresky, Julia (20 September 2011). "Radiocarbon-dated archaeological record of early first millennium B.C. mounted pastoralists in the Kunlun Mountains, China". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 108 (38): 15733–15738. doi:10.1073/pnas.1105273108. ISSN 0027-8424. The Liushui bronze weaponry, particularly the very distinctive rhombic arrowheads with one side spur, and horse harnesses (Fig. 2) show great similarity to finds from kurgans (e.g., Arzhan 1 and Berlik in Fig. 1), with the inventories representing different steppe and forest-steppe cultures, such as Bol'shaya Rechka, Krasnoozero, and late Irmen' in Siberia (4); Tasmola and Zebakino-Dongal in Kazakhstan (4); and Subeshi in Xinjiang (31). Except for the rhombic socketed arrowheads, all other bronze weapons, horse harnesses, and ornaments have been found across the northern Chinese steppes from Xinjiang to the Korean Peninsula (32, 33).
  10. ^ Wertmann, Patrick; Yibulayinmu, Maria; Wagner, Mayke (1 September 2023). "The earliest directly dated saddle for horse-riding from a mid-1st millennium BCE female burial in Northwest China". Archaeological Research in Asia. 35: 100451. doi:10.1016/j.ara.2023.100451. ISSN 2352-2267. Compared with the oldest known saddle from the Scythian Pazyryk culture site Tuekta barrow no. 1 (430–420 BCE) in north-western Altai, the Yanghai specimen radiocarbon dated to 727–396 BCE (95.4% probability range) is contemporaneous or possibly older.
  11. ^ a b c He, Zhang (2019). "Knotted Carpets from the Taklamakan: A Medium of Ideological and Aesthetic Exchange on the Silk Road, 700 BCE-700 CE" (PDF). The Silk Road. 17. Dated to as early as 700 BCE (Jia et al. 2009), the Yanghai carpet pieces are approximately three centuries older than the Pazyryk carpets (Rudenko 1970), making them the earliest knotted carpets found anywhere in the world.
  12. ^ Dwyer, Bede (1 January 2003). "Scythian-Style Bows Discovered in Xinjiang". Journal of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries.
  13. ^ Zhang, Fan; Ning, Chao; Scott, Ashley (2021). "The genomic origins of the Bronze Age Tarim Basin mummies". Nature. 599 (7884): 256–261. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04052-7. ISSN 0028-0836. However, although Afanasievo-related ancestry has been confirmed among Iron Age Dzungarian populations (around 200–400 bc)7, and Tocharian is recorded in Buddhist texts from the Tarim Basin dating to ad 500–1000 (ref. 13), little is known about earlier Xinjiang populations and their possible genetic relationships with the Afanasievo or other groups.
  14. ^ Xin, Xiaoyu (2015). "Research on Prehistoric Hats in Xinjiang (2000 BC-200 BC)" (PDF). Asian Social Science.
  15. ^ Beaujard, Philippe (2010). "From Three Possible Iron-Age World-Systems to a Single Afro-Eurasian World-System". Journal of World History. 21 (1): 9, note 20. ISSN 1045-6007.
  16. ^ Wertmann, Patrick; Yibulayinmu, Maria; Wagner, Mayke; Taylor, Chris; Müller, Samira; Xu, Dongliang; Elkina, Irina; Leipe, Christian; Deng, Yonghong; Tarasov, Pavel E. (1 September 2023). "The earliest directly dated saddle for horse-riding from a mid-1st millennium BCE female burial in Northwest China". Archaeological Research in Asia. 35: 100451. doi:10.1016/j.ara.2023.100451. ISSN 2352-2267.
  17. ^ "Scale Armor Subeixi or Scythian". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  18. ^ Shao, Hui-qiu. "Research on the Subeixi Culture in Xinjiang" (PDF). 边疆考古研究.
  19. ^ Xin, Xiaoyu (2015). "Research on Prehistoric Hats in Xinjiang (2000 BC-200 BC)" (PDF). Asian Social Science.
  20. ^ Li, Xiao; Wagner, Mayke; Wu, Xiaohong; Tarasov, Pavel; Zhang, Yongbin; Schmidt, Arno; Goslar, Tomasz; Gresky, Julia (21 March 2013). "Archaeological and palaeopathological study on the third/second century BC grave from Turfan, China: Individual health history and regional implications". Quaternary International. 290–291: 335–343. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.05.010. ISSN 1040-6182. Ten radiocarbon dates on the prosthesis, human bones and wood pieces from the same grave suggest the most probable age of the burial is about 300–200 BC (68% confidence interval), thus introducing the oldest functional leg prosthesis known to date.
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