Alexey A. Tishkin* and Vadim V. Gorbunov**

Altai State University, Barnaul, Russia

*E-mail: tishkin210@mail.ru
**E-mail: gorbunov@hist.asu.ru

Keywords: Altai, Xianbei, close combat weapons, swords, morphology and typology, ethnocultural traditions.

The paper analyzes finds of long-bladed weapons from the Bulan-Koby culture site of the 2nd half of the 4th – 1st half of the 5th century AD. The authors provide a detailed description of the shape and design of the swords, their dimensions, graphic drawings and photographs. The article examines analogies in the design details of swords, the time of their emergence and use in East Asia. It is concluded that the swords from the Yaloman II burial ground belong to the Xianbei weapon tradition, which is characterized by such features as a cut-off blade tip, a pronounced shoulder, a ring and disk pommel, and a disk on the handle. This tradition was based on the Xiongnu heritage and developed in close interaction with the Chinese weapons complex. Xianbei swords could have reached the Altai nomads through the Rouran. It is possible that they could have been made and modified in the local environment according to individual samples.

DOI: 10.7868/S3034577426010121