02-15-2013, 02:55 AM
Back to Everyone,
This book was published in 2009, so it should be available on Amazon. I got my copy via PDF from a friend. Simonenko is a Ukranian professor, so the book is in Russian... but the text is repeated in English translation toward the end of the book. There are few volumes on the Sarmatians, only three I know of, including an Ospray version (not particularly accurate). The Golden Deer of Eurasia discusses early Sarmatians and does give the part-Asian ethnicity, stating that even the first Sarmatians had traits of the "Usun and Saka," but the weapons are far earlier than the Type 1 swords mentioned and shown in my above post.
Yes, I think the human head depicted in the illustration is actually a prize hanging from the horse of the rider getting "contus-ized." The horses do have a very stylized "pose" on the Orlat placque, and it matches very closely-- especially the stance and shape of the legs-- to the Saka horse, c. 300 BC, on a yurt rug found in an Altai kurgan, pictured below:
[attachment=6441]SakaHorsemanPazyryk300BCE.jpg[/attachment]
And here is a view of the Orlat placque showing more details:
[attachment=6442]OrlatBeltPlaquefromSogdiana-2.jpg[/attachment]
Simonenko does not get into sword metalurgy. However, we have accurate info by chinese experts concerning the development of this style of sword. It began as bronze, changed to pattern-welded iron-steel in the 3rd-2nd centuries BC; and finally arrived to three-part welded lamination in the 1st century AD. To view the final product, you can google Jkoo Sword Co., hit "Chinese Sword," scroll down to "Fancy Fittings Sword," and click on "Zhan Gao (Warring States) Sword. This is representative of a 41-inch Sarmatian cavalry sword, but it does not have a scabbard slide. This sword-- Type 1 Sarmatian-- was the standard Chinese sword into the 3rd century AD, called a "jian" (sword). It was replaced by the jian dou (sword knife), then by the dou. (In the Tang dynasty, a princess was sent to Japan to marry their prince. She brought two Chinese swordsmiths with her, and the earliest katana swords have their maker's marks.)
For my own swords (made by Jkoo), I have positioned the scabbard slide about 2cm higher on the scabbard... which is more in keeping to the way they were pictured on the Orlat placque.
mile:
This book was published in 2009, so it should be available on Amazon. I got my copy via PDF from a friend. Simonenko is a Ukranian professor, so the book is in Russian... but the text is repeated in English translation toward the end of the book. There are few volumes on the Sarmatians, only three I know of, including an Ospray version (not particularly accurate). The Golden Deer of Eurasia discusses early Sarmatians and does give the part-Asian ethnicity, stating that even the first Sarmatians had traits of the "Usun and Saka," but the weapons are far earlier than the Type 1 swords mentioned and shown in my above post.
Yes, I think the human head depicted in the illustration is actually a prize hanging from the horse of the rider getting "contus-ized." The horses do have a very stylized "pose" on the Orlat placque, and it matches very closely-- especially the stance and shape of the legs-- to the Saka horse, c. 300 BC, on a yurt rug found in an Altai kurgan, pictured below:
[attachment=6441]SakaHorsemanPazyryk300BCE.jpg[/attachment]
And here is a view of the Orlat placque showing more details:
[attachment=6442]OrlatBeltPlaquefromSogdiana-2.jpg[/attachment]
Simonenko does not get into sword metalurgy. However, we have accurate info by chinese experts concerning the development of this style of sword. It began as bronze, changed to pattern-welded iron-steel in the 3rd-2nd centuries BC; and finally arrived to three-part welded lamination in the 1st century AD. To view the final product, you can google Jkoo Sword Co., hit "Chinese Sword," scroll down to "Fancy Fittings Sword," and click on "Zhan Gao (Warring States) Sword. This is representative of a 41-inch Sarmatian cavalry sword, but it does not have a scabbard slide. This sword-- Type 1 Sarmatian-- was the standard Chinese sword into the 3rd century AD, called a "jian" (sword). It was replaced by the jian dou (sword knife), then by the dou. (In the Tang dynasty, a princess was sent to Japan to marry their prince. She brought two Chinese swordsmiths with her, and the earliest katana swords have their maker's marks.)
For my own swords (made by Jkoo), I have positioned the scabbard slide about 2cm higher on the scabbard... which is more in keeping to the way they were pictured on the Orlat placque.
mile:
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
