For 15 years, an archaeologist from Almaty has been collecting tools, weapons and ammunition from all the peoples who have passed through the Central Asian steppes, from the Saki to the Kazakhs. And now the “Nomad” ethnographic center has just been inaugurated, which receives visits from many Kazakhs, fascinated by the possibility of reconnecting with the lifestyle of their ancestors.
Almaty () – An archaeologist from Almaty, the large city in southern Kazakhstan, Stanislav Potapov, has published the results of his research and the numerous excavations that have been carried out in the region. His work has allowed him to distinguish the different types of weapons and objects belonging to the ancient nomads who moved from the Asian steppes to the most attractive European plains.
Potapov, a simple history teacher, was gradually carried away by a passion for the testimonies of the remotest past and began to study the traditions of combat on horseback and on foot, which in time gave rise to the extraordinary military art of the Tatars and Cossacks. . During the last 15 years, the archaeologist has been gathering tools, weapons and ammunition from all the peoples that have passed through the Central Asian steppes, from the Saki to the Kazakhs.
In his youth Stanislav was fond of all variants of fencing, but he never thought that this would become the main object of his professional activity. Until he was able to participate with some companions in a very lucky archaeological expedition, during which a large, well-preserved bronze plaque was found with the image of a Kangju warrior, an ancient population that had managed to unite various nomadic tribes from Central Asia and It became, for nearly two centuries, the second power in Transoxiana after the Yuezhi.
As a result of this discovery, the investigations took a very intense turn, and the leather armor of the Saki and the iron breastplates of the Sarmatians also came to light. As Potapov explains, “the great difference between these pieces of equipment lay in their cost, which distinguished the Kongju and Kazakh warriors from those of other ethnic groups, and above all highlighted the figure of the chiefs, whose armor was even decorated with details in gold and silver”. Belts were adorned above all, and the Turks preferred gold and the Kazakhs silver; most of the decorations have been erased by time, but the materials are still preserved in perfect condition.
The restoration of the recovered armor turned out to be a particularly delicate and expensive job, which was organized in collaboration with the National Museum of Kazakhstan and involved many experts and consultants in different historical and archaeological fields, as well as artisans specializing in the art of the forge. Potapov’s projects were enthusiastically supported by a businessman, Zhandos Nurbekov, who from his youth was also very attracted to local ancient history. When they managed to assemble the first complete equipment, it was decided to open a true nomadic ethnographic center -recently inaugurated- that would allow visitors to travel through time moving through the unlimited steppes like the nomads of old.
“At first we thought that the center would attract mainly foreign tourists, at most educational visits for students – says Nurbekov -, and indeed this was the case until operators, artisans and ordinary Kazakh citizens began to get involved, increasingly fascinated by the possibility to reconnect with the lifestyle and spirit of our ancestors.
Thanks to this initiative, in times of super-technological tanks and supersonic missiles, home-made arrows weighing 40 grams each, like those found in excavations, have become fashionable in Kazakhstan. Sometimes only in plastic, for children to play or to decorate the walls. Potapov has also opened, next to the Nomad Center, an “old-fashioned” fencing school, to teach history not only theoretically but also with the practical arts and cultures of the past, and in the hope that they will teach something for the present.
