Purpose. We aimed to examine the materials of the collection of iron weapons including a tip of a spear and various arrow tips gathered in the course of a scientific expedition across the territory of Western Siberia, Altai Steppes and Eastern Kazakhstan performed in 1840–1843 by a famous scientist, botanist, officer of the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden – Alexander Gustav von Schrenk.
Results. The archaeological findings discovered by the researcher are kept in the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in the city of St. Petersburg. The iron tip of a spear and different iron arrow tips in the composition of that collection were examined and classified on formal grounds. They were divided into certain groups and types depending on characteristics of the section and shape of the feather of every tip. We proposed our reasoning for the chronology and cultural identity of these diverse artifacts, identified types of iron tips of the spear and arrow tips among the studied objects of armament. They were produced and used during diverse chronological periods when medieval nomadic peoples inhabiting the territory of Western Siberia, Altai Steppes and Eastern Kazakhstan could apply iron spears and arrows in the course of hostilities. We identified that the spear and various types of arrows analyzed in the composition of that collection could belong to warriors of different medieval ethnic groups. As a result of our analysis, the findings of armament were related to various chronological periods and definite weapon complexes. Different types of arrows were related to the material culture of the medieval peoples, who inhabited the territory of studied regions of Inner Asia during historical periods of the Early and High Middle Ages.
The German scientists who were in the service of the Russian state described the primary events of the history of studying various archaeological objects related to the cultures of ancient and medieval nomadic people on the territory of the steppe region of Western Siberia and contiguous territories of Altai Steppes and Eastern Kazakhstan. Using methodologies of scientific research, we managed to analyze formal indicators of the artifacts and classify them into certain groups and types of objects of armament, including the iron spear tip and iron arrow tips that constituted an important part of the collection of archaeological findings considered.
Conclusion. As a result of our scientific analysis, we have widen and complemented formerly known data on long-range and close combat armament object sets of the territory of Western Siberia, Altai Steppes, Northern and Eastern Kazakhstan during the Early and High Middle Ages.
A Collection of Iron Arrowheads from the Museum “Rarity” in Bishkek