THE ORLAT PLAQUES PUZZLES IN IVORY

The ivory plates known as the Orlat Plaques were discovered in Uzbekistan, at a site not far from the city of Samarkand, during a Soviet-led excavation in the 1980s. The plaques provide us with wonderful insights into the warfare of the period they depict. The problem is, however, which period and culture do the Orlat Plaques depict?

By Murray Dahm

The plaques were found in a barrow burial at Orlat, a necropolis close to the fortified city of Kurgantepa, northwest of Samarkand. In it, two bodies, a man and a woman, were inhumed. The grave had been looted, so the plaques were not in their original position. Some other items buried with the bodies were also removed, although the remains of a sword, scabbard, dagger and scabbard, parts of a bow, and arrowheads were still in situ. The plaques are usually dated within the period of decline during all the turmoil of Samarkand changing hands between various dominating cultures - from the second century BC to as late as the fifth century AD. However, no consensus has been reached on the date, culture, function, or even description of the plaques. Originally…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVII.3

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