M O N U M E N TAL S TO N E S C U L P T U R E S O F T H E C E N TRAL - E A S T E R N S T E P P E S - TAASA Review December 2012

M O N U M E N TAL S TO N E S C U L P T U R E S O F T H E C E N TRAL – E A S T E R N S T E P P E S – TAASA Review December 2012

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This article was originally found in the December 2012 edition of TAASA Review (Volume 21, Issue 4, Page 7).

The full article is available for free to TAASA Members.

Lyndon A.

Arden-Wong O f the numerous Türkic monuments of the central-eastern Eurasian steppes dating from the mid 6th to mid 8th centuries CE, none are as poignant or as wide-spread as its stone sculptures. Earlier stone monuments on the Mongolian plateau can be dated from the late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age (c.1000-500 BCE).

These `deer stones’, covered with stylised images of recumbent deer with bird like heads and exaggeratedly large antlers (Jacobson 1993), evoke strong cultic imagery and impart important historical data concerning the early nomads...