Paper abstract:

This paper focuses on the problems of dating and identifying the origin of cast-iron moldboards found in the territory of Southern Siberia (Mountain Altai, Khakassia, Tuva). These agricultural tools are traditionally dated back to the period of reign of the Tang dynasty in China (618–907). I argue that the currently accepted dates of this category of items have actually no reliable basis. The study of analogous findings from the territory of China shows that the items from the northern regions of China dating back to the 10th–14th centuries, i.e. the period of the Northern Song (960–1127), Liao (916–1125), Western Xia (1038–1227), Jin (1115–1234) and Yuan (1279–1368) states, show the greatest similarity with the moldboards found in the territory of Southern Siberia. In contrast with the previously suggested dates, I argue that the moldboards found in Southern Siberia should be dated back to the late 13th – mid 14th centuries, when this territory was a part of the Yuan Empire. I assume that the appearance of Chinese agricultural tools and the manufacture of their analogues in Southern Siberia resulted from the establishment of military agricultural settlements, the development of agriculture and iron foundry under the auspices of the Yuan governors, who needed food to supply the army. New interpretations of Chinese inscriptions on the surfaces of the tools reveal their connection with the center of metallurgical production in Qiyang (Shahe County, Hebei Province, China), which was founded no later than in Song epoch and remained flourishing under the rule of the Yuan Empire. Some of the moldboards were produced in Qiyang workshops, while others are the local imitations of the products of this cast iron center. This paper is mostly based on the published materials, including excavation reports, museum collections catalogues, historical records, research papers by Russian and Chinese scholars. One recent finding of a cast-iron moldboard from Mountain Altay area, which is unpublished, has also been involved in the study.