Pazyrik The Valley Of The Frozen Tombs

Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko was a prominent Russian/Soviet anthropologist and archaeologist who discovered and excavated the most celebrated of Scythian burials, Pazyryk in Siberia. During the excavation of Pazyryk tombs, he discovered the world's most spectacular tattooed mummy said to belong to the Pazyryk Culture which flourished between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC. Herodotus and other ancient writers referred to the Altay as "the golden mountain". It was there that the impregnable citadel of the Scythians (or Sacae) lay hidden for centuries. Rudenko, however, was cautious enough not to assign his findings to the Scythians. He attributed the kurgan finds to the formidable Iron Age horsemen and warriors, whom he dubbed the "Pazyryks." Although they left no written records, Pazyryk artifacts are distinguished by a sophisticated level of artistry and craftsmanship. The Pazyryk tombs discovered by Rudenko were in an almost perfect state of preservation. They contained skeletons and intact bodies of horses and embalmed humans, together with a wealth of artifacts including saddles, riding gear, a chariot, rugs, clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, amulets, tools, and an "apparatus for inhaling hemp smoke." Also found in the tombs were fabrics from Persia and China, which the Pazyryks must have obtained on journeys covering thousands of miles.

“Erudite and wide-ranging, perceptive and provocative, lively and up-to-date – Shane Blackman has produced a book with something to offer to just about anyone interested in drugs in contemporary society. Blackman uncovers hidden histories, points out the contradictions running through media, popular culture and official policy and highlights the challenges facing us. Chilling Out is a book that will be a boon to students and a valuable resource for both teachers and researchers.”Nigel South, Professor, Department of Sociology and Research Professor, Department of Health and Human Sciences, University of Essex. How are drug war politics, drug prevention, popular culture and drug consumption interconnected? What are the major contradictions, assumptions and silences within the moral arguments of drug policy makers? What are the implications for the viability of drugs policy? This book critically examines the assumptions underlying drug prohibition and explores the contradictions of drug prevention policies. For the first time in this field, it combines a wide-ranging exploration of the global political and historical context with a detailed focus on youth culture, on the basis that young people are the primary target of drug prevention policies. Chilling Out provides a critical map of drugs, bringing together work on drugs as a source of political state repression and regulation of morality through medical discourse, work on drugs as cultural commodities in film, popular music, advertising and tourism, work on ‘drug normalisation’, subcultural deviance and the politics of drug education. This clear and enlightening text for sociology, health and media and cultural studies courses argues for an holistic and a critical understanding of drugs in society, which can be the basis for a more coherent approach to drug control. Practitioners and policy makers will find it a thought-provoking and informative source.

“A well-founded and presented description of the integral role that psychoactive substances played in ancient societies. . . . A unique addition to ancient history collections.”—Choice “Very informative, well referenced, and well illustrated.”—Latin American Antiquity “A diverse and interesting introduction to the evidence for psychoactive use in the past, including consideration of the physical techniques and interpretative methods for understanding these practices.”—Journal of Psychedelic Studies "This well-researched and fascinating volume not only demonstrates the important cultural role of psychoactive substances in ancient societies but also points the way to an emerging research field. The unveiling of the past history of drug use becomes a lesson for present-day society."--Jan G. Bruhn, founding editor, Journal of Ethnopharmacology "Presents a broad overview of drug plants and fermented beverages by using anthropological, ethnological, archaeological, iconographic, chemical, and botanical approaches. Essential reading."--Elisa Guerra Doce, author of Drugs in Prehistory: Archaeological Evidence of the Use of Psychoactive Substances in Europe Mind-altering substances have been used by humans for thousands of years. In fact, ancient societies sometimes encouraged the consumption of drugs. Focusing on the archaeological study of how various entheogens have been used in the past, this volume examines why humans have social and psychological needs for these substances. Contributors trace the long-term use of drugs in ancient cultures and highlight the ways they evolved from being sacred to recreational in more modern times. By analyzing evidence of these substances across a diverse range of ancient cultures, the contributors explore how and why past civilizations harvested, manufactured, and consumed drugs. Case studies examine the use of stimulants, narcotics, and depressants by hunter-gatherers who roamed Africa and Eurasia, prehistoric communities in North and South America, and Maya kings and queens. Offering perspectives from many different fields of study, contributors illustrate the wide variety of sources and techniques that can provide information about materials that are often invisible to archaeologists. They use advanced biomolecular procedures to identify alkaloids and resins on cups, pipes, and other artifacts. They interpret paintings on vases and discuss excavations of breweries and similar sites. Uncovering signs of drugs, including ayahuasca, peyote, ephedra, cannabis, tobacco, yaupon, vilca, and maize and molle beer, they explain how psychoactive substances were integral to interpersonal relationships, religious practices, and social cohesion in antiquity. Scott M. Fitzpatrick, professor of archaeology at the University of Oregon, is coeditor of Island Shores, Distant Pasts: Archaeological and Biological Approaches to the Pre-Columbian Settlement of the Caribbean. Contributors: Quetta Kaye | Victor D. Thompson | Thomas J. Pluckhahn | Sean Rafferty | Mark Merlin | Matt Sayre | Constantino Manuel Torres | Zuzana Chovanec | Jennifer A. Loughmiller-Newman | Justin Jennings | Daniel M. Seinfeld | Shannon Tushingham | Scott M. Fitzpatrick

Fifteen Lectures on the Archaeology along the Silk Road is a representative work by Lin Meicun, a Peking University professor who enjoys worldwide fame on Silk Road archaeological research. This book gives a systematic account of the history of economic and cultural communications between China and the West via the silk roads from the Bronze Age (2100B.C.-500B.C.) to Zheng He’s voyages (1405-1433A.D.) to the western oceans, covering the Yangtze and Yellow rivers in China, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa, and Europe. This book shows the Silk Road as a road network not only for China’s Western trade of Chinese goods, such as silk, porcelains, jade and tea and its long-term imports of dragonfly eye glass beads, smalt, ambergris, incense, and other luxuries of Western origin, but also for the spread of Chinese culture to the West and Greek art and Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism and Manichaeism to the East. It not only includes the knowledge accumulated in relevant fields for a long time, but also incorporates the latest archaeological discoveries and research achievements. The author reaches many talented conclusions that are inspiring for the settlement of some disputes in the related field and illustrates his set of ideas with some 300 figures and pictures, among which many are first publicized.