Kopeny Chaatas

Kopeny Chaatas 

a burial ground dating from the seventh and eighth centuries, located on the left bank of the Enisei River near the village of Kopeny in the Khakass Autonomous Oblast. In 1939–40 large stone barrows of the clan nobility of the Enisei Kirghiz (ancestors of the modern day Khakass) were excavated by L. A. Evtiukhova and S. V. Kiselev. Small pits (caches) were found near the graves. These pits yielded remarkable objects that were hidden from grave robbers: gold and silver plates, four gold pitchers (with engraved Orkhon-Enisei inscriptions on two of them), and various gold, silver, and bronze horse trappings. The articles at Kopeny Chaatas were fashioned on the basis of earlier local traditions by local jewelers who were familiar with Iranian and Chinese art.

REFERENCE

Evtiukhova, L. A., and S. V. Kiselev. “Chaa-tas u sela Kopeny.” In the collection Tr. gosudarstvennogo istoricheskogo muzeia, vol. 11. Moscow, 1940.
Kiselev, S. V. Drevniaia istoriia luzhnoi Sibiri, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1951.

L. A. EVTIUKHOVA