The Pazyryk Carpet A Technical Discussion

The museum s website description of this ancient rug is as follows.

The pazyryk carpet a technical discussion.

The combination of low temperature and precipitation within the tomb subsequently froze the carpet and preserved it in a thick sheet of ice protecting it for twenty five centuries. Harald böhmer and jon thompson the pazyryk carpet. The central field is occupied by 24 cross shaped figures each. A technical discussion source.

The carpet was found in the pazyryk valley in siberia in the altai mountains. The pazyryk carpet was excavated in 1949 from the grave of a scythian nobleman in the pazyryk valley of the altai mountains in siberia radiocarbon testing indicated that the pazyryk carpet was woven in the 5th century bc. This high quality replica is produced by weavers working in northern afghanistan using natural dyes and handspun wool. To our knowledge it is the oldest piled rug still in existence and is housed at st.

Notes in the history of art 10 no. The pazyryk carpet alone includes horses griffins and deer. Detail of pazyryk border showing great technical skill and a sophisticated design. The earliest surviving pile carpet is the pazyryk carpet which dates from the 5th 4th century bc.

The pazyryk rug is one of the oldest carpets in the world dating around 5th c. Bc now in the hermitage museum in st. Its decoration is rich and varied. This carpet is 183 by 200 centimetres 72 by 79 inches and has 36 symmetrical knots per cm 2 232 per inch 2.

Very small in size a mere 8 cm square and in very damaged condition the bashadar fragment offers limited information but still enough to show substantial technical differences from the pazyryk carpet. Its size is 180 x 198 cm 5 11 x 6 6. It was excavated by sergei ivanovich rudenko in 1949 from a pazyryk burial mound in the altai mountains in siberia. First page pdf 746 kb permissions.

Petersburg russia the pazyryk rug was found in 1949 in the grave of a scythian nobleman in the bolshoy ulagan dry valley of the altai mountains in kazakhstan the pazyrk rug had been frozen in the ice and it was very well preserved. This somewhat ironic story is the reason that the pazyryk rug still exists today. Excavated from the grave of a scythian nobleman the radiocarbon tests proved that the carpet was produced in the 5th century bc. Rudenko attributed the bashadar find to the 6th century bc at least a century before pazyryk.

This richly coloured carpet is 200 x 183 cm 6 6 x 6 0 and framed by a border of griffins. Harald böhmer and jon thompson. Today the pazyryk carpet is regularly reproduced by modern carpet weavers who find its design still has a magical appeal.