HUNTING CULTURE OF THE MEDIEVAL TURKS: ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS AND A SOURCE-BASED REVIEW

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive study of the hunting culture of the medieval Turks based on archaeological materials and written sources. The main focus of the research is on the economic, military, social, and worldview-related functions of hunting in nomadic Turkic society. The article demonstrates that, for the medieval Turks, hunting was not merely an occupation aimed at meeting subsistence and everyday needs, but also a practical environment that developed the agility, marksmanship, endurance, and spatial orientation skills of the mounted warrior. The study analyzes hunting scenes in petroglyphs, weapon complexes, horse equipment, objects of decorative and applied art, as well as images of predatory animals and birds of prey, revealing their value as sources for understanding the material and spiritual culture of the Turks. The traditions of mounted archery hunting, collective driven hunts, the depiction of wild animals, and the use of birds of prey are examined in connection with nomadic military culture. The types of weapons, the hunter’s movements, clothing elements, and horse equipment represented in hunting scenes provide important evidence on the everyday life, military skills, and artistic traditions of the medieval Turks. In addition, images of predatory animals and birds are interpreted as a symbolic system associated with ideas of power, heroism, protection, sacred space, and social status. The study concludes that the hunting culture of the medieval Turks constituted an integrated cultural system in which the economic adaptation, military experience, social structure, and spiritual worldview of nomadic society intersected.