The Pazyryk Carpet A Technical Discussion

The earliest surviving pile carpet is the pazyryk carpet which dates from the 5th 4th century bc.

The pazyryk carpet a technical discussion.

Harald böhmer and jon thompson the pazyryk carpet. First page pdf 746 kb permissions. The pazyryk carpet alone includes horses griffins and deer. The advanced technique used in the pazyryk carpet indicates a.

Its size is 180 x 198 cm 5 11 x 6 6. 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. Its decoration is rich and varied.

This somewhat ironic story is the reason that the pazyryk rug still exists today. It was excavated by sergei ivanovich rudenko in 1949 from a pazyryk burial mound in the altai mountains in siberia. Bc now in the hermitage museum in st. Detail of pazyryk border showing great technical skill and a sophisticated design.

To our knowledge it is the oldest piled rug still in existence and is housed at st. One of the most remarkable finds was the pazyryk carpet. Rudenko attributed the bashadar find to the 6th century bc at least a century before pazyryk. The pazyryk rug is one of the oldest carpets in the world dating around 5th c.

The museum s website description of this ancient rug is as follows. This carpet is 183 by 200 centimetres 72 by 79 inches and has 36 symmetrical knots per cm 2 232 per inch 2. This richly coloured carpet is 200 x 183 cm 6 6 x 6 0 and framed by a border of griffins. Excavated from the grave of a scythian nobleman the radiocarbon tests proved that the carpet was produced in the 5th century bc.

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. A technical discussion source. Harald böhmer and jon thompson. Although very old the weaving technique used on this carpet is very advanced and it shows a long tradition in carpet production.

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. The central field is occupied by 24 cross shaped figures each. 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.