흉노 무덤 출토 은제장식 말띠드리개에 관한 연구

Abstract

Uniquely shaped and inscribed with animal patterns, the ornate metal plaques for adorning horses from the Xiongnu tombs are attracting lots of attention. Those metal plaques were used to horse ornaments of the Xiongnu. They are now becoming one of harness-related articles that are under restoration. The purpose of this study was to examine in various manners the features of ornate metal plaques for adorning horses that were discovered in Mongolia, northeastern China and Korean Peninsula. Findings of the study can be summarized as follows. Those ornate metal plaques for adorning horses were mostly made between the 1st century B.C and the 1st century A.D. They have two styles in terms of shape. Of the two, the first has the ring inside(on the back) and the second has the hole on the edge. In regard to how the bridile is equipped, the former style has the bridle hung over through the rings and the latter, the bridle sewn and fixed through an organic material like threads(leather) into small holes. Here, the former style is reclassified into two. One is that the bridle crosses horizontally through the body of the ornate metal plaques for adorning horses that is vertically long and unsymmetrically oval while, the other is that the bridle crosses perpendicularly through the body. The bridle fixed into the holes on the edges of the pendant was same in length and breath as the horse ornaments itself. Meanwhile, this study compared other horse ornaments or the rectangle pendant, which were excavated in northeastern China, with what had been deemed similar to them. that is, the above described ornate metal plaques for adorning horses the rectangle pendants were mostly made in the 4th century and had the form of hanging down over the bridle. Differences in when they were made and what they look that this study found about ornate metal plaques for adorning horses might be attributed to changes in the roles and functions of harness over time. Nevertheless, however, the characteristics and functions of those pendants remain to be further studied in terms of other factors that harness itself.