Why women become military archaeologists
Olga is often asked how such an unusual and unfeminine interest emerged, and why women like her choose to pursue military archeology.
– I don’t have any definite answer. It so happened that early on I became interested in military affairs and weapons. Maybe this is due to the fact that I communicated a lot with my elder brother, and he influenced me, says Olga. – I was about 12 years old when I decided: I would definitely become an archaeologist. I began to study history in depth and prepare to enroll the History Department. And when I saw Bronze Age weapons in the list of topics for the future scientific supervisor, the puzzle came together completely. This is how my two passions, my two dreams came together.
During her student years, Olga Likhacheva focused on the Bronze Age. Then she moved on to the next period, and a candidate’s dissertation appeared titled “Armament and military affairs of the population of the Forest-Steppe Altai in the early Iron Age of the 8th–1st centuries BC."
– Geographically, the focus of my research aligns with the contemporary landscape of our region. I’m not considering the mountainous region here, which is a distinct layer, explains s the scientist. – Recently, studies of the so-called “deer stones” have been added under a grant project led by Alexey Tishkin. These are monumental sculptures from Central Asia that embody the appearance of a warrior.
– The areas that I am involved in are the weapons and military affairs of the forest-steppe Altai tribes in the Bronze Age and in the early Iron Age. This involves the aspect of clothing, objects classification, and subsequent reconstruction, – says Olga Likhacheva. – The graphic part is a recreation of the warrior’s appearance.
This type of work requires processing extensive materials, with the primary focus on closed complexes, specifically burials containing weapons and elements of attire. Based on this, the specialist completely recreates the image.
According to Olga, the initial step involves conceptualizing the specific period and archaeological culture to be considered, with the availability of materials on the topic being of crucial importance.
– Closed complexes are attractive because they have been preserved in an undisturbed state until they are studied by archaeologists. There are quite a lot of them, despite the common perception that everything has already been either looted or studied, as she clarifies. – The funeral rite plays an important role. Not all cultures exhibit elaborate burial practices. The work parallels that of an investigator. This may explain my profound interest. First, I look at the weapons - a list of what is in a particular burial.
The next phase involves the study of planigraphy (plan of an archaeological site). This way we can gain insight into how the artifacts were worn by their owners. For example, the positioning of a dagger at the right hip suggests that it was likely fastened in the specific location during their lifetime.
– Following this, we analyze anthropological data, such the age of the deceased, their racial characteristics – whether they were he Mongoloid or Caucasian, Olga explains. – Then we create a sketch – a purely artistic part of the work. We need to choose a winning pose for the figure. This should also be considered: we need to show all the items present in the burial comprehensively. Let’s say, in a battle scene, the sword should be positioned in the hand, rather than depicted statically.
Next is the final selection of materials, the search for any gaps in the reconstruction. It is common for certain elements, such as horse equipment, to be absent from a particular subject complex. Another problem of the Forest-Steppe Altai is the scarcity of organic remains in burials: clothing is not preserved under these conditions.
– We are looking for parallels from nearby territories. First of all, we look at the Altai Mountains and synchronous cultures. There, as we know, there mounds with permafrost have been discovered, where clothes and costume items were well preserved, elaborates the speaker. – Based on this, we assemble the final image and artistically bring it to life.