“Still alive harp” found in Siberia – cultural heritage of Huns
Archaeologists have discovered in Siberia a perfectly preserved harp, which was used 1700 years ago the ancient nomads of Huns, one of the ancestors of the Turkmens.
The two bone-made musical instruments 11 cm in length and 8.6 cm in width were found during excavations on the territory of the ancient settlement of Cheremshanka in the Altai Mountains by specialists of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
According to the expert, all the signs indicate that about two thousand years ago a carving workshop existed there.
Three more blanks were discovered at the Chultukov Log-9 settlement.
'One of the harps is so perfectly preserved that you can play it', said Dr Andrei Borodovsky, as reported by Mail Online.
Presumably, the musical instruments belonged to one of the Hun communities - the Maymin cattle breeders. Artisans made them usually by splitting the middle part of cow or horse ribs.
Jew's harp is considered one of the oldest ethnic musical instruments. Under different names, its analogs can be met among most of Turkic and other peoples of the world. : Turkmens call it gopuz, Kyrgyzs - komuz, Kazakhs - shankobyz, Tatars - kubyz, Chuvash - kupas, Yakuts - khomus.
Source: The Siberian Times
