ABSTRACT
This chapter examines decorated belts found lying over the pelvic bones or along the femurs of individuals buried in satellite graves associated with large, mounded Xiongnu graves in the Trans-Baikal area in Russia. These belts are decorated with beads made from bronze and iron and cowrie shells; they have bone buckles, and many have a special wood lining. The majority of the belts have a central portion consisting of a pair of bronze plaques decorated with scenes in the “Ordos style” depicting a skirmish between two horses, a beast of prey catching an herbivore, or a struggle between two dragons. As this chapter demonstrates, the qualitative and quantitative composition of the decorated belts does not show a strong correlation with the sex or the age of the deceased and may instead be a marker of their ethnic or cultural status.
