Falconry, using large birds of prey such as hawks and even eagles to hunt one’s quarry, is particularly suited to the open grasslands and snow-covered steppes, especially in combination with horses and dogs. One of the earliest artistic depictions of falconry is an Assyrian hunting scene relief showing a man with a hawk on his right wrist (eighth century BC). Falconry was practiced by the natives of Thrace, Persia, and Central Asia, according to Aristotle, Xenophon, Pliny, Aelian, and others. Ctesias explained how the nomads of Central Asia trained raptors (and yellow-bellied martens) to hunt hares and foxes. Many ancient
Caucasian legends, Nart sagas, and Kazakh and Kyrgyz oral epics describe falconry with hawks and especially eagles. Hunting with the trio of horse, dog, and raptor is a common motif of these stories, lovingly detailed in long descriptions of arming and setting out on fine steeds accompanied by one’s trained hounds and eagles.32
An extraordinary ancient image of an Amazon doing exactly that appears on a Greek artifact of the fifth century BC. The exquisitely detailed scene on a gold ring shows an Amazon huntress on horseback with her dog and her eagle. Wearing a belted chiton and cloak, she has the reins choked up tight to control her large, spirited horse, in anticipation of spearing the deer. The deer is so minutely detailed that we can tell the species: it is a spotted fallow buck with broad palmate antlers, and it has a broken leg. Her hunting dog attacks the deer from the rear. Art historians have ignored the significance of the “flying bird” in the scene. But the bird hovering above the deer’s head is no random detail. It is obviously an eagle with spread wings and hooked beak, trained to help the huntress. All four—Amazon, dog, horse, and eagle—are focused on the prize. The scene is compelling evidence that the classical Greeks had heard about or observed horsewomen of eastern barbarian lands who trained eagles to hunt (Plate 8).33
Mongolian and other nomads of Central Asia traditionally hunted on horseback with raptors—falcons, hawks, and especially golden ea-gles—as detailed by Marco Polo in 1276. Today Kazakh berkutchi (eagle hunters) still hunt hares, foxes, and even wolves with golden eagles, assisted by a special breed of hunting hound (Asiatic sighthounds, tazy in Kazakh; taigan in Kyrgyz). The Kyrgyz people are also avid hunters in winter with horses, taigan hounds, and eagles. It takes great strength to hold an eagle on one’s arm, even with support. Up to 3 feet tall, the eagles weigh 15-20 pounds; they have a 7-foot wingspan and a diving speed of 190 miles per hour.34
Female eagle hunters on the steppes are rare today. But in antiquity some physically strong nomad horsewomen were falconers, like the men of their tribes. Archaeological evidence comes from the mummies of Urumchi, interred for more than twenty-five hundred years in the extremely dry Tarim Basin of northwest China. The tall, lavishly dressed, and tattooed bodies were perfectly preserved in the salt sand,
Along with weapons and other grave goods. The archaeologists noted that the left hand of one of the women (buried near Turfan in about 700 BC) was “encased in a gigantic leather mitten” just like those worn by falconers.35
A similar large, thick leather mitt protects the right hand and arm of a young Kazakh horsewoman named Makpal Abdrazakova. It is the perch of her magnificent golden eagle named Akzhelke (Plate 9). Mak-pal’s father began to teach her to handle hunting eagles when she was thirteen. Beginning in 2003, Makpal and her eagle won numerous eagle hunting contests, reported in international media. Eagles are captured young; the laborious training is based on mutual trust. Female eagles, larger and stronger than the males, are preferred. Makpal recalls that the Kazakh elders allowed her to compete as a berkutchi “because they remembered that a long time ago women used to hunt with dogs and eagles.”36 Now more girls are apprentice eagle hunters.
The horse, the dog, and the eagle: by training these three animals the nomads made the rugged, relentless steppes into a land rich with accessible game. In antiquity some horsewomen of Thrace, Caucasia, and Central Asia certainly hunted with raptors, even eagles. Reports of this activity filtered back to the Greek world, resulting in the beautiful golden ring engraved with an Amazon eagle hunter.
Women of Scythian tribes, known as Amazons to the Greeks, hunted animals for food and fur and to defend their herds. They mastered the art of throwing javelins and spearing their quarry while on horseback. Rabbits, marmots, ground squirrels, martens, wolves, foxes, leopards, mountain sheep, boars, ibex, deer, and elk: a wide array of pelts, horns, bones, claws, and teeth has been recovered from Scythian burials. Sable (marten) and other furs are common in Pazyryk frozen tombs. Boar’s tusks and lion’s claws were personal hunting amulets or trophies often buried with women warriors (chapter 4).37
The horse defined the world of steppe nomads, and horses were deeply embedded in Amazon life. As the great equalizer of women and men on the steppes, horseback riding meant that both sexes learned the
Same hunting and war skills. Riding horses meant that women and men were armed with the same weapons and often dressed alike. One particular article of clothing, mocked by the bare-legged skirt-wearing Greeks, was absolutely essential to those who lived on horseback: a strong pair of trousers.
World History
