Abstract
This article presents a case study on what the possible shamanic and cultural significance of the sound produced by the golden tree-like headdresses from North Eurasia, dated to the first half of the first millennium CE, might have been. The study was conducted on six headdresses from three steppe-related cultures: Tillya Tepe, Tuoba Xianbei, and Silla. I begin by discussing the significance of sound and ritual, as well as the cultural determination of how humans sense the world around them. I then analyze all six headdresses – their find contexts, culture, and shamanic visual symbolism – and apply to them the type-classification system for musical instruments created by Hornbostel and Sachs (1961) and the probability grouping system created by Lund (1981). Based on my analysis, I theorize that the sound produced by the headdresses likely reflects the sounds of leaves in nature and that this type of sacred jingling sound is connected to rebirth and the renewal of life in North Eurasian shamanism. I then discuss how the headdresses’ different properties may hint at a multisensory connection between the aural, the visual, and movement in the ancient steppes, and conclude that their sacred sound likely added to the sacred authority of the rulers who wore the headdresses but was not shared with cultures outside the steppes and later disappeared with increased Sinicization.