Barinova E.B.

Key words: Chine, nomad peoples, Central Asia, Zhetysu, Central Tian Shan, pre-Mongolian, material culture, cultural contacts.
The influence of Chinese material culture in Central Asia was the key factor due to which sedentary settlements and certain crafts and building technologies appeared among the nomad peoples. The currently available data shows that whereas the nomads did import some of the ancient Chinese symbolical and mystical elements, they did not borrow the religious notions in their entirety. The strongest contacts of the Chinese civilization and the nomad peoples took place during the periods of Xiongnu dominance in Central Asia and the existence of the Kyrgyz state. East Asian influence on the material culture of Central Asian nomads was insignificant during the periods of weakening of the Chinese state and resistance against contacts with it on the part of Juan-Juan and Turkic peoples, the Uyghur Khaganate and Mongolian tribes.