Xiongnu Wolf-Shaped Belt Buckle 3rd-2nd C. BCE

"The Xiongnu according to the Chinese historian Sima Qian, mentioned above, originated in the Ordos region in what is now Inner Mongolia. After making the usual spurious claim that the Xiongnu like other foreign peoples around China were descended from a Chinese cultural hero in the mythical past, Sima Qian in the opening section of the Xiongnu liezhuan (the chapter on the Xiongnu in the Shiji) lists the names by which the Xiongnu were known to the Chinese before the unification of China in the third century BC. Before the third century BC the Xiongnu Huns were called Chunwei, Shanrong, Xianyun and Xunyu (the last ethnonym probably pronounced Hün-yü), he tells us. Scholars had earlier identified the names Chunwei and Xunyu with the later name Hun with good reason and their excellent conjectures seem increasingly more likely to be correct given the new evidence on the identification of the name Xiongnu with Hun outlined above. Sima Qian equates the later Xiongnu of his time (first century BC) with these earlier enemies of China, who are collectively called the Rongdi (western and northern ‘barbarians’). A group called the Quanrong (literally ‘dog martial people’) in particular, who Sima Qian seems to identify with the early Xiongnu, are said to have been responsible for the capture of the Chinese Western Zhou (ca. 1046–771 BC, the then ruling dynasty of the Zhongyuan (the central plains that later became the core of the Chinese Empire)) capital of Haojing around 770 BC."

-Kim, Hyun Jin. The Huns (Peoples of the Ancient World) (p. 19). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. 

Xiongnu Wolf-Shaped Belt Buckle 3rd-2nd C. BCE. Bird or griffin-like creatures are sprouting from its head and tail. It likely would have had inlaid precious gems in the empty socket areas of its body and the 'ears' of the birds. H. 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm); W. 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm). Bronze. Accession Number: 2002.201.130. MET Museum.

Source:

https://twitter.com/Merlkir/status/1145444186545635329

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/59536

Quote:

Kim, Hyun Jin. The Huns (Peoples of the Ancient World) (p. 19). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.