Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia @journal-aeae-en
Статьи журнала - Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia
Все статьи: 462
Materials from dwelling 2 on Suchu island, the Lower Amur (1977 season, excavation III)
Статья
This article presents the fi nal results of excavations at one of the largest Neolithic sites in northeastern Asia— a settlement on Suchu Island on the Amur. Most of the rich collection (3967 spec.), owned by IAET SB RAS (stone tools, ceramics, ornaments, and artistic and ritual artifacts), has not been described before. This publication focuses on the analysis of artifacts from dwelling 2 (excavation III, 1977). We describe the construction of this semi-underground dwelling, circular in plan view. The typological analysis of the lithics indicates a complex economy. Many of them (arrowheads, projectile points, inserts, knives, plummets) relate to hunting and fi shing, and to processing carcasses (end-scrapers, scrapers, burins, combination tools), others are chopping tools. The distinctive feature of the lithics is that some are bifacial. The analysis of the ceramics suggests that they belong to the Late Neolithic Voznesenovskoye culture. The use of binocular microscopy allowed us to assess the technological and constructive properties of the ceramics, as well as their morphological, decorative, and functional features. Non-ut ilitarian artifacts shed light on the worldview of the Suchu people. The collection dates to the mid-second millennium BC.
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Medieval burials at Ryabchikov Klyuch-1, the Kansk-Rybinsk basin
Статья научная
Previously, burials at Ryabchikov Klyuch-1 on the Kan River near Kansk were dated to the Late Middle Ages (pre-Russian period) and attributed to an autochthonous group. In 2015, two burials were discovered at the cemetery, with the remains of an adolescent girl and a child. A comprehensive analysis of the burial rite and grave goods suggests that the burials date to the 12th century. Numerous archaeological and ethnographic parallels were found. Morphologically, the girl’s cranium reveals generally eastern traits, specifically those common in Western Siberian (Uralic and Ob-Irtysh) populations. The cranium was restored, and a graphical reconstruction of the face was made. Burial practices of the 17th–19th century Middle Kan populations are described. They were Ket-speaking Kotts, Turkic-speaking Karagas, and Samoyed-speaking Kamasins. The analysis of sources suggests that the buried people were likely ancestors of the Kotts.
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Medieval sites of Tara region, the Irtysh basin: origin, chronology, cultural and ethnic attribution
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Metal Celts from the Little Sea Coast of Lake Baikal
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This article examines metal celts accidentally found 2 km west of Kurma on the Little Sea coast of Lake Baikal, in the foothills of Primorsky Ridge, Olkhonsky District, Irkutsk Region. Detailed information is provided on the conditions in which they were found and aspects of their technology, form, and decoration. The specimens have no eyelets, are rectangular in cross-section, and were cast in bivalve molds. They differ in size and decoration. On their wide sides, there are holes for supports inserted into the mold halves. While no exact parallels to the celts are known, several chronological indicators (body shape, socket cross-section, absence of eyelets, and decoration) point to the Scythian-Tagar stage. The most similar specimens are the Krasnoyarsk-Angara type of celt, distributed over the taiga belt from the Yenisei to the Angara. X-ray spectrometric analysis suggests that the celts were made of “pure” copper. In the Olkhon area, the Scythian-Tagar celts are associated with the Slab Grave culture, dating to 2778–1998 cal BP.
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Metal artifacts from a newly discovered cemetery in the Severnaya Sosva basin, Northwestern Siberia
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Middle Neolithic burials in Baikal-Yenisey Siberia: problems of cultural identity and genesis
Статья научная
The study focuses on the analysis of Middle Neolithic burial complexes of the Baikal-Yenisey Siberia. Based on a series of reliable radiocarbon dates, their age lies within the range of 6190–5900 cal BP. It partly corresponds to the end of the hiatus in the mortuary traditions of Cis-Baikal. Features of the burial rite and funerary offerings are analyzed and compared with those of neighboring territories. One of the most frequent images in the art of the Middle Neolithic Baikal-Yenisey Siberia is that of the waterfowl, rendered as fi gurines. The common grave goods are leaf-shaped stone arrowheads, shell beads, and pendants made of animal bones and teeth. The funerary rite included the use of fi re and reddish mineral pigment, as well as disrupting the anatomical integrity of the skeletons, possibly due to partial burial (the data are tentative). Most burials of the late stage of the hiatus are evidently those of hunter-gatherers manufacturing the Ust-Belaya ceramics, which were found in certain burials. A bone arrowhead with a biconical point and fi gurines representing waterfowl suggest cultural ties with the Urals and Western Siberia; but their nature has yet to be clarifi ed, which requires large-scale AMS-dating and paleogenetic analysis.
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Middle and Late Bronze Age house-building in the steppe and forest-steppe Altai
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Middle paleolithic bone retouchers: size or proportions
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Bone retouchers are the most common tools for processing lithic raw material in the Middle Paleolithic of Eurasia. Typically, they are perceived by Paleolithic researchers as informal, unmodifi ed tools made from bone blanks accidentally obtained during the extraction of marrow. In this article, we introduce new data on a large collection of bone retouchers from Chagyrskaya Cave (in the Altai Mountains). Their dimensions demonstrate a high standardization of blanks, indicating the intentional selectivity of Neanderthals. Selection also concerned animal species and the anatomical positions of bones. We found that morphological characteristics such as the number of active areas and the degree of their modifi cation did not affect the size of the retouchers and attest only to the reorientation of tools during lithic processing. In the course of retouching, cross-sections of diagnostic traces in the active areas underwent signifi cant changes: whereas at the early stages they reveal “furrows” with V-shaped cross-sections, multiple blows against the processed lithic resulted in the deformation of the original form, which eventually resembled an upturned trapeze. The comparison of bone retouchers from several multicultural Middle Paleolithic complexes in Eurasia (Chagyrskaya and Denisova caves in the Altai, Kabazi V site in the Crimea, and Barakayevskaya Cave in the Caucasus) evidences similar proportions but considerable variation in size. Proportions, then, are an inherent functional characteristic of bone retouchers, which does not depend on either the cultural context or the raw material base.
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Miklouho-Maclay's legacy in Russian and English-language academic research, 1992-2017
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Mobility of the Suzdal Opolye settlers in 900-1150 AD
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The formation of Northeastern Rus in the 10th–11th centuries is usually regarded as a process triggered by intense multicultural interaction and the infl ux of new settlers from the Dnieper region, Northwestern Rus, and Scandinavia to the Volga-Oka watershed. The dense rural settlement network that existed in 1000–1300, which was recently documented in central Northeastern Rus, and the reconstructed medieval landscapes unambiguously suggest that the prosperity and stability of villages was an important factor in the rise of the region. The level of mobility of the population in Northeastern Rus in the 10th–12th centuries is highly relevant to this issue. This parameter can be assessed using paleodietary data on the isotopic composition of strontium in the dental enamel and bone collagen of individuals buried at medieval cemeteries. The analysis of such samples from a large, rural agglomeration dating to the 10th–early 13th centuries, Shekshovo-9, suggests that this was a culturally diverse and wealthy population, which was part of a trade network. The migration level in this agglomeration was estimated by the results of the mass spectrometric analysis of samples from 24 humans and three animals from the Shekshovo-2 and -9 cemeteries. The reconstructions indicate a high proportion of locals as compared to similar sites in Eastern Europe. No direct relationship was found between the presence of artifacts introduced from other cultures and the isotopic profi le of fi rst-generation immigrants. The resulting pattern, indicating a high proportion of native individuals, has no parallels among the 10th–11th century sites in Eastern and Northern Europe represented by comparable data on strontium isotopes.
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Modeling the deformation of bone points: archaeological and experimental data
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Mongol warriors of the Jochi ulus at the Karasuyr cemetery, Ulytau, Central Kazakhstan
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This article presents the results of a comprehensive study of two unusual large wooden statues with anthropomorphic faces. They were excavated from the Ust-Voikary stratified site, in the southwestern Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The site dwellers were native Siberians (Ugro-Samoyeds), who lived there from the Middle Ages to the recent centuries. This is one of the few sites in the region with frozen habitation deposits. The statues are unique in terms of attribution, size, preservation, and integrity of archaeological context. They were part of dwellings, being situated in the foundations of the walls near the entrance. Their faces are modeled in bas-relief. Iconographically, they conform to the Ob Ugrian sculptural tradition. The analysis of the architectural context of the location of the statues and certain details suggests a secondary use. Initially, they might have belonged to the frame supporting the roof. The statues are made of Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.). The dendrochronological analysis has allowed us to estimate the date when the trees were felled—the late 17th century. A retrospective analysis of data on the ritual art of the northern Khanty and Mansi suggests an interpretation of the Voikary statues in comparing them with wooden sculptures representing menkvs—forest spirits. Thus, their ritual role was mostly to protect the home.
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We reconstruct the processes of sedimentation at the Suyanggae Paleolithic sites, geomorphologically characterized by fl uvial terraces in the Namhan River, the base level of which is higher than the present river bottom. The fl uvial sedimentary deposits, slope deposits, and paleosols are the main units of surfi cial deposits, constituting the site materials of Suyanggae Loc. VI. According to the representative profi les of the site, the deposits comprise sands and gravel at the bottom part, while sands and fl ooding muds with occasional intercalations of reddish-brown slope muds, as well as rounded or subangular cobbles or boulders, dominate the middle to upper part. Regarding the terrace’s morpho-stratigraphy, Suyanggae Loc. VI is located above the low (second) fl uvial terrace. Considering the chronology of site material formations, Suyanggae Loc. VI was formed in the last glacial period. On the basis of radiocarbon dates obtained for the charcoals from Suyanggae Loc. VI, the age of cultural layers is determined. Cultural layer 2 was formed in the late Upper Paleolithic, and CL 3 and CL 4 are associated with the early Upper Paleolithic. The archaeological assemblage of Suyanggae Loc. VI is described: lithic artifacts of CL 2 are characterized by abundant microblades (ca 20 ka BP, Last Glacial Maximum), while those of CL 3 and CL 4 are associated with tanged points and blades (36–42 ka BP, middle of the last glacial period). Especially noted are a line-engraved cobble stone excavated from the sedimentary matrix of fl uvial origin, and a face-engraved pebble stone found in fl ooding muds. The fi nds are interpreted as manifestation of symbolic human behavior.
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