Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia @journal-aeae-en
Статьи журнала - Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia
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This study focuses on the southern line of wooden defensive structures (palisade, platform, and two towers) at Fort Umrevinsky (first third of the 18th century), based on the findings of archaeological excavations. Continuous development in this borderline fort are reconstructed over a period of 30 years. Initially, during the era of Peter the Great, Fort Umrevinsky was a regular, subrectangular fortification, enclosed by a palisade, and somewhat similar to a field redoubt. A few decades later, two towers were built on pile foundations at the corners of the palisade enclosure on the fort’s southern face. One of them was subquadratic, the other subrectangular in plan view. As a result, Fort Umrevinsky became a bastion-type fortification. The strengthening of the southern face was motivated by the presence of gates in the palisade wall between the towers, by the proximity of transportation routes (roads and waterways), and by the fact that fortifications were arranged parallel to the borderline. Fortification changes in the 1730s were caused by a number of factors. These included the spread of European fortification principles to Siberia, the political situation in southwestern Siberia, and the beginning of large-scale military engineering works in the region. The southern line of wooden fortifications at Fort Umrevinsky helps to estimate the number of towers there.
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Chinese coins from the early medieval cemetery Gorny-10, Northern Altai
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We describe a representative series of Chinese coins found during the excavations at Gorny-10, carried out by expeditions from Altai State University in 2000–2003. The coins were found in eight burials (No. 6, 18, 44–46, 48, 62, 66). Because of its composition and diversity, the sample is unusual for North and Inner Asia. It includes 29 specimens, relating to various groups. Apart from coins of the Wǔ-zhū and Kāi-yuán Tōng-bǎo types, which are rather common outside China, there are very rare ones belonging to the Cháng-píng Wǔ-zhū and Wǔ-xíng Dà-bù categories. A numismatic analysis allowed us to date separate burials and the entire cemetery. The lower date of most burials (No. 6, 45, 46, 48, 62, 66) cannot be earlier than AD 581, as evidenced by Sui coins of the Wǔ-zhū type. Burials 18 and 41, where Kāi-yuán Tōng-bǎo coins were found, are later than the 630s. In view of additional data (absence of late issues of Kāi-yuán Tōng-bǎo coins, and results of radiocarbon analysis), burials at Gorny-10 date to late 6th and 7th centuries. Notably, coins were found only in burials of women and children. Their locations suggest that they had been used as head ornaments and parts of belt sets, as well as pendants and amulets.
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The study explores social and climatic factors affecting the occurrence of chronic maxillary sinusitis (CMS) in ancient and historical samples of Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa. The main database consists of 23 cranial samples. According to the results of univariate (correlation analysis and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test) and multivariate (principal component) analyses, only climatic factors reveal a statistically significant effect on the frequency of CMS. The principal factor is temperature, which shows a negative correlation with CMS at the world level: the higher the mean annual temperature and the maximal temperature of the three hottest months, the lower the occurrence. At the regional level, significant correlation was also found between CMS and the number of rainy days per year. Rather than direct dependence, however, this result suggests that the correlation between climatic variables is different in Europe and North America. None of the socio-economic factors that we analyzed (sex, urban versus rural residence, subsistence strategy) demonstrated significant correlation with the prevalence of CMS at the world level. Assessing the effect of social status evaluated by archaeological criteria was impossible because of the complex nature of stress-inducing factors.
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This study attempts to elaborate a chronology of rock art in the Russian and Mongolian part of the Altai Mountains, from the Paleolithic to the Late Middle Ages. We focus on the style and themes of rock art and on petroglyphic palimpsests. The earliest representations date to the Upper Paleolithic. On certain palimpsests, images of horses in the Kalguty style are overlaid by Bronze Age petroglyphs. The key challenge is to identify Neolithic petroglyphs. Among the huge number of Bronze Age representations, some follow the traditions peculiar to the Afanasyevo and Chemurchek cultures. The key feature of the latter is so-called “Chemurchek anthropomorphs”. Bronze Age petroglyphs, representing animals, humans, weapons, wheeled vehicles, etc., are chronologically and culturally diverse and must be subdivided respectively. Early Iron Age ones require attribution to either the initial stage or to the mid-1st millennium BC. We discuss the difficulties of analyzing rock art of the Xiongnu-Sarmatian age, the expressive Turkic style, that of the early medieval rock art, and recent petroglyphs of the southern Russian Altai.
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Classic Samarra painted pottery from Yarim Tepe I, the Neolithic of Northern Iraq
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This study focuses on the Classic Samarra painted ware from the Standard Hassuna layer at Yarim Tepe I, in Northern Iraq. Two groups of imports are described. The first consists of Classic Samarra, apparently related to Central Mesopotamia; the second, of Samarra Ware imported from the west. It is hypothesized that the Samarra pottery was imported not only from the center to various parts of the periphery, but also from one part of the periphery to another. As a result of comparison of the ceramics, a hypothesis is proposed that Classic Samarra was formed based on a symbiosis of two earlier cultural groups: the Proto-Hassuna period in Northern Mesopotamia, and Neolithic traditions originating from Central Zagros.
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Comparative characteristics of stone tools from the Neolithic sites on the Upper and Middle Kama
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Con moong cave: a stratified late pleistocene and early holocene site in northern vietnam
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Here, we outline the fi ndings of comprehensive archaeological studies in Con Moong Cave, northern Vietnam, carried out by the Russian-Vietnamese Expedition, with the participation of Australian specialists, in 2010–2014. The cave is a stratifi ed site, whose habitation deposits span a period beginning ca 42 ka BP. A detailed description of fi nds is provided. Diachronic changes in artifact types, use of raw materials, and technology are presented. Lithics from layers K–S represent the Early Upper Paleolithic Sơn Vi culture. Finds from layer K include core-shaped debris, fl akes, and a discoidal side-scraper (or sumatralith). Tools were made on quartzite pebbles. Finds from layer L, dating to ca 36 ka BP, attest to substantial changes in the choice of lithic raw material: in addition to quartzite, mostly andesite and, less often, limestone, basalt, and certain sedimentary rocks were employed. Primary reduction was not preceded by preparation of nuclei. Flakes are large and medium-sized. Tools include a sumatralith and an end-scraper. The richest material comes from Con Moong layers Q and S, dating to 26–21 ka BP. Preforms consist of pebble cores with unprepared striking platforms. Nuclei include fl at-parallel, radial, and irregular varieties. New tools in the assemblage include choppers, longitudinal and transverse convergent side-scrapers, and discoidal sumatraliths, as well as Hoabinhian axes and a unilateral axe (sumatralith). We conclude that archaeological remains from Con Moong Cave provide evidence of the evolution of the Sơn Vi culture from its emergence to its replacement by the Hoabinhian Technocomplex ~25 ka BP. Lithic industries from layers K and L correlate with one of the earliest stages in the peopling of this region by Homo sapiens.
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Contents of an Early Byzantine Amphora from Kruglaya Bay, the Black Sea
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A fragment of an amphora found in the Kruglaya Bay near Sevastopol was filled with an unknown brown substance with a strong smell of tar. On the vessel’s neck, there is a round stamp ~30 mm in diameter, depicting the bust of an emperor encircled by an inscription. It resembles stamps on amphorae made in Alexandria and the Geronisos Island. The inscription reads, “επί Πτολεμαίου επάρχου”. The gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis revealed dehydroabietic acid, methyl dehydroabietate, norabietatrienes, retene, and other phenanthrene derivatives, suggesting that the substance resulted from dry distillation of wood of the Pinaceae family. The headspace analysis yielded components of turpentine oil such as α-pinene, camphene, limonene, cymenes, and others terpenes. To establish the sample’s origin, the amphora’s content was compared with modern pinewood tar obtained by the traditional method. Given nearly identical chromatogram profiles of the amphora’s contents and of tar in areas relating to resin acids, similar values of peak areas of biomarker components, and the presence of turpentine oil components in the sample, it is highly probable that the amphora indeed contained tar.
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