Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia @journal-aeae-en
Journal articles - Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia
All articles: 569
Cremation Burials at Ust-Zelinda-2, the Northern Angara Region: Typology and Chronology of Artifacts
Scientific article
We describe artifacts found in cremation burials at Ust-Zelinda-2 in the Northern Angara region. Such sites have been traditionally attributed to the Early Iron Age, specifically to the second stage of the Tsepan culture (8th–2nd centuries BC), first described by V.I. Privalikhin. Six cremation burials were found at the cemetery. We focus on the most informative burial 16, while other burials are described in brief. The bodies were cremated outside the graves; most artifacts also reveal traces of fire. Cremated remains are those of adults. Accompanying finds are rather abundant, including stone, bone, and bronze arrowheads, horn sockets for attaching them, horn overlays for bows, and bronze ornaments. A specific type of butterfly-shaped belt plaques was common in Scythian-type cultures of northeastern Eurasia from Ordos to the Upper Ob region. Those from Ust-Zelinda-2 are the most numerous in the Angara area and the taiga zone from the Tomsk stretch of the Ob to the Upper Lena. Bronze butterfly-shaped belt plaques used in eastern North Eurasia were examined. On the Angara, they appeared in the 5th century BC and continued to be in use until the 3rd century BC, i.e., longer than on the Upper Ob or in Tuva. The attribution of culture that existed in the Northern Angara region is an open question.
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Cruciform signs decorating Paleolithic bone artifacts from Cherno-Ozerye II, the Middle Irtysh area
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Review article
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Cultural horizons at the Uyelgi cemetery mound 11, southeastern Urals
Scientific article
The article outlines the findings from excavations at Uyelgi mound 11, the most informative one at the cemetery. Its lower horizon revealed a burial demonstrating features highly indicative of the nomadic culture of the Southern Urals. The upper horizon contained two burials belonging to the Srostki culture, characterized by certain artifacts of the "Hungarian" (Carpathian) type, evidencing the return of some South Uralic groups from the west at the time when the Srostki people migrated in the opposite direction from Eastern Kazakhstan and the Altai. This conclusion is supported by findings from the Aktobe cemetery, where typically "Hungarian" ornaments of horse harness co-occur with a belt set with floral decoration following the Srostki tradition of the Altai. Inside the mound and on the platform under it, fragments of five clay vessels were found, most of which are decorated with comb-and-cord patterns of the post-Bakal, Nevolino, and Petrogrom-Yudina type, associated with the East Uralic and West Siberian Ugrians. In terms of spatial structure, stratigraphy, and typology, then, the Uyelgi mound 11 demonstrates at least four cultural horizons: South Uralic, "Hungarian" (Carpathian), Altaic (Srostki), and Ugric (East Uralic and West Siberian), jointly mirroring complex ethnic processes in the region between 800–1000 AD.
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Cultural interaction patterns in the Bronze Age: ritual bronze artifacts from Korea and Japan
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Review article
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Scientific article
This study focuses on the drawings of items collected during D.G. Messerschmidt's fi rst multidisciplinary expedition to Siberia in 1719–1727. Pictures of the artifacts have been preserved among the documents held by the Academy of Sciences Archive in the personal papers of the traveler, which includes his fi eld journals, the appendices of his reports to the Pharmaceutical (Medical) Registry, and a large handwritten treatise “Sibiria Perlustrata” (1727), outlining the expedition's fi ndings. In 1728, Messerschmidt's archaeological collection was included as part of Peter the Great's Siberian Collection, exhibited at the Kunstkamera. Watercolor and pencil drawings and engravings depicting the exhibits are identifi ed. Handwritten descriptions and drawings of the items have made it possible to a certain extent to reconstruct the fi rst encyclopedist's Siberian archaeological collection, which perished during the 1747 fi re at the Kunstkamera. As Messerschmidt's graphic works demonstrate, he documented items spanning the time from the Bronze Age to the Late Middle Ages and covering the territory from the Urals to the Trans-Baikal region, including things imported from Western Europe, China, and Central Asia. Also, he collected archaeological items representing virtually all cultures of the Minusinsk Basin. It is concluded that in the fi rst third of the 18th century, Messerschmidt's collection was the world's largest and most representative assemblage of artifacts from northeastern Eurasia.
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Deciduous human teeth from the Upper Paleolithic site of Yudinovo,Western Russia
Review article
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Decorative belts of Xianbei period nomads from Karban I, Northern Altai
Scientific article
In 1989–1990, five decorative belts worn by the Xianbei Period nomads were excavated from the Karban I cemetery in the Chemalsky District, Altai Republic. Their details (33 plaques, five buckles, six “units”, and two “pendant tips”) were found in four undisturbed graves of males (mounds 11, 27, 33, and 39). They are described with regard to function, decoration, and chronology. Parallels from the Altai and adjacent territories, dating to the late 1st millennium BC–early 1st millennium AD, are listed. A more precise attribution is the Early Xianbei Period (100–300 AD), correlating with the Bulan-Koby culture of the Altai. Available facts suggest that the style of these artifacts was influenced by the Xiongnu and Xianbei traditions. On the basis of the finds in situ, several variants of belt sets, some of which are hitherto unknown, have been reconstructed. The composition of the belts is unrelated to the owners' age and evidently mirrors their personal preferences. The results demonstrate the social relevance of the belts, since most were found in burials of top-ranking males.
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This dental study addresses the origin of the Bolshaya Rechka people in the Novosibirsk region of the Ob, with reference to the migration of Saka and Sarmatian tribes from the southwest. I compare dental features of southern Kamen and northern Bolshaya Rechka populations inhabiting the entire Upper Ob area. Dental samples from eleven Bolshaya Rechka cemeteries were studied. Findings indicate heterogeneity. Nearly all samples evidence admixture between eastern and western groups. That from Bystrovka-3 takes a separate position, revealing more eastern traits along with those marking the Southern Siberian Upper Paleolithic complex. The results enable us to evaluate the role of Saka and Sarmatian migrants from Kazakhstan, Cis-Urals, and Tian Shan. This role appears to have been relatively minor and likely indirect, upholding the ideas advanced by archaeologists. Bolshaya Rechka and Kamen populations (the latter culture was thought to include the former) are biologically distinct. Bolshaya Rechka displays continuity with local Early Bronze Age groups. The main component of the Kamen population of forest-steppe Altai, on the other hand, was introduced by Saka and Sarmatian immigrants, who, evidently, had not reached the Novosibirsk region of the Ob. Rather than moving on northwards along the Ob from the forest-steppe Altai, they turned west, toward the Tobol-Irtysh watershed.
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Descendants of eleudei: the problem of oirat-buryat ethnic contacts
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Eleuths (Ölöts) played an important part in the ethnic history of the Mongol peoples of Inner Asia, in particular of the Oirats, being the dominant group of the Oirat union at the early stages of its history. In this study, an attempt was made to fi ll in one of the gaps in the ethnic history of the Turko-Mongol peoples, using the ethnonym “Ölöt”. The major limitation in studying the Oirat ethnic history is the insuffi ciency of sources. Much can be gained from using Buryat and Sakha (Yakut) folklore, specifi cally epics, genealogical legends, and tales. The reason is that the Ölöts, according to one of the hypotheses, took part in the formation of those peoples. This idea is supported by the reconstruction of protoforms of certain Buryat and Yakut ethnonyms and eponyms. Their comparative and historical analysis indicates ethnic ties between the Buryats and the Yakuts, and their participation in the ethnic history of the Mongolian stratum. These facts open up a wider perspective on Turko-Mongol ties. The Ölöt ethnic history shows them to have been distributed across vast territories of Inner Asia and Siberia, eventually becoming a component of various Turkic and Mongolian groups, while preserving their identity and featuring prominently in ethnogonic legends not only of Dörben-Oirats, but of the Buryats and Yakuts as well. The fi ndings of this study attest to the complexity of ethnic processes among the Mongolian and Turkic speaking nomads of Eurasia. Also, they contribute to the understanding of the ethnic composition of Mongolia, Buryatia, and Yakutia, thus widening the scope of studies on the Altai.
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Digital Forensic Analysis of Tooth Wear in Prehistoric and Modern Humans
Scientific article
In this study, we aimed to identify prehistoric and modern humans on the basis of the shape and texture of occlusal surfaces of their molars. Twelve specimens were tested (6 in each group). We used surface plot and plot profile analysis in the first experiment, and also three-dimensional (3D) surface plots, facet orientation, and roughness calculations in the second experiment, to test the deviation of the top gray or surface peak with fossa or surface valley and also bottom gray. Calculations from the three regions of interest indicate that the deviation results from prehistoric human teeth are smaller than those from modern human teeth. The calculated indices of molar surface roughness of prehistoric humans are generally lower than those of modern humans. The findings demonstrate that prehistoric human teeth were a bit more worn than modern human teeth.
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Early Iron Age Ceramics from the Ust-Polui Ritual and Production Center: Aspects of Technology
Scientific article
This article outlines the findings of a multidisciplinary analysis of pottery from the Early Iron Age ritual and production complex at Ust-Polui, in northwestern Siberia. The raw material used in pottery manufacture was aleuritetype silty ferruginous clay with a small amount of sand. Six recipes for paste preparation are described, the most common of which was adding grus to clay. Both materials were mined nearby. Two types of modeling are identified: base and base-and-body. Both the hollow form and the base were modeled by the coil method. Surface treatment was variable. Eighteen combinations of tools are identifi ed. Two peculiar techniques were employed: shaping the rim by an additional coil, and smoothing with a denticulate tool on the inner surface of the shoulder-body junction. Three pots were painted with ocher. Ceramics were used in foundry as crucibles and possibly ladles for molten metal. Comparison of Ust-Polui ceramic technology with that of Kulaika culture revealed both similarities and differences. Basically, the Ust-Polui ceramics belong to the Kulaika tradition. Their specifi city, however, supports the idea of the Ust-Polui variant, which is not synonymous with the Ust-Polui culture sensu V.N. Chernetsov. People associated with this variant were not isolated; they maintained ties with people living upstream on the Ob as far south as Barsova Gora, resulting in a blend of technological traditions differing from those of the Lower and Surgut stretches of the Ob.
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Early Upper Paleolithic Tubular Beads from the Main Chamber of Denisova Cave
Scientific article
The authors present the results of a technological and functional analysis of bone tubular beads from the Upper Paleolithic layer 11 in the Main Chamber of Denisova Cave, northwestern Altai. Tubular beads are among the most widespread categories of Early Upper Paleolithic ornaments from the cave. The technological sequence of operations has been reconstructed. It included several stages: selection of blank, planing, manufacture of preform by truncating the epiphyses, ornamenting the preform, marking preforms for fracturing into short tubes, sawing or cutting, fragmentation by cuts, removal of cancellous bone, and smoothing the fracture surfaces. Prepared blanks and diagnostic production waste were not noted in the technological context of the complex; this indicates that the tubular beads were probably manufactured outside the excavated area of the Main Chamber. The analyses revealed traces of wear caused by contact with clothing or human skin and by threading on a string or thin strap. Tubular beads were used by the Upper Paleolithic inhabitants of the cave as elements of clothing, necklaces, and probably bracelets. The closest but still considerably distant parallels to the tubular beads from the Altai are Aurignacian ornaments of a similar age from Western, Central, and Eastern Europe.
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