The metal ages and medieval period. Рубрика в журнале - Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia
The Nagaybaks: from social stratum to ethnic group (the origins of ethnic identity)
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Scientific article
Archaeological fi ndings suggest that the Pazyryk burial chambers made from larch logs replicated dwellings, being a key symbol of culture. Log structures were built on both winter and summer pastures. Parts of them were placed in graves as substitutes for entire houses. Their inner structure corresponded to that of the house. All artifacts in the graves had been used in everyday life, being intrinsically related to the owners’ earthly existence. Felt artifacts functioned in the same way in elite burials and in those of the ordinary community members, although their quality was different. Felt carpets decorating the walls of the Pazyryk leaders’ houses were true works of art, while those found in ordinary burials were simple and rather crude. The typical form of the late 7th–3rd century BC wooden burial chambers in the Altai-Sayan was pyramidal. In the Southern Altai, this form survived until the 1800s–early 1900s in Telengit aboveground burial structures.
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The Relationship Between Archaic Construction Methods in Pottery and Architecture in Central Asia
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This study explores the connection between archaic construction methods in pottery in Central Asian, mostly that of tandoors (tonurs), and present-day building technologies associated with the use of unbaked clay (“pakhsa”, “kuloh”, “adobe bricks”). Ethnographic fi eldwork was done in several areas of Central Asia, including the Sughd Region of Tajikistan, the Turkestan Region of Kazakhstan, the Fergana and Samarkand regions of Uzbekistan, and the Batkent Region of Kyrgyzstan. Traditions of constructing tandoors were examined; materials relating to various building technologies using clay were collected and systematized. Two main methods of pakhsa construction were identified—lining up undried clay lumps in layers, or backfilling clay into a mold (“packed techniques”). The first was developed in construction technology using kuloh—dried lumps of clay joined with mortar. The technique of building tandoors from two layers of slabs, with subsequent transformation into a band, and coils connected pairwise during drying, resembles that of pakhsa construction by placing clay lumps in several rows across the width of the wall in strips (“kurses”) laid along the entire length of it. This confirms the common origin of the most archaic construction methods in pottery and construction from clay in architecture.
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The Russian pioneers' winter camp on Karachinsky island, the Lower Tobol river, Western Siberia
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In 2014, an expeditionfrom Tyumen State University excavated an underground dwelling on Karachinslqt Island, in the floodplain of the Tbbol, to check the chronicle data saying that Yermqk qnd his Cossacks had spent q winter at that place during their Siberian campaign. The log structure, measuring I0 m by 5 m by 2 m, consisted of two rooms. Three or four bottom tiers of logs have been preserved. Remains of a cellar were found in the central part east of the oven. The building existed for a short time because the area around it was sterile. Lenses of calcination and charcoal, and traces of fire on the logs of the structure suggest that it had burnt down. Then it was repaired, but the amount of garbage and kitchen waste is small. All household effects were carried out before the dwellers left. Finds include pottery, a grindstone, a potter s scraper, and pieces of slag and metal. An AMS date of the wood, generated at Arizona University, falls within the 17th century. The chemical analysis of background and old soils indicates intense use of the islandfor pqsture and manufacture. In sum, our survey provides no evidence of Yermak's stay on the island during his campaign. According to R.G. Skrynnikov, the Cossacks marchedfrom the Stroganov forts to the Siberian Khanate capital without wintering, which was tactically correct, since the Thtar forces were weak and fragmented because of Mametkul's foray into the Ural towns.
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The Tamga signs of the Turkic nomads in the Altai and Semirechye: comparisons and identifications
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The Ukok Plateau, an Archaeological Gem of the Altai: 35 Years Later
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The article brings together the most important results of work carried out by archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS on the Ukok Plateau in the southwestern part of the Altai Republic, Russia, over the past thirty years since the fi rst excavations by Natalia Polosmak. Over this period, a series of fundamental discoveries was made on the plateau, and the fi ndings were published in a number of monographs and articles. Regrettably, these publications have received little attention from experts and lay public amenable to scientifi c boom and to myths spread by hedge journalists, by the public craving for brouhaha, and sometimes even by professional archaeologists. This study highlights major excavation fi ndings, their scholarly interpretation and museumization of the Early Iron Age Pazyryk mounds, including rare ones with permafrost. These were interpreted with regard to the specifi c area of Central Asia, and to the entire timespan from its initial peopling in the Late Pleistocene to the recent centuries. The archaeologists’ role in the detection and description of over 400 sites on the plateau is assessed. Rock art galleries, especially the key site at Kalgutinsky Rudnik with the earliest petroglyphs among those known in the Russian and Mongolian Altai, are described. Protective measures regarding cultural legacy of the Ukok Plateau, its coverage by the media, and prevention of ecological harm by tourists are proposed to municipal authorities in the Republic of Altai.
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The Umrevinsky hoard of silver wire kopecks from the reign of Peter I
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The Umrevinsky hoard, comprising 107 silver wire kopecks, was found in 2008 outside the walls of Fort (Ostrog) Umrevinsky, founded in 1703 on the right bank of the Ob River, 100 km north of Novosibirsk. This is the fi rst time such a hoard has been discovered in the Novosibirsk stretch of the Ob. Its composition is assessed with reference to archaeological fi ndings relating to Fort Umrevinsky. The chronology of the coins and of their deposition is evaluated. The location is near a dwelling within a manor, in an ash-layer. The coins are relatively poorly preserved. We were able to identify the minting-years of 34 coins. All specimens with legible stamp-impressions were minted between 1696 and 1717. On the basis of the results, it is concluded that this was a hoard of coin-silver. Firstly, most kopecks bear no discernible images that would guarantee specifi c weight and silver content; secondly, the hoard was deposited no earlier than 1735, i.e., 20 years after the coins had gone out of use. This conclusion is supported by the fact that some coins were apparently used as ornaments that were sewn on clothes by the natives. All these fi ndings enrich our knowledge of the history of Fort Umrevinsky.
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The Wanyan Digunai (Wanyan Zhong, Esikui) funerary complex in Primorye
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The article outlines the findings of studies of a funerary complex beside the stone sculpture of a bixi turtle, discovered in 1893 on the territory of the mill of O.V. Lindholm in Primorye. The present research is based on unpublished diaries (from 1893 and 1894) of F.F. Busse, who carried out rescue excavations of the hill under the sculpture and unearthed a stone coffin buried nearby. A rounded stele top with 20 Chinese characters was found at the same place. The translation demonstrates that the burial was that of a prominent Jurchen military leader belonging to a noble Wanyan clan— Wanyan Digunai (Chinese name Wanyan Zhong, 完颜忠 , known as Esikui/Asukui, 阿思魁 ). The burial was largely neglected, because scholars focused on translating and interpreting the inscription. The burial was believed to have been looted long ago, and Busse's diaries remained unpublished. The focus of the present study, therefore, is to describe all available sources relating to Wanyan Digunai's funerary complex. Based on the analysis of the excavation findings, features of the funerary rite are reconstructed. The architectural design and layout of the complex are shown to have followed the local East Asian tradition.
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The beginning of iron metallurgy in East Asia
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This study focuses on the beginning of the Early Iron Age in the Far East. A revision of the published data indicates a lack of synchrony in the appearance of bronze artifacts in cultures of the Amur region and Primorye in the late 2nd to early 1st millennia BC. Iron and cast iron were widely distributed in the Urilsky and Yankovsky cultures. However, no such artifacts are known in contemporaneous cultures such as the Evoron, Siniy Gai, and Lidovka, which are attributed to the Bronze Age, whereas the earliest iron and cast iron artifacts of the Urilsky culture come from the western parts of the Amur basin. All known bronze artifacts of that culture were widely distributed during the Shang and Western Zhou stages, in Karasuk-type cultures of Southern Siberia and Central Asia of the late 2nd to early 1st millennia BC. In China, the earliest iron artifacts appeared between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, while in the provinces of eastern Liaoning and southwestern Jilin they appeared between the 4th and 1st centuries BC. Cast iron celts of the Yankovsky culture in Primorye, which in 1960s were dated to 1000–800 BC, are now believed to be no earlier than 400–200 BC, coinciding with the appearance of iron in Manchuria. It is concluded that in East Asia, iron and cast iron first appeared in the western Amur basin in 1100–900 BC.
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This article presents a current perspective on the historical and cultural development of the population in the foreststeppe zone of the Ob-Irtysh interfl uve in the Stone and Bronze Ages, using various methods of the natural and exact sciences, as well as archaeological fi ndings from adjacent parts of the Ob and Irtysh basins. A geographic description of the region is given. The history of excavations in the region is outlined beginning from the 19th century to the present. A considerable amount of new materials has been accumulated, providing the basis for historical and cultural reconstructions. The study spans the period from the Upper Paleolithic through to the Late Middle Ages and the recent centuries. The initial peopling of the Baraba forest-steppe occurred 18 thousand years ago. Cultures of the Early and Late Neolithic, Early, Middle and Late Bronze Ages, and the transition to the Early Iron Age are listed. All periods have a reliable timescale. The archaeological potential of the region provides a basis for further elaborations of this model.
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The objective of this article is to clarify certain important issues relating to early urban culture. The complexity of the task stems from the absence of early written sources. This is why the study draws on archaeological materials. It especially focuses on the incipient proto-urban sites—the sources of the proto-urban culture. Certain Bronze Age settlements in Azerbaijan meet the criteria of the early urban civilization. On the basis of the facts cited here, hypotheses about the factors underlying the emergence of proto-urban centers (the harbingers of the first class societies) are put forward. The main features of proto-urban settlements are surface area, structure, fortifications, population size, and population density. The evolution of crafts in such centers is reconstructed along with other aspects. It is argued for the first time that nearly all cultural values typical of the advanced ancient Near Eastern centers were borrowed by South Caucasians. Monumental Late Bronze Age burial mounds of Karabakh are viewed in the context of proto-urban evolution. The idea that elite burials were connected with early urban centers is based on the fact that only powerful chiefs of large tribal unions and early class societies could afford monumental burials on such a scale.
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The final Bronze Age in the Minusinsk basin
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Based on the most recent excavation fi ndings, this article discusses a disputable group of burials, previously believed to represent the Bainov stage of the Tagar culture (900–700 BC) in the Minusinsk Basin. Analysis of these burials unambiguously supports I.P. Lazaretov’s idea that they fall into two independent and unrelated groups. One of them continues Late Bronze Age traditions, whereas the other demonstrates new features exclusively associated with the Tagar culture. Most complexes of the Bainov type represent the fi nal stage in the evolution of Late Bronze Age traditions. This is evidenced by various categories of grave goods, features of burial structures, and the funerary rite. These burials can be attributed to stage IV of the Late Bronze Age in the Minusinsk Basin. The second, smaller group reveals entirely new features, typical of the Podgornoye stage of the Tagar culture. These include novel structural features in kurgan architecture, different female funerary attire, and the custom of placing weapons in graves. This attests to the arrival of a new population group with its own traditions, resulting in the emergence of a Scythian type culture on the Middle Yenisey. These burials should be attributed to the beginning of the Podgornoye stage of the Tagar culture. Hopefully, future studies will help to separate out a special late group of Bainov burials, contemporaneous with the early Podgornoye kurgans. Currently, it is possible to discern certain features suggesting that this population took part in the origin of the Tagar culture.
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Trace elements in copper artifacts from Late Bronze and Early Iron Age sites in the Urals, formerly attributed to the metallurgical group of “chemically pure” copper, were analyzed using the method of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The metal of which artifacts included in this group are made reveals geochemical markers suggesting that “pure” copper actually falls into several subgroups. The PCA analysis of the results identifies 11 clusters corresponding to various sources of copper ores and their mixtures. At least seven principal associations can be linked to copper deposits of different geological types and origin: Au-Te-Bi, Au-Se-Te-Sb, Fe-Co-Ni-As-Sb, Fe-Co-Ni -Zn, Se-Co-Fe, Ag-Pb-Ni, and Sb-Pb-Zn-As. Also, several mixed associations reflect the fusion of copper items and metal scrap initially obtained from different sources: Sn-Pb, Fe-Co-Ni-Zn + Sn, Fe-Co-Ni + Au-Te-Bi-Ag, Fe-Co-Ni + Au-Te-Bi + Sn. A separate association, for which the ore source remains unknown, consists of artifacts characterized by a low content of trace elements, jointly making up less than 0.01 wt%. The largest sample in the Late Bronze Age “pure copper” group falls within the Sn-Pb cluster representing a mixture of local copper and imported Sn-containing copper scrap. Judging by trace elements, the main sources of ore in the “pure copper” group of the Itkul and Sarmatian cultures were the Gumeshki mine and another unidentified source. Both could have been used already in the Final Bronze Age.
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