The metal ages and medieval period. Рубрика в журнале - 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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Cultural attribution of Early Bronze Age tombs under kurgans in Azerbaijan
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Cultural interaction patterns in the Bronze Age: ritual bronze artifacts from Korea and Japan
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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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Decorative belts of Xianbei period nomads from Karban I, Northern Altai
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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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Early medieval jeweler's kit from the Western Amur region
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A late 9th century jeweler's kit from dwelling 2 at Osinovoye Ozero, a Mohe site on the Middle Amur, is described. Bronze was smelted in a crucible placed on a ceramic support inside a vessel-like furnace. Nine bronze plaques from the same dwelling are compared with negatives of molds in which they were cast. Based on results of the elemental analysis of plaques, these fall into three groups. The fi rst differs from the other two by the source of ore, and plaques of the second group were recast more than once. Most Turkic type plaques were evidently destined for recasting into Mohe ornaments. The latter include one openwork and two fi gured plaques as well as bronze bells found in 2012 in dwelling 3. Because bronze items differing in composition were recast several times, the source of ore cannot be identifi ed. Techniques of manufacturing molds and facing of plaques, used by Central Asian and Mohe artisans, are reconstructed.
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