Comparison of dwellings depicted in Boyar petroglyphs with traditional dwellings of the Khakass-Minusinsk region locals and their way of life in 18-20th centuries

Purpose. The article considers features of traditional dwellings of peoples of the Khakass-Minusinsk region (the territory of the Republic of Khakassia and southern regions of the Krasnoyarsk region) in the 18-20th centuries in comparison with the images of dwellings shown in Boyar petroglyphs (Bograd district, the Republic of Khakassia). Boyar petroglyphs being the unique his torical source of the antiquity, we can retrace the genesis of a dwelling of the aboriginal population of the Khakass-Minusinsk region, find analogies and trace the typology and evolution of its constructional features. Results. The author divides the Khakass’ traditional dwellings of the 18-20th centuries into stationary and portable and analyzes their structural and functional similarity to the outlines of the dwellings in petroglyphs. It sheds light on the history of the development of traditional dwellings in the region and testifies to similar conditions of the nomadic way of life and husbandry of different peoples in the region studied. The article considers the influence of Russian old building culture on the Khakass’ tangible culture. The technology of building the Khakass’ log wooden dwellings with the frame of a log yurt and a quadrangular log, as well as methods of milling dwellings, such as «interlocking saddle notch» and «corner joint», were known to the locals before the Russian population settled down in the region, as evidenced from both archaeological and ethnographic data. Izba’s roof constructions (nailless roofs) of Russian old residents appear to correspond to the outlines of the roofs in the carved images, and some of their archaic constructional features («chickens») might have accomplished similar apotropaic functions. The comparison of the dwellings typical for inhabitants living a semi-nomadic and nomadic life allows us to identify the similarities in the way of life and the nature of husbandry of the region’s indigenous population, the Khakass, before their transition to sedentary life in the 20th century. Similarity of the dwellings’ constructional features of the Khakass and Tagar population is not occasional. We assume they shared similar cosmological ideas, which influenced the architecture. Conclusion. Khakass-Minusinsk region being an integrated historical and cultural field, the dwellings in carvings and the traditional dwellings of locals dated the 18th - 20th centuries have similar features that embody the ideas of the middle world and the world image as a whole.