Vol 17, No 5 (2018)
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TEACHING OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN HIGH SCHOOLS
9-20 363
Abstract
This review of the main publications about the problems of Japanese archaeology (from Paleolithic epoch up to the period of Kofun culture) represents teaching materials for students with specialty in archaeology (within the course «Archaeology of overseas Asia») and with specialty in oriental studies (within the course «History and culture of Japan»). Taking into account the main task of this publication - namely, support for educational process - authors of this review, first of all, engaged most authoritative summarizing editions, because their conceptions and conclusions passed through necessary approbation and were maintained by the greater part of academic community. The main problems under discussion in Japanese archaeology are as follows: chronology of the first inhabitation of Archipelago; classification of the stone implements according technologies of production and ways of usage; early ceramics in the context of Northeast Asian archaeology; the origin of Ainu and their predecessors; beginning of agriculture and development of bronze and iron metallurgy; semantics of dogu and haniva figurines; characteristics of megalithic monuments; attribution of «horse-rider culture»; correlation between ethno-linguistic and archaeological data; using of historical records for interpretation of excavated relics; the routes of ancient migrations etc. As a result, this review of ancient past of Japan obviously demonstrates that so called isolation of insular population had quiet relative character. During thousands and thousands years, islanders came into contacts with bearers of different cultures of Eurasian mainland and island part of it, as well. The result of these permanent cultural exchanges served as foundation for creation of Japanese ethnos. In certain periods the contacts were more intensive along Northern, or Southern routes; the most significant way went through Korean Peninsula. For Siberian archaeologists the matter of special interest is represented by the finds of early ceramics on Honshu and in East Amur area; by analogies between cultures of Archipelago and Maritime regions of Russia (including Sakhalin and Kuril Islands) in Early Iron Age; by similarities between «Old-kurgans’ culture» at Japan and those in Central Asia. In selection of published materials for this review the preference was given to those available for teachers and students in the universities’ libraries or through free Internet access (published mostly in Russian and English as working languages).
HISTORY AND THEORY OF A SCIENCE, NEW RESEARCH METHODS
21-29 259
Abstract
Purpose. The paper describes the most ancient archaeological culture of Taiwan and its significance for the reconstruction of the early stage of the human society’s development in the region. Results. Changbin, the culture of the Late Paleolithic Age, named after Changbin Township in Taidong County on the eastern coast of the island and its southern extremities where it was discovered. Excavations of the primary site, Baxiandong (Baxian caves; or Pahsientung), started in 1968, with new findings being made nowadays. The Baxian sea-cave samples were tested with radiocarbon measurement to have been dated from 15 to 5 thousand years ago, making earlier dates (around 50,000 years ago) debatable. The bulk of artifacts found includes chipped stone and bone tools, mainly of them are flint scrapers, sharp-edged flake tools, pebble chopping tools, shell scrapers and also tools made of bone, such as wedges, stitching awls and fish hooks. The ancient people, who lived in the caves, hunted, fished and gathered seafood on the coast. Typlogically, the Changbin tools are similar to the Hoabinhian industry. It is possible that Changbinhians came to Taiwan from the Southeast China, but also probably from the Phillipines. At its late stage, the Changbin culture overlaps with the Neolithic Dabenkeng culture (about 5000-2500 years BC), but there is no evidence to any contacts between them. Conclusion. Changbin Culture is extremely important for the understanding of the origin of the first settlements in prehistorical Taiwan. Farther research can bring new results in revealing the features of anthropogenesis on the territory of the Eastern Asia. Detailed reconstruction of the stages of development of this territory, with special attention to the initial settlement of Taiwan, is necessary to understand the basic characteristics of the cultural evolution of the early cultures in the region and can help solve the problem of the spread of a modern anthropological type in ecumene, make possible the identifying the ways of ancient migrations in the Asia-Pacific region. The initial period of studies of Baxian caves made possible to formulate the tasks for the new search, the answers to which will be received within the next stage of the archaeological works, having begun about 10 years ago.
30-36 207
Abstract
Purpose. It is analyzed in the article the historical data about campaign of the Cossack troop commanded by ataman Yermak into Siberia and about initial period of annexation of Western Siberian lands to the Czardom of Moscovy. They are contained in the works of the European authors, who wrote their essays in the second half of the 17-18th century. It is recognized by many explorers, that major, the most reliable and informative source, where it is described the events of military campaign of the Russian Cossacks’ troop into Siberia, are the Russian «Siberian Chronicles». However, before those storytelling sources were studied and used by Gerhard Friedrich Miller for description of the history of annexation of Siberia to the Czardom of Moscovy, some data about development of that vast region by the Russian Cossacks and service class people had the great interest for the several other European authors, who wrote in their scientific works about campaign of the Cossack troop of ataman Yermak into Siberian lands. Results. It is contained in these works several little-known sometimes quite original not found in other sources’ data and authors’ opinions highlighting in non-traditional way the historical events, that are related to the campaign of the Russian Cossacks’ troop via the Ural Mountains to Western Siberia, as well as the descriptions of won by the Cossacks’ military successes over forces of the Tatars’ Khanate of Sibir. Some of these works contain data about takeover by the Cossacks of cities and strongholds, belonged to the Siberian Tatars, as well as about cases of capture in the course of hostilities of the Tatar leaders and their relatives, who were deported into Moscow thereafter. The several European authors, who wrote their works in that period about the Russian conquest of Northern Asia, were highly astonished at a quite small troop of the Russian Cossacks could subordinate West Siberian lands, populated by the Tatars. It was utilized quite a small military force for joining of the West lands of Western Siberia to the Czardom of Moscovy. A number of the European researchers have noted in their works that leader of the Cossack troop ataman Yermak was robbing for several years at the Volga River region before he departed to conquer the Tatars’ Khanate of Sibir. Therefore, fearing of persecution by the czarist authorities, later he was obliged to leave with his troop to the Northern Ural Region, and then he committed his well-known campaign to Western Siberia out of there. Conclusion. Data about historical events in the works of the European researchers, related to the conquest of the Khanate of Sibir, serve as an important supplement of historical materials that are contained in the Russian «Siberian Chronicles». Data about historical events, that are related to the period of annexation of Siberian lands to the Russian State and contained in the works of the European chroniclers the second half of the 17th - the beginning of the 18th century, can be used in preparation of synthesizing scientific works on history of Northern Asia.
37-49 123
Abstract
Purpose . The archeological study of Siberia started in the 18th century by the employees of the scientific expeditions initiated by the senior state bodies. I. G. Gmelin belonged to the Second Kamchatka Expedition and drew up a description of the Uenskoe Fortress in the Novosibirsk Ob River region. Until now, A. P. Umansky, T. N. Troitskaya and A. P. Borodovskiy were engaged in determining the location of this archaeological site. They made several hypotheses that turned out to be incorrect. The article determines the reasons for the failures of these researchers: a fragmentary translation of the source text, inaccuracies in the translation and ignoring data on the Abakhanskoe Zimovie (small russian settlement) ground. This paper is devoted to the results of the research within the framework of which the location of the Uenskoe Fortress was determined and the fortress itself was identified with one of the archeological sites discovered earlier. Within the framework of fulfillment of this task, one localized the Abakhanskoe Zimovie as this item of the 18th century is very important for localizing the Uenskoe Fortress. Results . J. G. Gmelin’s itineraries were published in Germany in 1751 and 1752 (in Göttingen) and have not been republished and translated into Russia since then, so the article contains an abstract of the book translated into Russia that is related to the performed study. At the first stage one managed to localize the Abakhanskoe Zimovie that was located in the western part of the modern suburban settlement of Starodubrovino, Moshkovo district, Novosibirsk region. Then according to the reference points provided by J. G. Gmelin and associated with the Abakhanskoe Zimovie, one determined the location of the Uenskoe Fortress in the western part of Cherny Mys to the north from the Zimovie. Afterwards, one compared the description of the fortress compiled by J. G. Gmelin and those fortresses discovered in this area earlier. It was determined that the author of the itinerary described the archeological object of Dubrovinsky Borok-6 dating back to 500- 400 BC. Conclusion . The experience in analyzing J. G. Gmelin’sitinerary in terms of localization of the Abakhanskoe Zimovie and the Uenskoe Fortress showed that the quantitative data as well as information related to the cardinal directions are rather approximate. Based on such data, it would be impossible to achieve the research objectives. Here one also discovered a mount on which the already studied archeological sites were located.
АРХЕОЛОГИЯ И АНТРОПОЛОГИЯ ЕВРАЗИИ
50-57 140
Abstract
Purpose. Comprehensive archaeological studies conducted in the East Chamber of Denisova Cave during 2005-2011 in the Altai region have made it possible to obtain a representative collection of archaeological evidence attributed to the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. Middle Palaeolithic finds were recovered in the greatest numbers. This research mainly focuses on establishing relationships between the new middle Palaeolithic archaeological record documented in the East Chamber and assemblages of the same period found in different areas of Denisova Cave. Results. To date, geochronology of the Pleistocene sequence in the East Chamber is mainly based on biostratigraphic evidence and the preliminary results of OSL dating. These data indicate that deposition of layers 13-11.3 appears to have occurred from late MIS 7 through terminal MIS 4. The lack of sharp boundaries and long sedimentation gaps between lithological units, as well as generally similar techno-typological features of lithic industries from layers 13-11.3, enable consideration of these materials within the same Middle Palaeolithic complex. Archaeological evidence recovered from layers 13-11.3 in the East Chamber (17 326 specimens) and attributed to the middle Middle Palaeolithic has the cultural and chronological counterparts in the Main Chamber (layers 20-12, 7 545 specimens) and in the entrance area (layers 10 and 9, 1 402 specimens) of the cave. The comparison of the major techno-typological characteristics of the lithic industries from these layers makes it possible to provide a general characteristic of the Middle Palaeloithic assemblage found in the cave. In general, these industries can be characterised by different variants of parallel, radial and Levallois flaking techniques. Scrapers constitute a typological basis of the lithic inventory; excavations yielded a high percentage of notch-denticulate tools, Levallois tools and the Upper Palaeolithic implements are present. Conclusion. Techno-typological characteristics of the lithic industries, showing a qualitative uniformity, reveal some dynamics in the quantitative ratio between different categories of the inventory from bottom to top in the stratigraphic sequence. Thus, it was possible to trace a tendency for the increase of the typological variety of cores and a growing percentage of blades among flakes. The tool assemblage is characterised by the increased proportion of the Upper Palaeolithic tools, with a progressive decrease of Levallois and notch-denticulate components.
58-71 136
Abstract
Purpose. The Krasnoyarsk reservoir having flooded the lowest terraces of the Yenisei River, many archaeological sites were disturbed and destroyed, so archaeological data about the period of the Final Pleistocene to the Early Holocene on the territory of Central Siberia became scarce. Nowadays, our knowledge about this period is based on the materials from the sites around Krasnoyarsk city, such as Eleneva cave, Shalunin Byk, the upper layers of Sliznevo site and Listvenka site, and the middle part of the Krasnoyarsk reservoir area: Aieshka I, Kurtak II, Buzunova, Bateni, etc., and, probably, the territorial gap caused by Krasnoyarsk Dam. The Birusinka site and Byuza II, which were discovered in 2014 in the down part of Krasnoyarsk reservoir, prove that. We aimed to describe the findings of Byuza II, identify their types and date them. Results . This article summarizes the complex investigation of the Buza II site. Nowadays, Byuza II is the only one Early Holocene site in the lower part of the Krasnoyarsk reservoir. The site contained numerous findings - about 2000 artifacts were excavated from the cultural layer and 800 were picked from the costal shallow in 2016. Among others, the core collection includes wedge-shaped microcores and edge-faceted microcores on microblades. Fragments of big blades were found in the excavation area, too, which helped to reveal the existence of big cores within the site area. The material collection includes similar fragments of big cores. The cultural layer also had angel burins, transverse burins, burins on concave retouched truncation, sub-rectangular chisel-like tools, medium sized graftoirs, scraper-like tools, burins and retouched flakes. Such tools as scrapers, burins and chisel-like tools were also picked from the coastal shallow. Just one cultural layer and typological similar materials in situ point out that all these materials belong to the same complex. Porphyry slabs along the West-East line laid out a stone alignment with the diameter of 0.8-0.9 m. A bone fragment of an ungulate, which was found among the porphyry slabs, has been dated 14 893 ± 77 years ago (UBA-36027). There is a discrepancy between the expected age of the site and the age of the bone fragment found, which is about 5 thousand years. While the date points out to the cold Nyapan Stage, according to stratigraphy the site refers to the Early Holocene period within 9.7-9.2 thousand years ago. Conclusion . In comparison with a well-known Biryusa site (middle layer), Eleneva cave (15-17 layers), and Bolshaya Slizneva site (2 and 5 layers), Byuza II has no Mesolithic tools and demonstrates the traditional industry of producing big burins. It allows us to use the term «Epipaleolithic» when referring to the site. We conclude that the roots of Epipaleolitic go back to the complexes of the Kokorevo culture and the Final Pleistocene «microblade industry».
72-86 148
Abstract
Purpose. Recent investigations have highlighted an Asian variant of the so-called Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) broadly comparable in age and material culture to techno-complexes further to the west, but also showing distinct derived features. Several principal common technological features characterize the IUP in East Asia. The main targeted products of flaking were medium or large blades, the latter sometimes of very significant size, and the number of bladelets is also large. Primary flaking is characterized by alternate bidirectional reduction of cores in which spalls, alternately detached from opposing platforms along the long axis of the core, determined the shape of targeted blank: pointed blades. Reduced cores were prismatic, sub-prismatic and flat. Burin-core reduction for bladelet and small blade production was the specific knapping technology employed in the IUP of southern Siberia and Central Asia. Here, we describe and provide corroborating evidence for another distinct technological method employed in the Initial Upper Paleolithic - intentional fragmentation (IF). The most effective means of understanding knapping technology are refitting studies of archaeological collections. This article examines several examples of refitted fragmented cores and blades, as well as debitage as the by-product of blank breakage. Results . Our refitting study includes assemblages from all excavation units and partially divided, relatively homogenous raw material types, representing a diachronic assemblage of Middle and Upper Paleolithic materials, even in very disturbed excavation areas. The present study illustrates the best examples of directional reduction associated with core preparation and tool blank production because of the lack of statistical information for some Upper Paleolithic assemblages from this site. We reconstructed the process of intentional fragmentation for burin-cores and a few large and medium blades. Often, blank breakage produced butterfly-like debitage. Pieces of fragmented blades could have been used as tools. Typical attributes of IF consistently appearing on two transverse edges of blanks and present in the assemblage of artifacts prove the anthropogenic character of these flaking traces. Conclusions. It is probable that intentional fragmentation was used in the Initial Upper Paleolithic assemblage at Kara-Bom because of the influences of mobility and transportation of stone raw material by local settlers. They transported a significant proportion of raw material from primary chert outcrops situated 4-5 km from the Kara-Bom site
87-98 302
Abstract
Purpose. We aimed at studying the traditions and world views of the Andronovo population of the steppe bronze. Due to the absence of direct written sources and zoo-anthropomorphic pictorial tradition on the subject, the burial practice of the Andronovo population, whose detailing presupposes the existence of extensive mythological ritual knowledge concentrated in the worldview sphere, is the foreground of research as the main informative base. Results. The earliest evidence that specifies certain aspects of the worldview of the ancient society appears at the dawn of the Andronovo era. The finds of stone and bronze maces are curious, which, obviously, marked the patrimonial military aristocracy, closely connected with the cult of the military deity. Of great interest are paired and double burials in which a man and woman were buried. It can be assumed that such a burial rite is a practical realization of the sacred marriage, the participants of which are heterosexual twins, close in content to Yama-Yami or Yima-Yimak. Regular reproduction in the funeral practice of the ritual of twin burials indicates that the heterosexual twins were given a significant place in the religious and mythological system of the ancient society. A certain place in the system of religious priorities was occupied by twins of the same sex, in particular males, such as, for example, the Vedic Ashvins. Double burials of the deceased of the same sex in specially prepared burial chambers, where skeletons of different sexes are usually located, are excluded, which excludes their marriage relations and makes us see in the ritual contemplated a twin, possibly, a ritual burial. There was another, more complex and rare rite of the triple burial, which includes a woman occupying the central place and two men located on each side. Such triple burials symbolize the triune image of the goddess and two twins, obviously the elder and younger, widespread in Indo-European mythology. Conclusion. Based on the well-known mythology of the funeral rite reproduced in the ritual, a whole series of sacred actions are observed pointing to the developed cults of various deities close to the Indo-Iranian pantheon and playing a fundamental role in the religious mythological representations of the ancient society. However, it should be borne in mind that the polytheism of antiquity is a dynamically changing system rather than a static, «petrified» structure, which visually demonstrates the successive stages of the social and economic development of the society itself.
99-108 178
Abstract
Purpose. Turkic peoples started to spread in the Baraba forest-steppe in the 8th century AD, bringing in their material culture and mixing with local population. At present, there have been recorded two settlements: Lozhka-4 and Sadovka in the Baraba forest-steppe. More commonly studied burial complexes include Chulym-2, Bolshie Luki-1, -3, Vladimirovka-3, Tretie Otdelenie-1, -2, Bazovo-1, Bazovo-2, Vengerovo-1, Vengerovo VII, Preobrazhenka-3, Sopka-2, Turunovka-3A, Hodunekovo, Aul-Koshkul, Oltary-1, Osintsevo-IV. Burial grounds are represented in three types: single mounds, groups of mounds and ground burials. We described the content of the ground burial found in 2016, which belongs to the Early Middle Age and was situated on the settlement of the Krotovo culture Vengerovo-2. Results. It was a single ground burial, located in the South-East - North-West direction. The skeleton was placed in an elongated position, arms along the body, the skull turned to the left and tilted to the shoulder. There was an iron knife in a poor condition near the diseased man’s left hand. There were found two horn buckles to the left of the sacrum and to the right of the lumbar spine. According to the classification by V. I. Molodin of the bone buckles of the Baraba forest-steppe, the full buckle can be referred to the type I, subtype 2, and it can be dated to the 7-8th centuries. By analogy with the buckles of the Srostkinskaya culture, the buckle from Vengerovo-2 is rectangular with a rounded frame, has a T-shape, and the slot for rolling the tongue is separated from the end of the slot isthmus. Such products were widely spread in the Middle Age cultures of Siberia and are dated in a broad range to the 8-10th centuries. The closest analogues to these items can be found in materials of the site Tartas-1, where burials of different times and cultures are represented, and which is situated near Vengerovo-2 settlement. Similar ground burials had been found at the Tar- tas-1 cemetery in 2008, 2009 and 2011. By the traits of their burial rite and inventory, they were referred to the ancient Turkic culture. Tartas-1 is an elite cemetery of the Turkic epoch on the territory of the Baraba forest-steppe as the site contained stuffed horses and a wide set of accessories such as weapons, jewelry, art objects and horse harness in its burials. There is another similar site, Turunovka-3A, where three shallow-dug soil graves were uncovered at the edge of the high shore terrace. The ancient graves of the Baraba burial ground Vengerovo-2 also do not include ceramic vessels. Conclusion. On the basis of the specific features of the burial rite and inventory, the burial on the site Vengerovo-2 is referred to a common type which was left by the population of the ancient Turkic culture of the Baraba.
109-119 185
Abstract
Purpose. The Manchus’ ancestors, the Jurchen people who established the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) and the Eastern Xia State (1215-1233) on the territory of the Far East, constructed many sites dated back to those periods in Primorye. Mostly, the sites are walled town, settlements and religious buildings. Up to the present day, the Jurchen burial grounds have remained a highly disputable issue and require more detailed descriptions and more accurate dating. Such a burial ground was found 2 km southeast from the village of Novitskoye in the Partizansky District of Primorye. In the article, we analyze and date the artifacts discovered. Results. The archaeological site is located on the creek valley that is 600 m wide extending from the east to the west. The burial ground is located in a deep mountain glen closed on three sides. Fifteen platform-based graves were excavated there. We have determined that all the bodies buried there had been cremated. The ash was put into a ceramic or wooden urn and then placed onto a flat stone on the bottom of the burial pit. After that, the urn was covered with another flat stone and some wooden pieces. One of the graves was constructed on a high basement decorated with two rows of stones. A «devitalized» (embowed) sword was put over the quiver with eleven arrowheads and some remains of bone dust found on the southwestern side of the basement. A grave house made of river gravels, stones or roofing tiles was erected over the grave. Then the pieces of wood were burnt, all the graveside decorations were covered up with soil. As a result, the grave turned into a small mound. We compared the funeral rites and the constructive features of the burial ground in Novitskoye to those of the previously excavated sites and discovered certain similarities in the cremation rituals and some differences in details of the burial constructions. Conclusion. The burial ground of Novitskoye gives archaeologists an opportunity to outline a more comprehensive concept of the Jurchen funeral traditions of the XII-XIII centuries and associate them with the Buddhist funeral ceremony. It was done by determining the ceremonial features, researching the burial constructions excavated and analyzing their chronological and social contexts.
120-129 204
Abstract
Purpose . Fragments of clay vessels are the most massive findings from the cultural layer of the town of Tobolsk. The development of classification is the main task of the research of Tobolsk’s crockery with using statistical and comparative analyzes. Results . The classification of ceramic’s crockery at the ending of the 16th -17th centuries has a most importance for studying the archaeological materials of Russian settlements in Siberia. Their volumes have already reached immense sizes, but many questions of chronology and systematization remain unresolved. For solve this problem necessary to determinate the archaeological objects of the Russian population, where standing out the complexes of findings are reliably dated by a narrow period of time. At the end of the 16th -17th centuries objects are Lozvinsky Gorodok, Mangazeya, Berezovo, Albazinsky Ostrog characterized that period. In Tobolsk, during archaeological works, was singled out a cultural layer at the ending of the 16th -17th centuries, where the most massive findings are fragments of ceramic crockery. For create a classification of this collection necessary to learn experience of studying the materials of the other objects in Siberia. The most importance is using the system of statistical registration of ceramics from the epoch of the Russian Middle Ages, developed by V. Yu. Koval. Learning of Tobolsk crockery at the ending of the 16th - 17th centuries allows to distinguish the following forms of ceramic vessels: pots (a separate category of pots with plums), wash basins, bowls, frying pans, inkwells. Possibly to designate separately single findings of small pots, cups. The systematization forms of the upper parts of the pots allows to distinguish four types, each of them is divided in two variants. The main part of the crockery are made with the use of restorative roasting, it is defined as gray-brown. Better quality dark-gray glazed dishes (represented by single samples) can be defined as imported products. Conclusion . Previously, the local pottery production was formed under the influence of handicraft traditions that had emerged in the central part of the country. Tobolsk’s crockery at the ending of the 16th -17th centuries has many similarities with ceramics was found in the territory of the other Russian settlements in Siberia. Differences are also observed in the technology of production, in the character of the processing surface of crockery and others. We can do the conclusion that for each site there is a special ceramic complex, which requires detailed learning and systematization.
130-136 251
Abstract
Purpose. We aimed to examine the materials of the collection of iron weapons including a tip of a spear and various arrow tips gathered in the course of a scientific expedition across the territory of Western Siberia, Altai Steppes and Eastern Kazakhstan performed in 18401843 by a famous scientist, botanist, officer of the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden Alexander Gustav von Schrenk. Results. The archaeological findings discovered by the researcher are kept in the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in the city of St. Petersburg. The iron tip of a spear and different iron arrow tips in the composition of that collection were examined and classified on formal grounds. They were divided into certain groups and types depending on characteristics of the section and shape of the feather of every tip. We proposed our reasoning for the chronology and cultural identity of these diverse artifacts, identified types of iron tips of the spear and arrow tips among the studied objects of armament. They were produced and used during diverse chronological periods when medieval nomadic peoples inhabiting the territory of Western Siberia, Altai Steppes and Eastern Kazakhstan could apply iron spears and arrows in the course of hostilities. We identified that the spear and various types of arrows analyzed in the composition of that collection could belong to warriors of different medieval ethnic groups. As a result of our analysis, the findings of armament were related to various chronological periods and definite weapon complexes. Different types of arrows were related to the material culture of the medieval peoples, who inhabited the territory of studied regions of Inner Asia during historical periods of the Early and High Middle Ages. The German scientists who were in the service of the Russian state described the primary events of the history of studying various archaeological objects related to the cultures of ancient and medieval nomadic people on the territory of the steppe region of Western Siberia and contiguous territories of Altai Steppes and Eastern Kazakhstan. Using methodologies of scientific research, we managed to analyze formal indicators of the artifacts and classify them into certain groups and types of objects of armament, including the iron spear tip and iron arrow tips that constituted an important part of the collection of archaeological findings considered. Conclusion. As a result of our scientific analysis, we have widen and complemented formerly known data on long-range and close combat armament object sets of the territory of Western Siberia, Altai Steppes, Northern and Eastern Kazakhstan during the Early and High Middle Ages.
137-149 143
Abstract
Purpose. The article is devoted to the discussion of the results that was obtained from the anthropological study of the materials from the burial mound Verkh-Suzun-5. The burial ground is located in the Novosibirsk Ob area, 4.5 km South-West from the village Verkhniy Suzun. The main goal of the work is to reveal the genesis of the studied population and the measure of influence on its formation of various migration processes. This article is devoted to the study of the odontological series, which was studied according to the standard odontological program developed by A. A. Zubov and also according to the program of archaic dental markers, developed by A. V. Zubova. Results. The series from the Verkh-Suzun-5 burial ground is characterized by the average frequencies of shoveling I1, low frequencies of six-tubercle M1 and deflecting wrinkle M1, high frequencies of the Carabelli’s trait M1, average frequencies of four-tubercle M2. A similar combination of features in earlier epochs is found in the Okunevo, Andronovo and Karasuk populations of the Khakas-Minusinsk basin, where there is a complex with average frequencies of shoveling I1, high frequencies of six-tubercule M1, lack of M1 gracilization and average frequencies of deflecting wrinkle M1. The Okunevo series differs from the Verkh-Suzun group by the high frequencies of the distal trigonid crest, but during Andronovo time the percentage of this trait in the Khakas-Minusinsk basin drops sharply. Feature combinations are similar to those observed in Verkh-Suzun are traced in Andronovo groups from Orak burial grounds, Solenoye Ozero-1 and some others, and also in Karasuk groups. In the Early Iron Age, a similar combination of characters is found in the Uyuk-Saglyn population of Tuva (burial ground of Dogee-Baary II). This complex characterizes by high frequencies of the Carabelli’s trait M1, the lack of M1 gracilization and the high degree of M2 gracilization, and also the average frequencies of the deflecting wrinkle M1 is traced here. The series from Dogee-Baary II differs from the series from Verkh-Suzun-5 by the absence of six-tubercle forms of M1 and high frequencies of the distal trigonid crest M1. Also a comparative intergroup analysis was carried out by the method of analysis of the principal components, which also showed us the convergence of the series from the Verkh-Suzun-5 cemetery with the Okunev population of the Khakas-Minusinsk basin and the Scythian population of Tuva. Proceeding from this, it can be concluded that the basis of the composition of the studied population is the autochthonous component, which fixes in the earlier epoch of the Okunev population. In this case, the general component of these two populations is expressed in the high frequencies of the Carabelli’s trait M1, the absence of M1 gracilisation, and the average frequencies of deflecting wrinkle M1. This component is typical for Okunev groups; he occupies an intermediate position between the races of the first order (in this case, the Mongoloid and the Caucasoid). Conclusion. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the composition of the group from Verkh-Suzun-5 was predominant in the local ancient component that occurs in the earlier epoch of the Okunev population of the Khakas-Minusinsk basin, and also this component marks Southern Eurasian Anthropological Formation.
ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE PEOPLES OF EURASIA
150-160 172
Abstract
Purpose. The article analysis the mechanisms of inculcation for a new pattern of female behavior - «literate peasant women» and the peculiarities of the process of illiteracy elimination among Siberians in the first decade of Soviet authority. In the early 1920’s. literate men in the cities of Siberia accounted for 61.2 %, and in rural areas - 26.7%, literate women - respectively 46.9 % and 9.2 %. In fact, 90.8 % of Siberian peasant women were illiterate. Women’s program consists not only the points illiteracy, but women’s clubs, organization of agricultural courses and Sunday schools. Paramount task was learning to write, read and count. It was assumed and the second stage of «Adult» education - schools of half-educated with basic subjects of primary education. The factor of female illiteracy has become one of the significant obstacles in the implementation of the early Soviet policy of building a «new way of life» («novyi byt») and emancipation of women. Teach women to read, write and count was the basic stage in the embodiment of the construct of the «new Soviet woman» within the framework of the Soviet utopia. In fact, after receiving these elementary skills, the following stages of Women policy may began: implementation of the thesis on gender equality, involvement in public and political life, work in leadership positions, atheistic campaign, a complex of work on maternity and infancy, and in general, to produce global transformations of women’s life strategies and values. Results. The early Soviet policy on eliminating illiteracy is a very popular topic among Russian historians. Most of the works were created during the Soviet period, which imposed certain restrictions on them: with extensive factual material, these studies bore a somewhat one-sided, ideologically biased interpretation of this process. An analysis of post-Soviet literature showed that today the problem is being worked out no less intensively. Regional studies, based on statistical information and archival materials, prevail. This study is based both on archival, statistical data, and on the materials of the Siberian press of the 1920’s. The originality of the work is given by the materials of field ethnographic research, which allows the author to supplement the historical picture, and, perhaps, see the dry report data and statistical data from a different angle. Conclusion. The author makes the assumption that the failure of the policy of education and the weak involvement of girls in school education in Western Siberia in the 1920’s became one of the key reasons that the image of a Russian peasant woman in Siberia during this period still largely corresponded to the notions of the role, functions and place of a woman in a «traditional» society.
SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION
161-164 111
Abstract
The capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran - the city of Tehran and the Holy City of Qom from April 24 to 28, 2018, became the places of work of the First International scientific conference «Religion, Culture and Technology». Purpose. The conference was attended by researchers from Germany, Switzerland, India, Canada, Russia, Britain, France, Lithuania, Tunisia, Iraq and, of course, Iran. Researchers reported the results of solving the issues of the history of the development of various religions, the relationship of religion and society in different periods in the territories of Asia and Europe, the doctrine of the image of God in different faiths and their dependence on the level of technological development of societies, their worldview, cyberspace and sacred worlds in modern times, the anthropology of humanity, the nature of the influence of modern Shiite Islam on the development of technology in Iran, etc. The actual meaning of holding a conference of this kind in the understanding the organizers (including many clergymen) consisted, apparently, in finding concrete facts and justifications for identifying, highlighting and emphasizing the harmony of the relationship between religion and culture, ancient and modern technologies, with an emphasis on examples of the current state of Iranian society and Islam . Results. The organizing committee for the conference recommended that in detailing the history of the issue in the preparation of reports on some aspects of religious issues only. Therefore, one of the authors of this publication gave a presentation concerning the development of the archaeological data of medical technologies used by priests and healers at the Iranian population of Ob’ region in Siberia the early Iron Age. Another of the authors presented a report on Iranian mythology influences on the religious beliefs of the ancient Turks as an example of honoring the goddesses of fertility Dzerassa the Iranian population and Umai among the Turks, as well as the advanced features of the Middle Ages manufacturing techniques with precious materials of different items with images of goddesses. Within the framework of the conference excursions were organized to various museums. In particular, in Tehran, we studied the exposure of Iran National Museum (including a section of the Islamic period in the history of the country), as well as medieval archaeological materials from the territory of Iran and Central Asia, presented in the framework of a visiting exhibition in Tehran Louvre Museum (France), held in the same days. As a result of the conference in the city of Qom held a «roundtable», at which the participants of the conference exchanged views on the substance of the issues raised and the possibilities of their objective resolution. In the special digest the organizing committee of the conference published the theses of the report in English and Farsi. A full edition of her works is planned. Conclusion. The results obtained will be used at the Novosibirsk State University in the field of education as part of the reading of the basic training course «Field Archaeology», as well as in scientific work using the materials of the funds of the mentioned museums in the study of such topics as medieval toreutics of Siberia and Central Asia, Zoroastrianism in Siberia, Sassanian influences on the culture of ancient Turks, and so on.
ISSN 1818-7919 (Print)