Purpose. The article presents a survey of current tendencies in experimental ceramics firing. This research method is used for studying and explaining archaeological information concerning firing technique and technology in the past.
Results. Experimental ceramics firing is considered as an interdisciplinary method involving cognitive, informational and analytical opportunities of archaeology, ethnography, and natural sciences. Archaeological contexts submit certain tasks of experimental firing in each case of study. These tasks interconnected within frames of experimental projects are: 1 – reconstruction of firing devices and their working processes based upon archaeological remains; 2 – examination of technical and technological potentials of different types of firing devices; 3 – examination of ceramic pastes thermic behavior for the identification of archaeological potteries firing qualities; 4 – reconstruction of specific firing technologies (for example, “smudging”). Simple firing devices exploited in traditional pots-making and modeling in the experiments are a bonfire, pit, one-chambered and primitive two-chamber kiln. Ceramics firing is considered as three-staged process. Preparing, essential and final stages have their specific technological features. Most important features of the essential stage providing crucial transformation of clay matter are thermal and atmosphere profiles. In general, ceramics firing is a complicated process involving different factors and conditions.
Conclusion. Experimental firing researches combined with traditional firings observations show that characteristics and properties of archaeological ceramics even determined analytically do not always provide sure information for judgments about type of firing device and thermal regimes. Our interpretations of archaeological evidence of ceramics firing have to be more flexible and variable.

Purpose. The article discusses the results of a use-wear analysis of artifacts from the Kostenki 9 site (Biriutchii log). The site is located in the Middle Don River valley on the southwest of the Russian Plain. Kostenki 9 is related to the group of Paleolithic sites in the Kostenki-Borshchevo locality. Our investigation indicates that paleoeconomy of the local inhabitants was based on the strategies of high specialization.
Results. The authors highlight the main types of stone implements and the main technological methods of production. The inhabitants of the site mainly used chalk flint. Knapping technique is prismatic, the main type of workpiece is a blade. For the secondary processing of blanks, site's inhabitants most often used steep and semi-steep dull retouching. Less commonly, flat unilateral or bilateral, marginal, deeply protruding onto the blade’s dorsal surface. On the basis of use-wear analysis, as well as some experiments, the authors came to the following conclusion: the stone industry of the site has Gravettian features. However, it does not have pronounced diagnostic forms.
Conclusion. The primary type of activity revealed at the Kostenki 9 site is butchering of animal carcasses. Studied use-wear traces on the stone inventory support this conclusion. The second activity represents wood processing. The ancient inhabitants of the Kostenki 9 made the wooden shafts for the darts and spears. Analysis of bone implements revealed several exciting traits. Inhabitants possessed all the basic techniques of bone processing: making grooves and cutting along the circumference. The collection does not include any tools that can be interpreted as hunting bone weapons. This thesis confirms the assumption that the inhabitants of the Kostenki 9 site used wood for tool-making, while the bones and ivory were kept for production of non-utilitarian objects. The cultural identity of the assemblage raises questions. The closest are lithic collections from the Gravettian sites Borshchevo 5 and Kostenki 8.

Purpose. In 2015 a new archaeological site Tri Skaly were found in the lower part of the Khilock River basin (Western Transbaikalia). This site is of a large interest in the sense of investigations concerned early stages of the Upper Palaeolithic in Transbaikal, because it is westernmost among similar sites and located in the area where such sites were not known earlier. The purpose of this investigation is defining the functional purpose of the ancient settlement. Discrete approach to the data analysis lead to the controversial conclusions. The article presents the results of the complex approach to the investigations of palaeolithic cultural horizons at Tri Skaly archaeological site.
Results. In the Tri Skaly collection the most representative and various part of the archaeological finds consists of the stone artifacts typical for the early Upper Paleolithic period. On the basis of the stone industry consideration the affinity with the Tolbaga culture’s Paleolithic sites is proposed; it is reflected in the production of tools on the large blades. The well-investigated sites of this culture show the representative toolkit and the multi-way economic activity at the ancient settlement. The obvious predominance of primary knapping products over retouched items suggests the use of the area as a workshop, or camp workshop if we take into consideration the presence of some structural elements of the cultural horizon. Paleontological materials demonstrate the overwhelming majority of the Equus Ferus bones, the distal ends of the legs. This fact leads to the conclusion that this area was used as the kill and butchering site. At the same time, we have evidence that allows us to interpret bones as possible kitchen debris, not only wastes from butchering. In addition, a toolkit includes various types of tools related to different activities.
Conclusion. The detailed analysis and synthesis of all available components from the Paleolithic site Tri Skaly (stone industry, palaeontological finds) evidence about multi-way economic activity here in Upper Palaeolithic. Based on this we conclude Tri Skaly site is a periodically used base hunting camp with a full cycle of stone processing and tool production and evidences of non-utilitarian activity.

Purpose. Needle cases belong to “passive” bone tools, which store thin bone tools such as eyed needles or awls. Being an essential element of the technology of sewing complex clothing, needle cases and needles act as a marker of technological innovations, the spread of which in the Upper Palaeolithic contributed to the active population of the territory of Northern Eurasia. This study's objectives were to analyse and systematise published and archived data on the Upper Palaeolithic needle cases of Siberia and generalise the available information on the problems of interpreting the considered category of sewing kits, their archaeological, technological, cultural and chronological contexts.
Results. The study results clearly show that the finds of bone needle cases have been identified and analysed in the materials of a minimal number of archaeological sites with different chronologies and associated with several cultural generations of the Upper Palaeolithic. Bone needle cases of Siberian sites, separated by hundreds and thousands of kilometres, show noticeable similarities in size, morphology, production technology, and ornamentation methods.
Conclusion. Appearing for the first time in the Early Upper Palaeolithic, they are rare in Siberian sites and do not always accompany even mass finds of needles.

Purpose. Until recently, it was thought that colonization of the highlands of Pamir by humans had started in the early Holocene. But some recent investigations, especially dating of well-stratified archeological sites such as Istyk cave, demonstrate that humans appeared in the region in the late Pleistocene period. One of the important pieces of evidence of humankind's presence in an area all around the world is the rock art. Despite that there are no direct comparisons to rock art of East Pamir, V. A. Ranov considered rock art sites of Shakhty, Kurteke and Nayzatash belonging to the Stone Age.
Results. We started redocumenting known rock art sites, using our experience and new technological approaches, which was beyond reach for V. A. Ranov and other investigators of 20^th century. Also, some new rock art locations were found in the same area, and they gave us quite different graphical representations than those that were discovered in the middle of 20^th century. One of the most urgent problems to solve for us is finding parallels to zoomorphic depictions and to the non-figurative ones in nearby regions and in other areas of rock art distribution. And still, we obviously know just a few samples of rock art varieties that existed in the East Pamir. Some of them were ruined due to natural factors, some of them could still be waiting to be discovered.
Conclusion. So far, we are just in the beginning of the next stage of investigation of the East Pamir rock art and archeological remains as evidence of human presence in the region.

Purpose. The settlement of Zharkovo-3 is of different archaeological periods and contains materials from the Middle and Late Bronze Age. This site is important for studying the bone industry of the Bronze Age of steppe Altai, since, as a result of its excavations, a representative collection of bone tools and products was obtained. Among the main tasks of the study was not only to clarify the technological features of the manufacture and functional purpose of objects, but also to link them to specific cultural and chronological complexes.
Results. A comprehensive study of bone artifacts has shown that objects of the developed Bronze Age are tools of leatherworking. Most of these are tools from the jaws of cattle, which were used to kneading the skin. For the Late Bronze Age, various types of products are characteristic: “tupiki” (blunt knives for kneading skins), scrapers, spatulas, needle holders, dart points, skates, etc. The raw material variety of tools for kneading skins made from the jaws of cattle, horses and sheep is of interest.
Conclusion. In the materials of the settlement of Zharkovo-3 we find various strategies for the use of bone raw materials. The overwhelming majority of products can be attributed to natural and partial modifications, during the manufacture of which the natural form of the bone is preserved in whole or in part. In the studied collection of bone objects, leatherworking tools clearly predominate. This situation is typical for the sites of the Bronze Age of the steppe and forest-steppe belts of Eurasia.

Purpose. There are many secluded corners in the northern part of Western Siberia. The routes of modern explorers are determined by economic development projects and do not always cover remote areas. Archaeological exploration in the upper reaches of the Kulunigyi River made it possible to discover archaeological materials and objects – fragments of ceramic vessels on the territory of two settlement complexes. These materials made it possible to characterize the settlement complexes in terms of their cultural and chronological affiliation. This article is devoted to solving this problem.
Results. This article publishes archaeological materials originating from poorly explored territories. The analysis of materials is carried out by comparison using the analogy method. As a result, links with archaeological complexes located on the Barsova Gora near the city of Surgut are determined. These connections point to the time of the formation and development of the settlement complexes to which this article is devoted. Analysis of the location of archaeological materials on the territory of the studied settlement complexes made it possible to determine the morphological features of ruined structures that were erected at different stages of the development of this territory.
Conclusion. At present, the object complexes from the Barsova Gora occupy a central place in the material culture of the ancient societies of the Middle Ob region. Because the Barsova Gora stow is the cultural and geographical center of this ancient oecumene. The materials published in this article reflect the forms of the same cultural phenomena, but on the periphery of the habitat of its carriers. This conclusion is very important for understanding the variability of ancient cultures in the vast area of the Middle Ob region. At the same time, we determine the main morphological characteristics of the settlement complexes that arose in the study area during the Eneolithic, Early Iron Age, and the Middle Ages. This information will be very useful when conducting archaeological exploration in the future.

For the first time, data was published on the location of settlements of Tatar Tara Group, on the right bank of the Irtysh River at the end of the 18^th century in the territory of the modern Omsk region. This data is on previously rarely used cartographic sources (“Tabula exhibens cursum fluvii Irtisch ab Omskaja Krepost usque ad Tobolsk” 1780, Tara District 1784 and 1798). Other sources from this period were used to verify the findings (Dozornaya kniga Tarskogo uyezda, travel descriptions of Miller, etc.).
Purpose. The purpose of this work will be the publication of rarely used cartographic data, their analysis for the localization of settlements of the Turkic-speaking population of the right bank of the Irtysh River in the 18^th century.
Results. As a result of the data analysis, information was obtained that would help to discover the remains of these objects, find out the settlement system, the features of the life support system of the system and the ethno-cultural history of the population of this region.
Conclusion. Map data and written sources of the 18^th century indicate that most of the settlements of the Tara Tatars at that time were located in the southern taiga zone in the coastal areas of the right bank of the Irtysh River. Their detection and research will lead to the elucidation of many processes of ethnocultural genesis of the population of Western Siberia.

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to characterize the ram/sheep and its image as an animal included in the Khakas rituals associated with weddings and funerals. Leading in the study is the principle of historicism, when any cultural phenomenon is considered in development and taking into account a specific situation. The research methodology is based on historical and ethnographic methods: remnants (relict) and semantic analysis.
Results. As a result of the analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn. 1. The ram / sheep and its image occupied an important place in the traditional culture of the Khakas. 2. The animal in question was extremely in demand due to its utilitarian and sacred significance. In practical terms, it was undoubtedly perceived as an important and accessible source of meat and raw materials for household needs. In religious and mythological terms, the designated animal acted as a symbolic projection – a “replacement” for the human soul, which had a close connection with the world of ancestors and deities. The image of a ram was consistently associated with the idea of vitality and fertility. 3. The ram was extremely common in gift-exchange processes, both within the human community and in relationships with the spirit world. Therefore, it was assigned a special role in rituals conditioned by the human life cycle, including those associated with marriage and death. 4. In the Khakas worldview, much attention is paid to the concept of bones.
Conclusion. Therefore, it is not at all accidental that in the culture of these people the concept of genus is designated by the term seok – ‘bone’. Not only human bones were considered sacred, but also animal bones, including a ram. It was believed that life potential and mystical power were localized in individual elements of its bone structure. These sacred parts included the skull, chest, tibia, and humerus. They were widely used in wedding and funeral rites.

Purpose. The problem of the origin of the Eskimos has received considerable attention, at the same time also providing insights about human presence in far Northeast Siberia and America. I review earlier studies and discuss some of the more exciting recent results emerging from ancient DNA data sets. I also highlight important features of genetic and archeological data and discuss key questions and future research directions.
Results. The Paleo-Eskimos and Neo-Eskimos ancestors along the Q-NWT01 Y-DNA line lived in the Kolyma River basin at the turn of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. The migration of the East Asian ancestors of the Paleo-Eskimos was associated with the representatives of the Neolithic cultures of Northeast Asia, which brought the ancestral haplotype for mtDNA haplogroup D2a to Alaska. The emergence of the Neo-Eskimo cultures took place in the Bering strait area on the basis of the local Paleo-Eskimo tradition and under the influence of the cultural traditions of Southwestern Alaska and Chukotka. The Ust'-Belaya culture of Chukotka could act as a genetic source for the development of the Neo-Eskimo cultures.
Conclusion. Analysis of ancient DNA from human remains over the past decade has had a transformative effect on the study of the origin of the Eskimos. Data sets of ancient DNA have revealed an increasingly complex picture of human demographic history in North-East of Asia and America and development of Paleo-Eskimo and Neo-Eskimo traditions, suggesting multiple waves of migration over the Bering Strait and episodes of admixture of different groups of population, including Ancient Paleosiberian, East Asian, Paleo-Indian, Paleo-Eskimos, Neo-Eskimos and others.

Purpose. The article considers the peculiarities of the images of the representatives of peoples of Siberia on the ethnographic maps of the First and Second Kamchatka expeditions, taking place in the first half of the 18^th century.
Results. Maps are an important historical source, moreover not only the cartographic information is studied, but also other materials located on the map. Three versions of the final map of the First Kamchatka Expedition, as well as the Ethnographic Map of Siberia of the Second Kamchatka Expedition are a valuable source for research. They contain images of representatives of different peoples and scenes from their lives. A comparative analysis of the drawings of Yakut, Tungus (Evenks), Koryak, Kuril, Chukchi, Kamchadal (Itelmen) was carried out, the features of images of clothing and objects were revealed, and ethnographic analogies were attracted. So, gradually, on different maps a fur coat on Yakut loses its fur trim, the bow becomes a crooked stick with a rope. On later maps, frames appear around the images, the number of representatives of the Siberian peoples increases.
The maps are made by different mapmakers. The first of them was created in St. Petersburg, sketches made during the work of the First Kamchatka expedition were copied on it. Local mapmakers did not quite understand what they were depicting and, therefore, already at this stage there is a loss of part of the ethnographic meaning. The rest of the maps were already copied from the first one, so there is a further loss of ethnographic specificity, simplification of the pictures.
The sequence of implementation of the maps was determined by increasing the number of images, the appearance of frames around them, and their gradual simplification. The earliest version of the final map of the First Kamchatka Expedition shows the summer camp of the Kamchadals under the cartouche. This is the most complete image, on the other sources only individual elements of this sketch were drawn. The ethnographic map of Siberia of the Second Kamchatka Expedition is the most complete in both cartographic and ethnographic contexts. But the greatest losses of the ethnographic specificity of the Siberian peoples are observed on it.
Conclusion. As a result of the conducted research, the sequence of compiling versions of the final map of the First Kamchatka expedition (ethnographic version) was determined. The variant of the drawings of representatives of peoples when compiling the ethnographic map of Siberia of the Second Kamchatka expedition is revealed. A gradual partial loss of ethnographic information occurred when copying maps by different mapmakers who did not quite understand what they were depicting.

Purpose. Co Tu is one of the ethnic minorities among the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam that still boldly preserve their cultural values. They live in the mountainous areas of the Annamite Range, Vietnam where they depend on the forest for their livelihood. The people attach great importance to trees and forests. In their traditional worldview, trees are not merely immovable objects but have hidden souls. Trees are called abhui whose souls mainly inhabit the forest. Those residing in any tree have the same characteristics as that tree. Tree souls can protect people but can also harm them. By using primary and secondary documents obtained during the years 2009–2020, focusing on 2017–2019; emic, etic, and direct field trip methods as the unstructured in-depth interview, semi-structured interview, and group discussions, we want to approach the ethnic minority’s way of thinking and learn about the relationship between the ethnic group and the plant world.
Results. Trees have been personified as gods, and from that respect, the people have also sanctified forests and created customary law to protect forests, i.e., tree souls, the sacredness of forests.
Conclusion. In promoting relationships with nature, protecting and preserving the environment, these indigenous practices are a very positive form that should be encouraged.