Korochkova O.N., Mosunova  A.V.

THE ENEOLITHIC COMPLEX OF DUVANSKOYE XVII SETTLEMENT

The article deals with publication of the Eneolithic complex of Duvanskoye XVII monument, which is situated just outside the city of Tyumen. The monument is well known as a Fedorovo culture settlement. However, its Eneolithic period is of great interest as well. A dwelling with more than 50 pits was constructed in the 3^rdcentury BC. The building of the pole frame construction was reconstructed due to a rectangular pit sized 6×5,3 metres and a number of pole holes situated around the pit at the distance of 1–3 meters. The samples from the building are represented by the Andreevo culture pottery, clay biconic plummets, and things made of silicium and jasper. There were over 50 regularly shaped pits randomly situated to the west of the dwelling. Some of them had debris of vessels of the Andreevo, Lipchin and Shapkul types, small fragments of ceramics, and articles made of stone, including small-sized polished ones. The majority of findings was located in the area between the pits. Their regular shape has considerable resemblance to the burial ones. However, the absence of anthropological remnants gave no chance of identifying them as burial places. The situation has changed by now.  The materials from the eneolithic burial grounds of Pereyminsky 1, 2, Chepkul 20 and Buzan 3, located in close proximity, were excavated and published. A number of parallels were discovered, such as regularly shaped pits, concentration of material in the area between the graves, existence of other structures aimed at pre and post funeral rituals. All above mentioned let us consider the published complex as a burial ground. Appearance of a purposeful burial has a universal pattern. It became wide spread in the period of dramatic growth of the population density, which in its turn was caused by forming stable life sustenance systems. In this context, it refers to settled fishing, which meant a necessity to fix and control the catching areas. In the conditions of segmented communities, the processes of cultural consolidation became inevitable, which under the circumstances of the preliterate era were supported by customs and rituals.

Key words: Lower Tobol, Andreevsky lake system, the Eneolitic, burial ground, Andreevo type, Shapkul type, Lipchin type.

Kotov V.G.

THE DECORATIVE PRACTICE BASED ON NATURAL FORMS IN THE PALEOLITHIC OF THE URALS

In recent years, archaeologists have found objects of decorative activity based on natural forms of bone and stone which were manufactured by men in the Ural-Volga region at the Upper Paleolithic monuments in the Kama area (Shirovanovo site), in the Middle Trans-Urals (Gari site), in the Southern Urals (Bogdanovka and Sergeevka 1 sites), in the mountainous part of the Southern Urals (Shulgan-Tash (Kapova) and Bayslantash caves) and in the Southern Trans-Urals (Troitskaya 1 site). The tradition of using natural forms in pictorial practice applies both to the early Upper Paleolithic and to the final stage of the Paleolithic era. Their distinguishing feature is the selection of shaped pebbles or bones, which have a certain similarity to an animal or a human, and they were only slightly altered by men. Depending on the material and the purpose, various processing methods were used: upholstery, sawing, stationing, drilling, engraving. The process was always aimed at obtaining important details that emphasized similarity of natural forms with an imaginary phenomenon, meaning usually eyes, a mouth, if it referred to a head, or in case of a mammoth, a recess between the back and the head, and the trunk. According to the content, items of decorative activity in the Paleolithic epoch fall into: images of people — 3 items, animals — 5 items, bird depictions — 1 item, and ornamented pebbles — 1 item. Along with this, we found examples of offerings in the form of pebbles of unusual rocks (green serpentine, crystal pendants on a shingle slate and serpentinite) in the cave sanctuary of Shulgan-Tash. In case of the Upper Paleolithic, we can assume that the use and veneration of natural forms was an important and specific way of symbolization within the pictorial activity in the territory of the Ural-Volga region. This is characteristic of «Ural» and, more broadly, «Siberian» cultural tradition of the Upper Paleolithic.

Key words: sculptures, processed shaped pebbles, processed shaped bones, the Upper Palaeolithic, the Urals.

Tataurov S.F.

 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOURCES ON THE USE OF WOOD IN THE CITY OF TARA IN THE 17–18^THCENTURIES

This article is based on materials of archaeological researches of Tara, one of the first Russian cities in Western Siberia. The aim of the work is to show the importance of wood in life of the Siberian city — from construction of dwellings and defensive works to its use as the main fuel for heating of constructions in winter time, for cooking and as the main material for production of instruments of labor and household items. The aim of the research is to show deficit of wood in life of the city of Tara which is examplified by reusing of wood in case new objects were constructed. It is possible to single out several directions of the reuse: economic constructions, bases under structures, fences, zavalinkas, for repairment of pavements and roads, as firewood. The construction of the Market square is used as an example of reusing wood as it was made of logs which had formed part of the wooden fence of the Tara fortress. The study revealed that the main reasons of the lack of wood were numerous fires, high level of groundwater and a large swamped area in close proximity to the paled part of the city. The service class population was forced to pass their time free from guard constantly repairing defensive constructions and administrative buildings of the city which suffered of fire or decayed because of the soil saturated with water. Many labor costs were accounted for making pavements and sidewalks on city streets, building drainage trenches and maintaining them in normal state. We also found it interesting to determine the number of gathered firewood for the winter period: it turned out that the city consumed more than three thousand cubic meters for these needs, which is a very large number for a small fortified city. In fact, a small forest on the area of several hectares was annually cut down. The conducted research showed a certain dependence of the city on regular deliveries of wood, both as a construction material, and as firewood. This situation was typical of most of the first Russian cities in Western Siberia, so the results of our work can be used even in the archaeological research of their historical centers.

Key words: Western Siberia, history, city, Tara, wood, fire, water, construction.

Serikov Yu.B.

SOME ASPECTS OF SACRAL SPACE MARKERING IN THE URAL TERRITORY

The article analyses different aspects of organization of space as its sacred points — sacred places. Ancient sanctuaries were situated exactly in those marked points: caves, grottos, awnings, mountain peaks, rocks, hills, bald mountains, stone capes, etc. There could be one or several sacral centers in each sacred space depending on its dimensions. A cave was the earliest object of sacred place. There were two basic types of cave sanctuaries in the Paleolithic era: caves with painting and caves where demonstration complexes in form of animal skulls formed the central part of the cult complex. Veneration of mountains, rocks, hills, bald mountains, tall capes originated in the Stone Age among the population of the Urals and Siberia as well. Interments and hoards were often used as markers of the sacral space border. Sometimes special elements of the landscape — rocks — were marked with images. Separate water objects — lakes and bogs — were also included into the sacral practice of the local population. This is proved by such findings as ancient hoards, bronze and bone weapons, whole vessels and also large number of human bones and bodies at the bottom of lakes and peat lands. A sacral space of sanctuaries or settlements was sometimes sanctified with ocher or scattering of calcified human bones. The research of ancient sanctuaries shows that we may expect the most unordinary, unexpected and informative findings exactly at the border of a sacral space.

Key words: the Urals, sacral space, caves, mountains, cult markers, symbolic border.