Enshin D.N., Skochina S.N., Ilyushina V.V.

Complexes with flat-bottomed pottery from the early 7th millennium BC settlements of the Mergen archaeological microdistrict (the Lower Ishim River basin)

An analysis was carried out on the materials from the settlements of the Early Neolithic period at Lake Mergen (Mergen 3, 7, 8) in the Lower Ishim River basin (Western Siberia). The aim of the research was the consolidation of the obtained data and its preliminary correlation with synchronous complexes of the forest-steppe zone of the Trans-Urals and Western Siberia. The source base of the work was constituted by the Early Neolithic pottery collections, stone goods, and planigraphic drawings of the archaeological sites. The pottery-making traditions of the ancient population were analysed from the standpoint of syncretising two approaches — formal classificatory, and historical and cultural — in several stages: comparative-typological analysis of the morphology and ornamentation, and preliminary conclusions of the technical-technological investigation of artefacts. The stone goods are presented from the results of the typological and traceological investigation and using the data of the petrography. The house-building traditions have been considered in terms of a thorough analysis of the planigraphy and stratigraphy of the buildings, as well as taking into account the established classification of the archaeological sites. As the result, it has been found that for the ancient communities at Lake Mergen characteristic were the dwellings with ditches of a rounded shape, contralateral recessions, and drains in the floors. Predominant were open thick-walled flat-bottomed pottery vessels of potted-jarlike shapes, with a rounded cut of the rims, ornamentation, in the stroke or streak technique. About a third of the items were without ornamentation. The straight line, sparse pitted indentation, and zigzag constitute the principal element of decoration. Nearly half of the ornamented vessels feature compositions elaborated with geometrical figures (triangles, rhombi, parallelograms), rhombic lattice etc. As the raw moldable material in the ware fabrication, potters used highly oversanded silty clays, to which chamotte and organic compound were added. Scrap was the main building material. The firing was carried out in the natural conditions under the effect of temperatures no less than 650°C. The dominant raw material in the stone industry is represented by local run-of-river quartzose sandstone. Also identified were rocks related to the South-Urals jasper province, Kazakh Uplands. The complex is lamelliferous, dominated by the items of a width up to 1 cm (60%). On the basis of the obtained data, there has been established the chronological priority of the considered materials with respect to the complex of the settlement of Mergen 6, whilst in the pottery making the link with its pottery group I (Boborykino). There have been confirmed the analogies with the Boborykino complex of the settlement of Yurtobor 3 (the Lower Tobol River basin). A hypothesis has been drawn on the synchroneity with the Barabino antiquities (the Barabino Culture of the Neolithic), similarity of the Neolithic with flat-bottomed pottery with them within the Western Siberian affinity, but not on the cultural unity.

Key words: Early Neolithic, Western Siberia, Mergen, flat-bottomed ceramic complexes.

 

Kupriyanova E.V., Solomonova M.Yu., Trubitsyna E.D., Kashirskaya N.N., Filimonova M.O., Afonin A.S., Sharapov D.V., Ivanov S.N., Ryabogina N.E.

Interdisciplinary research of ash heap sediment near Stepnoye settlement (Chelyabinsk Oblast)

An ash heap is defined as a specific object at an archaeological site, usually in the form of a separate hillock containing a layer of finely-dispersed greyish-yellow or ash-coloured soil. The existing assumptions about the formation and functional purpose of ash heaps, as special archaeological objects found near the Bronze Age pastoral settlements, have so far been poorly supported by scientific data. At the ash heap near the Sintashta fortified settlement of Stepnoye, Chelyabinsk Oblast, for the first time, large-scale and comprehensive studies were carried out on the structure of these deposits, their granulometric and geochemical composition, in combination with the analysis of plant macroremains, paleoparasites, microbiomorphic and palynological complexes, indicative bacterial groups, and keratinophilic fungi. Judging by the archaeological materials, it is patently obvious that this was a multifunctional object that developed over many centuries and played different roles at different stages. The results of the conducted analyses showed that the 45 cm thick “ash” horizon in the Stepnoye ash heap contains a significant proportion of a fine sand fraction, and not a silty fraction. An increase in the biophilic elements (predominantly calcium, as well as phosphorus and sulphur), accumulated mainly in the organic matter of faunal origin, was noted in the upper bench of the ash layer. However, the high concentration of phytoliths in the “ashy” deposits indicates that the layer was formed mainly as a result of the accumulation of a large amount of plant organic matter. The absence of charcoal and the scarcity of charred macroremains indicate that the deposited organic material was not burnt but decomposed naturally. The increased content of saprotrophic bacteria in the “ashy” layer also supports the natural decomposition of an organic matter. The composition of the phyto-lithic and pollen spectrum of the “ashy” horizon is not typical for the steppe of the south of Western Siberia, since it is dominated by a group of mixed herbs with elements of a ruderal flora, and not by cereals. All the data supports the hypothesis that the ash heap is the result of regular practice of cleaning of the floor and interiors of the buildings of the fortified settlement of Stepnoye. This is evidenced by the increase in the number of keratinophilic fungi, which decompose wool and hair and therefore accumulate in the occupational layer of the structures. Based on the results of the study, the hypotheses that the Stepnoye ash heap is a place of consolidated ash removal or composting of stable manure were rejected.

Keywords: ash heap, Bronze Age, Southern Trans-Urals, Sintashta settlement, phytoliths, pollen, geochemical composition, saprotrophic microbes, keratinophilic fungi, functional purpose.

 

Degtyareva A.D.

Technology for the production of sickles and knives of the Petrovka Culture of the Southern Trans-Urals (by the results of metallographic analysis)

The data of the metallographic study of sickles and knives (37 pcs) of the Petrovka Culture from the Southern Trans-Urals and the Middle Tobol River basin of the 19th–18th centuries BC are reported. The implements originate from settlements (Ustye 1, Kulevchi 3, Starokumlyak, Kamyshnoe 2, Ubagan 2, Nizhneingaly 3) and burial complexes (Ozernoe 1, Krivoye Ozero, Verkhnyaya Alabuga). The reconstruction of the manufacturing technology of the Petrovka Culture tools from the Southern Trans-Urals was carried out by both taking into account the results of the surface visual inspection, as well as by the data of the microstructural study of the metal. The metallographic analysis was conducted at the Tyumen Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the RAS (microscope Axio Observer D1m from Zeiss; microhardness tester PMT-3M from LOMO). A certain correlation was revealed between the functional purpose of the product, type of the raw material, and the tool manufacturing flowchart. The sickles and knives with handles are produced primarily from pure copper (including oxidised) both in the process of casting in mould with subsequent finishing, as well as in the result of the forming forging. The tools obtained in the casting process often had casting defects, accompanied by the phenomenon of shrinking warpage of the metal. The finishing of the copper tools was taking place in most cases either in the regime of incomplete hot forging at 300–500 C, or hot forging at 600–800 C and at near-melting temperatures of 900–1000 C. Most of the sickles in the forging process were purposefully hardened by forging on the cold metal. Unlike the sickles and knives with handles, shank knives are made mainly of low-alloyed tin bronze. Apparently, this category of tools was given a special ritual significance, especially considering the fact that about a third of the tools came from burial complexes with a specific selection of the related implements. The use of tin bronze in the production of knives significantly contributed to the fabrication of high-quality castings with the smooth surface without metal warping defects. The finishing of the knives after casting was carried out with heating up to 600–800 C or 900–1000 C (44 % of the tools) or in the regime of incomplete hot forging (25 %). The forging on the cold metal with annealing was rarely used. Thus, at the basis of the choice of the technological traditions of the metal production lies the availability of a certain raw material base, the type of the metal obtained from this ore, as well as the inheritance of the technologies from the preceding cultural communities. Technological innovations in the processing of non-ferrous metal, associated with the supply of Sn-bronzes in the form of ingots or finished products from Central Kazakhstan to the Southern Trans-Urals, led to the significant increase in the quality of the produce.

Keywords: Bronze Age, Petrovka Culture, Southern Trans-Urals, Middle Tobol region, metal production, metallographic analysis, production technology, sickles, knives.

 

Kuzminykh S.V., Degtyareva A.D., Orlovskaya L.B., Vinogradov N.B.

Non-ferrous metal tool complex of the Petrovka Culture of Northern Kazakhstan: morphological and typological characteristics

Tools and weapons made of copper and bronze from the Petrovka Culture of the Northern Kazakhstan of the 19th–18th centuries BC are presented, originating mainly from sites complexes explored in the 70–80s 20th century G.B. Zdanovich and S.Ya. Zda-novich. When distributing tools and weapons by type, methods of typological division of equipment were used, taking into account the configuration of the product, the presence or absence of certain qualitative features, the design features of the handle, the handle, the area in the area of the transition of the blade part to the handle, the shape and section of the blade. The sample is represented by tools, weapons, ingots, semi-finished products, analytically studied in the 70–80s 20th century in the Laboratory of Natural Science Methods of the Institute of Archeology of the RAS (109 copies). Most of the products come from the sites Novonikolskoe 1, Petrovka 2, Bogolyubovo 1. The study of the typology of North Kazakhstan metal showed that in the practice of metal production in the region, they adhered to the general standards for the types of tools and weapons (adzes, chisels, knives, sickles, hooks) adopted in the Petrovka communities of the entire area. Such a general stereotypical set of implements, inherent in the forest-steppe and steppe cultures of Northern Eurasia, can be explained by the common genetic roots of the carriers of these cultures and by the fact that the metalworking of the circle of chariot cultures inherits the traditions of metal production in the hearths of the northern zone of the CMP. At the same time, the specificity of the production of the hearth of Northern Kazakhstan was discovered, which is associated with the appearance of forms of sickle-plows, hooks, massive knives with a subtriangular blade and an elongated handle, unknown in the monuments of Central Kazakhstan and the Urals, razors with asymmetrical blades. The penetration of these forms into the Ishim region is associated with the Late Yamnaya-Poltavka, Catacomb, Abashevo stereotypes and influences in the process of the genesis of the forest-steppe and steppe metal complex of the Late Bronze Age.

Keywords: Bronze Age, Petrovka Culture, Northern Kazakhstan, non-ferrous metalworking, typology, morphology.

 

Berseneva N.A.

Children’s burials of the Alakul Culture in the Southern Trans-Urals: reconstruction of age groups

The proposed study concerns the Alakul Culture whose sites are located in the forest-steppe and steppe zone of the Southern Trans-Urals and are dated to the 18th–17th cc. cal BC. The work is based on the materials of the published burial grounds: Urefty I, Кulevchi VI, Stepnoye VII, Тasty-Butak 1, Lisakovsky I, Alakul, and Tashla 1. One of the most remarkable features of the Alakul cemeteries is that children constitute between 50 % and 80 % of all the interred. In this work, 212 burial pits (242 individuals) were analysed. The aim was the reconstruction and interpretation of children’s age groups of the Alakul population in the Southern Trans-Urals by means of the analysis of the specifics of the children’s burial rites and grave goods. The children’s burials were divided into three groups in accordance to the age-at-death: infants (0–2 years old), children (2–10 years old), and adolescents (10–15 years old). Next, the grave goods of children from the different groups were studied; specifics of the deposition of grave goods for the different age groups were analysed. Comparing the variations in the children’s burial rite, it can be concluded that the place of children in the social structure of the Alakul society was quite important, despite the differences in the structure of the burial pits and the content of the grave goods. First of all, this is evidenced by the number of children's burials at the sites, which exceeds the number of the adult’s burials, and secondly, by the presence of the children's burials performed in accordance with the ‘adult’ version of the rite, including the position in the grave pit and the sets of jewellery. The youngest age group (infants, from the birth to two years old) was the most numerous. Sixty one individuals (69.3 %) from this group were buried only accompanied by pottery or with gender-neutral grave goods. In the older children's age group (2–10 years old), a third of the individuals were buried with a large amount of jewellery, a third without grave goods, and the rest with astragali or with gender-neutral grave goods. The adolescents (10–15 years old) is a relatively small category in terms of the number of the interred; their funeral rite, judging by the few well-preserved burials, was identical to that of the adults (for example, the Alakul burial ground, mound 13, pit 9). We can conclude that by the age of 13–15 adolescents were reaching the full social adulthood.

Keywords: Southern Trans-Urals, Bronze Age, Alakul culture, children’s burials, age groups.

 

Ilyushina V.V., Klimova A.D., Novikov I.K.

Traditions of creating the form and ornamentation of the pottery vessels of the Alakul Culture in the Alakul burial ground (a case study for the burial mounds 1 and 14)

This paper reports on the results of the analysis of the form and ornamentation of the pottery vessels of the Late Bronze Age Alakul Culture from the burial mounds 1 and 14 of the Alakul burial ground (the Trans-Urals). The study was carried out within the framework of the historical-cultural approach developed by A.A. Bobrinsky. The work is aimed at the identification of pottery-making traditions of creating the form and ornamentation of pottery vessels amongst the population who built the burial mounds 1 and 14. In the result of the analysis, there has been identified the cultural core of the traditions of the form-making of the pottery vessels in the population who built the burial mounds 1 and 14. The vessels are primarily of medium proportions and quinquepartite structure — ‘lip + neck + brachium + body + base’. Also, the dominant parameters of the functional parts appeared to be similar amongst the vessels from the different burial mounds. These data indicate relatively high uniformity of the composition of the consumers of the ware. The study of the ornamentation revealed that smooth stamp, which was used in the techniques of stamping and drawing, served as a traditional tool for the application of ornament. Toothed stamp was less frequently used in the techniques of stamping and drawing. The main ornamental elements were a ‘short straight line’ and a ‘long straight line’. Twenty two ornamental patterns have been identified; the widespread ones were the ‘horizontal zigzag, ‘horizontal straight line’, ‘cross-hatched isosceles triangle with point upwards’, and ‘cross-hatched isosceles triangle with point downwards’. Most of the identified leading and infrequent ornamental patterns functioned as a main motif. In the complementary motif, the widespread one was the pattern ‘horizontal straight line’. In the composition of the ornament, traditional was the placement of the ornamental motifs in the upper part of the neck and on the upper and lower parts of the body, with the allocation of a “free band” in the lower part of the neck and brachium. In the result of the correlation of the obtained data on the pottery vessels from the burial mounds 1 and 14, certain dissimilarities have been noted. In the burial mound 14, a large quantity of the vessels have a relatively higher neck; the vessels with the lowest index of the proportionality and the slope angle of the body are also present; in the ornamentation, toothed stamp was employed more frequently in the technique of drawing, which was used to apply only ‘horizontal zigzag’ and ‘horizontal straight lines’ patterns. The correlation of the data on the form and ornamentation of the vessels for the burial mounds 1 and 14 revealed that toothed stamp in the technique of drawing was used to apply ornaments mainly to the vessels with lower indices of proportionality and angel of the body. A hypothesis has been put forward on the increasing complexity of the composition of the studied group of the Alakul Culture population during the period of construction of the burial mound 14, which may explain the noted nonuniformity of the pottery-making skills.

Keywords: forest-steppe zone of the Tobol river, Bronze Age, Alakul Culture, Alakul burial ground, ceramics, historical-and-cultural approach, vessel shapes, ornament.

 

Kukushkin I.A.

Main characteristics of burial complexes of Central Kazakhstan in the Late Bronze Age

The main factual basis of the research comprised the materials of 25 necropoleis of the Late Bronze Age examined in the Karaganda and Ulytau regions of Central Kazakhstan. The total number of the investigated burials amounts to 167 individual structures. There were 190 burials recorded. Since the 2000s, nine cemeteries belonging to the Late Bronze Age have been investigated. There were 72 burial structures studied, including one of the eight largest mausoleums in the region — Karazhartas, excavated in 2016–2017. All known burial structures were divided into three groups: surface stone boxes, boxes imbedded in the bedrock, and ground graves, which, according to the characteristic above-ground structures, were divided into ten types of burial structures. It has been noted that for the first group of the burials, the most characteristic are quadrangular funeral structures erected using the masonry technique. The second group is dominated by quadrangular fences built from vertically set slabs, less often from stone laid on flat. The third group is clearly dominated by a ring-shaped layout in the form of the stones selected according to their dimensions, laid in a circle. The most numerous appeared to be the first group, for which the characteristic feature is the arrangement of the burial chambers in the form of stone boxes raised above the ground. The less representative was the second group with subsurface burials, including those that had a form of composite stone boxes. The third group comprised the burials in ground graves. It is assumed that in the first two groups, the westward orientation of the interred is predominant, with a certain role of the northeastern sector. The third group is characterised by the invariable orientation of the deceased in a southward direction with the sleeping position of the skeleton laid on the right side.

Keywords: Late Bronze Age, funerary architecture, typology, ceramics, inventory, mausoleum construction.

 

Kostomarova Yu.V. , Sechko E.A.

Tools for the metal processing of the Alakul population of the foreststeppe Tobol River basin

The paper presents the results of the study of a tool complex associated with metalworking from the sites of the Alakul Culture of the forest-steppe Tobol River basin — the settlements of Kamyshnoe 1 and 2, Uk 3, Nizhneingalskoe 3, and Zolotoe 1. The Alakul antiquities, in general, date to 1900–1450 BC. The purpose of this work is the consolidation and clarification of information on the metalworking of the Alakul population of the forest-steppe Tobol basin. For this purpose, collections of trade tools of the aforementioned Alakul settlements were revisited; the tools used in the production in question were identified; the signs of their wear, documented by a series of microphotographs, were characterised; and groups of the tools were identified according to their functional feature. The main research method was experimental-traceological. It implies, firstly, the study of traces of wear, their mutual occurrence and specifics of the location on the tools; secondly, the comparison of the obtained characteristics with experimental data. In the work, theoretical and experiential concepts of the methodology and classification schemes developed by S.A. Semenov, G.F. Korobkova, and V.V. Kileynikov were employed. To verify the traces of wear on archaeological tools, experimental reference samples of the tools were used, obtained during many years of work and stored in the Tyumen Scientific Centre SB RAS. As analogies, published results of the experiments and experimental and traceological studies of similar tools from territorially close Bronze Age sites were used. As the result, forging tools (hammers for cold and hot forging of castings, smoothers) and abrasive tools were identified; their technological characteristics and distinctive signs of wear marks were clarified. A set of tools in one quantity or another was recorded at each of the studied sites; therefore, the blacksmith production was quite developed also on the periphery of the Alakul Culture. Additional arguments were obtained in favour of the hypothesis that the ore processing was taking place in the immediate vicinity of its sources, and the metal could have been supplied to the remote villages already in a ‘finished’ form; there, the products were cast, forged, and finished. Analogies to the studied tools are known from the earlier Petrovka and Sintashta complexes of the Southern Trans-Urals. Thus, we can talk about common patterns in the manufacture and use of metalworking tools during the Bronze Age in the Trans-Urals territory.

Keywords: Tobol region, Alakul Сulture, metal processing tools, hammers, abrasives, experimental traceological analysis.

 

Zimina O.Yu., Zakh V.A., Skochina S.N.

The ceramic complex of the Transitional Period from the Bronze to the Iron Age of the settlement of Mergen 6 in the Lower Ishim River basin (Western Siberia)

The settlement of Mergen 6 is located in the Ishim District of the Tyumen Oblast on the northeastern shore of Lake Mergen by the head of the river Mergenka. It was studied in 1990 and 2002–2011 under the direction of V.A. Zakh and S.N. Skochina. On the site, 1494 m2 were examined. The settlement is multi-layered and contains the materials from the Neolithic Period through to the Middle Ages. The research is aimed at the detailed characterisation of the ceramic complex of the Transitional Period from the Bronze to the Early Iron Age (TPBIA), dated to the 8th–7th cc. BC. The TPBIA ceramic complex is a large one (approximately 7.5 thousand items identified), deposited at a depth predominantly no more than 60 cm from the surface in the layers disturbed by ploughing. It is highly fragmented; whole forms are lacking; in some cases, ceramics was deposited in clusters. Therefore, the object of the research was a subset from the TPBIA ceramic complex of the settlement of Mergen 6 which was analysed on the basis of the formal-classificatory and cultural-historical approaches. With the aid of the methods of mathematical statistics, possible interrelations between the morphological and ornamental traits of the object of the research were established. In the TPBIA ceramic subset, the fragments of the pottery vessels which can be correlated with the ceramics of the archaeological cultures of Krasnoozerka (335 vessels identified by the necks), Gamayun (no more than 8 items), and Itkul (37 items), and a ceramic group designated as ‘synchretic’ (102 items) were identified. The analysis of the morphological and decorative features of the TPBIA ceramics showed quite a close interaction of the diverse population during the considered period. Elements of the ornament and morphological features of the pottery vessels, constituting the specifics of both the syncretic group of the ceramics, characterised by mixed Krasnoozerka-Gamayun-Itkul traits, as well as by the individual traits of the main cultural groups of the site — on the pottery vessels of the Krasnoozerka group, some elements characteristic of the Gamayun-Itkul decorative patterns; the vessels of the Gamayun-Itkul group have been produced with a deviation from the typical canons — served as markers of the mutual influence.

Keywords: Western Siberia, Ishim River region, Lake Mergen, Mergen 6 settlement, Transitional Period from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, Krasnoozerka Culture, Gamayun Culture, Itkul Culture, ceramics.

 

Tkachev A.A., Tkachev Al.Al.

The burials of the kurgan 2 of the Menovnoe VII burial ground (Eastern Kazakhstan)

Emerged in the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD, the nomadic confederation of the Kipchaks up until the beginning of the 13th c. dominated the Eurasian steppes, which became known from the 11th c. as Desht-i Qipchaq or Kipchak steppe. The oecumene occupied by the Kipchak tribes covered, according to the experts, vast areas from the Irtysh River to Ural Mountains, but there is no consensus amongst researchers as to where the formation of the Kipchak traditions, which were part of the Kimek Khanate, was taking place. Kipchak sites of the 11th–12th cc. in the steppe zone are very few, but they are considered, as a rule, in the context of the transformation of the earlier traditions of the Oghuz, whereas the medieval burials of the Mongolian period, studied in the steppe zone of Kazakhstan, are considered apriori as Kipchak’s. The materials obtained during the study of the Menovnoe VII burial ground reveal peculiar features, both in the elements of the funeral rites, as well as in specific components of the material culture, allowing one to consider this site as a funerary monument built by a group of the early Kipchak population who lived in the pre-Mongol period in the territory of Eastern Kazakhstan. The burial ground of Menovnoe VII is located 1.5 km east-southeast of the village of Menovnoe of the Tavrichesky District of the Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast. Within the burial platform, 24 mortuary structures have been recorded: 5 Early Medieval kurgans and 19 stone heaps of the Late Middle Ages period. The article concerns the kurgan 2, which had a diameter of 8 m at a height of 0.25 m. The mound was spanning over an oval fence measuring 7.1×6.5 m. Two pits were examined within the fence: one, located in the centre, contained a paired burial of a man and a woman; the second, located by the south wall of the fence, contained a paired burial of horses. The deceased were accompanied by a broadsword, iron arrowheads, an iron cauldron, bone buckles, iron knives, and remains of a saddle. The specifics of the funeral rites and the analysis of the material obtained during the study make is possible attributing the burial of the kurgan 2 of the Menovnoe VII burial ground to the Kipchak cultural tradition developing within the final stage of the early Turkic era, which allows it to be dated to the 11th — beginning of the 12th c. CE.

Keywords: Upper Irtysh region, the Middle Ages, Kipchaks, burial mound, funeral rite, paired burial, clothing inventory.

 

Kharitonov R.M.

On the genesis of the bow designs from the “Old Buryat” burials

In the paper, the finds of fragments of bows from the “Old Buryat” burials of the 17th–18th centuries from the Baikal region are analysed, and an attempt is made to determine their genesis from the data on their technological features. On the basis of the conventional method of weapon-analysis classification, two types were distinguished by the set of the reinforcing onlays. To understand the missing structural elements, the data is drawn in on more recent fully preserved items produced locally in the 19th — early 20th c. from the museum and private collections from the territory of the Baikal region, since a genetic affinity can be traced between them and the earlier products by the available onlays. This allows one to speak about similar morphological and metric characteristics between the Buryat bows of the 19th — early 20th c. and the objects from the “Old Buryat” burials. In the result of the conducted analysis, the relationship between the distinguished type 1 and items of the 12th–14th cc. of the population of the Ust-Talkinskaya Culture of the Cisbaikalia region has been established by the onlays used and the structure of the wooden base (in comparison with the products of the Buryats of the 17th–18th cc. associated with the bows of the 19th — early 20th c.), on the basis of which it was concluded that the design evolved in the Mongolian period from a local prototype. The type 2 is also associated with ‘Mongolian type’ bows by the presence of the median frontal remiform onlay, although it has the features of Yakut’s ‘Central Asian’ bows (the end frontal straps made of staghorn with a wide and a narrow areas). In the course of the study, it has been revealed that the design of the objects of the 19th — early 20th c., predominantly Transbaikalian bows of the Selenga Buryats, has features of both the type 1 as well as the type 2, and it evolved from a local basis as a result of the synthesis of the elements of these types, thus combining the features of the northern and local workmanships. In the result, the structures appeared, which were reinforced with long end straps made of staghorn, with a long wide area creating transitional zones, and a short narrow one reinforcing the rigid limb tips. In the Cisbaikalia region, modifications of the type 1 bow were further developed by means of combining materials in the onlays of the transitional zones. All of the recorded bows, in terms of the shape of the ends and transitional zones, are much closer to the Mongolian bows of the 12th–14th c. from the rock burials of Mongolia, than to the Manchurian-Mongolian bows widespread in Central Asia since the 17th c.

Keywords: traditional bow, Transbaikalia, Cisbaikalia, “Old Buryat” burials, Buryats, Ust-Talkin Culture, Yakuts.

 

Tataurov S.F.

Archaeological evidence for Domozhirov's campaign of 1595 at the Nadezhdinka IV burial ground in the Tara-Irtysh basin

The study deals with the events that took place in the forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia, in the Tara-Irtysh basin, in the spring of 1595, associated with the campaign of the Tara detachment led by B. Domozhirov to the middle reaches of the Tara River and to the Baraba forest-steppe. During this campaign, the fortress of Tunus was taken by storm. The aim of the work is to trace, with the example of the burials of the Nadezhdinka IV burial ground, the fate of the defenders of the town and, in general, of the Tatar population living in the Tara-Irtysh basin. The capture of the fortress is described in detail in the memorandum report of the Tara vaivode. The archaeological investigations confirmed the information of the written source. The article is based on the materials from the Nadezhdinka IV burial ground excavated by the author in 2004–2006. In particular, a series of graves were investigated, in which the defenders transferred from the fortress were buried. The analysis of the burials allows the reconstruction of individual elements of the funeral rite, and exposition of the accompanying grave goods. The result of the study was the assessment of the situation developed at the end of the 16th c. in the Irtysh basin and the reasons for the retreat of the Russians to the north to the fortress of Tara. In the result of this campaign, Tatar settlements of this volost were plundered and this region of the Tara basin was appreciably depopulated. By the end of the 16th c., the Russians occupied the lands up to the river Om from its mouth to the middle course. However, the migration of the Kalmyks from the east to Western Siberia forced the Russians to abandon this territory and retreat essentially down to Tara. The reason for that was the lack of human resources both in the town of Tara as well as in the local population. Only towards the end of the 17th c. the Russians began to move southwards — this was the price of the cruel treatment of the Siberian Tatars in the spring of 1595. The burnt fortress of Tunus and the graves of its defenders at the Nadezhdinka IV burial ground have become a testimony of the ill-thought policy of the Tara vaivodes. The local Tatars, after waiting a certain time following the departure of the Tara detachment, visited the fortress and buried the remains of the defenders on the cliff of the Tara River. After that, most of them left the Irtysh basin and went to their historical homeland in the Southern Trans-Urals.

Keywords: Western Siberia, Moscow, Russians, Tunussky town, development.