Archaeology of Siberia

Представлен опыт реконструкции процессов распространения предметов китайского импорта у тюрок Цен- тральной Азии. Осуществлен анализ материалов раскопок около 450 погребений кочевников, исследованных в разных частях региона. Изучение выявленных предметов китайского импорта (17 монет, 19 зеркал, 50 находок шелковых изделий и два фрагмента лаковых чашечек) позволило продемонстрировать особенности контактов номадов на различных этапах их истории. Установлено, что основная масса изделий из ремесленных центров Поднебесной империи обнаружена в погребальных комплексах тюрок Центральной Азии второй половины VII – первой половины VIII в. н.э.

NEW FINDS FROM THE DESTRUCTED BURIAL
OF THE ANDRONOVO CULTURE
IN THE ALEY DISTRICT OF THE ALTAI TERRITORY
The article publishes random finds from the burial of the Andronovskaya (Fedorovskaya) culture, found in July 2018 near the village of Malakhovo, the Alei District of the Altai Territory. The first find, skeletal bones of man, was discovered not far
from the Malakhovo village by a local resident S.I. Budyansky.
After the message of S.I. Budyansky about the discovery made by him to the
department of internal affairs of Aleisk, officers left for the place of the event, removed
part of the ground at the site of the discovery and found scattered human bones, fragments of pottery and a bronze object. In September of the same year, employees of the
AltGPU conducted a survey of the place of discovery of the finds. In addition to inspecting the object for destruction, during the monitoring, the metric indicators of the site,
previously unknown GPS coordinates, were stated, a general description of the modern
state of the cemetery was made, and fragments of bones were collected. Presumably the
collection of bones is the remains of a man. The artifacts discovered by S.I. Budyansky
are represented by fragments of two ceramic vessels (canned and pot-shaped) and the
remains of a bronze bracelet with spiral ends. The finds are attributed to the Andronovo
(Fedorovskaya) culture. Today, the site of the cape, where the necropolis is located, is
gradually moving down, which is a threat to the site and objectively necessitates the
adoption of measures for its preservation.
Key words: Fedorovskaya culture, Andronovo culture, Malakhovsky burial
ground, random find, Aley district.
Публикуются случайные находки из погребения андроновской (федоровской)
культуры, обнаруженные в июле 2018 г. близ с. Малахово Алейского района Алтайского края. Первый находчик, местный житель С.И. Будянский, обнаружил недалеко от с. Малахово кости скелета человека. После сообщения С.И. Будянского о сделанной им находке в отдел внутренних дел Алейска сотрудники полиции выехали
267
Телегин А.Н., Савко И.А., Дьяков Н.Р. Новые находки…
на место события, сняли часть грунта на месте находки и обнаружили разрозненные
кости человека, фрагменты керамики и бронзового предмета. В сентябре того же
года работниками АлтГПУ было проведено обследование места обнаружения находок. Помимо осмотра объекта на предмет разрушения, в ходе мониторинга были
сняты метрические показатели памятника, ранее не известные GPS-координаты,
сделано общее описание современного состояния могильника, а также собраны
фрагменты костей. Предположительно коллекция костей является останками мужчины. Артефакты, обнаруженные С.И. Будянским, представлены фрагментами
двух керамических сосудов (баночного и горшковидного) и остатками бронзового
браслета со спиралевидными окончаниями. Найденные находки отнесены к андроновской (федоровской) культуре. На сегодняшний день участок мыса, где находится
некрополь, постепенно съезжает вниз, что представляет угрозу памятнику и объективно вызывает необходимость принятия мер по его сохранению

The burial mound Tunnug 1 (Arzhan 0) lies in a swamp of the Uyuk River Valley, Tuva Republic, Russia. The construction of this princely Scythian tomb is similar to the earliest identified Scythian kurgan Arzhan 1.
Preserved wood from the burial mound was dated through AMS to the 9th century BCE. This confirms that Tunnug 1 (Arzhan 0) belongs to the oldest Scythian cultural horizon and potentially predates Arzhan 1. Due to its peculiar topographic location Tunnug 1 (Arzhan 0) appears to be a frozen tomb.

This work focuses on the populations of South Siberia during the Eneolithic and Bronze Age and specifically on the contribution of uniparental lineage and phenotypical data to the question of the genetic affinities and discontinuities between western and eastern populations.
We performed molecular analyses on the remains of 28 ancient humans (10 Afanasievo (3600–2500 BC) and 18 Okunevo (2500–1800 BC) individuals). For each sample, two uniparentally inherited systems (mitochondrial DNA and Y‐chromosome DNA) were studied, in order to trace back maternal and paternal lineages. Phenotype‐informative SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) were also analyzed, along with autosomal STRs (Short Tandem Repeats).
Most of the Afanasievo men submitted to analysis belonged to a single sub‐haplogroup, R1b1a1a, which reveals the predominance of this haplogroup in these early Bronze Age populations. Conversely, Okunevo individuals carried more diverse paternal lineages that mostly belonged to Asian/Siberian haplogroups. These differences are also apparent, although less strongly, in mitochondrial lineage composition and phenotype marker variant frequencies.
This study provides new elements that contribute to our understanding of the genetic interactions between populations in Eneolithic and Bronze Age southern Siberia. Our results support the hypothesis of a genetic link between Afanasievo and Yamnaya (in western Eurasia), as suggested by previous studies of other markers. However, we found no Y‐chromosome lineage evidence of a possible Afanasievo migration to the Tarim Basin. Moreover, the presence of Y‐haplogroup Q in Okunevo individuals links them to Native American populations, as was suggested by whole‐genome sequencing

In the second part of our multivolume work we continue to present materials to give a detailed characteristic  of the Chemurchek cultural phenomenon – the complex of West European megalithic traditions spreaded over the foothills of the Mongol Altai (from the Russian Altai region to Trans-Altai Gobi) in 3rd – early 2nd millenium BC (Ковалев 2011, 2012б; Kovalev 2011). The first volume included reports on excavations carried out by Russian, Mongolian and Kazakh scholars in 1998-2010 (Ковалев и др. 2014; Ковалев, Эрдэнэбаатар 2014а; 2014б ). In the present volume we place the reports on excavations of Chemurchek sites, undertaken by the Altai State University and the Khovd University in the central part of the Mongol Altai. Thirteen Chemurchek barrows with dolmen-shape chambers and circumjacent multi-layer cairns were excavated there in 2007-2014 under the conduction of A.A.Tishkin, S.P.Grushin, Ch. Munkhbayar and D.Erdenebaatar (Тишкин и др 2011; 2012а; 2012б; 2013а; Грушин и др.  2014). During a number of seasons these researches were carried out under orders of the St.-Petersburg State Museum-Institute of Rhoerihs.
In 2015 the Museum-Institute of Roerichs in collaboration with the Altai State University and Khovd University organized an expedition to excavate a unique Chemurchek sanctuary in Khar Chuluut locality in the headstream of the Khovd river. We considered it necessary to include a report on the results of this investigation into the present volume, because a comprehensive publication of the site may possibly take several years. We also tried to gather and recapitulate all the available data on Chemurchek-type sites and finds in Xinjang, even short and deficient publications of Chinese scholars and desultory information from popular books and documentaries.
A true notion of the Chemurchek cultural phenomenon can not be completed without an information concerning it's surrounding. Thereby we undertook a publication of a data on a previously unknown culture of the Early Bronze Age (contemporaneous with Chemurchek) namely the Saensayi culture of the Eastern Tien Shan. People of this culture most probably migrated to the Inner Asia from the North-Western Caspian region, and preserved a rite of burial in “shaped pits” with ritual vehicle. The Saensayi culture had close relations with Chemurchek population of East Kazakhstan, that is corroborated by the discovery of the traces of the same burial rite there, for example in the Kopa 2, Kopa 3 barrows (Ковалев и др. 2014 ).
The results of excavations of Ust’-Kamenka-2 mound in the Zmeinogorsk area of the Altai region of Russia, discovered by S.P.Grushin, gave a clear evidence that people bearing the Chemurchek cultural phenomenon had spread hundreds kilometers to the North, to the region of Yelunino (Elunino) culture distribution. The architecture of this burial construction corresponds with a standard of Chemurchek mounds, that is unique for the Bronze Age of Russian Altai.
Original photographs and drawings of pictures on stone slabs of Chemurchek burial and ritual constructions, represented in this volume, are of special importance for solving the problem of the origin of Chemurchek cultural phenomenon. Geometrical-shape paintings of slab-chambers of barrows Belen Usny Denj, Khuurai Salaany Am 1 in the Khovd aimag, and of those in Toganbay 2 M2 and Kopar in Xinjang supplement a series of analogous evidences from Chemurchek mounds of Bulgan sum (Ковалев, Эрдэнэбаатар  2014a). Now we can state with even more reasons, that the general set of compositions of Chemurchek paintings is a peculiar reproduction of  leading motifs of the decorative art of megalithic cultures of France, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland. Rhombs and chevrons inscribed into each other, parallel              multi-triangle festoons, sloping net, net with cells filled with roundish spots, meander-shaped and volute-shaped curves, flat areas chaotically covered with broken lines – all these in the aggregate are distinguishing characteristic of the art of “Atlantic Megalithism” (Twohig 1981; Robin G. 2009; Ковалев 2012б: 52-53). Small shale plates with geometrical ornament, discovered in Khar Chuluut also find their West-European propotypes (Lilios 2008). Fantastic creatures with parabolic or rectangular bodies and different-shaped antennae, which occupy central place in the pictures of Khar Chuluut sanctuary, meet their analogies only in megalithic monuments of France (Ковалев 2012a: 155-156, fig. 4).

The early Tashtyk cemetery site of Oglakhty in Minusinsk basin is best
known because of the exceptional state of preservation of some of the organic objects found there in excavations in 1903 and 1969. The chronological and spatial
development of this extensive cemetery have not been clearly explored until now.
This paper represents a first step in that direction by dealing with previously
unpublished finds from Adrianov’s excavation at the site in 1903 and held in
Krasnoyarsk Museum of Local Lore. They were found in the Eastern plot of the
cemetery (Oglakhty I) which represents one of four such plots according to the latest
fieldwork results from the site. This paper presents the results of a new series of
calibrated radiocarbon dates and new scientific identifications of the woody and plant
species used to construct and fit out these graves. The results are considered within
the first attempt to examine finds from Oglakhty cemetery within what we now know
of its spatial organization. This has only been possible through a combination of these
new absolute dates combined with a recent survey of the site and the identification of
the previously excavated burials using scattered archival sources. The new series of
15 radiocarbon dates were based mainly on samples of different materials from two
graves (1 and 2) containing the best-preserved objects from Adrianov’s excavation.
This adds a new footing to understanding the chronology of the site as previous
absolute dates were only available for a single grave in the Western plot, and other
studies have been forced to rely on typological approaches and comparative analysis
with finds from other regions. According to these new results, graves 1 and 2 in the
Eastern plot date between the mid-2nd and mid 4th centuries AD, the former slightly
later than the latter. The species of all of the finds, whether of wood, birchbark, grass
or cereal grain, have been confirmed through scientific analysis. The results provide
new glimpses into early Tashtyk exploitation of the local environment, and constitutes
the first such step of studying the palaeoenvironment of this region in the Tashtyk
period.

The desert and arid steppes of Mongolia and northern China were geographically central to the spread of pastoralism and the rise of pastoralist states, but research on the organizational strategies of pre-pastoralist hunter-gatherers and the spread of herding has been extremely limited. Until recently, catalogues of sites collected by Westerners in the 1920s and 1930s comprised the body of English-language publications on Gobi Desert prehistory. This article introduces a wealth of new site-specific and interpretive data, drawing on English-language sources as well as Russian-and Mongolian-language publications to create a synthesis for the prehistory of the Gobi Desert from the end of the Last Glacial Maximum to the adoption of herding. Special emphasis is placed on the relationship between a major shift in desert ecosystems, comparable to the 'greening of the Sahara', the establishment of an oasis-based broad-spectrum foraging strategy, and progressive desertification and deforestation after 2000 BC. We conclude that an oasis-based adaptation was contemporaneous with the expansion of forests and wetlands and persisted throughout the early stages of herding. A major decline in these economies occurs after 1000 BC, in conjunction with continuing trends towards heightened aridity and major societal changes across Northeast Asia. The persistent coexistence of Bronze Age burials and microblade-based habitation sites around oases, as well as similarities in material culture, suggest that these groups overlapped geographically or were the same entity.

Товчлол: Монгол болон Умард Хятадын говь, говь хээрийн бүс нутаг нь газарзүйн хувьд мал аж ахуй болон түүнд суурилсан нүүдэлчдийн төрт улсууд бүрэлдэн бий болоход нөлөөлсөн чухал бүс нутаг юм. Гэвч эдгээрийн суурь болсон эртний анчин, түүвэрлэгч нарын нийгмийн бүтэц, мал аж ахуйн тархалтын талаарх судалгаа туйлын бага хийгджээ. Саяхныг хүртэл 1920-1930-аад оны үед барууны судлаачдын говьд хийсэн түүхийн өмнөх үеийн судалгааны бүтээлүүд хожмын англи хэлээр бичигдсэн цөөн хэдэн эрдэм шинжилгээний ажлуудын  гол хэрэглэгдэхүүн болсоор иржээ. Харин энэхүү өгүүлэл нь сүүлийн жилүүдэд тухайн бүс нутагт хийгдсэн монгол, англи, орос хэл дээрх археологийн судалгааны эх хэрэглэгдэхүүнд тулгуурлан мөстлөгийн сүүл үеэс мал аж ахуйн үүсэл хүртэлх үеийн говь нутгийн түүхийн өмнөх үеийн асуудлуудыг нэгтгэн дүгнэсэн юм.

Мөн зохиогчид өнөөгийн “Сахаарын цөлийн ногоорол” хэмээх үзэгдэлтэй жишиж болохуйц эртний экосистемийн томоохон өөрчлөлт, хүмүүсийн “Баянбүрд” түшиглэсэн амьдралын хэв маяг болон НТӨ 2000 оноос хурдацтайгаар явагдаж эхэлсэн цөлжилт гэх зэрэгт онцгой анхаарал хандуулан тэдгээрийн хоорондын уялдаа холбоог судалсан байна.

Эртний хүмүүсийн баянбүрд түшиглэсэн амьдралын хэв маяг нь ойн болон чийглэг хөрст бүс тэлэн өргөжсөнтэй нэг цаг хугацаанд явагдаж мал аж ахуйн хөгжлийн эхний үе шат хүртэл үргэлжилсэн хэмээн зохиогчид үзжээ. Харин энэхүү амьдралын хэв маяг нь Зүүн хойд Азийг хамарсан хэт хуурайшилт болон тухайн үеийн нийгмийн бүтцэд томоохон өөрчлөлт гарч эхэлсэн зэрэг шалтгааны улмаас НТӨ 1000 оноос хойш аажмаар хумигдаж эхэлсэн байна. Зохиогчид говь хээрийн бүсэд өргөн тархсан баянбүрдүүдийн ойр орчимд хүрлийн үеийн булш оршуулга болон ижил хэлбэрийн бичил ялтас бүхий бууц суурингууд олноор тохиолдож байгаа нь эдгээр дурсгалуудыг үлдээсэн бүлгүүд нэг дор эсвэл хоорондоо холгүй амьдарч байсныг харуулахаас гадна нэг угсааны хүмүүс байх магадлалтайг цохон тэмдэглэжээ.

In year 2015 joint Russian-Mongolian expedition headed by A.Kovalev (Institute of Archaeology RAN) and Ch. Munkhbayar (Khovd University) firstly excavated outstanding ritual complex of Chemurchek (Qiemuerqieke) kulture ca.100 km from centre of this culture (from the Qiemuerqieke village to this site is mountain trail), at an attitude of 2600 m above sea level. The construction represents a rectangular stone platform measuring 25 by 35 m, the walls of which are composed of vertical slabs. From eastern side the massive stela was erected and large ritual corridor was built. In ancient times, slabs in fence were decorated from the outside with peculiar images of deities, demons (ancestors?), animals, different signs. More than 300 slabs and slab’ fragments with images were discovered. All stones with images were copied and were transferred to Khovd University museum. Some compositions of figures were preserved by soil or restored by investigators. In the centre of the fence some large massive flat stones were opened, each of which was decorated by scenes from the life of mythical personages. These compositions were exposed inside ritual area like in art gallery. During the excavation "treasure" of 79 engraved and not-engraved miniature stone plaques was found. Entgraved plaques have anthropomorphic features with geometric ornamentation. This ritual complex by now is only one investigated from the similar structures: two similar fences were discovered by expedition nearby. Similar (not so large) rectangular fences of ritual purposes without pictures but with stone stelae were excavated by A.Kovalev, D.Erdenebaatar and Ch. Munkhbayar in this region in 2004. Same images of deities and demons were found in neighbouring rock art complexes: Shatar chuluu, Baga oigor and Shiveet khairkhan. Compact spreading of these images and ritual fences in montanious region in the vicinity of Chemurchek (Qiemuerqieke) valley show that this region used as ritual area of Chemurchek culture people. Some images are similar to megalithic art in France, a series of images are similar to the petroglyphs of Kazakhstan and the Altai Mountains. The closest analogies of engraved stone plaques are engraved anthropomorphic plaques from megalithic monuments of the Iberian Peninsula (31-27 c. BC.), as well as statues-menhirs of Sion-Aosta type (29-27 c. BC.). The repertoire of images allows us to trace the broad connections of  Chemurchek (Qiemuerqieke) kulture and reinforces the idea of the origin of this culture from Western Europe.

Eight miniature horn figurines representing human-like characters and heads of birds, elk, boar, and a carnivore, were found in grave 4 at Itkol II mound 14, northern Minusinsk Basin. The burial dates to the early (Uybat) stage of the Okunev culture (second half of the 3rd millennium BC). The form and composition of certain figurines resemble those of Okunev steles.

This volume represents a collective monograph, based on the materials of the Kyurghenner cemetery, situated on the Middle Yenisei in the northern part of the Minusinsk depression (Republic of Khakassia, Russian Federation).  The site was studied by M. P. Gryaznov and M. N. Komarova in the course of the salvation excavations carried out by the Krasnoyarsk Expedition of the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Archaeology in the flooding area of the Krasnoyarsk water power plant in 1965-1966. In two years the researchers studied 126 barrows and obtained valuable and in some instances unique materials, dated to the “classical” stage of the Karasuk culture (Late Bronze Age, XIII-XI cc. BC). They were immediately passed for storage to the State Hermitage, but due to various circumstances, which did not depend on the excavators’ will, remained unpublished. The present volume contains both the description of the evidence obtained during the field works and detailed analysis of these materials. It consists of five chapters and three appendixes.
The first chapter is based on M. P. Gryaznov’s and M. N. Komarova’s field reports, and on field notes taken by the participants of the expedition. In addition, it presents some of Gryaznov’s preliminary conclusions contained in his reports and brief publications. The illustrations include all the available plans and sections of the cemetery, as well as numerous drawings of finds stored in the Hermitage.
Three next chapters are written by A. V. Polyakov. They are devoted to the thorough analysis of the site. Chapter 2 gives a careful consideration of the complex of traits associated with the funerary rite. The analogies are sought for both within the Karasuk culture itself and among the Late Bronze Age sites of the adjacent regions. The chapter is concluded with the general characteristic of the cemetery materials. Chapter 3 is devoted to the position the cemetery within the frameworks of the current views on the relative chronology of the Late Bronze Age in the Middle Yenisei region. The example of Kyurghenner is used to illustrate the existence of two independent chronological horizons within the limits of the “classical” stage of the Karasuk culture. A new typology of the pottery coming from the burials of this stage is proposed in chapter 4.
Chapter 5, written by I. P. Lazaretov, is devoted to the study of the group of atypical interments of Kyurghenner. The author offers a new vision of the process of formation of the later Kamennyi Log stage of the Karasuk culture. The appendixes include the list of the archive sources used by the authors, statistical tables, and the work by S. V. Khavrin, who analyzed the chemical composition of the bronze artifacts from Kyurghenner.
The monograph is intended for archaeologists, physical anthropologists, and ethnographers, but can also be of interest for numerous amateurs of history.

Recent studies show that, in the 3rd millennium BC, the highlands in the basin of the upper reaches of the Khovd (Kobdo) River constituted a ritual zone, which was of particular importance for the population inhabiting the western foothills of the Mongolian Altai Mountains. Its cultural singularity was due to the so-called Chemurchek cultural phenomenon — a set of characteristics of West European origin, which appeared there no later than 2700–2600 BC. Three large-scale ritual complexes-‘shrines’ attributed to this period were discovered in the area of Lake Dayan Nuur. Excavations conducted by the expedition of A.A. Kovalev and Ch. Munkhbayar revealed that these structures constituted fences consisting of vertical stone slabs, decorated all-over on the outside with theimages of fantastic anthropomorphic creatures and animals. The excavation of Hulagash 1 (one of these sanctuaries),
radiocarbon dated to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, revealed a single grave in the centre of the structure, synchronous with the time when the complex was used. The grave belonged to a man of advanced
age, whose body was wrapped in a wide piece of cloth. The significance of this man being buried in the centre of the ritual site remains unclear. This person could have been sacrificed during construction or, conversely, he could have had a special status. Craniometrical measurement and dentological investigation of the scull from the
Chemurchek sanctuary Hulagash were conducted; its graphic reconstruction was performed. Its anthropological type shows a significant Mongoloid component. Intergroup comparison revealed its significant morphological differences from markedly Caucasoid groups, including the Afanasievo culture of South Siberia and Central Asia.
This excludes the morphogenetic continuity of the Chemurchek phenomenon from the antecedent Afanasievo population.
The individual from Hulagash bears the greatest anthropological similarity to the Neolithic-Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age populations of the Circumbaikal region (Serovo and Glazkovo cultures) and the Barnaul-Biysk Ob area (Itkul and Firsovo XI burial grounds dating back to the pre-Bronze Age; Early Bronze Age burial grounds of the Elunino culture). This is obviously a manifestation of a shared anthropological substrate, since the anthropological component of the Baikal type (which the population of the Elunino culture included) was recorded in the Neolithic-Eneolithic materials from the northern foothills of the Altai Mountains. Remarkable morphological similarities between the individual from Hulagash and the bearers of the Elunino archaeological culture reinforce the assumption that there is a cultural affinity between the Chemurchek and Elunino populations of the Early Bronze Age.
Key words: Early Bronze Age, Chemurchek cultural phenomenon, Elunino culture, Western Mongolia, paleoanthropology.
На чемурчекском ритуальном комплексе середины III тыс. до н.э. в Монгольском Алтае обнаружена могила с погребением мужчины старческого возраста. Череп его исследован по краниометрической и одонтологической программам, выполнена графическая реконструкция. Выявлены морфологические
особенности, сближающие погребенного с представителями популяций монголоидного расового ствола. Антропологическое сходство найденного на чемурчекском святилище индивида и носителей елунинской культуры подкрепляет мнение о наличии общности этих культурных образований.