Southern Urals

The iconography of the Horus cippus, an amulet popular in Egypt from the late Third Intermediate Period to Roman times (8th century BCE - 2nd century CE), is unexpectedly recapitulated in bronze “goddess plaques” of the 7-8th centuries CE made by Permian peoples – Finno-Ugric groups from the Ural region of northern Eurasia. The likely explanation is that both templates are descendants of the widely-diffused “Master of Animals” motif, which originated in Mesopotamia during the Ubaid period (6-5th millennium BCE). Transfer of the Master/Mistress of Animals motif  from the Near East to the Ural region probably occurred via the Scythians of the 1st millennium BCE.

Сборник содержит материалы исследований степей и лесостепей Зауралья в контексте почвоведения, ботаники, лихенологии, энтомологии и орнитологии, а также гуманитарной экологии. Основное содержание сборника посвящено изучению различных аспектов функционирования степных экосистем заповедника «Аркаим» и прилегающих к нему территорий.

In the Archaic period, Mediterranean and Greek North Pontic imports, rather well represented in Early Scythian burials on the Lower Don, are practically unknown in the burials of the nomads in the Lower Volga and South Urals regions.
The analysis of archaeological sources shows that in the second half of the 4th century BC imported beads and pendants made of glass, frit and amber reach the nomads of the Lower Volga and South Urals, and a little later, at the turn of the 4th and in the first third of the 3rd century BC – in addition, Greek pottery and possibly vessels made of precious metals, alabaster and onyx. Olbian bronze "borystheni" of the late 4th — 3rd centuries BC also were found into the Lower Volga region.
If for the 5th and most part of the 4th century BC. imports that entered the South Urals were mainly represented by products of the Achaemenid circle, then after the fall of the Achaemenid state and the resulting geopolitical changes in the Lower Volga region and the South Urals imports began to be distributed from (via) the North Pontic region. It is worth noting that in the burials on the Manych river and in the Lower Volga region, finds of transport amphorae were combined with similar black-glazed echinus bowls, and the find of another such bowl in the South Urals suggests that they enjoyed particular popularity among the nomads, even if they did not penetrate Sarmatia that such vessels could have reached the nomads within the same batch. 
The above discussed observations rather convincingly support the hypothesis put forward by D. B. Shelov and I. B. Brashinskii. There are grounds reason to suggest that beads and pendants, as well as amphoras, black-glazed pottery and coins could have reached the nomads of the Lower Volga and South Urals precisely via the Elizavetovskoe settlement at the mouth of the Don: probably, beads and pendants – even through the Scythian settlement, on which various industrial complexes and shops existed, allegedly destroyed in the 340s BC, whereas amphoras, black-glazed pottery and coins – already through the so-called Bosporan colony, founded on the site of a settlement in the last quarter of the 4th century BC, which existed until the mid-70s of the 3rd century BC.

The finds of wheel-made Iranian and Central Asian pottery, including transport flasks, in early nomadic burials in the South Urals and Trans-Volga regions have already attracted the attention of scholars. The reason for writing this article was a new find of such a flask in the South Urals, as well as the discovery by the author of an Aramaic inscription on a flask from the Temir Burial-mound in the South Trans-Urals, which the authors of the 1986 publication did not pay attention to. The author draws attention to flasks with a biconvex (flattened-spherical) profile of the body (asymmetric), to which belong, in particular, a flask from the Temir Bur-ial-mound and a new find – a vessel from the Burial-mound no. 1 of the Studenikin Mar group 3 – Vysokaya Mogila. If, until now, it was difficult to trace whether there are chronological peculiarities in the genesis of the flask forms, then an analysis of the context of the finds from the Early nomadic complexes of the South Urals give certain grounds to consider the flasks with a light engobe and a conventional-symmetric biconvex profile as earlier (no later than the last quarter of the 4th century BC) in comparison with the flasks with red engobe with a flattened-convex profile. An inscription with an indication of the volume, scratched on a flask from the Temir Burial-mound, does not provide grounds for a narrow dating of the flask, but allows to suggest that it was written in Chorasmia. Thus, if we proceed from the fact that the shape of the pack flasks is of Iranian origin, apparently already in the middle or the third quarter of the 4th century BC the earliest samples of them come to the no-mads of the South Urals either directly from Iran or, more likely, in most cases through Chorasmia.

Положение об Оренбургском казачьем войске было принято в конце 1840 года. Согласно этому Положению, казачье войско получало сплошную территорию. В состав территории Войска были включены три казенные волости Троицкого уезда Оренбургской губернии. Жители волостей, государственные крестьяне, были поставлены перед выбором: либо вступить в казачье сословие, либо переехать на указанные правительством места. В публикации на основании доступных источников анализируется влияние Положения на население одной из этих волостей – Кундравинской волости Троицкого уезда Оренбургской губернии. Сравниваются демографические последствия Положения для населения Кундравинской волости и Нижнеувельской станицы и волости Троицкого уезда. По результатам сравнения сделан вывод, что влияние Положения на население территориальных единиц не универсально, а в каждом случае имеет местную специфику.

The article is devoted to the publication of the burial of the Bulatovo-1 cemetery in the Trans-Ural part of the Republic of Bashkortostan with a unique for this region find of a Greek chalcedony scaraboid with an incised image. Considering the attribution of the subject of the image and the shape of the scaraboid, there is every reason for dating it with the highest probability no earlier than the second quarter of the 5th and no later than the early 4th century BC. On the other hand, analysis of the grave inventory shows that there are sufficient grounds for dating the burial no earlier than the first half of the 3rd century BC. This allows us to confidently assume that the scaraboid with the image of a mare and a foal ended up in the burial of an elderly woman and a teenager as an antique item of prestige. If for the 5th and most of the 4th century BC imported objects which found their way to the South Urals were mainly represented by items of the Achaemenid circle, then after the fall of the Achaemenid state and the resulting geopolitical changes imports from (via) the North Pontic area began to penetrate the Lower Volga region and the South Urals, There is every reason to consider that the published scaraboid was brought to the South Urals no earlier than the second half of the 4th century BC, when imported beads and pendants made of glass, frit and amber began to arrive in this region through the North Pontic area.

Most of the early Hungarian tribes originated from the Volga-Kama and South-Ural regions, where they were composed of a mixed population based on historical, philological and archaeological data. Here we present the uniparental genetic makeup of the medieval era of these regions that served as a melting pot for ethnic groups with different linguistic and historical backgrounds. Representing diverse cultural contexts, the new genetic data originates from ancient proto-Ob-Ugric people from Western Siberia (6-13th century), pre-Conquest period and subsisting Hungarians from Volga-Ural region (6-14th century) and their neighbours. By examining the Hungarian prehistory’s eastern archaeological traits, we also study their genetic composition and origin in an interdisciplinary framework.We analysed 110 deep sequenced mitogenomes and 42 Y-chromosome haplotypes from 18 archaeological sites from Russia. The results support the studied groups’ genetic relationships regardless of geographical d...

Most of the early Hungarian tribes originated from the Volga-Kama and South-Ural regions, where they were composed of a mixed population based on historical, philological and archaeological data. Here we present the uniparental genetic makeup of the medieval era of these regions that served as a melting pot for ethnic groups with different linguistic and historical backgrounds. Representing diverse cultural contexts, the new genetic data originates from ancient proto-Ob-Ugric people from Western Siberia (6-13th century), pre-Conquest period and subsisting Hungarians from Volga-Ural region (6-14th century) and their neighbours. By examining the Hungarian prehistory’s eastern archaeological traits, we also study their genetic composition and origin in an interdisciplinary framework.We analysed 110 deep sequenced mitogenomes and 42 Y-chromosome haplotypes from 18 archaeological sites from Russia. The results support the studied groups’ genetic relationships regardless of geographical d...

Статья посвящена аспектам реконструкции ткацкого станка бронзового века Южного Зауралья и Северного Казахстана. Рассматриваются два возможных варианта его конструктивных особенностей: примитивный станок-рама и классический ткацкий станок с ремизкой. Технологические параметры ткани, изученные по ее отпечаткам на керамических сосудах синташтинской, петровской и алакульской культур, свидетельствуют об ее изготовлении на классическом ткацком станке. Археологические параллели указывают на западный импульс данной технологии производства текстиля.

Regulation of agrarian relations in the Southern Urals during the Civil War
Monograph summary
In this work we view the agrarian policy as one of the aspects of peasants and authority interaction (in town and village) during the revolutionary epoch. One of the main tasks of the work is finding out the mechanisms of this interaction and the role played by the local mediators for the regulation of agrarian relations: local agrarians, zemstvo and peasants' self-government activists, rural communities and individual land-owners. An attempt is made to transfer from general historical and legal appraisals of the agrarian policy, predominant in today's literature, to its characteristic as a real phenomenon, the content of which changes dependent on the level: ideal (program), normative (land law), institutional (mechanisms of the realization of the agrarian course) and socio-cultural (interpretation, perception of various measures by the participants of the agrarian relations and their behavioral strategies). This permitted to considerably correct the orthodox appraisals of the situation, and even speak of a certain successiveness in the policies of various regimes in1917
–
1921. The veracity of the main tenets and conclusions of the research is  provided by covering a broad scope of various historical sources, the analysis of the available social scientific literature and the compliance of aims, methodology and methods with this aim. The monograph will consist of the introduction, 5 chapters, the conclusion, references and sources and appendices. The supposed capacity of the book is 250 pages.
The

Introduction
gives the rationales for the problems discussed and the tasks of the research. It discusses the degree to which the subject matter has been explored, its literature and source bases. The historiograpgic study has permitted us to formulate the important characteristics of the agrarian development of the south-western region of Russia, peasants' organizations and movement, agrarian legislation of anti-Bolshevik governments and the 'military Communism' policy in the South Urals. As a result, the author's view was formulated on the phenomenon of the agrarian policy as a complex multilevel system of measures for the development and realization of the agrarian course, the integral part of which was the activity for the regulation of agrarian relations, carried out by the local land institutions, self-government bodies and administrative establishments.
The First Chapter
of the monograph,
"South Urals Village and power in 1917- 1910",
characterizes the land relations and social structure of South Urals villages during the modernization processes of the early 20th c., at the time of World War I and the 1917 Revolution, and also during the first agrarian reforms of 1918. We reconstruct the process of the agrarian course development by the anti-Bolsheviks in the fall of 1918, which attracted regional institutions and the wide range of local activists. We also characterize the phenomenon of uezd peasants' congresses of summer 1918, which virtually legitimized the new power structures and supported them as the newly formed structures of 'democratic counter-revolution'. We also reconstructed the legal normative basis of agrarian regulation in the South Urals and concluded, that the anti-Bolshevik governments' policies in the village were very close to each other.
The Second Chapter, " The organization of the agrarian business in the South Urals from summer to autumn of 1918 (during the Civil War)",
views the formation of the system of the agrarian business and its local realization in 1918. We have specified the general directions and issues in the activity of agrarian institutions, characterized their structure, shown the mechanism of their interaction with each other and with the bodies of zemstvo and peasants' self-government. We have established the positions of various groups of the rural population and shown how their representatives used to realize their interests. The activities of volost zemstvos and Soviets were compared, both being the bodies connected with peasants' communities and acting as instruments of the rural society. We discovered the momentous role of the elected peasants' establishments in the regulation of land relations.
The third chapter,

"The 'peasantry issue' in the activity of the military dictatorship",
discusses the content and implementation of the agrarian policy of A. V. Kolchak's military dictatorship. We describe his main steps for land relations regulation and mechanisms of their realization, characterize the model of interaction between the military, administrative and agrarian institutions of that regime and the self-government bodies, which remained the major executive unit of the regime's policy in the country, alongside with the agrarian ministry apparatus and the rural authorities. We conclude that the regime

sought to legalize the actually existing land tenure on the basis of the left-liberal approach, which  promoted the preservation and consolidation of the small peasant proprietorship. It also testifies to the differentiation of the policy on the area of European Russia (the Urals) and Siberia (South Trans-Urals).
The fourth chapter,

" Preparation and carrying out of the agrarian reform in Orenburg Cossack army",
considers the preparation and carrying out of the agrarian reform in Orenburg Cossack Army. The tasks of the reform were to make that Army an independent subject of landownership, which had not been accomplished before the revolution. The Cossack's right for land was tied up with their military service and their function as one of the guarding foundations of autocracy. The revolution triggered off the re-evaluation of the legal norms concerning the Cossacks' land ownership and land tenure. This reform was closely linked to the nation-scale settlement of social, legal and administrative autonomy ('distinctiveness') of the Cossack regions, the Cossacks' military service and other related issues. It also opened up the way for the Cossacks' transformation from class community to socioterritorial community. The chapter also focuses on the process of elaboration of the main principles of this reform by the Cossacks' self-government bodies and Soviets in 1917-spring 1918, and on the regulation of land relations during the Civil War.
The fifth chapter,

"Regulation of agrarian relations at the final stage of the Civil War: peasantry and the Soviet power in 1919-1921",
considers the agrarian relations in the South-Urals region as the Civil War ended and the institutions of the Soviet State were formed. Our attention is concentrated on the activity of local institutions and authorities to regulate the established land tenure. We have found that the legal acts of the Soviet authorities paid regard to the already formed land allotment and  patterns of interaction of the rural population in their 'kulturnichestvo' policy and agrarian labor practice of 1920. This fact, as well as the previous facts, reveal that there are limits in any regime's control of the life of a village and the 'passive, but refractory peasants' economics' (L.N.Litoshenko). Compared with the  policy of 'the Whites', the Soviet agrarian course reveals many similar features and strategies as it elaborated and implemented the State policy in the agrarian and peasantry issues. At the same time, the general agrarian course of the Soviets was accompanied by the stringent food policy, which turned out to  be a cause of the agricultural crisis, famine and protests of peasants in the region.

In
the Conclusion
we summarize our findings and formulate the main inferences of our research, as we estimate the policies of various political forces in the South Urals, and the role, which the local institutions and rural communities played in these policies. The character and actual content of an agrarian course is a total of the interaction of various institutions, which was largely determined by the range of local problems, a specific 'luggage' of a region. This permits us to recognize the importance of internal connections of the Russian province for the understanding of the processes, which took place during the Revolution and the Civil War. As we conclude, the local, concrete-historical studies can reckon both as a local cross-cut of the Russian history, and as a means of renewal of the researchers' sets of problems, the revision of outdated or too general approaches and schemes.

The article deals with the research of cloth imprints on the inside of pots from the bronze age Krivoe Ozero cemetery in the Trans-Urals. It was possible to reconstruct the basic characteristics of the cloth as well as possible technology used in its production. In addition, commonalities and differences in the sintashta and petrovka cloth production are considered.

Для оценки мобильности и идентификации происхождения древних популяций требуется проводить сравнение их изотопных отношений 87Sr/86Sr с локальной базовой (фоновой) линией биодоступного стронция, характерной для каждого
конкретного местонахождения или потенциального района происхождения индивида или артефакта. В данной работе на примере древнего рудника Новотемирский (Южный Урал) эпохи бронзы проведена оценка такой базовой линии. Изотопные
отношения 87Sr/86Sr определены в поверхностной и подземной воде, коренной породе (серпентинит), глине из стенки шахты, кости светлого хоря, а также в траве и раковине двустворки с берега озера. Наименьшим разбросом изотопных отношений стронция друг относительно друга обладают поверхностная и подземная вода, раковина и трава, что позволяет использовать их для определения объединенной базовой линии биодоступного стронция. Мульти-прокси (поверхностная и подземная вода, травы и раковина двустворки) локальная базовая линия биодоступного стронция для района древнего рудника Новотемирский (Южный Урал) может быть представлена в виде диапазона 0,7096 ± 0,0003 (2σ, n = 5).
To assess the mobility and provenance of ancient populations, it is necessary to compare their 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratios with the local bioavailable strontium baseline (background), characteristic of each specific location or potential provenance region of an individual or artifact. Its definition requires a comprehensive approach to the analysis
of heterogeneous samples («proxies») characterizing the ecosystem of the archaeologicalsite under study, the identification of the most suitable proxies, as well as the unification and standardization of the sampling and analytic protocols. A pilot study is presented devoted the definition of the local range of bioavailable strontium by the example of the Novotemirskiy Bronze Age mine (Southern Urals). 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios were determined in surface and underground water, bedrock (serpentinite), clay from the mine wall, and steppe polecat’s bone, as well as in grass and a bivalve shell from the lake. The lowest range of strontium isotope ratios relative to each other is characteristic of surface and groundwater, shell and grass, which allows them to be used to determine the combined baseline of bioavailable strontium. Multi-proxy (surface and underground water, grassand a bivalve shell) local bioavailable strontium baseline for the Novotemirskiy ancient mine (Southern Urals) is 0,7096 ± 0,0003 (2σ, n = 5).

Работа посвящена особенностям применения методов геостатистики в археоло-гической картографии: рассмотрено понятие, описаны базовые методы и приведены рекомендации по сбору данных в полевых условиях. Кроме того, на примере укре-пленного поселения бронзового века Сарым-Саклы проведено сравнение результатов и потенциала неразрушающих методов исследования. Ключевые слова: бронзовый век, синташтинская культура, укрепленные поселения, аэрофотоснимки, геостатистика, картография. Введение Одним из поворотных моментов в развитии южноуральской археологии, бесспорно, стало широкое внедрение метода сплошного дешифрирования материалов государственной аэро-фотосъемки (Зданович и др., 2007). С его помощью было открыто значительное число ранее неизвестных памятников, наиболее яркие из которых — укрепленные поселения синташтин-ской культуры. Помимо первичного выявления памятников И. М. Батаниной и ее коллегами решалась и другая важнейшая задача — археологическая интерпретация увиденного на снимке. В частности подсчитывалось количество курганов в могильниках или число видимых на по-верхности жилищных впадин неукрепленных поселений. Для укрепленных синташтинских поселений выяснялись их размеры, вероятное количество жилищ, особенности оборонитель-ной архитектуры. Широкое развитие именно этого метода, с моей точки зрения, позволило существенно продвинуться в изучении вопросов заселения территории, демографических па-раметров социумов, а также наметить пути воссоздания картины древней истории Южного Урала. В настоящее время предпринимаются попытки дальнейшего решения задач такого рода, но уже с применением данных, полученных с помощью искусственных спутников Земли,— космоснимков высокого разрешения и данных спектрального зондирования поверхности пла-неты (ASTER и Landsat) (Krauze et al., 2013). Основным организационным преимуществом всех видов дистанционного исследования является возможность удаленного выявления памятников и их первичной интерпретации без выезда в поле. Однако какова точность такой интерпрета-ции? Очевидно, что простейшим и наиболее естественным для археолога способом ответа на этот вопрос является натурное исследование памятника путем раскопок. Но очевидно, что у раскопочного исследования есть существенные недостатки, прежде всего высокая затратность: они требуют времени, сил и, что немаловажно в наше время, денег. Кроме того, подвергая памятник раскопкам, мы сознательно уничтожаем его, не оставляя культурного наследия по-томкам, не давая шанса следующим поколениям археологов на более детальное обследование с применением других методов, которые, вполне вероятно, появятся в будущем и позволят получать больше информации с меньшим ущербом для памятника. В связи со всем вышесказанным все более актуальным становится широкое внедрение и применение неразрушающих методов исследования из инструментария геофизики, геохимии и картографии с применением геостатистики с целью получения более точного знания об археологических памятниках и проверки первичных интерпретаций. Примененные в совокуп-ности, эти методы позволяют существенно расширить наше понимание памятника, подвергнув его при этом минимальному разрушающему воздействию. Первым двум из упомянутых мною методов исследования посвящены публикации спе-циалистов (Федорова и др., 2013; Doonan et al., 2014), однако третий, несмотря на широкий опыт картографирования памятников и построения их электронных моделей, пока недо-статочно освещен в профессиональной литературе. Целью настоящей публикации является обобщение личного полевого и лабораторного опыта работы с данными натурных измерений памятников археологии бронзового века и систематизация выработанных методов иссле-дований. Предыдущая публикация, частично посвященная данной тематике (Хэнкс и др., 2013), была направлена прежде всего на характеристику изучаемого памятника (укреплен-ного поселения Устье I), а не на анализ использованных методов и их исследовательского потенциала.

In the scholarly research area of "Theory and History of Architecture, Restoration and Reconstruction of Architectural Heritage", one often comes across understatements and controversial statements regarding the fundamental principles of architecture, especially when it comes to research into regional specifics. In general, architectural science has covered but poorly prehistoric architecture issues, which calls for developing a new avenue of research into “Architecture and Urban Planning Prehistory” as a vast layer of architectural and archaeological monuments using a complex methodology based on a morphological approach. Given the theme thus formulated, the new avenue of research could evolve out of the specifics of studying the architectural and archaeological complexes and ancient settlement systems in the Southern Urals during the Bronze Age, thus contributing to the conservation of this heritage. The new research direction could enhance architectural science by studies on prehistoric architectural structures and complexes, fitting logically into the concept of taxonometric approach to architecture as a reflection of the spiritual realm in a region’s historical environment (according to G.V. Esaulov) and enabling one to explore the foundations of architecture at the 2nd level (layer), i.e. the entire "protoarchitecture" and the origins of urban planning culture.

The paper studies burial complexes of the kurgan 5 of the burial ground "Ivanovskie I kurgany" ("The Ivanovskiy 1 st Kurgans") located in the Southern Urals. The burial ground is located in the Trans-Ural regions of Bashkiria and is a part of the early nomads' famous monuments in the Southern Urals. The kurgan necropolises located in steppe and forest-steppe zones of the Trans-Urals differ from those described in certain features of the funeral rite and clothing complexes. Researchers have repeatedly paid attention to the specifics of the monuments range in this region. A combination of various funeral rite features, diversity of funerary structures both in burial ground as a whole and in individual kurgans is the particular characteristic of the kurgan mounds of the 5 th-4 th centuries BC in the Trans-Ural regions. The trait is considered a sign of a transitional period. The necropolis "Ivanovskie I kurgany" can be included in the scope of such transitional period monuments. In total, 11 kurgans were recorded in the burial ground. Some of them were built in the Bronze Age (2 nd millennium BC), but most were constructed by early nomads in the late Sauromatic and early Sarmatian stage. Kurgan 5, which can be attributed to the category of large ones, contained burial 4 at the heart of its structure. A wooden structure was erected over the central burial but it completely burned down when performing ritual actions in ancient times. Three more burials were identified on the kurgan periphery: a rich and varied inventory was found in the burials, moulded and pottery ceramic vessels, weapons elements (bronze arrowheads, iron dagger, iron spearhead), elements of horse equipment. Bronze mirrors, beads, and jewelry were found in women's burials. The inventory has analogies both in the South Ural complexes and in the burials of the Middle Don. A certain part of the items dates back to a large period of 5 th-3 rd centuries BC, however, a separate category of items that allow to specify the dating of the kurgan within the second half of the 4 th-the turn of the 4 th-3 rd centuries BC. In this regard, the burials from kurgan 5 can be interpreted as supporting complexes of the early nomads of the Southern Urals of the Early Prokhorov period. Association of the studied data with the nomads groups, carriers of cultural traditions of the Filippovska's circle monuments, is an important aspect of the published materials.

The article is devoted to the design analysis of two ceremonial horse-harnesses originating from Later Sarmatian culture graves at the burial mounds of Pokrovka 2 (Southern Urals) and Valovyj 1 (Lower Don). Based on comparison between decorative elements of the harnesses, the author concludes that the conception of their design is uniform. The conclusion becomes possible thanks to the phalerae with tamghas and fish figurines plated with gold. The manner of design of the ceremonial horse-harness using fish depictions may be traced upon the cultures of Eurasian nomads. Samples of the Later Sarmatian horse equipment may also be attributed to the same tradition. There exists an opinion of scholars about the connection of fish depictions to the symbolism of death represented in horse equipment.

One area of concentration of golden Achaemenian jewelry of the 5th-4th cc. BCE identified in the steppes of SW Siberia (Siberian Collection of Peter I, bought from robbers for the tsar family). The second area of such artifacts concentration was the South Ural where they were founded in archaeological context for men and for women and their diversity was more fully documented (for men they are diverse, for women they were usually the costume accessories). The composition of artifacts in both regions corresponds to the information of Greek and Roman authors on gifts of the “king of kings” for merits, on his diplomatic gifts and gifts in return. Both regions were far from the borders of the Empire, but were important areas of fur hunting (from the South Ural it was easier to deliver; therefore, it was also a key point of trade routes later). The jewelry wares demonstrates the costs incurred by the first “world Empire” to ensure a stable fur trade. They were, probably, gifts from the rulers of the border satrapies, made on behalf of the king. 

Key words: jewelry wares of Achaemenian Iran, concentration in the SW Siberia and South Ural, king / satraps gifts, fur trade, 5th-4th cc. BCE.   

List of illustrations
Fig. 1. The main zones of Achaemenian jewelry concentration in Steppe: 1 – Siberian Collection of Peter I (base: H. Parzinger); 2 – South Ural (base: Vliianiia 2012).
Fig. 2. Torques of the Achaemenian tradition in the Siberian Collection of Peter I: 1 – Iran 2004; 2, 9 – after Ivanov A.A., Lukonon V.G., Smesova L.S.; 3, 6, 7 – after S.I. Rudenko; 4, 5 – after E.F. Korolkva; 8 – Mir kochevnikov 2013.
Fig. 3. Bracelets and earrings of the Achaemenian tradition in the Siberian Collection of Peter I (after S.I. Rudenko). 
Fig. 4. Golden vessel (1) and the golden handles of wooden vessels (2) from the Siberian Collection of Peter I and the silver vessel handle, the purchase of G.F. Miller, 1734 (3): 1,3 - after Ivanov A.A., Lukonon V.G., Smesova L.S.; 2 – Ibid, and Siberia 2001.
Fig. 5. The golden horse harness details in the Siberian Collection of Peter I: 1 – Iran 2004; 2 – Siberia 2001.
Fig. 6. The Nowruz gifts to the “king of kings” of the Iranian peoples (after A. Tourovets).
Fig. 7. The Achaemenian jewelry from barrow 1 in Filippovka I (after Zolotye oleni 2002; Vliianiia 2012).
Fig. 8. The Achaemenian jewelry from other barrows in Filippovka I (after Zolotye oleni 2002; Vliianiia 2012).
Fig. 9. Combination of the torque and silver rhyton from the male graves of South Ural (after Vliianiia 2012).
Fig. 10. The Achaemenian jewelry from the female graves of South Ural (after Vliianiia 2012).
Fig. 11. “Herodotus Road” from Scythia to the South Ural (Herod. IV. 24) and its archaeological traces.
Fig. 12. “The Northern Road” of the 1st c. CE after “Hou Han shu”, 88 (in red) and the “Khwarezmian Road” of the 1st c. BCE – 4th c. CE (in blue), which ended the South Ural (Yan / 嚴).

В октябре 1927 г. в г. Челябинске покончил с собой осведомитель окружного отдела ГПУ Б. Я. Ель- кин, передававший в органы государственной безопасности сведения о деятельности сторонников левой оппозиции в партийной организации Железнодорожного района г. Челябинска. В предсмертной записке он обвинил в своей смерти руководство ГПУ и окружной партийной организации. Остается неясным, предшествовал ли тому конфликт с руководством ГПУ или же основной причиной его решения стали угрызения совести. В условиях жесткой борьбы за власть в партии данный случай мог быть использован в качестве компрометирующего материала против сторонников политической линии руководства ВКП(б). М. Д. Голубых, женатый на сестре Б. Я. Елькина, предпринял попытку широко распространить информацию о случившемся, в частности, привлечь к расследованию самоубийства ЦКК. Местное партийное руководство и окружной отдел ГПУ смогли погасить возможный скандал, не дав ему выйти за пределы Челябинского округа. М. Д. Голубых был вынужден покинуть город, в силу чего смог избежать жестких репрессивных мер в свой адрес. Представленные в публикации документы позволяют очертить все основные этапы развернувшегося конфликта, показать действия сторон и его последствия.

Рассматривается индустрия стоянки Сергеевка 1 эпохи верхнего палеолита в горной части р. Нугуш на юго-востоке Башкортостана. Технологический и морфологический анализ каменных изделий позволяет сделать вывод о присутствии типологического комплекса, характерного для ранних памятников круга стоянки Талицкого в верхнем палеолите Урала.

В степных биотопах Южноуральского региона (Россия и Казахстан) найдено 136 видов панцирных клещей (88 родов 49 семейств). Подавляющее большинство семейств в фауне насчитывает 1-2 таксона родового ранга, большинство родов – 1 вид. «Ведущими» по тасономическому богатству являются семейства Brachichthoniidae, Oppiidae, Oribatulidae и Scheloribatidae. Высокое положение занимают Passalozetidae, Scutoverticidae, Pedrocortesellidae и Eremaeidae. Также характерно присутствие большого числа небогатых видами ксерофильных родов (Aphelacarus, Cosmochthonius, Phyllozetes, Sphaerochthonius, Haplochthonius, Epilohmannia, Simkinia, Passalozetes и др.). В южной части региона становится заметным участие ксерофильного фаунистического комплекса (Zetomotrichidae, Pediculochelidae, несколько видов Pedrocortesella, Haplochthonius sanctaeluciae, Simkinia elongata) пустынь Турана. Северная граница его распространения проходит около 50º с.ш. Для нескольких таксонов (Latovertex laticuspis, Plesiodamaeus glaber) с Южноуральским регионом связан, видимо, предел распространения в меридиональном направлении. В целом, ценофауна степей региона выглядит достаточно своеобразной. Наиболее выраженные черты характеризуют ее как преимущественно аридную, таковы: миграционный («обломочный») характер фауны, характерный спектр «ведущих» таксонов, характерный дефицит таксонов неморальной и (особенно) бореальной фаун, значительное количество и существенная роль в фауне таксонов древнесредиземноморского родства, наличие хорошо представленных ксерофильных фаунистических комплексов (космополитического и туранского). По преобладающим типам ареалов фауна может быть охарактеризована как преимущественно голарктическо-древнесредиземноморская.

From steppe and other non-forested habitats of South Urals region (Russia and Kazakhstan) are recorded 136 species of oribatid mites (88 genera of 49 families). The most of families include here 1-2 taxons of generic level; the most of genera include only 1 species. The richest families here are Brachichthoniidae, Oppiidae, Oribatulidae and Scheloribatidae; other high positions are occupied by Passalozetidae, Scutoverticidae, Pedrocortesellidae and Eremaeidae. Also there are many xerophylous genera (Aphelacarus, Cosmochthonius, Phyllozetes, Sphaerochthonius, Haplochthonius, Epilohmannia, Simkinia, Passalozetes, etc.) what are poor of species but characteristic for the desert fauna. At the southern part of the region increases a role of the Turanian faunistic elements: families Zetomotrichidae, Pediculochelidae, and some individual species like Pedrocortesella spp., Haplochthonius sanctaeluciae, Simkinia elongata. Northern border of their range is near N51º. Some taxons (Latovertex laticuspis, Plesiodamaeus glaber) have longitudinal borders of their ranges on the bounds of the region. At whole the steppe fauna of the region seems rather peculiar. The most strongly pronounced peculiarities characterize the fauna as mainly arid one. That are: migration (fragmental) nature of the fauna, characteristic sequence of the richest taxons, characteristic deficit of nemoral and especially boreal faunas, significant percentage and high importance of the taxons of Old-Mediterranean affinity in the fauna, high representation of xerophylous faunistic complexes (both cosmopolite and Turanian). By the pattern of ranges the fauna characterizes as principally Golarcto-Old-Mediterranean.

The study concerns children’s burials of the Srubnaya culture (Bronze Age, the South Urals). The assumption that grave goods are related to the gender and age of the dead and may also reflect the stages of growing up of children and their inclusion in economic life (gender and labour socialization) was the theoretical basis of the research. A sample consisting of 178 anthropologically identified individuals who died before the age of 15 years was analyzed. This sample was divided into three age sub-groups in order to catch the dynamics in distribution of the grave goods in accordance to age and in order to identify the different stages of children’s life course. The author’s study demonstrated that children before 2 years old were mostly accompanied by gender-neutral grave goods (ceramic vessels) or were buried without any items. After this age grave goods become more diverse and numerous. It is possible to suggest that gender socialization in the Srubnaya society started around the age of two-three but female gender was marked more often than male. The study of age dynamics demonstrates that as the children grew older, the number of jewelry increased, while other items were still few in number. Labour socialization was not reflected in burial rite. The perspective of the study is seen in the extension of the source base and further analysis of artifacts, including ceramic material.

Mineral assemblages and formation conditions of precious metals (Au, Ag, PGE) in ores of the Mikheevskoe porphyry copper deposit (South Urals) are the subject of our study. Three mineralization types can be distinguished: (1) Gold-silver-telluride mineralization overlapping porphyry-style bornite-chalcopyrite ores includes native gold (fineness 863–873), electrum (fineness 593–672), galena, hessite, coloradoite, and, more rarely, petzite, stützite, Au-Ag ditellurides, native tellurium, tellurobismuthite, tetradymite–kawazulite, altaite, and extremely rare melonite NiTe2, merenskyite PdTe2, and sopcheite Ag4Pd3Te4; (2) Gold-arsenopyrite-basemetal mineralization within quartz-tetrahedrite-sphalerite veinlets cutting porphyry-style mineralization; (3) Gold-telluride mineralization with argillic alteration and mineralogically similar to that of type (1) but distinct because of the presence of Au-Ag, Ag, and Pb selenides. Textural relationships supported by fluid inclusions data and chlo...

© 2020 г. В.В. Овсянников В статье анализируется обнаруженные в ходе исследований Шиповского курганно-грунтового могильника в 2006-2008 гг. два погребения, содержавшие остатки ножен на боевых клинках. В них обнаружены крупные бляхи, найденные у рукояти, которые, вероятно, служили как украшение устья ножен, а также могли выполнять функцию крепления ножен к поясу. Находки таких украшений были характерны для Скифии и Бактрии, что еще раз доказывает присутствии зауральского компонента в памятниках Посурья первых веков нашей эры за счет привлечения материалов из ареала кара-абызской культуры. The paper analyzes two burials revealed during studies at Shipovo barrow and ground cemetery in 2006-2008 containing the remains of the sheaths on battle blades. They contain large metal plates located at the handle which probably served as decorations of the sheath mouth, or were the means of fastening the sheath to a belt. The discovery of such jewelry was characteristic of Scythia and Bactria, which once again confi rms the presence of the Trans-Ural component in the monuments of the Sura region in the fi rst centuries AD due to the attraction of materials from the area of Kara-Abyz culture.

The report “Magna Hungaria and its Relations with the Eurasian States of the Same Historical Period” reveals the issues of cultural and other relations of the state on the basis of archaeological artifacts (grave goods, hoards, and others) and studies of the general historical and political situation in the Eurasian steppe and Western Asia. In this case, the author considers the territory of Magna Hungaria as the distribution territory of Kushnarenkovo and Karayakupovo cultures of the Southern Urals.

THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF TEXTILE CULTURE
IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE IN THE SOUTHERN URALS
At the turn of the 3rd / 2nd millennium BC textile artifacts (fabric impressions on ceramics and organic samples) were widespread in the Southern Urals. The paper is devoted to identifying the possible origins of the Sintashta and Alakul textile technologies by comparing them with the data about the products from adjacent territorial and chronological frames. The comparison criteria are the components of the textile culture (raw materials, technology, decoration and application), according to which the sources of the Trans-Ural Eneolithic, Yamnaya, Catacomb, Andronovo communities are systematized. Such innovative technologies as weaving, woolen threads, madder dyeing were first noted in the South Trans-Urals in the Sintashta materials and find their closest parallels in the catacomb materials. The Sintashta, Petrovka and Alakul antiquities demonstrate a single textile technology, organically integrated into the Srubno-Andronovo “world” of steppe and forest-steppe cattle-breeding cultures of Northern Eurasia.

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Abstract

The article is devoted to the publication and analysis of objects of Chinese origin in the funerary contexts of Sarmatia and the North Pontic area in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. - the first centuries of our era. They are represented by mirrors, lacquered vessels and boxes, silk fabrics, weapons and costume details. The features of the chronology of objects, the dating of the complexes in which they were found, and their mapping allow us to distinguish four different chronological stages, with the distribution matrix for early objects of the IV—II centuries BC and in the burials of the late Sarmatian period being similar (mainly in the Urals) and differ from similar distribution systems in the second half of the 1st century. BC — first half of the 1st century AD and the second half of the 1st —first half of the 2nd century AD with the concentration of finds in the Crimea, the Don and the Volga regions. In conclusion, we consider possible patterns of interpretation: trade (along the Great Silk Road), migration — with the nomadic movement from east to west of Eurasia, as well as the possible spread along the chains of inter-tribal exchanges, as diplomatic gifts and military trophies. The materials at our disposal do not give a strong reason for considering them as items of trade on the land part of the Great Silk Road, as well as there is no reason to link the spread of Chinese items in Eastern Europe exclusively with the migration of the Alans.