Altai Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

I argue that the general epistemological conservatism, typical for the post-socialist “transition,” taken together with the imagined or experienced feeling of radically limited spatial choices, gave rise to a series of interesting... more

I argue that the general epistemological conservatism, typical for the post-socialist “transition,” taken together with the imagined or experienced feeling of radically limited spatial choices, gave rise to a series of interesting symbolic shifts. An urgent search for a “new beginning,” a perceived state of semantic “indeterminacy” and “cognitive vacuum,” a recognition of the loss of all meaningful bearings was often represented as a disintegration of speech, as a deficiency of symbolic forms that could no longer express essential qualities of the current condition. The absence of comprehensive cognitive “maps” capable of representing the trajectory of development led to a pronounced preoccupation with the domain of minutiae, with tangible yet fragmented context. Also, this “being at a dead end” precipitated a move from the symbolism of space to the symbolism of time: “geography” gave place to “history.”

Ukrašavanje tela bio je značajan oblik izražavanja tokom različitih perioda ljudske istorije. Tetoviranje tela imalo je vitalnu ulogu u mnogim drevnim društvima, a razlozi su bili brojni i, pre svega, lični. Arheološki dokazi su nam... more

Ukrašavanje tela bio je značajan oblik izražavanja tokom različitih perioda ljudske istorije. Tetoviranje tela imalo je vitalnu ulogu u mnogim drevnim društvima, a razlozi su bili brojni i, pre svega, lični. Arheološki dokazi su nam pokazali da je tetoviranje drevni oblik umetnosti koji seže najmanje 6.000 godina u prošlosti. Među najlepšim i najsloženijim primerima izdvajaju se ostaci tetovaža drevnih ljudi koji su živeli tokom gvozdenog doba na planinama Altaja u Sibiru, pre više od 2000 godina. Zahvaljujući hladnim vremenskim uslovima u Sibiru, koji su omogućili da se očuvaju mumifikovana tela tadašnjih žitelja, arheolozi su mogli da detektuju najspektakularnije tetovaže na njihovim telima. Uglavnom su to bile tetovaže sa prikazima mitskih i stvarnih životinja u različitim pozama.

The article concerns results of radio-carbon dating of the horse bones found during excavation of funeral complexes in Altai dated by II century BC – V century AD. It is part of system studying of ancient and medieval horses from... more

The article concerns results of radio-carbon dating of the horse bones found during excavation of funeral complexes in Altai dated by II century BC – V century AD. It is part of system studying of ancient and medieval horses from archaeological sites. This work is carried out for two last decades with involvement of different experts from the natural-science sphere of knowledge. The analysis of osteological materials from the necropolises Yaloman-II and Stepushka-I relating to various stages of Bulan-Koby culture is so far carried out. The received data have essential value not only for definition of date of creation of each object and specification of a chronological framework of certain animal populations existence. It also gives the chance for consideration of the fixed objective information in a historical context with an exit to private and general reconstruction.

200 pages, 187 colour illustrations, 2 geographical maps, published by the Fondation culturelle Musée Barbier-Mueller and Somogy, 2015 The Altai Republic is located in a mountainous region on the outer reaches of Siberia, on the border... more

200 pages, 187 illustrations couleur, 2 cartes géographiques, édité par la Fondation culturelle Musée Barbier-Mueller et Somogy, 2015 4e de couverture : La République de l’Altaï est située dans une région montagneuse des confins de la... more

В настоящий том вошли ранее не публиковавшиеся статьи и полевые этнографические заметки по истории и культуре шорцев и других тюркоязычных народов Саяно-Алтая одного из крупнейших отечественных тюркологов XX века Надежды Петровны... more

В настоящий том вошли ранее не публиковавшиеся статьи и полевые этнографические заметки по истории и культуре шорцев и других тюркоязычных народов Саяно-Алтая одного из крупнейших отечественных тюркологов XX века Надежды Петровны Дыренковой (1899–1941).
Книга снабжена биографическим очерком о Н.П. Дыренковой, библиографическим списком ее работ, а также указателями и иллюстрациями из сибирского собрания МАЭ РАН.
Для этнологов, лингвистов, фольклористов, культурологов, религиоведов, всех интересующихся абори- генными культурами Сибири.

В монографии подробно представлены результаты фиксации и изучения археологических памятников в урочище Уркош, расположенном на левом берегу Катуни в Онгудайском районе Республики Алтай (Россия). Проведенные исследования и полученные... more

В монографии подробно представлены результаты фиксации и изучения археологических памятников в урочище Уркош, расположенном на левом берегу Катуни в Онгудайском районе Республики Алтай (Россия). Проведенные исследования и полученные материалы позволяют охарактеризовать основные этапы разработанной культурно-хронологической схемы и рассмотреть традиционную систему жизнеобеспечения, сформировавшуюся в ходе освоения Центрального Алтая древними, средневековыми и современными животноводами.

This book discusses both ancient and modern shamanism, demonstrating its longevity and spatial distribution, and is divided into eleven thought-provoking chapters that are organised into three sections: mind-body, nature, and culture. It... more

This book discusses both ancient and modern shamanism, demonstrating its longevity and spatial distribution, and is divided into eleven thought-provoking chapters that are organised into three sections: mind-body, nature, and culture. It discusses the clear associations with this sometimes little-understood ritualised practice, and asks what shamanism is and if tangible evidence can be extracted from a largely fragmentary archaeological record. The book offers a novel portrayal of the material culture of shamanism by collating carefully selected studies by specialists from three different continents, promoting a series of new perspectives on this idiosyncratic and sometimes intangible phenomenon.

In the course of their research campaign in Siberia, Ghent University archaeologists have developed a simple and cost effective method for the rapid 3D imaging of rock art, standing stelae and surface monuments. Their procedure will... more

In the course of their research campaign in Siberia, Ghent University archaeologists have developed a simple and cost effective method for the rapid 3D imaging of rock art, standing stelae and surface monuments. Their procedure will undoubtedly have a big role to play in archaeological research in advance of the oil pipeline expected soon.

Approaching Monument of Kol Tigin as an Epic The texts on the Bengu Stones dating from the period of Kokturk Khanate II (VIII century), are acknowledged as the first literary works of Turkish. Of the inscriptions of the era with... more

Approaching Monument of Kol Tigin as an Epic
The texts on the Bengu Stones dating from the period of Kokturk Khanate II (VIII century), are acknowledged as the first literary works of Turkish. Of the inscriptions of the era with miscellaneous dimensions, the inscriptions of Kol Tigin, Bilge Khagan and Bilge Tonyukuk are texts in whole representing the language structure of the period. Of these three, the text with 66 lines, prepared for Kol Tigin, was written by Bilge Khagan.
A product of an era in which verse and prose were not distinguished in exact lines, the style of these texts to which tradition of Turkish epic gave form were mentioned by many researchers. While telling the wars the heroes (Kol Tigin, and Bilge Khagan) fought and the achievements they won are told, the characteristics of epics such as epithets, parallel expressions, repetitions, alliterations, assonances, reduplication, idioms, similes, and expressions were used. Mythological envisions, not only the ones related with both the human-beings’ and the animals’ starting to live on earth but also the ones related with the creation of world prior to the adventures of heroes, show great resemblance to the epics of Altai-Sayan.
The most characteristic feature of these epics is that they prioritise the type of Khagan hero who rescues and protects the lineage of whom he is a member from enemy. On the monuments of Kol Tigin and Bilge Khagan, the fact is highlighted that Khagan who saves motherland from enemy and regulates the ethics is divined himself by God. Monuments present us each of these individuals as a hero of epic.
In this paper, first, by drawing attention to the organic relation between monument of Kol Tigin and Altai epics, the fact that these monuments are the main source of these epics will be shown; then, as a consequence, the claim will be put into words that the text on the monument of Kol Tigin is the first Turkish epic to have been written on account of the epical characteristics which the text on the monument of Kol Tigin bears.

Altai Turks, who has located within the Russian Federation so far, have lived with many different communities throughout the history and have remained under the influence of many other belief systems. Having kept their traditional belief... more

Shaman, 22/ 1-2, Spring-Autum, 2014

The Altai Mountains stand at the crossroads between the four nations of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. Whilst its location means that it has been conceptualised as a locus for interaction in prehistory, language barriers and... more

The Altai Mountains stand at the crossroads between the four nations of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. Whilst its location means that it has been conceptualised as a locus for interaction in prehistory, language barriers and sensitivities towards national borders mean that holistic research on archaeology here is difficult to conduct. By integrating Russian, English, and Chinese language data, with reference to Kazakh and Mongolia publications, this paper analyses theories of interaction in the 2nd–1st millennium BCE. Paths of least-cost modelled between a grid of points in GIS were used to create an accessibility map of the Altai, which was then compared with the locations of rock-art sites, themselves purportedly created along major routes by people practising mobile lifeways. The analyses show that movement in the Altai was likely concentrated at higher altitudes, with the majority of main paths running north-west to south-east. A large number of paths also traverse the modern borders, such as one that coincides with a modern Mongolian–Chinese pass. Its prehistoric usage is supported by the large number of comparable, contemporary rock-art at either end on both sides of the border. Rock-art sites overall are located either on or near routes that experienced medium to high frequency traffic. Though rock-art seems more likely to have been created along frequented routes, not all major routes have sites located nearby, lending support to theories that rock-art was created after significant experiences embedded in the variable political, social, and spiritual factors governing the physical act of its creation.

Chultukov Log-1 is a large barrow cemetery, located in the valley of Lower Katun river (Northern Altai, Russia), in which various cultural traditions of the Scythian era are represented (Pazyryk, Karakoba, Bystrianka). The main goal of... more

Chultukov Log-1 is a large barrow cemetery, located in the valley of Lower Katun river (Northern Altai, Russia), in which various cultural traditions of the Scythian era are represented (Pazyryk, Karakoba, Bystrianka). The main goal of this study was to determine whether the individuals buried in the cemetery and representing different cultural traditions are uniform in terms of their geographical origin. In order to reconstruct the origin of individuals an analysis of the isotopic composition of oxygen was performed within bone apatite phosphates from well preserved samples. To verify the state of preservation of human and animal osseous remains, diagenetic indices were calculated based on Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR). One of the most important conclusions is that the individuals from the cemetery
probably originated in the north. The most probable scenario includes population movements of the Bystrianka culture people from the steppe and piedmont zones to the south, to the mountainous valley of Lower Katun river in the Northern Altai, where they assimilated with the North Pazyryk communities. However, the contact of the inhabitants of the Norhern Altai with the south was not the result of migrations, but rather of the trade and the common genesis of the North Pazyrykgroups and the Pazyryk culture from Central and South-Eastern Altai. Some people of local origin had different eschatological beliefs and accordingly buried their dead in stone boxes (Karakoba type).

В монографии рассматриваются особенности алтайского текста как формы представления культуры чувствования Алтая, проявляющей себя в процессе создания духовной и художественной среды. Своеобразие алтайского текста Г.Д. Гребенщикова... more

В монографии рассматриваются особенности алтайского текста как формы представления культуры чувствования Алтая, проявляющей себя в процессе создания духовной и художественной среды. Своеобразие алтайского текста Г.Д. Гребенщикова раскрывается в особом дизайне словесной формы, идеологии заполнения пространства семантически значимыми элементами, конструкциях страстного дискурса.

This paper describes the geographical, historical and cultural context of the Chalkan people group living in the Altai Republic, Russia. The paper then looks at the points of conflict and contact with the personal cultural background of... more

This paper describes the geographical, historical and cultural context of the Chalkan people group living in the Altai Republic, Russia. The paper then looks at the points of conflict and contact with the personal cultural background of the author of the paper, and finally discusses potential points of contact with the gospel and strategies to aid the communication of the gospel to the Chalkans.

В данной работе автором рассматривается образ «роженицы» и семантический блок «роженица-тотем» на петроглифах Евразии времён палеолита – бронзового века. На основе метода проецирования данных этнографии на археологические источники,... more

В данной работе автором рассматривается образ «роженицы» и семантический блок «роженица-тотем» на петроглифах Евразии времён палеолита – бронзового века. На основе метода проецирования данных этнографии на археологические источники, сравнительно-религиоведческого метода с учетом историко-генетических и культурных связей между этносами автором строятся параллели между мало-азиатскими, европейскими и саяно-алтайскими представлениями о божественных первопредках Вселенной и человека. Расширив доказательства чатал-хююкских и сибирско-монгольских аналогий, установив твердую мифологическую и этнографическую тэнгри-камскую почву для интерпретации сюжетов чатал-хююкских неолитических памятников и энеолитических петроглифов на Юге Западной Сибири, Байкале, Алтае, Монголии; с опорой на вулканическую гипотезу возникновения тэнгри-камства; с учётом данных археологии о присутствии древнего человека в период древнего палеолита на территории Тувы, а также в связи с локализацией географами и историками «царства Ямы», «дома Ямы» на территории Саяно-Алтайской горной системы автор приходит к выводу о древности (период палеолита-неолита) и распространённости на территории всей Евразии тэнгри-камского мировоззрения.

In 2017, archaeological studies of the Pleistocene deposits in the South Chamber of Denisova Cave have been resumed. The deposits constituting the upper part of the Pleistocene strata have been examined at the mouth of the cave on the... more

In 2017, archaeological studies of the Pleistocene deposits in the South Chamber of Denisova Cave have been resumed. The deposits constituting the upper part of the Pleistocene strata have been examined at the mouth of the cave on the lines forming grids Е and Ж, including lithological layers 9 and 11. Layer 11, containing the deposits accumulated during the first half of MIS 3, has yielded lithic artifacts that can be attributed to the Early Upper Paleolithic. Primary flaking in this industry is characterized by radial and sub-prismatic cores. The analysis of flakes suggests that the parallel and Levallois reduction strategies were employed. The tool assemblage also reveals the combination of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic elements. Archaeological evidence from layer 9, whose deposits were accumulated during the Last Glacial Maximum, reflects the ​further development of blade technology.

Биобиблиографический справочник кандидата исторических наук, доцента, главного научного сотрудника, руководителя Научно-исследовательского центра истории и культуры тюркских народов Горно-Алтайского государственного университета Соенова... more

In the article, some Tangrian-Biblical, Sayanid-Semitic parallels are considered based on the methods of hermeneutics and comparativism, comparative analysis of myths, texts, clarifying the meanings of individual words, phrases of the... more

In the article, some Tangrian-Biblical, Sayanid-Semitic parallels are considered based on the methods of hermeneutics and comparativism, comparative analysis of myths, texts, clarifying the meanings of individual words, phrases of the biblical text and Tengri-Kama mythology. The purpose of the study is to resolve the issues: first, was there a profound penetration of biblical concepts, legends, symbols into the Turkic-Mongolian TengriKama worldview as a result of the proselytism of Christianity; Second, did the reverse influence of the Scythian-Cimmerian Sayanid civilization take place on the formation of ancient
oral Jewish mythology and its textual fixation in the first biblical books during the VIII-VII centuries BC? As a result of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that the mountain taiga cult of Tengri, which originated in the Altai-Sayan Sayanid Mountains, had a direct profound impact on the formation of the whole complex of theological representations reflected in biblical texts.

In Southern Siberia whole range of archaeological cultures Hunno-Sarmatian time (first half of the 1st Millenium AD) contains a specific category of inventory as small toiletries brushes. The tools were applied in cosmetic and hygienic... more

In Southern Siberia whole range of archaeological cultures Hunno-Sarmatian time (first half of the 1st Millenium AD) contains a specific category of inventory as small toiletries brushes. The tools were applied in cosmetic and hygienic purposes for coloring individual and body care. These products were distributed in Southern Siberia in the period of the first century AD – the fifth century AD. Brush out of use in the Turkic time and reappeared in Central Asia and Southern Siberia in the pre-Mongol time in a different design.

Using Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and doxa, the authors analyze the contested heritage debates surrounding the sensational Scythian burial discovery of the Altai Princess, also called the Ice Maiden, on the Ukok plateau. Her... more

Using Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and doxa, the authors analyze the contested heritage debates surrounding the sensational Scythian burial discovery of the Altai Princess, also called the Ice Maiden, on the Ukok plateau. Her 2012 repatriation to a special Gazprom-funded museum in the Altai Republic of Russia is politically contextualized and compared to cases of the Kennewick Man in the United States and the Lake Mungo Burials of Australia. The authors stress the importance of “heritage in the making” and conclude that diverse approaches to the Altai Princess must be understood through the historically constituted dispositions of various agents and their interaction with the structures governing society.

From the end of the 4 th millennium BC, a new proto-Caucasian population that characterized the Afanasyevo culture spread in the interior regions of Asia. This contrasted with the intermediate Mongoloid-Caucasoid anthropological... more

From the end of the 4 th millennium BC, a new proto-Caucasian population that characterized the Afanasyevo culture spread in the interior regions of Asia. This contrasted with the intermediate Mongoloid-Caucasoid anthropological appearance of the local Asian populations. The Afanasyevo bearers from Altai and Khangai are distinguished by the largest body stature among the ancient human groups of Eurasia. The craniological and osteometrical differences of the Afanasyevo populations are likely related with the adaptation of the migrant people to the harsh bio-climatic conditions of the mountainous regions of the Southern Siberia and Central Asia, which resulted in greater increase of the head and body size. A statistical comparison of the Afanasyevo craniological series and the Eneolithic ancestral groups (more than 150 crania), Early and Early Middle Bronze Age (about 520 crania) from the south of Eastern Europe allowed to discover a complex of traits that distinguish the Yamnaya population from the previous Eneolithic groups. The Afanasyevo bearers from the low-mountain regions of Altai, the Minusinsk Basin and Khangai mountain are most similar to the Yamnaya people of the forest-steppe and steppe regions of the Volga and Urals, which thus determines the origins of the Afanasyevo population. The craniological series of the Afanasyevo population from the Altai highlands are morphologically combined with the Eneolithic Eastern European groups (Sredny Stog and Repin cultures, Berezhnovka type), which suggests that their descendants could contribute towards the formation of the Afanasyevo population.

In Greek myth, Amazons were fierce women of exotic lands who gloried in hunting and war. The greatest Greek heroes, Heracles and Achilles, proved their valor by killing Amazon queens. But were Amazons mere fantasy? Thanks to archaeology,... more

In Greek myth, Amazons were fierce women of exotic lands who gloried in hunting and war. The greatest Greek heroes, Heracles and Achilles, proved their valor by killing Amazon queens. But were Amazons mere fantasy? Thanks to archaeology, we now know they were modeled on real steppe nomads of Eurasia. The Greeks were not the only ones to describe warlike females. Amazons appear in other ancient cultures, but with a twist. Non-Greeks desired the warrior women as allies and companions. This paper describes the archaeology of warrior women and recounts Amazon tales of the Caucasian steppes, Greece, Persia, Egypt, the Caucasus, and Central Asia featuring Penthesilea, Tirgatao, Tomyris, Sparethra, Amage, Zarina, Valdusa, Blue Lotus, Saikal, and Gulaim.