The paper concerns the analysis of the local environment around the multi-layer settlements of Mergen 6 and 7 situated in the immediate vicinity of each other. The settlements existed successively (partly contemporaneously in the early and high Neolithic) in the forest-steppe belt of Western Siberia. Two methods were chosen to obtain the results: spore-and-pollen (palynological) and microbiomorphic analyses of the cultural layers of the settlements of Mergen 6 and Mergen 7. In the settlement of Mergen 6, the following samples were collected for the palynological and microbiomorphic investigation: a vertical column from the center of the ditch of the dwelling no.5; areal soil samples of the dwelling no.5 from underneath the pottery debris of the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods; areal samples from the bottom layer of the dwelling no.21. In the settlement of Mergen 7, two vertical core samples were selected for the pore-and-pollen analysis: in the ditch of the dwelling no.1; and in the inter-dwelling area. Samples from the hearthing of the dwellings and from the inter-dwelling space were collected for the microbiomorphic analysis. The obtained results show that both settlements existed during the forest-steppe conditions, although the original landscapes of the sites chosen by the people for building the settlements were different in the early and high Neolithic. It appears that during the early Neolithic, the settlement of Mergen 6 was associated with an open site with meadow-steppe vegetation; birch forests constituted a small part of the landscape, whilst there were no pine forests in the close vicinity. During the middle Neolithic, people in the settlement of Mergen 7 preferred to settle in a birch wood, having cleared out a small area to build the dwelling. The results of the microbiomorphic analysis show that, despite the lack of pine forests nearby the settlements, people still used pine timber in housebuilding, apparently, intentionally. The frequent occurrence of remains of the wood detritus at the level of the floor of the dwellings and under pottery supports the initial archaeological observations about timber decking inside the houses. However, pollen and phytolithic studies do not demonstrate a wide use of the wetland waterside vegetation in housebuilding, apparently, because the lake at the time was not overgrown on the banks by reed and cattail. Therefore, despite the close location of the two sites and their similar hunting-fishing specialization of the subsistences, their populations in different chronological periods preferred distinct local conditions.

The article presents data on the morphological and typological characteristics of the trade tools of the Petrovka Culture of the South Trans-Urals and middle Tobol River region, originating from the sites of Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, and Tyumen Regions (77 specimens in total; 126 specimens in total including knives). According to the radiocarbon dating, the chronological period of the Petrovka sites in the Southern Trans-Urals spans the 19^th through 18^th centuries B.C. The distribution of tools into types was based on the techniques of typological division of the artifacts, taking into account their shape, presence of certain qualitative features, as well as consideration of the geographical and cultural areal of similar articles. The produce of the Southern Trans-Urals center is represented by a diverse set of metal tools and by functioning of large settlements with metallurgical specialization — Kulevchi 3, Ustye 1, and Shibaevo 1. In the typology of the tool complex of the Petrovka Culture of the Southern Trans-Urals and the Middle Pre-Tobol region, common Eurasian types dominate, being genetically associated with the centers of the Middle Bronze Age of the Circumpontian Metallurgical Province — the Late Yamnaya-Poltavkino, Catacomb Culture, and metal-producing centers of the Corded Ware Culture — Volsk-Lbische and Balanovo. A pronounced variety of the morphotypes of the tools, especially knives, is characteristic of the initial stage of ethnogenesis of the cultures of the forest-steppe and steppe zone of Eurasia during the transitional period from the MBA to the LBA. Common Eurasian types of tools are characteristic of the cultures of the 1st phase of the Eurasian (West Asian) metallurgical province of the forest-steppe and steppe belt from the Don region to the Irtysh region: Abashevo; Sintashta; Early Srubnaya (Pokrovka); Petrovka (Early Alakul). Specific groups of tools inherent in the tribes of the Petrovka Culture were revealed: axes with a massive head; medium-curved sickles with a prominent handle; socketed spearheads without eyelets and raised ribs along the edge of the socket; forged arrowheads with a through socket; knives with a straight prominent handle — double-edged and single-edged; knives with a forged open socket. In the appearance of some types of tools among the Petrovka population of the Trans-Urals, such as forged socketed tools — chisels, knives, arrows, double-edged knives with a prominent handle, and sickles with a small curvature, the influence of the Abashevo stereotypes of production is discernible. In the meantime, sufficient data have been obtained on the direct imports or on the conjugation of types of the metal tools and weapons of the Sintashta, Petrovka, and Seima-Turbino Cultures in closed complexes.

The Narym Selkups are an indigenous population of the Middle Ob River region speaking various dialects of the Selkup language related to the South-Samodian branch of the Ural language family. In the course of the study of Medieval and relatively recent burial grounds in the territory of the Narym Ob area of Tomsk Oblast, conside-rable amount of craniological material has been collected, which constitutes an important historical source for solving general problems of their origins. According to the archaeological and ethnographic materials, the Medieval burials were left by direct ascendants of modern Narym Selkups, whereas the materials from the later burial grounds are directly associated with their specific local-dialect groups. This paper is aimed to introduce into scientific discourse virtually all craniological materials known today from the burial grounds left by the Narym Selkups, and, on the basis of the results of group cross-correlation, to identify trends of the territorial variability of the whole community. Significant increase of new finds from the vast territory of the Middle Ob region, population-driven approach to the data analysis and development of the craniometric technique warranted re-grouping of the finds by the territorial principle and their repeated measurement and analysis. In view of the current problem, all craniological materials were grouped into ten sampling series, five of which are published for the first time (the burial ground of Ostyatskaya Gora and four combined craniological series from the burial grounds of Lower Chulym, Narym Ob, Upper Ket, and the Tym and Vasyugan rivers). Analysis of the variability of the series from the Narym Ob region in chronological and geographical bands showed their weak variability in space and time. Therefore, prior to the Russian colonization of Siberia, this region of the Middle Ob area was not invaded by considerably large groups of people of different anthropological appearance. All studied craniological series were samples from the single unity. Although the territorial variability of the anthropological features within the groups of the Narym Selkups is not large, in some cases an influence of territorially closest neighbours on the anthropological structures of particular Selkup populations can be discerned. It appeared that the southern groups exhibit resemblance with their territorially closest Turkic populations of the Chulym and Lower Tom regions, while in the composition of other Narym groups, there have been identified an admixture of the component genetically related to the Turkic populations of the Western-Siberian forest-steppe – Barabino and Tobol-Irtysh Tatars, and, although being very weak, an influence of the Ob Ugric populations can be discerned.

The paper presents the results of an archaeoparasitological analysis of the soil samples from a number of the burials dated to the end of the 4^th — first half of the 3^rd c. B.C. of the ancient burial ground of Volna 1 situated in the territory of the “Asiatic part” of the Bosporan Kingdom (present-day Temryuk District, Krasnodar Krai). As the result of the investigation, the parasitogenic spectrum of the studied population group has been determined. The eggs of three types of helminths were found. The presence of the eggs of human whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) in the soil samples from the burials suggest relatively poor sanitary and hygienic condition of the population and undeveloped hygienic habits of the studied population group. Analysis of the archaeoparasitological data in the historical context and utilization of the archaeopathological material from the archaeological sites of the chronologically close period from the territory of Europe and Asia Minor permitted identification of the range of possible causes of such a situation. The undeveloped hygienic habits are also manifested by finding of of lancet fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum) eggs in the soil samples. Besides, the presence in the soil samples of the eggs of this parasite is indicative, from the point of view of archaeoparasitology, of the type of the economy, its methods and, partly, of the dietary specifics. Interesting is the fact of finding of the broad tapeworm (Diphyllobothrium latum) eggs in one of the samples. Given the life cycle of the broad tapeworm and mode of infestation, it is possible to determine unambiguously that the tapeworm infestation might have happened during the consumption of raw underboiled/underroast or dried fish from the freshwater lakes and rivers from the territory of the south of Russia (River Kuban, River Don etc.). Having considered the obtained data in the historical-archaeological context, it is possible to hypothesize on the directions of travels of the infested individual. Characteristics of the archaeoparasitological spectrum indicate possible use of anthelminthic agents, or consumption of food with vermicidal effect with respect to the round worms. An important result of the study is demonstration of capabilities of the archaeoparasitology as a source of bioarchaeological information on the population of Northern Black Sea coast.

In order to determine dynamics and causes of transformation of everyday dress into a festive costume, specifics and functions of the women’s costume of the Khanty and Mansi have been studied. Towards this, the comparative-typological method was employed to study the costume composition, its local features, and differences with respect to the traditional everyday dresses, and the functions of the costume were determined. The study is based upon the materials of ethnographic expeditions carried out in the 1990s–2010s in the regions occupied by the Ob Ugric population (North-West Siberia and Northern Trans-Urals). It has been ascertained that the festive costume commonly comprised a dress, a breast decoration, and a shawl, and in its local variants it was complemeted by other items. The costume was all-season and had common and local elements. The common elements include multi-completeness (it consists of several items), variability according to weather conditions, use of silk and woolen fabrics and beads. The local specifics are manifetsed in the costume composition, silhouette variability, and techniques of decoration. In the end of the 20^th — beginning of the 21^st century, traditional clothing of the Khanty and Mansi changed in the appearance due to the use of modern synthetic materials (it changed the colour, sillhuette, means and techniques of decoration) and became merely festive. To the large extent those changes were caused by the industrial development on the territory occupied by the Ob Ugric population in the last quarter of the 20^th century, and later by the cultural, social, and economic transformations in Russia. The range of use of the traditional clothing shrank due to the spread of factory-made clothing. The growing interest to the ethnic culture stimulated demand for the national costume. It has become made from import synthetic fabrics, because the home-produced cotton fabrics disappeared from the shops. New fabrics changed the appearance of the clothing and its function, as it became merely festive.

The ethnic etiquette of the Yakuts demonstrates traditional culture, worldviews, and ritual and mythological practices. The historical and anthropological approach used in this study allowed us to consider motives and strategies of the behavior, customs and rituals in space and time. The study of folklore and ethnographic and linguistic materials made it possible to identify and analyze responses of the behavioral strategies that expand the boundaries of the developed space (travel customs and rituals), eliminate the “otherness” of a guest (an etiquette), and provide for communications between the man and the deities/spirits (a ritual). For the first time, archival and field materials on the guest and travel etiquette are introduced into scientific discourse. The aim of the study is to conduct a historical and cognitive analysis of the travel and guest etiquettes, which begin with overcoming the developed space — the dwelling place. As the result, we have revealed that the travel etiquette is primarily aimed at ensuring that the traveler returns home without encountering any obstacles in his journey. To achieve that, they used words-taboos and made a sacrifice to the spirit of the fire and to the spirit of the road. The analysis of special travel terms has shown that the main guardian of the traveler is his horse, while the behavioral code serves as an assurance of a successful journey. Compliance with pre-travel and travel taboos and rules primarily contributed to a safe return of the traveler. It has been found that the status of the traveler is transformed when he overcomes a “cultural barrier” — the fence, enters the developed space, and becomes a guest. The guest etiquette mainly defines behavior of the hosts, since the arrival of the guest, his welcoming and parting with him strengthened their life values, stability, and prosperity. The guest was considered to be a messenger of an alien world, so that the first series of the ritual actions was aimed at removing the “otherness” of the guest, the second series was aimed at including the guest in the home space, and the third series was aimed at seeing off the guest. Nowadays, respectful welcoming of a guest is also of a great importance, and the metaphor "the Yakut’s hospitality" has still not lost its significance.

Mass Christianization of the peoples of Yakutia (Eastern Siberia) at the end of the 18^th century led to the development of a demotic Christianity throughout the 19^th century. There were new rules, according to which a woman was not permitted to appear in public with her head uncovered, and therefore the marking function of the hairstyles became obsolete. This could explain the absence of rituals and rules associated with women’s hair and hairstyles in the Yakut culture of the 19^th–20^th centuries. The aim of this study is to prove a hypothesis, according to which pendants of hair ornamentation duplicate braids, and studying the pendants of the headrest ‘nachel’nik’ allows recreation of women’s hairstyle that had been in use before the period of mass Christianization. The article is based on the analysis of written, material, and visual sources of the 18^th–19^th centuries. Information about the hairstyles and adornments of the Yakuts is contained within the records of travelers of the 18^th–19^th centuries. Among the ethnographic works on the peoples of Siberia, one can find drawings depicting maidens and women, where particular attention is given to their hair. These materials were correlated with the data of the archaeological excavations of Yakut female burials of the 18^th century. The obtained results were compared with the materials from the 19^th century — photographs of women in national costumes and jewelry from museum collections. According to the results of the study, it can be stated that there was a tradition of changing maiden’s hairstyle to woman’s hairstyle in the context of the wedding ritualism. New rules of conduct, social roles, especially regulations on the appearance of women, were formalized in the society in the 19^th century with the mass Christianization of the peoples of Yakutia. There were new rules, according to which a woman was not permitted to appear in public with her head uncovered, and therefore the marking function of hairstyles became obsolete. This could explain the absence of rituals and rules associated with women’s hair and hairstyles in the Yakut culture of the 19^th–20^th centuries.

This study aims at providing an overview of the everyday life of Russian nuns in Palestine after World War II. This research encompassed the following tasks: to analyze the range of ego-documents available today, characterizing the everyday life and internal motivation of women in choosing the church jurisdiction; to identify, on the basis of written sources, the most active supporters of the Moscow Patriarchate to examine the nuns’ activity as information agents of the Russian Orthodox Church and Soviet government; to characterize the actors influencing the everyday life of the Russian nuns in the context of the creation of the state of Israel and new borders dividing the Holy Land; to present the motives and instruments of influence employed by the representatives of both secular and church diplomacies in respect to the women leading a monastic life; to describe consequences of inclu-ding the nuns into the sphere of interest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR; to show the specific role of “Russian women” in the context of the struggle for securing positions of the USSR and the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in the region. The sources for the study were prodused by the state (correspondence between the state authorities, meeting notes) and from the religious actors (letters of nuns to the church authorities, reports of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, memoirs of the clergy). By combining the methods of micro-history and history of the everyday life with the political history of the Cold War, the study examines the agency of the nuns — a category of women traditionally unnoticeable in the political history. Due to the specificity of the sources, the study focuses exclusively on a group of the nuns of the Holy Land who came under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. The majority of the Russian-speaking population of Palestine in the mid-1940s were women in the status of monastic residents (nuns and novices) and pilgrims, and in the 1940s–1950s, they were drawn into the geopolitical combinations of the Soviet Union. The Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, staffed with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, becomes a key institution of influence in the region. This article shows how elderly nuns became an object of close attention and even funding by the Soviet state. The everyday life of the nuns became directly dependent on the activities of the Soviet agencies and Soviet-Israeli relations after the arrival of the Soviet state representatives. At the same time, the nuns became key participants in the inter-jurisdictional conflicts and began to act as agents of influence in the region. The study analyzes numerous ego-documents created by the nuns themselves from the collection of the Council on the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the USSR Council of Ministers. The study shows how nuns positioned themselves as leading a monastic life in the written correspondence with the ROC authorities and staff of the Soviet MFA. The instances of influence of different secular authorities on the development of the female monasticism presented here point to promising research avenues for future reconstruction of the history of women in the Holy Land based on archival materials from state departments, alternative sources should also be found. The study focused on the life of el-derly Russian nuns in the Holy Land and showed their activity in the context of the geopolitical transformations in the Near East in the 1940s–1950s.

A network of mosques in the Tobol Province (Western Siberia) in the end of the 18^th — beginning of the 20^th century is analyzed. The source basis for the work was represented by legal enactments, statistical materials, and clerical documentation. The scientific methods were employed, including historicism, statistical, and comparative-historical analysis. By the Imperial Decree of 1744, mosques were to be located in places inhabited by only muslims. Moreover, each mosque should have had no less than 200 and no more than 300 male parishioners. The set limit on the number of parishioners restricted the ability of the muslims to build religious structures. This appeared to be a discriminatory regulation for the residents of small settlements. In the studied time, most of the mosques were located in the countryside. In 1828, towns had two mosques and in 1909 — five. The total number of Islamic religious building was 137 in 1868 and 169 in 1909. In the meantime, muslim population had grown by one-and-a-half times. In general, the increase of the number of belivers is explained by the natural growth of the population. Besides, in the first half of the 19^th century, there was a contunued migration of the population from Middle Asia, so called “Bokharans”. In the last third of the 19^th century, there was a transit of the Volga and Cis-Urals Tatars. At that time, the number of the settlements inhabited by muslims changed insignificantly, from 260 in 1868 to 264 in 1909. Therefore, in the beginning of the 20^th century, the mosques became more affordable for the population. During the studied period, the legal regulation on the limit of parishioners (no less than 200) was violated in building new religious houses. In 1868, there were on average 137 men per mosque in the countryside, and in the beginning of the 20^th century – 188. The local authorities permitted muslims to build mosques for even less that 100 parishioners. That could have been influenced by the position of the Province’s authorities, natural and landscape specifics, distance to the nearest mosque, and financial capabilities of the commune. In our opinion, the politics exercised by the regional authorities in the end of the 18^th – beginning of the 20^th centuries were providing opportunity to the majority of the residents of the Tobol Province professing the Islamic faith to meet their spiritual needs. At the same time, the lack of religious houses precluded part of the practicing Islam from taking full part in the life of the religious commune, as well as from satisfying their religious needs, which was detrimental to their status.

One of the new directions in ethnosociology is the study of population groups with multiple (often double) ethnic identities, which are growing quantitatively due to the spread of ethnically «mixed» marriages, migrations, etc. Among such “hybrid” ethnic groups, residents with Russian-Ukrainian identity are one of the largest bi-ethnic communities in Russia. In particular, in the Russian regions bordering with Ukraine, residents with dual Russian-Ukrainian identity make up a significant proportion of the population. Accordingly, the studies of 2017–2018 show that in Belgorod region 16 % of residents have Russian-Ukrainian ethnic identities, whereas it is 23 % in the border municipalities. In this paper, the genesis and reproduction potential of a bi-ethnic Russian-Ukrainian population group at the Russian-Ukrainian borderland is discussed. The first part of the paper comprises an overview of the studies of multiethnic groups, including the Russian-Ukrainian population. The second part is based on empirical ethnosociological research conducted by the author and is devoted to finding the answer to the question: “Is the population with the double Russian-Ukrainian identity an independent, permanently existing ethnocultural community or a transitional group that temporarily emerged in the process of assimilation of the Ukrainians in Russia?”. Sociological data indicate that this group of population should be considered as a separate, permanently existing ethno-cultural community, and not a temporary, transitional group in the process of assimilation of the Ukrainians in Russia. In favor of the former speaks the fact that the population with the double Russian-Ukrainian identity consists mainly of autochthonous people, with a balanced age composition, who inherited bi-ethnicity by their “mixed” origin, rather than by assimilation. In the respondents in this group, endogenous factors of the formation of ethnic identity are dominant; they feel an inextricable ethnic connection with the population of the neighboring Ukrainian regions. At the same time, members of the Russian-Ukrainian ethnocultural group are predominantly pessimistic about possibility of inheriting their double identity by future generations.

The aim of the research is to show the functions of alcohol in the traditional culture of the Eastern Khanty. The basis of the work is formed by the author's field data collected in 2002–2018 in Khanty Surgut Ob region, including the right bank of the Ob River (Lyamin, Pim, Tromyegan, and Agan) and its left bank (Bolshoi Yugan, Malyy Yugan), as well as the right tributary of the Irtysh River (Demyanka). The study of the role of alcohol in the traditional rituals of the Eastern Khanty was based on the methodology of gift exchange proposed by M. Mauss [2011]. The structural-functional approach was used to analyze the functions of alcohol, its place in the traditional culture, and social relations of the Eastern Khanty [Malinovskiy, 2006]. Despite the problems associated with alcoholism, as well as the negative impact on the health of the Eastern Khanty, alcohol performs a number of functions in the traditional culture. The recognition of the legitimacy of alcohol in the traditional worldview is based on the cosmogonic myths. In the ritual sphere, alcohol is a gift to the deities, from whom the indigenous people, in return, expect assistance to a person in hunting and fishing, prosperity, health, and safety. Alcohol performs the function of erasing social boundaries in the community of participants in a traditional ritual. During traditional rituals, alcohol is a tool for a person's transition to an altered state of consciousness. In everyday life, alcohol performs the functions of relaxation and stress relief. Alcohol serves as a social catalyst when a stranger is included in a traditional collective. Until recently, alcohol occupied not the last place as an equivalent of money in the in-kind exchange of goods and services. At the beginning of the 21^st century, structural changes caused by the industrialization of the Surgut Ob region, as well as economic and social reforms of the Post-Perestroika period, led to reduction in the consumption of alcohol by the Eastern Khanty. Today, these changes are represented by two oppositely directed trends. The first tendency is represented by the processes of the revival of traditional culture, nature management, and religion. The second trend includes reappraisal of traditional religion and transition of a part of the Eastern Khanty to Protestantism.

In this paper, it is noted that new development in the Tungus-Manchu studies has begun by the virtue of writing a three-volume work “History of Yakutia”. It was found that, as the result, a new stage of the development of the fundamental science in the field of research of the peoples of Yakutia has begun. It is emphasized that the developed concept of creating the large-volume work allowed conducting a multi-faceted investigation; new archival and other materials were drawn into research, which had not received sufficient attention previously. It is shown how, according to the concept of publishing “History of Yakutia”, in the mainstream of the history of the peoples of Yakutia, presentation of the existing material is possible not only from the point of view of the traditional ethnographic approach by each group individually and by all conventional means of subsistence of the ethnic culture. It is concluded that the development and transformation of the territory by the nomadic Tungus-Manchu Cultures was actively manifested in the expansion to the North (an example of Even-Bytantai Ulus of Yakutia can be noted) and to the East (notably, to the Far East, including the insular territory of the Russian Federation). It is noted that the Tungus-Manchu peoples of Russia fell into the category of the “northern” nations in the very course of the development of the northern territories. These nations developed a unique school of adaptation of their culture to the environmental conditions of the northern spaces. It is the vision of the Tungus histoty as a whole, and of the history of small Tungus-Manchu nations, in particular, as a powerful momentum that played an important role in the history of the development of the vast territories, that seems new and topical. There have been presented examples of the updated source base for the study of the development of the territory by Tungus ethnic minorities, which reveals the potential of a synthesis of the study of the vocabulary and folklore of the Tungus-Manchu peoples and archaeological artifacts, in comparison with archival materials (primarily, archives of Yakutia.

The paper presents a review on a monograph by O.S. Likhacheva, concerned with the analysis of different types of weapons and reconstruction of some aspects of the warfare of the tribes of the Forest-Steppe Altai in the 8^th–1^st centuries B.C., which contains a representative album of illustrations, including photographs and drawings of artifacts, artistic interpretations of weapons and images of warriors, made by the author. O.S. Likhacheva carried out a meticulous analysis of numerous categories of weapons and their fragments. However, in the opinion of the author of this review, for a considerable part of the presented inventory there is a lack of context description of the finds in the ceremonial burial complexes. This leads to the description of the votive weapons as combative, ceremonially broken items as intact, and fragmentary separate armor-clad plates as a complete armor suit. Certain selectivity of the author in writing the historiography section narrows the attention of the researcher on only one region under consideration, thus ignoring the trans-cultural nature of some types of the weapons of short-range and long-range combat among the nomads of the Central Asia in the 8^th–1^st centuries B.C., as well as the body of the material from the monuments of the Novosibirsk Ob region which fit in the topic area of the research. The author recommends the book of O.S. Likhacheva to all interested in the history and archaeology of Altai Krai and Upper Ob region.

The article discusses a ceramic complex (groups I and II) of the early Neolithic settlement of Mergen 6 (Lower Ishim River region, Western Siberia, 7^th millennium BC). The aim of the work is to analyze the materials from the perspective of the cultural and chronological correlation of the Boborykino and Koshkino antiquities of the Trans-Urals. The research is based on the elements of the historical-cultural and formal-classification approaches. The source base consists of 236 vessels. As a result of the analysis carried out in several stages (morphology of the vessels, tool and technique for applying ornamentation, structural components of the decor, nature of the system organization of the ornamental components, relationship of the image components with the structure of the vessels' shape), it was found that the products of group I correspond to the Boborykino cultural tradition, and group II — to the Koshkino. The simultaneous occurrence of these vessels made it possible to speak of the coexistence within the same society of representatives of the traditions of their manufacture. On this basis, there has been proposed a clarification of several positions regarding the pattern of the cultural and chronological development of the Boborykino antiquities in the Trans-Urals. The emergence of an early flat-bottomed ceramic complex in the River Ishim region allows it to be included in the range of materials of a similar appearance (Satyginsky, Mulymyinsky, Amninsky, Kayukovsky, Barabinsky) identified in the mountain-forest Trans-Urals, Kondinsky lowlands, Irtysh River region and Baraba. Identification of the Mergen vessels of group I as belonging to the Boborykino Culture, dating from the Early Neolithic, makes it possible to pose the question of identifying the early phase of the antiquities of this cultural group. Location of the Koshkino and Boborykino groups of vessels in the same sites attests to the coexistence and contacts of the two traditions and their mutual influence.

The present work addresses the issues of the absolute and relative chronology of early burials at the Firsovo-XI burial ground on the right bank of the Upper Ob River. Description of four burials of the site and results of their AMS ¹⁴C dating are reported, alongside with the cultural and chronological analogies among the contemporaneous monuments of Altai. Eight burial places were discovered at Firsovo-XI, including five single graves, two double graves and one collective burial. The burials were arranged in two rows in the direction from northwest to southeast. The deceased were oriented with their heads to the north and northeast. The research concluded that the burials which form the cultural “core” of the Firsovo-XI burial place (burial grounds nos. 14, 15 and 42) belong to the Early Neolithic period, and their radiocarbon age is determined by the middle of the 5^th millennium BC, while their calendar age fits into a very narrow interval of several decades or several centuries (a one-sigma interval of 5710–5460 cal BC and a two-sigma interval of 5740–5360 cal BC). The Neolithic burials of Firsovo-XI constitute a single chronological group with burials nos.1 and 13 of the Bolshoi Mys burial ground. It stands to reason that this group may grow in size over time, as the work on AMS ¹⁴C dating of early necropolises and single burials of the Upper Ob region expands. At this stage of research, the problem of identifying cultural and chronological markers for the selected group of burials remains urgent. Within the framework of this study, it has been suggested that the ornaments made from the teeth of a bear and a horse (?), or an onager (?), take the role of such markers. It cannot be ruled out that with the appearance of new data such markers may include the ornaments made from wolf teeth and double-sided polished knives with a concave blade. As a working hypothesis, it has been suggested that the date obtained for the cemetery no. 18 of Firsovo-XI (GV-02889 9106±80 BP) was not accidental and that this burial actually belongs to the final Mesolithic or early Neolithic period. The chronological and ritual specifics of this burial are also emphasized by the craniological specificity of the buried male, and by the large total size of the skull, which distinguishes him from the rest of those buried at the burial ground.

The paper deals with the complex analysis of the stone equipment of the Kedrovy Mys-1 site associated with the Poludensky tradition, classical for the Trans-Urals, dated to the Late Neolithic period. On the basis of typological and functional analyses, aimed at the study of tool shapes and identification of their correlation with the functional purpose, specifics of the stone industry of the Poludensky complex have been determined. The tools manufactured at the site of Kedrovy Mys-1 were produced from the materials from the valley of the river Miass, situated behind the Ilmensky ridge, approximately 20–25 km away from the site. Dominant materials are phtanitoids and sealing-wax green jade; these quality materials were scarce, so that local chalcedonies were used. The stone industry based on the prismatic flaking was aimed at the production of plates as the feedstock for the tools. For the production of tools, preference was given to the medium-width plates, with a little use of small plates. A feature of the complex is represented by the tools indicating the existence of the insert technique, such as plates with the rounded back and face, chamfered tips, “triangle”, and unretouched plates used as knives. Mainly blunting retouching, and sometimes sharpening, was used for the plate processing from the back side. A cutter spalling as the tool shaping technique was used occasionally. No cutters were found. Typologically identified tools are represented by arrow tips, end scrapers, piercers, borers, scrapers on the flakes and nucleus cleavage, chopping tools, abrasives, and a retoucher. Specifics of the Poludensky toolset of the Kedrovy Mys-1 site allows suggestion that during this period of the site the main activity of the population was concerned with food processing — meat cutting and catch processing. This is evidenced by the predominance of the knives for meat/fish cutting. The proportion of tools used for the production of wooden equipment is quite small, which is probably due to the sampling, although morphologically it is very prominent. In the meantime, the presence of tools for processing of skin, stone, bone, and for repair of ceramics indicates a full cycle of the production activity ensuring efficient adaptation in the lake system environment.

By means of the Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates, a comparison of chronologies of the Kamennyi Ambar settlement and the cemetery of Kamennyi Ambar-5 of the Late Bronze Age Syntashta-Petrovka period has been carried out. Both sites are situated in the valley of the Karagaily-Ayat River in Kartalinsky district of Chelyabinsk Region (Russia). Comparison of the pottery assemblages of the settlement and the cemetery demonstrates their similarity, which suggests existence of a genetic link between the sites. The purpose of this work is development of a generalized chronological model of the two monuments. This is achieved by comparison of uncalibrated intervals of radiocarbon dates and calculation of chronological boundaries of the existence of the settlement and cemetery by means of Bayesian modeling of the calibrated dates. The method consists in that, in the beginning, the stratigraphic position of each date is determined, and then the dates suitable for the analysis are arranged in the chronological order and calibrated, while the algorithm of the OxCal 4.4 calibration program is queried for calculation of the boundaries of the given periods and their duration. Also, the paper reports complete sets of the radiocarbon dates: 61 dates have been obtained from the materials of the settlement of Kamennyi Ambar, while 19 measurements originate from the Kamennyi Ambar-5 cemetery. Correlation of the radiocarbon dates and development of the Bayesian chronological models have demonstrated contemporaneousness of the settlement and the cemetery with slightly later beginning of the activity at the latter. This observation is in agreement with the concept of the genetic link between the sites and, arguably, can be extended onto other pairs of fortified settlement — kurgan cemetery attributed to the Sintashta-Petrovka period. Our conclusion is also consistent with the concept of building the complex of monuments by a newly-arrived population, who founded a settlement, occupied the new territory for some time, while the first deaths occurred some time afterwards. That said, the settlement of Kamennyi Ambar existed for no longer than a century in the 1950s — 1860s BC, while the cemetery of Kamennyi Ambar-5 was used for 70–80 years within the same chronological interval.

This paper presents the results of the study of the ceramics collection from two periods — Eneolithic and Medieval, assembled during the fieldwork at the ancient settlement of Ust-Vasyegan 1 in the Northern Priobye (Western Siberia). The Eneolithic ware is represented by fragments of 30 vessels decorated with alveolate, rhombic, nail-imprints, and corner patterns. There are fragments of a boat-shaped vessel and vessels with handles. The complex has analogies in the materials of the settlement of Gorny Samotnel-1 and is dated to the end of the 4^th–3^rd centuries BC. The Medieval ceramics are represented by 296 vessels. On the basis of typological analysis, two groups of vessels have been identified: group 1 ware with sparing ornamentation comprising 1–4 lines of the ornament; and group 2 ware with an ornament comprising 5–8 and more lines. A characteristic feature of the group 2 vessels is the use of a cord and various shaped stamps. In the cultural layer of the settlement, ceramics of both groups was deposited side by side, which suggests their contemporaneity. In order to determine the degree of similarity/difference of the derived groups of vessels, a technical-technological analysis was carried out on 20 items. It appeared that potters who manufactured the group 1 vessels routinely used blend compositions of grus and grus with wool. Organic mortars were rarely used. The smoo-thing of the vessels was performed mainly with a wood splinter, knife, or spatula. The craftsmen who manufactured the vessels of group 2 used medium to heavily oversanded clays along with slightly oversanded material. While making the molding compositions, a blend of grus and organic mortar was used more often. Wool was rarely utilised. The vessels were smoothed with soft materials and a knife or spatula, the outer surfaces were subjected to hand tamping. The noted differences suggest, that in the Middle Ages two groups of potters, who had distinctive pottery-making skills, were living at the settlement. Vessels of the group 1 have similarities with materials of the “Bichevnik” type from the Pechersky Trans-Urals, whereas vessels of the group 2 in the materials of the Yarsalinsky, Ust’-Poluisky, and Yudinsky Cultures of the Iron Age and Early Middle Ages of the Middle and Lower Priobye and Lower Tobol River region. Obtained radiocarbon dates and some artefacts (a bronze signet ring and an iron dagger), which have analogies in the Middle Trans-Urals, define the time span of the activity for the ancient settlement of Ust-Vasyegan 1 within the 7^th–13^th centuries.

The paper concerns the ornithomorphic images found at the Pinchuga VI burial ground. The site is located in the lower course of the river Angara (Middle Siberia). The chronological boundaries of the study span the second quarter of the 1^st millennium AD (end of the Early Iron Age). All burials at the burial ground were performed according to the rite of cremation outside the cemetery. Two intact objects and fragments of the third image of a bird were found at the necropolis. Figures were found in different contexts. One of them was found in the filling of a grave pit, the second item within an assemblage of various articles in the inter-grave space. The third item was broken and lost as the result of illegal excavations. All articles share similar characteristics. These are realistic images of diurnal birds of prey “frozen” in a diving flight; the images are shown en face, with a high-relief head, with the tucked wings and feet pulled up with talons. A geometric decor conveys their feather, and a stylized mask is present on the chest of one item. The images are slightly convex, their front side is polished. The closest analogies to the Angara images of birds are known in Western Siberia, including the Tomsk burial ground, the Kholmogory treasure, the Ishim collection, and materials from the Parabel cult place. All this makes it possible to attribute the analyzed items to the Kholmogory stylistic group of the Kulai cult casting. Products of this group became widespread in Western Siberia in the second quarter of the 1^st millennium AD. The ornithomorphic images found at the Pinchuga VI cemetery extend the geographical range of the items of this style to the territory of Middle Siberia. Apart from the figurines of birds, the necropolis also yields other items of the Western Siberian cult casting, including disks with concentric ornaments, a hollow image of a fish head, and a bird-head belt applique. Bronze items were imported, and in the course of exchange they were spreading over considerable distances. This proves the existence of established cultural ties between the populations of the Lower Angara region and Western Siberia at the End of the Early Iron Age.

The paper reports the results of the studies of the fortification system of the Early Iron Age Dikaya Yama hillfort situated in the Middle Tobol River region of the Western Siberian forest-steppe zone. The hillfort was built by the population of the Sargatka Culture, and it is dated to the 3^rd c. BC — 1^st c. AD. The defence lines at the junction of two adjacent fortified platforms have been studied. It has been determined that the earthwork of the first platform was built up from turfen blocks; the presence of traces of postholes suggests that the earthwork was reinforced with a wooden-frame wall — a wattle fence. The ditch between the platforms had a trapezoidal shape with the size of 3.2–4 m of the upper part and 1.2–1.6 m of the lower part. The soil from the ditch was placed into the mound of the rampart of the second platform. The mathematical analysis of the volume of earth making the mound of the rampart allowed establishing its height of 2.0 m. Analysis of the stratigraphy and planigraphy revealed the remains of a frame structure set on the rampart. The wattle fence on top of the rampart and the parapet along it have been reconstructed. Moreover, there have been identified the remains of a frame-and-pillar structure installed into the body of the rampart, which was aimed to strengthen the mound and prevent untimely slipping. A graphic reconstruction of the appearance of the fortifications existed on the studied site has been created. Carcass fortifications of the wattle fence type, a wall constructed in “zaplot” technique, set on the rampart, have analogies in the Early Iron Age hillforts of the Tobol-Irtysh interfluve: Kolovskoe, Rafailovskoe, Ak-Tau, and Pavlinovo. There existed a tradition of mounting a palisade into a ditch-trench — such structures have been recorded at the hillforts of Borovushka, Likhachevskoe, Bochanetskoe, Inberen 4 and Rozanovo, Mar'ino Ushchel'ye 4 and Malo-Kazakbaevskoe. The fortification system of the hillfort of Dikaya Yama, which, structurally, is represented by the earthwork ramparts on top of which there were mounted wooden walls in the technique of the wattle fence, is consistent with the traditional scheme of the fortifications of the Early Iron Age population. The question of simultaneous or sequential building of the platforms of the hillfort will be addressed in future work. However, the unified planning solution in organizing forms of the fortification structures implies, in our opinion, preliminary design of the whole settlement and its construction at one time.

The Uchugei-Yuryakh birch-bark burial, radiocarbon dated to 1480–1640 cal AD, was discovered in the southern part of the Tuymaada valley, located in the basin of the Middle Lena River, one of the largest rivers in North-Eastern Siberia. This region is traditionally regarded as the area where the most important events of the Yakut history were taking place over many centuries, and as the area associated with the formation of the Yakut ethnic culture. The purpose of this article is to introduce into scientific discourse the results of the study of the Uchugei-Yuryakh birch-bark burial and to analyze traditions of the burials using birch bark among the Yakuts in the 15^th–19^th centuries, according to archaeological, ethnographic, and folklore data. The research objectives are as follows: to determine the level of knowledge of the problem; to identify peculiarities of the grave goods and morphological features of the Uchugei-Yuryakh burial; to identify types of birch-bark burial chambers of the Yakuts on the basis of available data; to trace back their genesis and to determine their semantics, according to the sacral nature of birch bark in the ritual-worldview practice; and to correlate the features of the Yakut burials with archaeological materials from the regions adjacent to Yakutia. Descriptive and historical-comparative methods, as well as scientific methods such as radiocarbon dating of the bones of the deceased, chemical analysis of bead material, botanical analysis of plant material from the burial site were employed in the course of research. A cha-racteristic feature of this burial is the absence of a coffin and the use of birch-bark sheets to form the interior of the grave, which correlates with the legends about the Khoro tribe, who practiced burial in birch-bark sheaths. There are four types of burials identified on the basis of a detailed analysis of the combination of elements of the currently known birch-bark burial structures: 1) in a birch bark sheath consisting of birch-bark sheets placed above and below the buried body; 2) in a birch bark pouch, the sides of which were reinforced by wooden planks set on edge; 3) in a rectangular birch bark sheet, in which the body of the deceased was wrapped to form a case or a cylinder; 4) in a birch-bark sheath sewn in the form of a boat. Analysis of the features of the burial (atypical “facedown” position of the deceased, scanty set of items of the accompanying goods) revealed a special social status of the buried man. The birch-bark sheets laid above and below the deceased in the considered burial, apparently, imitate the shape of the birch-bark basket tyuktyuye. This suggests the ideas of purification of the soul of the deceased after their death and its rebirth. Birch bark was used in the funeral rites of the nomadic societies of South-Eastern and Western Siberia in the Middle Ages. It is suggested that the tradition of using birch bark in Yakut burials either corresponds with the Samoyed-Yenisei component, indirectly adopted from the medieval population of the Lake Baikal area, or emerged due to direct contacts with the Tungus-Samoyed tribes of the Lower Tunguska.

The second half of the 1st millennium AD is associated with the development and formation of the culture of ancient Turkic peoples, who repeatedly developed several large ethnopolitical associations in the steppe zone of Central Asia. Political and cultural influences of the Turkic state formations were perceived not only by the sedentary population of the states that existed in the territory of East and Central Asia, but also by further north peoples who lived in the steppe and taiga zones. Under the Turkic influence, or with their direct participation, the Kimako-Kipchak proto-state association began taking shape in the Upper Irtysh River region in the 7th century AD. The initial stage of this process, features of the funeral rite, and characteristic elements of the material culture of the population living in the region are almost unknown due to insufficient exploration of the monuments of the developmental stage of this polyethnic formation. The paper describes the materials of the barrow cemetery of Menovnoye XII, located in the territory of the Upper Irtysh River, 2.1 km southeast of the village of Menovnoye, Tavrichesky district, East Kazakhstan Province. Under the barrow mound, there was a fence with outbuildings containing burials of a man, two horses, and two dogs. The central burial was robbed. The sacrificial pit, located north of the main grave, contained the burial of two horses, laid on their stomachs with their legs tucked under their bodies and with their heads oriented to the east. The buried person was accompanied by two dogs: one was laid across the ceiling of the grave, while the other was buried in a separate pit in an additional annex. The grave goods found with the deceased represented by astragali, a bronze ring, and a fragment of an iron arrowhead. The horse harness included stirrups and iron bits. The bridle belts were adorned with bronze items: bells, triplet plaques, bronze onlays, and belt tip ends. Bronze buckles with iron tongues, which were tucked into clips, were used to adjust the tension of the headband straps. The funeral rite features and analysis of the materials collected during the study of the memorial complex make it possible to associate the burials of the 3^rd barrow of the Menovnoye XII with the Early Kimak antiquities within the framework of the Turkic era and to date them to the second half of the 7^th — 8th century AD.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the process and results of locating the Russian fortress of Tarkhansky Ostrog of the 17^th–18^th centuries on the basis of information from written sources and cartographic materials directly related to the location of the site. The objectives of the research included preliminary identification of the presumable remains of the object by means of reconnaissance (20 sq. m) archaeological excavations and the use of geophysical methods (magnetometer mapping with Gem Systems GSM-19WG). This paper considers the information from chronicles, cartographic and written sources of the end of the 17^th–19^th centuries about Tarkhansky Ostrog, situated at the confluence of the Tura and Tobol Rivers in Western Siberia; the key milestones of its search, undertaken by our research team, and its prospective location and identification are reported. The basis of the investigation was formed by scanty written information about Tarkhansky Ostrog and by the cartographic materials of S.U. Remezov, as well as archaeological reconnaissance works carried out in modern times in the area of confluence of the rivers in the Yarkovsky district of Tyumen Oblast. G.F. Miller was mapping the Russian fortress to the place of the Tatar settlement of Tarkhan-kala, not far from the mouth of the river Tura, on the southeast side of Tobol. According to his description, the fortress was founded in 1628 and represented a citadel with a wooden fence and two turrets. P. A. Slovtsov wrote that Trakhansky Ostrog “at the mouth of the river Tura” was founded in 1631. Following the extensive analysis of the descriptions and cartographic materials, and as the result of the terrain analysis, an ancient butte (250 m ´ 40 m) of a suplra-floodplain terrace was discovered in 2020 on a floodplain inundable during seasonal floods to the southwest of the village of Tarkhany. It corresponds with the description of Yatman hill given by G.F. Miller; even today some traces of, seemingly, “Kuchum’s outpost” can be seen on this height. In the southern part of the butte, we carried down a 4 m ´ 5 m reconnaissance dig. The cultural deposit yielded scanty fragments of the Koptyaki Culture, Late Bronze Age, and Medieval ceramics, although mainly represented by shards of crockery manufactured on a potter’s wheel. Of the artefacts, a clasp knife, a brass thimble, a lead bullet, a gun flint, a lead strap seal, and a silver kopeck of Tsar Fyodor III Alekseyevich have been found. All the articles are dated to the 17^th c., with the exception of the lead seal which belongs to the 19^th c. With a high probability, we assume that the butte is associated with Tarkhansky Ostrog, although one can only talk about its decisive identification after large-scale archaeological investigations.

The value of geoarchaeology in archaeological research is discussed with an example of Baikal Siberia. Geoarchaeology is considered as an interface between archaeology and Earth sciences comprising a specific set of approaches, methods, and procedures. Nowadays, geoarchaeology constitutes a full-fledged research branch within the world archaeological practice. However, there are some problems in the determination of the essence and the role of geoarchaeology in archaeological studies, especially in Russia. In particular, the question whether geoarchaeology represents an independent discipline or an interdisciplinary approach has not been resolved yet. Moreover, archaeologists often focus on increasing the number of analytical methods to the detriment of their conceptual basis. In the Russian archaeological practice, the uncertain role of geoarchaeology is manifested by its perception as an auxiliary discipline with limited capabilities for the archaeological interpretations. As a result of many years of research on archaeological sites of Baikal Siberia, we have developed our own concept of geoarchaeology as a source study with a transdisciplinary character. It is based on four principles. Firstly, in our opinion, geoarchaeology constitutes a source study discipline with its own research methods. Geoarchaeological assessment represents one of the most important verification methods aimed at the determination of the degree of correspondence between the results of archaeological and natural science data. Secondly, the main object of research is a geoarchaeological object, which is a composite integral system with a mixture of traces of natural and anthropogenic events encrypted in it. We define the layer with cultural remains, where the natural component predominates, as ‘culture-bearing’. The layer with the predominantly anthropogenic component can be called ‘cultural’. Thirdly, geoarchaeology should be a transdisciplinary branch, the nature of which is determined by the complex origins of the geoarchaeological site. Such an amalgamation allows overcoming disciplinary differences and contradictions which leads to the formation of new knowledge levels. At fourth, geoarchaeological research should be based principally on the methods of actualism and stratigraphy in conjunction with overcoming misidentification of objects and phenomena, as well as on the pedolithological and event-driven approaches.

The resilience of intestinal parasite ova to harsh environmental conditions and possibility of identification of many of them down to genus/species with the aid of conventional visual light microscopy make parasites an important source of information on different aspects of life of ancient populations. Of special interest is the study of the phenomenon of parasitoidism aimed at reconstruction of ancient human migrations. Ectoparasites (the head louse) and a range of intestinal parasites of such groups as the helminths, tapeworms, and trematodes can be used as a marker of contacts and/or migration of people. Finding helminth ova in ancient samples collected in territories outside the endemic pockets can be direct evidence of contacts and/or migrations of the ancient population. An example of reconstruction of such migrations is given by, for instance, finding ova of the ascarids and whipworm on the territories of the Far North, mountainous Altai, deserts of the Central Asia etc. A remarkable example of migrations, according to the archaeoparasitology data, is the use of the helminths as a marker of ancient human migrations, with the example of population of the American continent. It is noteworthy that almost a century old archaeoparasitology data find confirmation in the results of modern paleogenetic studies. In the recent decades, there have been review publications concerned with the finds of ova of various parasitic organisms in archaeological sites, many of which consolidated archaeoparasitology materials dealing with specific intestinal parasites, the impact of the parasites on the human evolution and their (viz., parasites and human) coevolution, and spread of the parasitic diseases as a result of climate changes both in ancient and modern times. All the works, without exception, emphasize the importance of archaeoparasitology data for the deeper understanding of these processes. However, although the first works on the reconstruction of migrations from parasitological data were published back in the beginning of the last century, the research works substantiating this approach and demonstrating its viability appeared only early in this century and elucidated biological pre-requisites for the reconstruction of migrations. Therefore, new broad consolidation of the materials on the reconstruction of migrations from the data of archaeoparasitology is motivated not only by the need of reconsideration of already existing and new data, but also by the need of examination and verification of the archaeoparasitology facts in the context of the genetic data, archaeology, anthropology etc.

The results of the study of the dental anthropology complexes of the population of the Sargatka, Gorokhovo and Kashino cultures of the Early Iron Age in Western Siberia are presented. The source base of the study is 490 individuals from burials located in the Tobol, Ishim, Irtysh River regions, as well as on the territory of the Baraba forest-steppe zone. The aim of this study is to reconstruct the origin and processes of the formation of the anthropological composition of the population of the Sargatka, Gorokhovo and Kashino cultures on the basis of new dental anthropological data. Trigonometrically transformed dental trait frequencies were subjected to the principal component analysis. Besides Sargatka, Gorokhovo and Kashino cultures samples, 17 Bronze Age and 27 Early Iron Age dental samples from different region of Eurasia were used for statistical comparison. The results of the statistical comparison may possible to make a several conclusions. The anthropological composition of the Gorokhov population and Sargat groups from the Tobol, Ishim and Irtysh River regions was significantly influenced by diachronic contacts with the descendants of the Andronovo tribes of the Southern Urals, and synchronous relation with the Savromats and Sarmatians of the Southern Urals. The population of the Sargatka culture and the Gorokhovo groups, simultaneously living on the territory of the Tobol River region in the 5th–3rd centuries BC significantly different from each other. However, the subsequent close population relation between the Sargatka and Gorokhovo groups and their contacts with the Sarmatians contributed to the convergence of their anthropological composition. In the formation of the anthropological composition of the Sargatka population of Baraba forest-steppe zone the main role belongs to the local Late Bronze groups — the Fedorovo Bronze Age population of Western Siberia and their descendants, people of the Irmen culture. The most specific is the anthropological composition of the Kashino population. The specificity of the small group of the Abatsky 3 burial of Kashino culture from the Ishim River region lies in the sharp predominance of the features of the “eastern” dental non-metric complex, which distinguishes this population from the groups of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age of Western Siberia and adjacent territories.

The study is focused on the deep taiga territory located in the upper and middle reaches of the Demyanka River — Uvatsky district of Tyumen Oblast (Western Siberia, Russia). A particular case of the development of local identity in a small community of taiga inhabitants — the Khanty reindeer herders from the Bolshoi Yugan River, who migrated in the first half of the 20th century to the basin of the neighbouring Demyanka River — is presented. This study aims to examine in detail the mechanism of formation of local identity and to trace how a new territorial identity determines development of specific ethnic local community. The paper is largely based on field ethnographic materials collected in 2000–2020, as well as information from archival documents. The study builds upon a system analysis where the formation of a new local community is viewed through the prism of its changing external contacts and socio-cultural boundaries. There were identified the broken links with the historical homeland and new bonds that rooted the people into the new territory. The corresponding role of administrative transformations, socio-economic relations, marriage contacts, and religious beliefs has been established. The main markers of the local identity formed by the 1990s are territorial rooting, a sense of belonging to the region, a new legal status and consolidation of the considered Khanty community. Presently, the descendants of the Bolshoy Yugan Khantys living in the Demyanka River basin are undoubtedly a separate group within the Eastern Khantys with established local identity. Their territorial belonging includes, at the regional level, self-identification as inhabitants of the Uvatsky District, and at the local level, an upheld notion of the Demyanka Region as their homeland. The long isolated existence of the new Khanty community has already led to the emergence of some cultural characteristics that noticeably distinguish these Khanty people from their kin who live in the Bolshoi Yugan River basin.

The history of the Russian scientific research on the types of traditional culture of peoples using the scientific concept of economic-cultural types developed in the 1940s–1950s is analysed. The main attention is given to the scientific works on the economic-cultural types of the Turkic peoples of Western and Southern Siberia — the Tuvans, the Chulyms, groups of the Siberian Tatars — Tomsk, Baraba, and Tobol-Irtysh,— mainly focused on the period of 18^th — beginning of the 20^th century. The aim of this paper is to clarify the level of knowledge of the types of traditional culture of these peoples and to determine future directions of research on the topic. The periods of the study of the economic-cultural types have been identified. These are the 1950s–1970s, when a body of work on the typology of traditional culture was carried out and B.V. Andrianov and N.N. Cheboksarov developed their classification and published a worldwide map of economic-cultural types in 1972. Further on it is the period of the 1980s–1990s when the works in this direction were reducing and almost completely stopped in the first decades of the 21^st century. However, it is at this time that the theory of integrated economic-cultural types has been formulated and tested during their study in different groups of the Siberian Tatars living predominantly in the transitional forest-steppe zone and combining components of the culture of populations with appropriative and productive types of economic activities. A task has been set to study economic complexes of the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars in the 17^th–18^th centuries aiming at the further use of obtained results in the development of an ethnographic classification of the types of traditional culture of the Turkic peoples of Western Siberia.

The paper discusses current scientific issues related to the study of the traditional worldview and ritualism of the Khakas people. The work is focused on the analysis of the traditional festival of veneration of “land-water” by the Kyzyls — an ethnic group of the Khakas living in the northern part of Khakassia and in the south of Krasnoyarsk Krai. The characteristic of the ritual complex associated with the worship of the host-spirits is presented: the land spirits (mountains) — tag taig, and the water spirits (springs, lakes, rivers) — sug taiyg. The main sources of the research are unpublished field ethnographic materials. Archival ethnographic information related to this topic, collected in the 1970s by M.S. Usmanova and other researchers from the Tomsk State University, are introduced in the scientific discourse. In the process of studying the indicated problem, it was found that in the culture of the Khakas, including the Kyzyl people, an important place was given to the worship of their native land — sher-sug taiyg. In the religious-mythological consciousness, its specific personification was the spirit-masters of the mountains — tag eezi, and the water spirits — sug eezi. This worldview was due to the natural landscape of the territory in which they live. It features a mountainous terrain with a range of diverse water bodies — the streams, rivers, lakes, etc. The daily domestic life and economic activities of the ethnic community in question were directly related to them. It is argued that in the worldview of the people, connection between the human and nature goes beyond the framework of rational interaction. They were convinced of the close mystical interrelation of natural objects with the life and well-being of people. One of the common ways to maintain a steady balanced relationship between them was the rituals of sacrifice and celebration of these supernatural beings. It was found that in the cult practice of the Kyzyls, the sher-sug taiyg included two or even three specialized rites — tag / kol / sug taiyg, which were closely interconnected with each other and formed a single ritual complex. This sacralized event was held on a regular basis. It had a collective nature with a strictly defined structure, incorporating the leader and other immediate participants, as well as the victim themselves.

The purpose of the article is to give an accent presentation of the transformation of technologies and techniques of reindeer grazing and value attitudes of the Kola reindeer herders in the 20^th — early 21^st century from an ethno-cultural perspective. The paper is based on the materials of the 2018 expedition to the Kola Peninsula. On the basis of using a system-analytical approach, the paper is structured as a narrative discourse, where the “floor” is given to the Kola reindeer herders themselves. As the studies show, the changes in the Kola reindeer husbandry brought about by the merger of the nomadic Samoyed-Izhem Culture, introduced to the Kola peninsula in the late 19^th — early 20^th century, with the semi-nomadic “cabin” Saami herding style, as well as by the Soviet period collective and state farm transformation of the traditional reindeer husbandry and the unfolding “snowmobile revolution” (the use of the reindeer sled has been reduced to one month in a year), have led not only to the loss of numerous traditional reindeer herding technologies, pasturing practices and herd control, but also to significant changes in the population composition, structure, and organization of the behavioral characteristics of the herds. Today, the Komi-Izhem reindeer husbandry is dominant in the Kola region. However, despite the major changes, the Kola herders are still quite flexible in using, depending on the circumstances, the advantages of both the Izhem and the Lapp reindeer husbandry systems. The return to the semi-free herds ranging practices and transition to rotational organization of reindeer herd tending in the post-Soviet period stimulated the economic revival of the herding industry and added more comfort to the reindeer herders' lifestyle, although the reindeer herding is not considered a prestigious occupation among young people. Rethinking the older generation's life experiences, together with the more critical perception of today's realities, is an indication of changes within the system of ethnic values, which formerly, in a sense, supported both the individual and collective identities of the Saami and Komi-Izhem ethnies. The transformation processes have had a particularly profound impact on the traditional Saami reindeer culture, almost destroying it, which causes painful memories and reactions of its last bearers. Displacement of the Lapp component is carried forward in the choice of preferred deer breeds and disappearance of the Saami language and Saami toponymy from the reindeer herding context.

The unique body of materials collected by the Soviet ethnographer and the North scholar I.S. Gurvich (1919–1992) in places of compact residence of the indigenous peoples of Yakutia (the Yukagir expedition of 1959) for the first time determined scientific interest in the problem of medical anthropology, which reflected original ideas about diseases and health as a vital unity (body and soul), as well as symbolic “charging” of medical practices. The purpose of this research is an attempt to understand the spiritual experience of the peoples of Yakutia in the context of social, epidemiological, and climatic disasters. An interpretation of the visual image of epidemics in the traditional worldview of the indigenous peoples of Yakutia is given. The main object of this research, which reconciles the past and present, is the traditional world of long-lasting “perception” and “experience” of mass epidemics by indigenous people of the North. The methodological innovation of the paper is the study of colonial diseases in the framework of social and cognitive anthropology. With the example of local ideas about diseases and treatment in different ethnic communities of North Asia (the Yakuts, Evens, and Yukagirs), we analyze a complex socio-cultural phenomenon that emerged in the 17^th century from the historical contacts between local and foreign origin cultures. The cultural dimension of the epidemic diseases within the borders of the Arctic circle, based on the historical and ethnographic sources of the Northern expeditions of the Soviet ethnologist I.S. Gurvich, is the first attempt of the cognitive analysis, the image of the disease and symbolic strategies for its prevention. A broad semiotic analysis of the concept of disease in the indigenous peoples of the Arctic at the level of linguistic, historical, mythological, folklore and ritual texts allowed us to identify the original layer of demonological representations associated with mass epidemics and symbolic strategies for their prevention. Cultural codes of the demonic character-disease (space, color, object, action, ritual) are identified. Sacred practices of influencing the disease were expressed in the following ways: foresight; conciliation; gifting/redemption; deception techniques; and deliverance. Diseases are personified and encoded using certain characters. Obviously, the semiotic system serving the image of disease in the framework of the local ethno-cultural traditions reflected the local specifics.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the transformation of the maternity rites among the Yakuts from the end of the 19^th to the beginning of the 21^st centuries. The area under research is the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Eastern Siberia. The main source base was represented by the authors' field materials collected in 2016-2018 in the Verkhnevilyuysky, Churapchinsky, Ust-Aldansky, and Megino-Kangalassky districts. The field studies were conducted using modern and traditional methods of qualitative sociology. The key methods of collecting field materials included modern historical-anthropological methods of inclusive observation, and expert and in-depth interviewing of local residents. The stages of the ritual behavior practiced in preparation for conception, pregnancy, during childbirth, and during the postpartum period, as well as aimed at survival of the newborn, have been identified and clarified. The study of the transformation of the maternity rites shows that in the modern culture of the Yakuts there are only few prohibitions related to the life of the child in the first days after birth, whereas other rituals have faded away due to the development of medicine and the loss of fear, among both women and society as a whole, of infertility or death of the woman in labor or the baby in the process of birth itself.

Studying the consequences of exploitation of indigenous territories is an urgent topic of modern science. This study presents the result of the research on the history of the development of a special type of resources — mammoth tusks in northern Yakutia. The paper is aimed at the analysis of impact of the new sector of the eco-nomy in the region on the local communities. It was also important to identify the sequence of the events that facilitated this development. The methodological basis of the study is represented by the historical method of analyzing archival data, periodicals, and legal and scientific literature on this subject. Sources for the paper included materials from the National Archive of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), regional periodicals, as well as legal and reference materials covering this crucial stage in the development of the local indigenous communities. Despite the fact that extraction of fossil mammoth bone has been carried out for a long time, its active development began only at the end of the 20^th century. The formation and progress of such a new type of mining activity has left a special impression on the development of the local population engaged in the traditional farming. Opportunities and the weak state control in this area have created favorable conditions for the emergence of a special environment for economic relations. This has had a significant impact on social well-being of the local indigenous peoples. During this period, a special situation developed when, due to objective reasons, mammoth tusks turned from an object of natural origin that did not cause any interest into a valuable, highly sought resource. The gro-wing global demand for mammoth remains and the removal of barriers for external contacts in the Soviet Union stimulated the rapid development of the fundamentally different structure of socio-economic relations in the Arctic zone. As a result, this situation greatly influenced the state of the local indigenous communities. The areas of their traditional living became a territory of intensive development of “new resources”, which brought about real environmental and social threats, but also new opportunities. The new prospects, as well as the state unreadiness to regulate the emerging market of “wild” mammoth bone, created all conditions for the emergence of a special area of economic relations spanning the Arctic regions of Yakutia. This almost neglected factor undoubtedly had significant impact on the social well-being of the indigenous peoples living in the region at the end of the 20^th century.

The paper describes research principles and preliminary results of collaborative interdisciplinary research project aimed at the study of everyday cultural landscapes on the periphery of the Yekaterinburg and Tyumen urban agglomerations. The research design of the project implies a paradigm shift from expert reading of the landscapes to communicative learning of the environment, from the perception of the territories in question as resource reservoirs to their exploration as a domain of affordances providing opportunities for endogenous economic development. In 2020, an expedition worked in the villages of Tobolsk Zabolotye, in the cities of Irbit and Polevskoy of Sverdlovsk Oblast, and in the village of Belozerskoye of Kurgan Oblast. The cases and places deemed perspective in view of the application of the research method were characterized. This paper mainly provides an overview of the methodological principles that underpin our ongoing study, which should be considered only as an outline of the preliminary results of the first year of field work. The main source of the theoretical inspiration for the project design was the idea of affordances, coined by the American psychologist James J. Gibson, who studied the problems of perception. The main methodological objective of the project is to apply the theory of affordances to the field study of strategies for everyday landscape choice. In the 2020 field season, the design of the project, envisaging comparative perspective and increased mobility of researchers, was significantly influenced by the method of traveling interview. While working in Tobolsk Zabolotye, we followed everyday patterns of mobility, conducting interviews along the way, discussing with the respondents the hierarchy of places and territories, criteria for identifying vernacular regions, capacity of communication channels, modes of the mobility and its limitations. Concurrently, we were gaining the experience of non-discursive, embodied in materiality and corporeality, movement and recording local narratives of identity.

Imanay Cave is located in the Southern Urals (53°02' N, 56°26' E), at 420 m.a.s.l. A 9.5 m² trench was excavated in the grotto in the inner part of the cave to examine the sediments. The accretion thickness was 1.2 m. The taphocoenosis of the Imanay Cave is of the Pleistocene age and contains about 10,000 specimens of bone remains of large mammals. They mostly belong to small cave bear (U. ex gr. savini-rossicus), and the remaining bones — to species of the mammoth faunal complex (Lepus sp., Castor fiber, Marmota bobak, Canis lupus, Cuon alpinus, Vulpes vulpes, V. corsac, Meles sp., Gulo gulo, Martes sp., Mustela sp., Ursus kanivetz, U. arctos, U. thibetanus, Panthera ex gr. fossilis-spelaea, Mammuthus primigenius, Equus ferus, Coelodonta antiquitatis, Alces alces, Bison priscus, Saiga tatarica, Ovis ammon). In the layer with the bones, Middle Paleolithic stone artifacts were found, including several bifacial points. These tools have analogies in the Middle Paleolithic sites of the Caucasus region and Crimea. During excavations of the cave, the skull of a cave bear with artificial damage was found. The study of the artificial perforation on the skull was the purpose of the present paper. On the basis of dimensional and morphological features, it was established that the skull belongs to a small cave bear (U. ex gr. savini-rossicus). The skull was directly AMS radiocarbon dated to 34 940 ± 140 BP, IGANAMS-5652. Analysis of the growth layers in the teeth revealed that the animal died in winter at an age of 9-10 years. Trace evidence analysis showed, that the hole in the parietal region of the skull was made by a sharp bifacial flint point similar to the Middle Paleolithic points found in the cultural layer of the cave. The animal was killed during winter hibernation, most probably by stabbing with a spear. This is the first direct evidence of human hunting of a small cave bear. With the abundance of cave bear bones, the skull with the hole in it is the only evidence of human impact on this animal. There are no bones with traces of butchering and harvesting of the bone marrow.

The formation of the early bronze-casting production in Baraba and the appearance of products of the Seima-Turbino type were completed within the 3^rd — early 2^nd mil. BC — during the existence of the Krotovo Culture. Plenty of work has been devoted to its characterization; the presence of bronze-casting on the sites has been noted, but special studies of this type of sources are extremely few. The purpose of this paper is to present the characteristics of the production areas associated with the processing of non-ferrous metals, based on materials of the Vengerovo-2 settlement of the Krotovo Culture. Production sites were studied in six dwellings of the settlement. The uniformity of the workshops has been revealed in terms of site planning and principles of organization of the production, although differences in scale have been noted. The use of two types of the forges has been recorded. In all these workshops and in other sites of the culture, a multifunctional sub-rectangular hearth buried in the ground with the walls and floor lined with fragments of ceramics or clay coating was found (with dimensions of 1.65×0.87–2.3×0.9×0.21–0.52 m). The second type of the forges is less common — a small round or oval pit (0.4–0.5 m in diameter) with the bottom and walls lined with baked clay or fragments. The smelting was carried out with forced air supply. The casting of the metal was taking place next to the forge. Crushed bones were used as fuel. The production complex demonstrates extensive external economic and commercial ties. This is manifested by penetration of significant volumes of non-ferrous metal into the ore-barren areas of the Central Baraba, as well as by the presence of imported foundry equipment (molds made of marl and talc). The simultaneous presence inside the casters’ dwellings of bones of taiga-zone animals and those living in the southern, steppe regions indicates significant length of the supply routes. The specific features and unification of the production of the manufacturing equipment, nature of the work carried out, volume of heats, and a large number of similar-type forms suggest specialization of the village in the bronze casting production.

Varakhsha hillfort is located in the Bukhara oasis (Uzbekistan). From the 6^th to 8^th c., it was the residence of the rulers of Bukhara Sogd. Archaeological investigations of the Varakhsha were carried out in the late 1930s, and then later in 1947 and 1949–1954. During the excavations of the palace, wall paintings were discovered in the Red (Hindu) and East (Blue) Halls (7^th–8^th c.). In the East Hall, the center of the art composition on the south wall was dominated by a massive figure of a ‘king’ with a golden sword, seated on a throne with protomas of winged camels. Depicted next to him was a group of five people sitting on their knees — the king's family. The elder man is making an offering to the fire on an altar. On the base of the altar, there is a male figure, seated on a throne in the form of a lying camel. This figure represents Vretragna, the Avestan deity of Victory. Mythogenically, Vretragna is close to the Vedic god of thunder Indra. In Avesta, Vretragna appears in various guises: a Bactrian camel; the bird of prey Varagn; a man with a golden sword. In Sogdian iconography, the image of the Bactrian camel is most often associated with Vretragna. The characters of the murals in the Blue Hall (the king’s family) bring offering to the fire lit in tribute to the deity — to Vretragna. The central figure of this composition was identified by V.A. Shishkin as a king. In our opinion, it rather depicts Vretragna. This is implicitly indicated by the protomas of the throne in the form of winged camels and by the image of ‘the king with the golden sword’. The walls of the Red Hall of Varakhsha were decorated with a scene of hunters riding elephants. Each elephant was ridden by a servant-mahout and a lord, whose figure would be disproportionately large. They are slaying huge monsters. According to researchers, an image of the Sogdian deity Adbag is repeated here. The epithet ‘Adbag’ — ‘Supreme deity’ is associated with Ahuramazda. B.I. Marshak and A.M. Belenitsky note, that here Adbag-Ahuramazda is likened to Indra riding a white elephant. It seems to us quite probable that such an epithet could be applied to various gods of a high status. Notably, it could be Vretragna depicted here, who is akin to Indra. We think that the image of Vretragna held a special place in the visual arts of Varakhsha, as the patron deity of the Bukhar-Khudat dynasty. He was depicted in the center of the composition in the Blue Hall in his Avestan hypostasis, and in the Red Hall he was depicted in the form of Indra.

Zharkovo 3 settlement is located in the south of Western Siberia in the steppe Altai. The site was studied by archaeologists of the Altai State University and they discovered two building horizons: one of the Andronovo time (one house was studied) and the other of the Late Bronze Age (two structures and a soot pit). The paper presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of the Andronovo (Fedorovo) ceramics of the Zharkovo 3 settlement. Fragments of 74 different vessels were used to analyze the ornamentation. The method of V.F. Gening was used. The authors conducted the analysis of shapes and ornamentation of the ancient tableware, and analysis of the technology of its manufacture. It has been established that the collection contains vessels of cap- and pot-shaped forms, the predominant technique of ornamentation of which is stamping. The ornamental compositions mainly consist of four or more different motifs. A series of 49 samples, apparently from 47 vessels, was subjected to technical and technological analysis. The method of study of ceramics, developed by A.A. Bobrinsky and followers of his school within the framework of the historical and cultural approach, was used. The potters of the village preferred medium-plastic clay of medium iron content as the raw material. The main recipe for the paste composition was ‘clay + chamotte + organics’. Research into the construction of the pottery has revealed consistent skills in its manufacture. The patchwork-lumpy and spiral-patchwork methods of forming the vessel hollow body, recorded in the settlement, are characteristic of the Andronovo ceramics throughout its distribution area. It can be stated that the Andronovo population, who left the pottery of the Zharkovo 3 settlement, achieved a certain unity of cultural traditions in selection of the raw materials and paste composition. Almost all vessels of the site exhibited the use of the same type of mineral additives — chamotte. Deviations in concentration and dimension of its particles are associated with individual differences in the skills of the potters of the settlement. The presence on the site of individual vessels with pronounced differences in manufacturing technology should be regarded as examples of imports.

The paper is aimed at the analysis of the Middle Bronze Age materials from the Semiyarka IV burial ground in East Kazakhstan. In 2016–2018, two stone fences on the site were investigated by a joint expedition of the Altai and Pavlodar State Universities. The two fences contained human burials, inhumed in a wooden structure and in a composite stone cist box. The purpose of this work is to determine regional features and chronology of the Semiyarka IV funerary complex, as well as details of the ethnocultural development of the local population in the Middle Bronze Age. The research methodology includes analyses of the planigraphy and stratigraphy, comparative and typological study of the artifacts, anthropological investigation, examination of the pottery manufacturing technology, and radiocarbon dating. The technical and technological analysis of the pottery production was carried out using the method of A.A. Bobrinsky. Radiocarbon dates from wood and human bone samples were obtained by the liquid scintillation method in the archaeological technology laboratory of the Institute for the History of the Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The dates were then calibrated using CALIB 8.2 program and IntCal 20 calibration curve. The body of collected data allows us to conclude that the Andronovo burial ground of Semiyarka IV is distinguished by its syncretism which is manifested in two different cultural components. The first component, ‘Central Kazakhstan’, is represented by the architectural traditions of building stone fences and graves cemented with a clay mortar, as well as by the presence of chamotte in the pottery containing additives traditional for the population of Central Kazakhstan. The second component, ‘Siberian’, is represented by the tradition of building wooden crypts, and in the ceramics complex, by some peculiar ornamental patterns typical of the eastern Ob River valley. The site is dated to the turn of the 18^th/17^th –16^th c. BC. The architectural similarities of the Semiyarka IV burial ground structures with the Yenisei sites suggest that their origin is associated with the Irtysh River region. The migration period of the mobile Andronovo communities to the northeast is dated to the 17^th c. BC.

The paper concerns the so-called incense burners and small altar dishes found in the burial complexes of the Sargatka Culture in the forest-steppe region of the Western Siberia, as well as in the burials of the Cis-Urals nomads of the 4^th–2^nd c. BC, which were used for burning and incensing of various substances. Compilation of materials allows forming a clearer view on the possible function of these objects, which is debatable amongst the researchers. The incense burners are small cylindrical stone or pottery vessels with considerable amount of talcum in the pottery clay. The altar dishes represent round, oval or subrectangular objects made of stone and clay with or without legs. The cylinder-shaped incense burners and altar dishes are, apparently, similar in function to each other. The absence of a high rim on the latter is compensated by a large area of the dish itself. The volume of the incensed substance would be nearly the same in both types of the burners, while sustaining burning on the altar-dishes would not require special means, such as wall penetrations alike those in the cylindrical incense burners. Few preserved burials contain incense burners alongside other, in our opinion related, objects — flat-bottom vessels, sometimes with stone bases, which allows reconstruction of the implement in its assembled form and suggestion of a method of its application. The main item was an incense burner — a container of a cylindrical or conical shape, usually with through-holes in the wall to allow air intake inside the ware, sometimes having nipple-shaped protrusions on the inner surface of the bottom increasing the surface area of contact with the incense substance. The incense burner would have been placed in a flat-bottom jar filled with smoldering embers and installed on a fire-resistant base. The studied objects and their handling resemble the ceremonial described by Herodotus as a ritual purification amongst the Scythians. However, in our opinion, it cannot be ruled out that they could have been used in the rituals involving hallucinogenic substances, performed with the aim of prophesizing, divination, to communicate with gods and spirits, which were practised by people of the Sarmatian and Sargatian (at least in the western part of the area) Cultures and administered, most likely, by special, elected persons. When those persons die, the implements would be placed into their burials as a grave goods.

In this article, the authors analyse materials from the excavations of the Tara fortress (Omsk Region, Wes-tern Siberia), founded in 1594 by Prince Andrei Yeletsky and functioned as the main outpost of the Russians in the Middle Irtysh region to counter Khan Kuchum, the Kuchumovichs, and then the newly-arrived population from Dzungaria and Kazakhstan, until construction of the Omsk fortress in 1716. The aim of this research is to identify amongst the finds the articles of Polish-Lithuanian origin, in outward appearance similar to Russian ones. Having studied the collections formed during the excavations of the fortress in 2007–2020, the authors came to the conclusion that such items are definitely represented by the signet rings with nobility coats of arms, coins, and baptismal crosses made according to the Catholic canon. Potentially, Polish-Lithuanian origin could be assigned to some types of fabrics and leather goods, such as a travel compass case with images of French fleur-de-lis, some types of shoes, and handgun holsters. The presence of Venetian glass ware and plinth bricks in the layers of the 17^th c., according to the authors, is also associated with the arrival in Tara of the population that had previously resided in the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or on the western borders of Muscovy. The owners of these items ended up in Tara (and in Western Siberia) because they were taken prisoners or sided with the Russians during the Russian-Polish wars. Over time, they formed a special category of service people called ‘Lithuania’. This is evidenced by numerous written sources. The basis for this conclusion is given by particular characteristics of Tara's trade relations established, primarily, with China, Lesser and Greater Bukharia, and the Uzbek Khanate, i.e., with the south in the 17^th c., from where Chinese porcelain, silk and cotton fabrics, and some types of smo-king pipes came to Tara. At that time, weapons, bread, coarse fabrics, money for salaries of the servicemen of the Siberian garrisons, and cheap beads were imported to Tara from the west through Kazan, Kungur, and Lozva. In the 18^th c., the main trade of the Russians began to concentrate in Troitskosavsk (Kyakhta since 1934) on the border with Mongolia, from where tea, silk, and porcelain were exported, whereas a flow of Russian-made goods, as well as European wines, sugar, some species of nuts, and spices, was established through Kazan into Siberia. Instead of ’Lithuania’, Germans started coming to Siberia. In the 19^th c., Poles reappeared en masse in Western Siberia. However, those were no longer residents of Lithuania and Western Russian principalities, but ethnic Poles exiled to Siberia for participation in anti-Russian uprisings.

The aim of the proposed work is to ascertain, based on archeological data and written sources, the presence of individuals of the easternmost tribe from the community of the Western Balts — Sudins/Yotvingians. Both scientific data from old German excavations and the latest archaeological research in the Zelenogradsk district of the Kaliningrad region are introduced into the scientific discourse. There are no funeral monuments of the Teutonic Order in the territory of the ‘Sudovian corner’ (Lat. Campus Sudowitarum) in the northwestern part of the Sambia peninsula. Ethnographic data on this part of the Amber Coast, provided by the local history manuscripts of the 16^th–17^th c., include data on the West Baltic population of Western Sambia without actual confirmation of its tribal affiliation. In fact, authors of Polish written sources of the Order time do not draw distinction between the Sudins and Prussians either. Individual burials of male warriors and women with features characteristic of the Sudovian funeral rituals were found at the Prussian burial grounds of the Northern Sambia. Anthropological data confirm this conclusion. In the eastern part of the Prussian tribal area, occupied by the Prussians in the pre-Order times, according to the dating of the burial grounds, two burials with spearheads were encountered amongst the complexes of the 14^th c., which can be tentatively associated with bearers of the Sudovian traditions. The low representation of the Sudovian burials at Prussian burial grounds attests to the fact that the Order authorities could have appointed individual representatives of the Sudovian aristocracy, who sided with the conquerors, in order to strengthen the Order in the local polcas (volosts). Using the linguistic and cultural closeness with the Sembians, these Sudins possessed military power (presence of spearheads in the burials, with the common absence of weapons in the Prussian community graves) and could have been collecting taxes on behalf of the Order (the presence of a Western European moneybag in burial Ve-161). The seemingly unnatural presence of the Baltic warriors in the service of the Teutonic Order is symbolized by the decoration of the buckle from burial Ve-161, which bears the coat of arms of the Order and a stylized image of the mythical companion of God Perkuno — the sacred goat, an object of the Prussian sacrifices, presented here as a symbol of the native spiritual traditions.

The article concerns the ornament of the Turkic-speaking population of Western Siberia, namely, the Baraba and Tara Tatars. They represent local groups of Siberian Tatars and live in the territory of modern Novosibirsk and Omsk Regions. The issue of the development of the ornament of the Baraba and Tara Tatars is still open, as the materials of the 17^th–18^th centuries have yet been little touched upon. Since the end of the 20^th century, due to the excavations, such opportunity has presented itself. The objective of this study is to identify ornamental elements, to form a core of the ornament for the Baraba and Tara Tatars, and to consider what became of these elements. Two types of sources were used in the study: archaeological and ethnographic. The archaeological materials are represented by the ornamented ceramics and decorations from the monuments of the Omsk Irtysh and Barabinsk forest-steppe of the 17^th–18^th centuries. The ethnographic materials date mainly to the end of the 19^th–20^th centuries and include headdresses, clothes, shoes, and jewelry. We identified elements separately for each complex of objects of the Tara and Baraba Tatars, viz., archaeological and ethnographic, and, based on this, general tables were composed. The objective of the compilation was to identify similar ornamental base, which made it possible to identify common elements inherent to the Baraba and Tara Tatars, and elements specific to only one group. As a result, significant similarity in the elements, motifs, zonality, and composition were observed. This similarity appears within the archaeologically recorded time and in the 19^th–20^th centuries. Ethno-cultural, social, family-marital relations, political and military actions, and migration to each other's territory were determining assimilation of the cultural traits. Meanwhile, the cultures of the Baraba and Tara Tatars had diffe-rences, which were due to their ethnocultural contacts. In the case of the Tara Tatars, this is manifested in a wider use of combed stamps. Their crockery featured a variety of compositions of the elements. Ceramics of the Baraba Tatars, on the contrary, was decorated with impressions and figured stamps. In the 19^th–20^th centuries, the ornament of the Baraba Tatars is distinguished by the use of wavy lines and corniform elements. Their ornamentation is characterized by geometrization (simple figures and complex elements). The ornament of the Tara Tatars is characterized by the use of floral motifs.

The article, by means of the comparative-historical method, critical analysis of scholarly concepts, and use of ethnographic materials, deals with the study of the complex of beliefs and rituals of indigenous peoples of the Russian Far East (Nanais, Negidals, Nivkhs, Orochs, Udeges, Uilta, Ulchs, and Evenks) as a sacred component of their traditional and modern hunting and fishing technologies. The term ‘technology’ originates from the Ancient Greek philosophy by the development of the doctrine of ‘techne’ as an art by which things are made. Technology is based on notion and supersedes the role of the chance in human life and activities, which expedites the process of adaptation to the nature. The ritual preceding production of a tool or a vehicle is performed to improve quality of the item to ensure its more productive use in hunting and fishing. In the culture of indigenous peoples of the Russian Far East, there are known examples of invocation of magic, cults, beliefs, and rituals to secure hunter’s luck in fabrication of hunter carriers, tools for hunting marine and terrestrial animals, and traps. Beliefs and rituals serve as the sacred components of the hunting and fishing technologies, which have the utmost importance for sustainable life of the indigenous population. The main conclusion is that, in spite of some differences in the economy, degree of settlement and mobility, and the level of influence of nonethnic cultures, undoubtedly, the results of hunting, fishing, off-shore seal catching, deer breeding, and foraging depend on personal experience, rational knowledge of the qualities of plants, weather signs, and migration times and habits of animals, and on the quality of the trade equipment, transport, clothes and footwear. However, these aspects are not sufficient and the hunters resort to the sacral components of the hunting and fishing technologies — transport means are ‘enlivened’, by magic means they are imparted with the qualities of living beings — people or animals. With the help of amulets, the hunters strengthen their trade qualities — agility, perception-reaction time, and intuition. Prohibitions are observed, which are aimed at decreasing dependence on chance and increasing hunting productivity. The rational technologies, aimed at the survivance of the ethnos, are complemented by the sacred components, so that people cling to the help of supernatural powers.

The author attempts to investigate how new infrastructure and new technical means affect the social institutions of the indigenous inhabitants of the Yamal Peninsula, who were mainly engaged in traditional activities: nomadic reindeer herding and fishing. The work is based on the author's field materials of 2018–2020 for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District (Western Siberia) and publications of other researchers. The paper shows how the autochthonous peoples build new mobile space and master snowmobiles. Domination over the created space takes place with the aid of traditional skills and behaviors. At the same time, deer, which was the main transport animal and the main measure of wealth of Arctic reindeer herders, has not receded into the background, but transformed into a means of technical modernization of the economy. As a result, it has been shown that, when choosing technical innovations, the indigenous people of Yamal are guided by their ease of operation, high cross-country capability and environmental friendliness, preferring the domestically produced Buran in daily routine. Snowmobiles can be found in almost all reindeer herding families, and only their high price indicates the standing of the owners and allows the latter to demonstrate their status in the society. ‘Buranists’ are involved in the market relations, occupying their niches in the system of commodity-exchange relations in the society. They act as an information and communication link between reindeer herders' camps and settlements. Snowmobiles are vivid examples of adaptation of indigenous people to new conditions and demonstrate possibility of coexistence of traditional reindeer farming culture with modern technologies. The Arctic nomad turned from a mobile man into homo technicus mobilis. This transformation appeared to be only on the outside, as evidenced by frequent accidents during the operation of snowmobiles. The proper use of such technologies in many respects offers competitive advantages to local entrepreneurs. New vehicles boost the entrepreneurial activity of the natives, involve them in the non-traditional sectors of employment: repair and resale of snowmobiles, transportation; and delivery of fuels, where natives can employ traditional knowledge of orientation, satisfy their passion for moving, and to avail themselves of the opportunity to choose a lifestyle and transport, without parting with their mobile lifestyle.

In modern anthropology, researchers pay increasing attention to photographic data as a category of historical/ethnographic documents. This article is based on visual and anthropological materials of Bronislaw Pilsudsky (1866–1918), a renowned researcher of Sakhalin ethnic groups, collected by the authors from the archives and museums in the Far East during the expedition in June — August 2019. The study is focused on Pilsudsky’s photographic and manuscript collections on the ethnography of the Nivkhs reposited in holdings of the Sakhalin Regional Museum (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk) and the Society for Research on the Amur Region (Vladivostok). Many of these photographic documents, being unique evidence of the evolution of the material and spiritual culture of the indigenous people of Sakhalin at the turn of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, are introduced into the scientific discourse for the first time. The photographic materials are analyzed from the historical and anthropological perspectives, in conjunction with the published papers and archival manuscripts of the scientist (in particular, “Wants and needs of the Sakhalin Gilyaks”). Correlation of the textual and visual materials shows that B. Pilsudsky represented Sakhalin in a series of images: the island of native dwellers (traditional lifestyle of the Gilyaks) — the island of convicts (colonization of the territory, involuntary-settlement community) — the island of autonomies (cultural and economic zoning). In the course of his studies, B. Pilsudsky used concurrently textual description of the impressions and their photographic capture. The key feature of the scientific work of B. Pilsudsky of this period was the absence of a “metric” perspective — he photographed his characters in their natural habitat, in their daily routine. The conclusion is drawn on the archive photographs as multi-layered visual-anthropological documents on their time, which under a proper critical research perspective constitute valuable historical sources of scientific interest for studies in a wide range of the humanities.

The study is aimed to identify the functions of the semiotic models in everyday food practices in the context of ritual and ceremonial activities. The objective of the research is the food practices extant in the modern Kazakh culture in the form of traditional beliefs and folklore. An ethnographic field research was carried out to collect materials in the Northern and Central Kazakhstan by means of structured interview, photographic documenting, and video recording. Using specially designed questionnaires and focused checklists, 120 respondents were interviewed, 80 checklists completed, and 7 recipes and cooking technologies of traditional Kazakh cuisine characte-ristic to the region were recorded with respect to the traditional diet. The ethnicity of the respondents is Kazakhs. In our study, we used methods based on historical, cultural, ethnographic, semiotic, and hermeneutic analyses. The results of the research, collected during the field study, showed that in the modern everyday practices of the Kazakh ethnic group, there are established models of transfer of cultural experience from one generation to ano-ther. It has been found that the traditional ideas of the dietary culture have been preserved with the support of religious values. Rituals and ceremonies in the food culture of the modern Kazakh ethnic group are relevant for activities related to the life cycle of a person, from their birth, adulthood, to their funeral. Various types of beliefs and superstitions in food practices are considered, which in the traditional Kazakh culture reflect the close entwinement of cosmogonic and religious worldviews within the triune of ‘Man, Nature, and God’. A set of ethical rules, related to the prohibitions and behavior at a meal in the food culture, is presented. Some surviving recipes of the traditional Kazakh cuisine have been identified. In the modern Kazakh society, along with the transformation of the food culture, however, traditional cultural patterns and models prevail, notably, those formed during the pre-Islamic period and later on, taking into account the Islamic component.

This paper is based on the materials on the traditional and modern Kazakh culture. The author analyzes some ritual practices of the life cycle, which are founded on the traditional scenario but understood by the modern Kazakhs at a new level and often are vested with a new sense and significance. The main sources of the conducted research are represented by the field observations of the author and information from the Kazakh Internet resources concerning the problems of administering principal life-cycle rituals. Regular and systematic field investigations allow us to register the dynamics of formation and evolution of such practices over a fairly short time span of within 10–15 years. It is this period over which they can develop from innovation into tradition. This approach provides possibility of studying the forms and the way of the transformation of a tradition from the historical perspective. The author pays special attention to the strategies of sustaining the continuity in present-day life-cycle ritualism and to the mechanisms of the formation of the local and regional identity in present-day conditions. Locally synchronous view of the tradition demonstrates the reflection of the individual on the challenge of the time, their ability to adapt to the changing external and internal conditions. This dynamic provides the very process of the transformation of the traditions, reconsideration of the ‘regional’ initiatives imposed from above and their transition into local variants. Each tradition had once been an innovation; examination of the modern forms of ritua-lism over a short time span allows capturing the process of establishing new customs, behavioral stereotypes, and the ways of their preservation and propagation over several decades. Innovations appear, as a rule, in the periods of relative social and cultural instability, when a certain discontinuity occurs between the worldview and ideological norms of the generations in response to the changing conditions of their existence. In the present-day Kazakh culture, the pace of alteration of the rites is considerably higher than that in a traditional society; however, the current demand for the ritual accompaniment of the stages of the human life cycle warrants reproduction of main traditional practices and creation of new practices on the basis of rethinking of the traditional patterns.

The paper is aimed at the study of the under-investigated Russian toponymy of the north of the Sverdlovsk Region, specifically, of the oikonyms — the names of villages — along the lower reaches of the Pelym River. The basin of the Pelym River, a tributary of the Tavda River, is of interest as the Mansi native territory. It is also an area of the early land development by the Russians beyond the Urals, which began at the end of the 16^th century. The objective of this study is to establish the origins of the earliest layer of names of the Russian villages along the Pelym River and to trace the history of their functioning from the 18^th century to the present day. The work is based on the material of historical documents (customs books of the town of Pelym of the second half of the 17^th century), information from written, statistical, and cartographic sources (travel materials of academician G.F. Müller of 1742, expeditions of B. Munkácsi in 1888–1889, lists of the settlements of the Ural and Sverdlovsk regions, and modern maps of the region), as well as field materials of the 1960s collected by the Ural University Toponymic Expedition. Research methods include descriptive, etymological, comparative, reconstruction, and statistical analysis of linguistic material. It has been ascertained that almost all considered oikonyms have anthroponomical origins and are derived from the surnames of first settlers. They reflect the history of the deve-lopment of the Pelym region, including its active settlement by the Russian riflemen Streltsy (villages Krivonogova, Khudyakova, Kuznetsova, Tolmacheva etc.). The names of the Russian villages which were founded in the Mansi native territory were subjected to adaptation in the Mansi language, or the Mansi were gi-ving them their own names, which is clearly shown by the materials of B. Munkácsi of the late 19^th century (Ponomareva village → Panamarovskaya in Russian and Varaulėχ-pɵwėl in Mansi, Kadaulova (Kaidaulova) village → Khɵitėl-p. in Mansi etc.). Of the 17 Russian oikonyms of the lower Pelym known in the 18^th century and recorded by G.F. Müller in the description of his travel in 1742, only one has survived to this day — the name of the village of Vekshina, which is still extant. The memory of the disappeared Pelym villages and their names are preserved by the local microtoponyms present on the modern maps, as well as by the surnames of the descendants of the inhabitants of these villages.

The GULAG experience in cultural narratives and collective identity of post-Soviet Lithuania

In this paper, the tendencies of rethinking the GULAG in the cultural memory of post-Soviet Lithuania (after 1990) are analyzed. The sources for the analysis were represented by ego-documents, literary works, and visual arts (movies and comics). The author draws attention to the specifics of female and, in part, children’s experience of the deportation, to the ways of perceiving, rethinking, and reproducing collective trauma in an ethno-historical context, to the role of post-memory in the formation and support of the national identity in the modern Lithuanian society. In recent years, in the field of perpetuating the memory of the Stalinist period in Lithuania, the public attention is increasingly shifted from the direct and authentic evidence to heterogeneous visually striking artistic representations. This shift in the focus of interest can be explained by the generational change, which warrants the search for a new stylistic language and message forms. As a result, works are created that belong to the field of post-memory, which are characterized by a higher degree of adaptability of the traumatic experience of previous generations to the knowledge and mentality of modern viewers / readers, as well as by attempt to increase their attractiveness through vivid and memorable characters and stories. The main difference between the most literarily valuable texts of the ‘first’ and the ‘second’ generation of the Lithuanian authors can basically be described as a different degree of ontological intensity. If the former authors seek to comprehend the experienced repressions within the framework of existentialism (Grinkevičiūtė and Kalvaitis) or Christian metaphysics (Dirsyte and Miškinis), then the latter authors, for obvious reasons, no longer achieve this level of reflection on the extremely traumatic experience, focusing on embedding their personal biographies into the great historical narrative about the “struggle and sorrows” of the nation, which has already become canonical.

Here, we present the results of comprehensive (archaeological and palaeoecological) studies undertaken in 2014–2018 in the basin of the Upper Kama River in the north of Perm Region, eastern part of the East European Plain. The main objects for the research were archaeological sites, primarily their chronological attribution and localization specifics. In total, 100 sites belonging to a wide chronological range from the Mesolithic to the Late Middle Ages were identified in the study area. The palaeochannel method was used to identify the association of the archaeological sites to certain landscapes within the river valley. As a result, five morphologically diverse sectors have been identified. For the reconstruction of natural landscapes and plant communities, palynological and plant macrofossil methods were used. Radiocarbon analysis was used to date these events. The initial human habitation of the Upper Kama region took place in the early Holocene, after the formation of the 2^nd and 1^st river terraces. The Mesolithic sites have been dated to this period. They were located either on the second river terrace, or on the bedrock valley side. In the Middle Holocene, along with the spread of broad-leaved species in forests, 6^th–5^th floodplain generations were formed, and the river was characterized by high water content. The Neolithic sites located on the Kama river terraces belong to this period. In the end of the Middle Holocene, the maximum distribution of spruce forests began. This was the time of existence of the Garin Chalcolithic Culture settlements. They were located either on the 4^th–5^th floodplain generations, or on the bedrock valley side. In the end of the Subboreal and first half of the Subatlantic periods, a key role in the forest stand was played by pine, forming southern taiga light coniferous forests. The water content of the Kama decreased. The sites of the Early Iron Age, located on low terraces or in the floodplain, are dated to this time. In the second half of the Subatlantic period of the Holocene, forests acquired modern mid-taiga appearane, which coincided with the arrival of the medieval population. Medieval hillforts were located on the bedrock valley sides, and the settlements were associated with river terraces, shores of oxbow lakes and floodplains of small rivers.

The article is concerned with characteristics of funeral traditions of the Sargatka Culture population based on materials of the Ustyug-1 burial ground located in the Zavodoukovsky District of Tyumen Region. Six barrows of the Early Iron Age were studied in the area. Mounds 5 (5^th–3^rd c. BC), 51 and 52 (5^th–4^th c. BC) belong to the early stage of the culture. Sargatka burials of mounds 27 and 49 (3^rd–2^nd c. BC) were made during the middle stage. Burial from mound 56 (2^nd–3^rd c. AD) belongs to the final period of the Sargatka Culture of the Early Iron Age. Thus, burials in the Ustyug-1 necropolis were made during the entire time of existence of the Sargatka Culture. The comparison of different periods of functioning of the cemetery within the same culture and microregion revealed a number of characteristic features of the complex in the context of the historical development of the Early Iron Age cultures in the forest-steppe zone. Furthermore, it was possible to trace the process of formation of the culture in the Tobol River basin, the composition and status of the individual groups of the population, and the nature of cultural ties. We conclude that the variation between the objects of different periods reflects the deve-lopmental stages of the Sargatka Culture in the local microregion. In the early stage of the culture, part of its population migrated from the east into the Tobol basin region. It was transformed here under the influence of local groups of the Baitovo Culture on the one hand, and certain groups of steppe nomads on the other. The burial rite of the local population changed dramatically as a result of contacts between the bearers of the Sargatka Culture and nomadic groups. This indicates the strengthening of the Iranian worldview component in the Sargatka environment. At the next stage, the interaction of the local population with the nomads of the Sarmatian circle became more active, and the level of militarization of the local population increased. In the late period, social stratification within the Sargatka Сulture society increased, which was accompanied by an increase in prestigious consumption. This was expressed in a clear separation of the elite funeral rite from the ordinary one. The study of such monuments, which existed for a long time, can help us to understand the processes of formation and extinction of cultures.

The paper considers iron knives which have been found together with swords or daggers in burials of the early nomads of the Southern Urals. The aim of this work was to collect information about joint findings of edged weapons and knives and to determine the functional purpose of such bladed sets. This research uses data on seven joint finds of a sword/dagger and a knife in the early nomadic burials of the Southern Urals, originating from six burial grounds. The paper also addresses the issue of origins of this tradition. The functional affiliation of the object as a weapon has been determined by the localization of the knife directly on the sword or dagger in the military burial. Knives which have been found together with a dagger or a sword could represent elements of military weapons of the early nomads of the Southern Urals. Most likely, the sword scabbards had an additional pocket for knife on the frontal side. This explains the location of the knifes directly along the axis of the sword blade. Such knives probably were used as auxiliary weapons and only in a close combat. If knives are considered as a category of military auxiliary weapons, then their disappearance could be related to some kind of military «reform», expressed in appearance of heavy armed cavalry, distribution of spears, standardization of swords, daggers and arrowheads. The time of existence of such edged sets fits into the middle/second half of the 5^th — turn of the 4^th/3^rd c. BC. A limited number of finds in the early nomadic complexes in the Southern Urals indicates a rather rare use of this weaponry element. The tradition of such edged kits possibly dates back to the nomadic cultures of Central Asia. The edged sets of a dagger and a knife have been found in tombs of the late stage of the Uyuk (Saghlyk) Culture (5^th–3^rd c. BC). The placement of a knife on the waist of the deceased (sometimes in the same scabbard together with dagger) during the Early Scythian and later periods suggests the conceptualization of knife as a weapon.

This article is concerned with the Chinese metal mirror, which, as it has been found during the study, has been stored for a long time in the collection of the Altai State Museum of Local Lore, but as yet has not attracted the attention of specialists and has not been introduced into scientific discourse. A special research has been required to determine the time and circumstances of its arrival to the museum, which involved working with the documentation of the Altai State Museum of Local Lore, stored both within the institute and in the State Archives of the Altai Territory. It has been concluded, that the mirror represents an occasional find and it came to the museum in the first quarter of the 20^th century from the Yenisei Province (currently, the southwestern part of Krasnoyarsk District. The article presents a detailed morphological characteristic of this artifact. The basis of the composition in the ornamented part of the mirror is a stylized image of a single dragon. Its mouth is trying to grasp the holder, which symbolizes the “fire pearl”. The analysis of the specialised literature and catalogues showed that in Chinese mirrors such composition appeared only during the Tang Dynasty (618–907) and continued to exist during the Song Period (907–1279). It has been determined that the composition presented on such objects was reproduced for several centuries (Jin, Liao, and Yuan Dynasties), undergoing transformations associated with stylistic nuances (details of the image, shape of mirror, presence or absence of inscriptions) and size and quality of the objects. Based on the obtained data, the mirror from the Altai State Museum of Local Lore has been attributed to the Yuan dynasty period. There are almost no analogies to such objects in Northern and Central Asia, despite the significant number of mirrors of the Mongolian time stored in collections of Siberian museums. Therefore, it seems possible to acknowledge the rarity of these very specimens; the fragmentarity of their distribution could possibly be explained by peculiarities of the history of specific craft centers that have yet to be investigated.

Archaeological materials found in different periods during the excavations in the settlement of Isker (Kuchum, 17 km from the city of Tobolsk), the ancient capital of the Khanate of Sibir, allow the analysis of firearms of Russian warriors of the 1582–1585, who took part in the Yermak’s Conquest of the Khanate. Various gun barrel fragments, breechloader bolts, a hammer with a lock spring, steel strikers with turnscrews, metal and bone ramrod parts, bullet moulds were discovered during the excavations in Isker. These findings suggest that Russian pishchal arquebuses with matchlocks of the first half of the 16^th century were the major weapon in service. On the tips of wooden ramrods, there were copper and bone bushings for ramming the projectiles. Ramrods were also equipped with three-leafed bushing caps for bore cleaning. All-purpose steel strikers with turnscrews unscrewed the bolts that attached barrels to stocks and disassembled locks; they had holes to be suspended on the gun. Stone bullet moulds were used for moulding lead bullets. The carefully examined archaeological collections from Isker do not support the hypothesis proposed in scientific literature stating that Yermak’s Cossacks were armed with flintlock firearm and small-bore guns.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the planigraphic distribution of graves characterized by different positions of arms of the buried people and to identify patterns in their localization. The source base of the research is represented by 384 graves of the Nikolskaya Church necropolis in the town of Krivoshchyokovo. The arms position has been determined for individuals from 152 graves. The classification criteria for arms positions of the deceased have been developed. The analysis of graves enabled us to make a full list of all possible positions of the right or left arm, including the following ones: the arm is stretched along the body (0°), bent at the elbow at ~40°, ~68°, ~90°, ~112°, ~139° or ~166°. In cases when one arm was put on the other one, the relative position of arms (above or below) was recorded. The combination of individual positions of arms and their positioning relatively to each other determines the overall type of arms position. The planigraphic analysis of arms positions of buried people by types has been undertaken. It has been identified that graves with several “plain” and complex types of arms positions are located quite closely to each other. The distribution of graves with certain types of arms positions in the studied part of the necropolis cannot be accidental. Therefore, the established facts of restricted loca-lization of types and complex types of arms positions of the buried people are determined by a cause or a group of causes associated with the historic circumstances of the period when the necropolis was formed. One could assume that the types of arms positions changed over time, following the transformation of beliefs and prescriptions of the church in relation to the existing burial tradition. The specific position of arms can be related to the confession of the deceased person and his/her family, as well as traditions of particular regions. In the former case, the position of arms can be characteristic of a specific confession, while in the latter case — of the place of origin of the colonists. Over time, as a result of the long cohabitation and mixing of populations through marriages, the funeral rite should be reduced to a specific single type, however, never reaching an absolute unification due to migration flow of people following different burial traditions. The program of further research into the funeral traditions has been proposed.

The main problem of archaeological plans drawn in the mid-20th century is that almost all of them have poor accuracy of spatial localisation of objects. Simple estimates show that the error relatively to the actual position of the site can reach several hundred meters on the Earth surface. Because of this, only large, well-preserved objects can be identified using archaeological plans. If the monument is small and poorly preserved, then it is impossible to distinguish it among modern buildings. This is especially critical if the search radius, which depends on the error in the archaeological plan, reaches 300–500 meters [Bolelov et al. 2019]. This situation complicates creation of modern accurate maps and geographical information systems. To specify the position of the monuments, we propose using maps of the General Staff of the USSR (GS), which contain the location details of a large number of archaeological sites. According to our estimate, the GS maps have an error of ca. 50 meters, which significantly reduces the search area. The idea is that, first, the site on the archaeological plan must be identified with the object on the map of the GS, and then the GS coordinates (SK-42) need to be recalculated to the WGS-84 ones of Google Earth. A simple method of conversion from the SK-42 coordinate system to WGS-84 and vice versa in the form of additive corrections to geographical coordinates is proposed. Estimates of random errors have been obtained, which are caused by the error in compiling and analysing the maps. Although numerical estimates have been obtained for the territory of historical Khorezm, it is most likely that the same transformations are applicable to other territories. The described technique has been successfully applied to the archaeological sites of the Yakke-Parsan Channel, which, according to the map of E.E. Nerazik [2013, fig. 14], comprises 20 monuments. Of them, only six largest structures had an accurate identification. As a result of the research, we found and identified seven objects more. The comparison of coordinates made possible the preliminary identifications, and final identifications were made after comparing the appearance of the objects with architectural plans. Other sites have not been found because they have not been preserved to our time. Nevertheless, the GS maps allow obtaining accurate coordinates of the lost monuments.

The settlement of Tanalyk (Bashkortostan) is the most fully studied household object of the Late Bronze Age in the territory of Southern Ural. The pottery assemblage allows attributing it to the Srubnaya — Alakul type. The majority of bone remains in this site belong to domestic animals, and the number of wild species remains is extremely small. There is no evidence of farming in the Late Bronze Age. Thus, the subsistence of the Tanalyk population was based on livestock production. As such, the time of livestock slaughtering can be indicative of people’s presence in the site. The purpose of the present research was to determine the type of the Late Bronze Age Tanalyk settlement as permanent or seasonal. The slaughtering season and the age of cattle (46 individuals), sheep/goats (33 individuals) and horses (24 individuals) have been determined. Both determinations were based on the analysis of growth layers in animal teeth (cement and dentine). In archaeozoology, there is a traditional method of estimation of animal age-at-death based on the state of their dental system. Data obtained by these two methods have been inter-compared. It has been established that domestic animals were slaughtered entire year round, with no seasonal preference for various species. Only for sheep/goats, slaughtering season was related to their age. In warm seasons, young animals were slaughtered three times more often than in cold time of the year. Cattle, sheep/goat and horses were slaughtered mainly in cold seasons, in smaller numbers in summer, and only in minimal quantities in spring. The practice of year-round slaughtering of animals shows, that at least part of the community lived in the settlement permanently and did not make seasonal movements. Comparison of the age structures obtained from the study of tooth growth layers and the condition of the dental system showed their strong structures similarity, which is very important methodologically. This allows a reliable use of the age structure based on the condition of dental system to interpret the patterns of economic exploitation of domestic ungulates.

This paper represents an attempt to conduct a bioarchaeological study of the anthropological materials of the Late Sarmatian period from burials of the late 3^rd — 4^th c. AD in the Lower Volga Region. The examined group consisted of osteological remains of 24 individuals. The standard assessment program of skeletal pathological conditions and univariate and multivariate statistics methods were applied. The study has shown that the series from the late 3^rd — 4^th c. AD nomadic burials of the Lower Volga Region is generally compatible with the Sarmatian group of the late 2^nd — early 3^rd c. AD and that of the late Sarmatian time. Yet, there are identifiable differences in the late group, which must be related to negative factors associated with the environmental changes during that period.

In the last two decades, a large number of anthropological papers have been focused on digital copies of palaeoanthropological materials rather than original skeletal remains. According to some foreign scholars, “virtual anthropology” has taken a shape of a separate field of anthropological science. One of the main advantages of “virtual anthropology” is the possibility to develop databases, datasets, digital collections and catalogues accessible to the scientific community worldwide. Digitization of research objects facilitates organizational side of studies, provides access to wider data, expands the toolkit of available research methods, and also provides safety to the original materials. At the same time, the variability of types of virtual models along with the absence of generally accepted protocols complicate verification of morphometric and structures data. The main goal of this review paper is to structure the available information on virtual palaeoanthropological databases and the materials they contain. 3D-scanning technologies can be generally divided into surface scanning (including photogrammetry) and tomographic scanning. The first group of technologies provide 3D models of the shape of an object, accurate enough to be used in morphometric studies if resolution of the equipment is adequate for the size of the object and aims of the study. The second group is designed to scan the whole form of an object, which allows the examination of its internal structures or tissues, small surface structures or dental material. Both methods have their strengths and weaknesses: while surface scans are cheaper and easier to obtain, CT scans provide information unavailable from the former technique. Assessment of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of digital copies depends on objectives of the study. The article provides an overview of 17 databases of virtual paleoanthropological models, which comprise either surface or CT scans, or both. These materials can be used in various fields of study, including human evolution, primatology, palaeoanthropology, palaeopathology, forensic science, human anatomy, as well as in teaching of these subjects. For each collection, approximate number of objects and terms of use have been specified.

The paper is concerned with the analysis of osteometrical data from the antique populations of the Armenian Highlands, i.e. anthropological materials of burials dated to the 1^st–3^rd c. AD. We analyse the differences in anthropological characteristics between urban and rural population of Armenia in antiquity. In total, 78 individuals of both sexes have been examined using traditional osteological methods. The study involved visual examination of the skeletons, images, descriptions and radiography. For the intergroup comparison, canonical analysis based on the averaged intergroup correlation matrix was used [Deryabin, 1983]. Visually, bones of the villagers appear to be more massive and quite elevated. Men, buried in rural areas differ from those from urban environments in smaller longitudinal dimensions of humerus, radius and ulna, and in larger icircumference of humerus, ulna and femur. Analysis of the data shows that the studied groups carry some features characteristic for populations adapted to high-altitude environments. Intergroup analysis suggests that the closest to the urban male groups would be the Maeotian population from the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov. The female part of the urban community is close to the population of the first centuries AD from Gurmiron. Male villagers show similar features to those of Scythians of Ukraine (Scythian Neapolis); villagers are morphologically close to groups of Sarmatian cultures of the Lower Volga Region. Indirectly, this observation confirms the fact of stable, continuous migration flow into the territory of the Armenian Highlands. There is a certain agreement in the differentiation pattern of the ancient Armenian Highland population from the osteometric and craniometrics data. The osteometric data can be a rather important source of information for reconstruction of biological affinities of human populations.

The article provides an overview of the ethnographer-to-government reports (n = 106) published in five issues of the “Ethnological Expertise: Peoples of the Russian North” series. These documents, which represent valuable sources on the history of the northern populations and the national policy of the Soviet government from the mid-1950s to the early 1990s, contain information on demography and distribution of the indigenous groups, economy of collective farms, material status of collective farmers (earnings, living conditions, subsistence, provision of clothing), characteristics of their culture and life, education, and health care. During the analysed period, the monitoring of ethnic communities was carried out as a planned long-term expertise under a unified program throughout the entire territory of the Soviet North. The requirement for this large-scale and continuous survey served as the motive for the creation of the North Sector in the Moscow division of the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, where each specialist was assigned to a particular population (or group of peoples). Preparation of reports for the central and local authorities was a state order and the responsibility of employees of the Institute of Ethnography, who conducted field research in the North and Siberia. The analysis of the documents shows that ethnographers, generally following the ideological and political guidelines of the authorities, tried – in some cases rather decisively — to correct the policy of the Soviet state in relation to the peoples of the North. Based on their own expert surveys, they criticized the transition of nomads to a settled way of life, the introduction of southern agricultural branches in the North, the lack of ethnographic knowledge among administrators; they discussed and proposed innovations in economy, technology, material culture, etc. The Soviet ethno-expertise encompassed, on the one hand, ethnographic data supporting socialist ideology, on the other – elements of academic evaluation; it served as a kind of transmission between the interests of the Soviet state and the northern peoples.

The article is aimed at characterization of the ways of laundry organization in the urban noble-intellectual families of post-reform Russia, identification of the extent of innovations in this area, and of the degree of transition of this activity from the field of domestic labour to social production. The sources of the research include paperwork of laundry facilities, statistical data, numerous housekeeping manuals and instructions for laundry organization, memoirs, diaries and house books of urban nobles, especially noble women, and, finally, fiction and publicistic writings of this period. The study follows a methodological approach that combines research methods characteristic for the history of everyday life (first of all, historical reconstruction method), the theory of sociocultural dynamics, and the theory of “topochron”. The author concludes that, despite the significant increase of personal participation of educated housewives in household chores, which took place at the end of the 19^th — beginning of the 20^th century, this change did not extend to laundry, which was completely delegated to a special person — laundress. The employee herself could act as a single-family domestic servant, a worker who served in a laundry establishment or an independent day laborer who offered her services to all concerned. Moreover, the first group — laundresses — domestic servants — was extremely rare in the post-reform period. Washing could be carried out both “at the owners’ home”, and “on the side”. “Home washing”, which provided a theoretical opportunity for the employer to control the employee’s activities, was regarded as more preferable, both in terms of service quality and price. Active development of the laundry networks in the late 19^th — early 20^th century, some of which used machine washing, had little impact on lives of educated citizens. The laundries were oriented, first of all, to work with institutions, and among the “citizens” their services were mainly used by small noble-intellectual families who did not have an opportunity to invite a day labourer. Throughout the post-reform period, handwashing continued to be the most popular way to care for clothing, and the nature of the laundress’s labor remained virtually unchanged, still staying “backbreaking” and extremely poorly mechanized.

The problem of homogeneity and integrity of the Russian Empire state territories became topical in the se-cond half of the 19^th century. Its resolution was reflected in the administrative and legal integration, based on the policy of Russification and introduction of the Russian language in all spheres of life of the society. The purpose of this article is to reconstruct the mechanisms and particularities of the implementation of this policy in the Central Asian outskirts of the Russian Empire — the Governor-Generalship of the Steppes. The study is based on a wide range of hsitorical sources — regulations and paperwork, most of which have been identified in archives and introduced into the scientific discourse for first time. It has been revealed that the implementation of the Russification policy in the Steppe Territory followed two directions. The first one involved the introduction of paperwork management in Russian language into the local governments system. This process iniciated very actively in the beginning of the 20^th century after the settlement of the legal status of the Russian language in the Russian Empire. Applicants for the positions of volost, aul and kishlak rulers, which were elective, were required to pass an exam on Russian language knowledge the prior to the ballot. Failure in the exam would immediately disqualify the candidate from further electoral process. The second important direction of expanding the influence of the Russian language in the Steppe Territory was the educational policy related to the formation of a secular school education system and the mandatory inclusion of the Russian language course into the educational process. A network of Russian-Kyrgyz, Russian-aul, and missionary schools, Cyrillic-based alphabets for regional languages, educational-methodological literature in Russian were created in the region. The Russian language course became compulsory in programs of Muslim metebas and madrassas to raise the effectiveness of the Russification policy. Until the end of the imperial period, regional authorities failed to form a staff of ethnic officials who could speak Russian. The level of knowledge of the Russian language in the rest of the indigenous population remained extremely low, which was due to unpopularity of the Russian school system. Thus, it can be stated that the potential of the Russian language as a means of integration into the common empire space was not fully utilized. At the same time, it cannot be denied, that Russian culture, historically close to Muslim peoples of the Central Asian region, embodied in the imperial educational system, played a positive role, acting as a conductor of their involvement in the achievements of European civilization.

This paper presents to the reader’s attention a unique case of a local “messianic” prophecy which combines features of folk religious movements and principles of functioning of the bureaucratic machine. The manuscripts of civil servant and merchant Adrian Pushkin, who lived in the 19^th century in the city of Perm (Kama region, Western Ural), are considered as a variation of development of popular religion which includes a messianic-apocalyptic narrative. This places the provincial clerk closely to founders of the alternative to the official Orthodox discourse movements in the Russian Empire, as well as new religious movements of the later period. The aim of this paper is to determine the place and the role of Pushkin’s revelation in the religious space of that historical period. The main sources of the research are local archival documents which include business correspondence, personal letters, photographs, also documents related to Pushkin’s psychiatric examination and his subsequent expulsion to the Solovetsky Monastery, letters and family photos of the “prophet”, and service notes. The research method is based on the phenomenological approach with elements of hermeneutical analysis. The new revelation was founded on biblical text well known to the Perm messiah, and its content was provided by the social and historical context. The targeted audience for the new prophet was the middle strata of the society, comfortable for him. The preferred way of communication involved the tools of the bureaucratic system of pre-revolutionary Russia. The development of the new interpretation of Christian teaching was based on individual choice of the revelator and mediated by already initiated processes of secularization of public life. Traditional narratives and imagery of the sacred books of the Orthodox tradition were placed by the messiah-bureaucrat in the context of local space of the region and the country, and were interpreted through realities of personal life. Open criticism of the official Church was combined with a complex of mythological ideas. The main accents of the prophetic text were apocalyptic and chiliastic, related to the personal and professional crisis experienced by the author. The latter was triggered by the abolition of serfdom and destruction of the habitual environment and self-realization system. The style and content of Pushkin’s text represent a mixture of theological concepts and elements of folk narratives based on the biblical tradition. As a result of the textual development, the signature myth was formed, rooted formally in Christian dogmas and associated with folk religious culture.

The paper is based on the latest comprehensive study of representations of the Sami people in Murmansk Region. The aim of the article is to describe and analyse the representations, which are considered as a product of the sociocultural practices which use specific technologies. The latter are regarded as methods and tools of practices aimed at preservation of ethnic culture, including its construction. The subject of this study is textual, visual, objective and animated forms of representations of the Sami culture, as well as interactive and other technologies for imaging and branding of Murmansk Region, preservation of cultural heritage of the Sami, and marketing of regional and ethnic products. For the first time, regional sociocultural practices of actualization and conservation of the tangible and intangible heritage have been analyzed using materials of the Kola Sami culture. The study involved ethnographic field research methods, content analysis of regional printed and network media, description of expositions of the regional ethnographic museums, Sami private collections and archives. The analysis was based on the framework of constructivism methodology of ethnic studies, actor-network theory, sociology of things and memory studies. It has been determined that museums and mass media appear as collective authors of representations. The main commissioner of the technologies of representation and preservation of ethnic and cultural heritage of the Kola Sami of Murmansk Region is the regional government, which uses public and media practices as a managerial tool for the economic and social development of the Region. In the context of development of the ethnocultural tourism, the Sami historical and cultural heritage acts as a very attractive touristic resource which requires new sociocultural technologies, such as various forms of visualization and objectification of ethnic cultural elements, museumification and commercialization of material objects, symbolization and branding of the Sami culture. Sami self-presentations dominate in modern public space and discourse since 2010. At the same time, heteroethnic presentations demonstrate sustainable linguistic modes to describe and to portray Kola Sami people. Construction of cultural models results in reformatting of the Sami ethnic culture, changes of functionality of its elements, and appearance of new ethnocultural forms.

The focus of this article is the problem of formation and development of “Chinese” greenhouses in 2009–2020. The development of migrant infrastructure in rural areas virtually has not been analysed yet by scientists. The purpose of this study is to trace the formation and evolution of ideas about “Chinese” greenhouses among residents of a large Russian region using the example of Chelyabinsk. The source base of the article includes media materials, interviews and archival documents. The regional press is an important source for the analysis of public opinion regarding the “Chinese” greenhouses and concentration of migrants in rural locations. In the summer of 2019, the author gathered a collection of interviews with residents of areas where the “Chinese” greenhouses were operating. Documents from the Chelyabinsk regional archive made it possible to supplement the overall picture of the Chinese migration to the Southern Ural region. The complexity of the study object required the use of a combination of methods. These included free informal interviews, content and discourse press analysis, and historical imagology. Our study shows that the formation of temporary economic facilities in rural areas has been perceived by the population as an irreversible ethnicization of space. This caused an increase of anxiety. In the media discourse and in collective mentality of the inhabitants, the ideas of “Chinese” greenhouses created images of “expansion” and numerousness of Chinese migrants. Around the greenhouses, a complex of notions of threats was formed (seizing and “spoiling” of land, tax evasion, low-quality vegetables, etc.). The concept of “Chinese” greenhouses has incorporated a large number of meanings that are understandable without further explanation: from the organization of rural space to a set of markers defining closed locations. Today there are practically no “Chinese” greenhouses in Chelyabinsk Region, they remain as a media, but not a spatial object. What was left out of sight of most observers is the temporality of the greenhouse complexes, the lack of any infrastructure for their long-term existence. Therefore, even theoretically, the “Chinese” greenhouses could not develop into full-fledged settlements (Chinatowns) in rural areas.

Together with educational migrants, foreign citizens from Central Asian republics come to Tomsk for the purpose of earning, focusing on construction business, market trade, and wage labour and entrepreneurship services. The article presents three cases of business activities of labour migrants in Tomsk. Field data was collected in 2016 and 2018–2019. Research methods include biographical interviews of migrants from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in their workplace, and ethnographic observation of their enterprise. As a result, the main pathways of the interviewees in entrepreneurship have been identified. It has been found that migrants accumulate experience, develop social ties, form networks around themselves, and only then they go autonomous and open their own business. Moving from one country to another, changing employment areas from unskilled hard physical labour to business ownership in Russia, they demonstrate the ability to respond flexibly to changing hosting society and market conditions. The role of Russian citizenship for opening and registration of business has also been consi-dered. As a result, the strategy of “union with locals” has been identified, which provides the business and its owner with social and material resources, as well as juridical legalization. A significant conclusion of the research into migrant entrepreneurship in catering, retail and provision of various types of services is that such businesses do not appear as an ethnic locale and a migrant space, but are rather integrated into the city-wide infrastructure. The activities of such “spots” are primarily aimed at representatives of the local population who live or work in walking distance from the enterprises. The study has revealed that ethnicity and migrant status are used by businessmen depending on the situation, yet they do organize all social networks and connections primarily through interaction with those who are easy, beneficial, whom they trust, with whom they intersect in space, which presents a problem when applying the theory of ethnic entrepreneurship to analyse the Russian case of migrant businesses.

The article is concerned with the Eneolithic burials of the Tobol River region from excavations in the Ustyug-1 kurgan cemetery in the Zavodoukovsky district of the Tyumen Oblast. Apart from the settlement layer left by populations of the Shapkul and Andreevskoe Cultures, five ground burials of different periods were found in the settlement of Ustyug-3, with the Eneolithic grave goods attributed to the same cultures and dated to the end of the 4^th — middle of the 3^rd mil. BC. Analogies to the funeral rite can be traced in the territory of the Tobol-Iset basin, in the Urals, and in Kazakhstan. The original position of the deceased was preserved in the paired burial: one individual was placed in sitting position at the head of another, who laid stretched on the back. The authors consider in this case the tradition of «joint death». Findings from the burial pits include plates, retouched arrowheads on flakes, drop-shaped shale pendants, small stone «iron». The obtained evidence suggests that the grave complex was created by the population of the Shapkul Culture, but the location was further used for the routine life and rituals by groups of other cultural traditions, who, apparently, were coming to this area alternately during the Eneolithic. Features of pottery ornamentation, flake industry, and rituals of the sites in the region are different from those in the Middle and Southern Urals, the steppe areas of the Tobol River basin. As such, we envisage further research prospects in revealing the cultural identity of various regions of the Trans-Urals.

The paper presents the description and analysis of the collection of wood (formwork elements and objects) from wells of the Bronze Age fortified settlement of Kamenny Ambar (Chelyabinsk Oblast). Within the settlement, presented are the layers of the Sintashta, Petrovka and Srubnaya-Alakul traditions, covering the period of the 21^st–17^th c. BC. We give a short description of the forest resources of the study area. In Southern Urals, wood can be found in the form of charred remains, sometimes in post holes, in burial structures of various state of preservation, as well as in the Bronze Age wells. The latter has been the source of fragments of formwork and some household items for this study. According to palaeobotanical data, the local landscape represented forests mixed with steppe and forb meadows. The total area of forestlands around the settlement in the Bronze Age was roughly similar to the modern one. The analysis of charcoal and wood from wells indicates that pine (51 %) and birch (47 %) were the most common, and to a lesser extent — willow and alder (2 %). Prevailing were the pine trunks with 5 to 30, less often 50, rings. The types of formwork and tools used in their construction have been determined. The importance of woodworking among the household industries of the settlement has been assessed. Remains of wooden structures have been found on the bottom of 16 examined wells, although there may have been more, judging by discrete fragments of wood decay. The wood is represented by stakes, half-logs, chopping blocks, planks, branches, charcoal and fragments of bark. Restored specimens have been examined visually and using a microscope in order to determine the wood species and process tools, and the results have been put down into the database. In the process of excavation, two types of formwork were identified: 1) a wattle cylinder made of twigs intertwined through vertical stakes, and 2) sheeting of the shaft with vertically placed and tightly fitted boards and/or half-logs of small diameter. In a number of wells, the type of construction could not be accurately determined. In addition to wooden structures, wooden objects were also found at the bottom of several wells. It is possible to state that the inhabitants of the Kamenny Ambar settlement were skilled in wood processing. Available data indicate that carpentry craft was highly developed throughout the entire Bronze Age period. Admittedly, people knew how to joint wooden parts of structures. Since there are no finds of metal nails, we are confident that they used alternative means, such as ropes and other carpentry techniques, in particular, groove joining. An object with a precise rectangular groove was found in one of the wells. These materials demonstrate the presence of good engineering knowledge, manifested not only in the search for new technologies for the well construction, but also in the overall architecture of the settlement.

The article presents the results of excavations at the Shatmantamak I burial ground located in steppe zone of the Southern Urals (south-west of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia). The materials of the site combine the features of the Late Bronze Age Srubnaya and Alakul archaeological cultures dated to the first half of the 2^nd mil. cal BC. With this work, we aimed to test the interpretation possibilities for the obtained materials, proceeding from their chronological sequence, rather than cultural attribution. Three mounds comprising seven burial structures of the Bronze Age (three above ground and four burial pits) have been excavated. The main procedure of treating the dead was inhumation on the left side (with the single exception on the right side) with their heads orientated towards the northern sector with deviations to the east. All graves contained single adult individuals, except one with the skeletons of two children. One of the burials is clearly distinctive, with the deceased set in sitting position. The grave goods included ceramic vessels and a single bone pommel. A series of radiocarbon dates (n = 4), stable nitrogen and carbon isotope analysis, along with the analysis of the context, allowed us to propose the scenario of utilisation of the site in the Bronze Age. The sequence of building of kurgans and individual burials has been determined. For a long period (20^th–17^th c. cal BC), they combined features of the Alakul and Srubnaya cultural traditions within the same cemetery, or even mound. Syncretic sites represent a typical phenomenon for the Late Bronze Age of the Southern Urals and adjacent territories. Despite the differences in the chronology and cultural features (pottery and funeral rite) of the Shatmantamak I burial ground, a high stability of the nutrition system has been revealed, which was based on the products of complex husbandry. This brings us to the assumption that the identified cultural mosaicism was determined not by the mobility and interaction of groups with different traditions, but by their joint or parallel habitation in a specific area.

The pre-Mongolian time materials in the territory of the Irtysh River basin in Kazakhstan are associated with the functioning of the Kimak-Kipchak proto-state federation that existed in the end of the 1^st — beginning of the 2^nd mil. AD. Due to the nomadic lifestyle of these ethnic groups, the sites are represented by barrow cemeteries, the majority of which consists of «chains» of individual burial structures aligned in meridian direction. The most interesting funerary objects are the «long» mounds, usually ending the system of memorial structures in the northern or southern sector of the burial ground. Particular features of these objects include the presence of several attached enclosures under a common mound, which developed in the meridian direction, as well as the burial of children and adolescents, virtually unknown from individual Kimak-Kipchak mounds. Here, we analyse the materials of the «long» barrow of the Menovnoye VI burial ground, located in the Upper Irtysh region 1.5 km southeast from the village of Menovnoye, Tavrichesky District, East Kazakhstan Oblast. Under the kurgan mound, there was an enclosure with two extensions containing burials of two men, a teenager, and a child. The buried were laid stretched on their backs, with their heads towards the east. The remains of men and the teenager were accompanied by horses, and those of the child — with sheep bones. An adult man, buried within the central enclosure, apart from horse, was accompanied for his afterlife by a dog. The grave goods discovered with the buried represent wea-ponry items, military and horse equipment. The weaponry included fragments of a sword, a bone grip, arrowheads, combat and household knives. Horse harness items included stirrups and a bit made of iron, a bronze figured buckle with flexible iron prong. The child was accompanied by a bronze teardrop-shaped amulet pendant and a small cattle astragalus used for playing dice. The number of «long» mounds in the cemetery ranges from one or two to three or four. The number of individuals in them varies from 2–3 to 8–11, which emphasizes the familial proximity of adults and children buried together. The «long» barrows of the «Menovnoye VI type», which contained burials of male members of the society, reflected the presence of patriarchal family ties within the tribal communities on the one hand, and formation of patriarchal-feudal relations in the context of development of the Kimak-Kipchak nomadic proto-state on the other.

This publication continues a series of articles which introduce into scientific discourse the results of archaeological research into the cultural layer of Tobolsk — the main city of Siberia during the Russian colonization period. The First and Second Regency excavations were laid on the spit of the Troitsky Cape, on the territory of the Tobolsk Kremlin, in the utility building construction zone of the Tobolsk-Tyumen diocese. Based on the historical and archival data, the identified stratigraphic columns should demonstrate the peculiarities of the formation of cultural strata in different periods of development of the city since its foundation, but unfortunately, as shown by the excavations, the early layers were severely damaged across a large area as a result of constant active reconstructions of the Kremlin. The earliest of the studied objects are the remains of a defensive line that ran along the edge of the cape in the 17^th c., protecting the city from attacks. As a result, the structure of the wooden fortifications of the city have been identified, which represented a high log fence, with an adjacent platform — fighting gallery — on the inner side. The presence of such structure suggests that the defensive wall carried loopholes for cannons and culverins, significantly expanding the firing potential. The nature, location and construction of this defensive line is similar to the one we found in the Chukman excavation site, on the nearby cape of Chukman. The ancient objects of the First and the Second Regency excavations include eight structures that have not been fully explored. One of them contained a rare archaeological find — the remains of a tiled stove, faced with terracotta, glazed, polychrome relief and painted tiles. Another building preserved in a form of a brick foundation, during the clearing of which, for the first time in Tobolsk, fragments of porcelain ware from Gardner factory were found, which was considered to be the best in Russia in the 19^th century. In general, the obtained materials open new opportunities for studying the early stages of the history and culture of the first Russian capital of Siberia.

The author presents the results of his own survey of the Vadniur I settlement carried out in 2017. The site is located on the right bank of the Vychegda River in the Syktyvkar city, the Komi Republic (north-eastern Europe). The danger of destruction of the site by the river erosion erged the comprehensive excavation of the total area of 210.5 m². This has made it possible to preserve the historical and cultural information from the site and to obtain new data for the study of the Neolithic and Eneolithic cultures of north-eastern Europe. Based on stratigraphy, planigraphy and comparative-typological method, two complexes of different periods — Vadniur I/7A and Vadniur I/7B — have been identified. The former includes the remains of a rectangular 11x5 m dwelling with the total area of ca. 55 m², with three hearths (nos. I, II and IV) and two horizontal ventilation channels (nos. I and II). The construction is associated with a ca. 8.5 m² section of redeposited cultural layer containing artefacts, which is probably the result of cleaning of the living space in ancient times. The dwelling complex includes 428 stone items, fragments of two ceramic pots and three ceramic objects, small unidentifiable fragments of calcified bones. According to two radiocarbon measurements, the Vadniur I/7A complex dates to the first half of the 4^th mil. BC. This data, together with construction features, technical and typological characteristics of ceramics and flint tools, allow attributing it to the early period of the Chuzhyael'skaya Culture in north-eastern Europe. Currently, Vadniur I/7A is the oldest structure of this type in Northern Eurasia. The research opens new perspectives for the study of genesis of the Chuzh"yael'skaya Culture, which is also associated with searching for sources of origin of housebuilding, flint knapping and pottery traditions unique for the northeast of Europe. The Vadniur I/7B complex has been identified as a compact cluster of ceramic vessel fragments and few flint artefacts. They were related to the traces of hearth no. III and together may represent remains of a short-term camp. The comparative-typological method allows to identify it as a site of the Choynovtinskaya Culture of the Eneolithic Volosovo-Garinskaya cultural community of the 3^rd — first half of the 2^nd mil. BC.

The article presents morphological analysis of ceramic complexes from excavations in 2006 and 2017 in the city of Tobolsk. The pottery came from two areas: the Tobolsk Kremlin and the Upper town (9 Oktyabrskaya st.). Within this research, we aimed to conduct comparative analysis of morphology of the tableware from these sites to assess its similarities. From the two areas, 2261 ceramic fragments have been analyzed, and 200 vessels (counted by rims) from the late 16^th c. — first quarter of the 18^th c. layers have been identified. By the production technology, the dishes are non-glazed, made mainly on the pottery wheel. Hand-made ceramics have also been found in small quantity (less than 2 %). The assemblage is dominated by pot-like dishes (94.5 %). The proportion of cupped dishes is small. Other types of dishes (large pot, washbasin pot) have been found in single numbers. Based on the appearance of rims and necks, three types of pots and five types of bowls have been identified. Comparison has been made between the diameter of the mouth and the type of pot. Further examined were the frequency of occurrence of dishes with different colors and type of surface treatment, dimensions of bottoms, frequency of adding of sand to the surface of the pottery wheel. The assemblages have been compared to the late medieval ceramics of the northern, north-western and central regions of Russia, as well as the Urals and Siberia. Comparisons have been also made with the results of other studies of the Tobolsk ceramics. Statistics show that the pottery complexes are very similar to each other, both in large groups (pot-shaped and cup-shaped ware) and by other parameters (color and type of surface treatment, rim shape, mouth and bottom size, the ratio between types and diameters of pot mouths). Differences have been identified in the proportion of higher quality light gray dishes, being 2.5 times larger in the territory of the Upper town than in the Sofia yard. The difference is also expressed in proportions of the three types of pots. Type I prevails in the territory of the Upper town, and types II and III — in the Sofia court. Bowl-shaped dishes are diverse (3 types) and are present in both parts of the town. The quality light gray and black-glazed vessels of this type have been classified as tableware, partially for the lack of traces of soot. With this classification, the proportion of bowls defined as tableware constitutes 3 %. Comparison of the assemblages with the late medieval pottery from other regions of Russia revealed close analogies. But in terms of the general range of dishes, Tobolsk stands behind the cities of the European part of the country.

The study, based on uniformed criteria, summarizes a large series of palynological data and is aimed at reconstruction of the vegetation history of the second half of the Holocene based on pollen data from peatlands. The main objective of this work is to compare the results of palynological studies from cultural layers of 30 Neolithic-Medieval archaeological sites (on-site data) and five natural archives (off-site records) in the sub-taiga and forest-steppe areas of Tobol River region and on the territory of the Ishim Plain (south of Western Siberia). The main analytical and correlation tools were the calculated indicators of pollen indices and biomes. Baseline palaeoecological changes have been analysed by the pollen index of openness/forestness (the ratio of wood vs grass pollen), the aridity index (the ratio of the summed amount of wormwood and chenopod pollen to that of cereals) and the dynamics of forest and steppe biome of peatlands; similar pollen indices have been calculated for the cultural layers. All indicators have been synchronized by age and fixed on a single timeline for comparison. The increasing role of forest vegetation in the forest-steppe has been considered as an indicator of increased effective hydration, forest degradation has been associated with the lack of it. The aridity index has been used as an indirect argument, reflecting the condition of grass communities outside the forest, it increases with the synchronous aridization and warming, but is also subject to strong distortion under the influence of human activity. Six stages of vegetation change have been identified: 6.0–4.2 ka — increase in proportion of forests in the northern forest steppe; 4.2–3.3 ka — minimal forestation of the territory; 3.3–2.5 ka — gradual regeneration of forest areas; 2.5–1.9 ka — reduction of the proportion of forests; 1.9–0.7 ka — the most pronounced forestation of the territory; 0.7–0 ka — reduction of the proportion of forests. In general, the outlined stages correspond with the overall scheme of development of landscape and climatic conditions in the southern regions of Western Siberia, though have regional specifics. Comparison of palynological data from natural archives (peatlands) and cultural layers by pollen indices demonstrates, that the anthropogenic disturbance of the composition of grass vegetation near the sites in most cases prevents objective assessment of natural conditions, but characterizes the appearance of the settlement landscape near the sites during its functioning and is associated with economic activity.

The article deals with osteological complexes of the Maray 1 hillfort located in the forest-steppe area of the Ishim River region. The research materials were obtained from the excavations carried out in 2010 and 2019. The main periods of the site habitation recorded for the hillfort are the early chronological horizon represented by the settlement of the Krasnoozerka Culture of the Bronze to Iron Age transitional period (9^th–7^th c. BC), and the late cultural layer which is marked by the hillfort of the beginning of the Early Iron Age, left by the population of the Baitovo Culture (4^th–2^nd c. BC). From each layer associated with different periods of the site habitation, archaeozoological collections have been selected. The purpose of this work is to determine the type of economy of the Maray 1 population during the two major habitation phases. The essential research materials comprised of osteological collections obtained from the Krasnoozerka and Baitovo layers. The research technique included bone determinations based on comparison with the reference skeletal collections from the Museum of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Yekaterinburg), using anatomy atlases [Gromova, 1950]. Determination of subfossil bird bones was carried out in the same institute, and it included comparison of the bones from the settlement with the reference osteological collection of modern bird species. The species attribution was based on morphological structure of the bones and their fragments. The osteological collection of the Maray 1 hillfort is stored in the Museum under No. 2361. Analysis of the species composition of osteological complexes from the two main habitation periods allowed distinguishing domestic and wild animals, including birds. The proportions of the number of bones and representatives of domestic and wild fauna have been analyzed. In the Krasnoozerka Culture materials, significant predominance of wild animal bones has been determined, which suggests that the economy of the Krasnoozerka settlement was dominated by the appropriating activities with a significant role of hunting (mainly elk). In the Baitovo layer, bones of domestic animals significantly prevail over those of wild fauna, suggesting that the economy was based on producing sectors.

For the past 15 years, our research has focused on the evolution of the first Yakut populations, their interaction with local tribes as well as with the Russian population, which marks the beginning of Yakutia's development from the first half of the 17th century. We conducted the excavation of tombs and we analysed the cultural, historical and paleogenetic data uncovered. A review and a synthesis of the main results published in articles and monographs informs our research directions for the future.

Distribution, cultural and chronological attribution of frozen graves of Yakutia between the beginning of 17th and end of 19th century. The funerary rites and the artefacts allow to differentiate four chrono-cultural periods (before 1700 AD, from 1700 to 1750 AD, from 1750 to 1800 AD and after 1800 AD) which could be associated with historical events: opening of the trading post of Nertchinsk, expansion of the Kangalasky clan, economic collapse, generalization of Christianization.

40 frozen yakutian graves, from the 17th to the 19th century allow the reconstitution of clothes. At the end of the 17th century, new fashions are emerging with the ostentatious use of imported goods and the influences of Russian noble circles and Chinese and/or Mongol and/or Buriat fashions. The garment does not only seem to be any more an element of protection against the cold and a utilitarian object but becomes a way to marking the socialization of the individual.

This study is concerned with the assessment of body composition indicators for urban and rural schoolchildren (related to the same adaptive type) of the Republic of Tuva in the context of «transformation» of the traditional lifestyle. Comprehensive surveys of the population in this region were started by anthropologists back in the 1970s; therefore, this research should be considered as a continuation of the work on the dynamics of adaptation processes among the indigenous population in the light of changes of the environmental factors, primarily socio-economic and cultural. Comparison of morphological characteristics and growth rates of urban and rural schoolchildren is particularly interesting, as changes in the lifestyle of the population during the transition to urban conditions entail significant increase in anthropometric indicators, which is especially pronounced in comparison with children of the same age living in less urbanized environment. As such, the relevance of this study is determined by the necessity to assess the degree of adaptation of those modern indigenous groups of the Tuva Republic, which are at the transitional stage from one ecological niche to another. Comparative anthropo-ecological studies have been carried out according to the standard morpho-physiological program in two groups of school-age children: the first one was examined in the city of Kyzyl (406 individuals) in 2018, and the second one in the Todzhinsky kozhuun (district) of the Tuva Republic (435 individuals) in 2019. Schoolchildren examined in the capital of the republic (as the place of their birth and residence) can be classified as conditionally urban. This is the first generation born within or moved to the city with parents from various rural areas of the steppe zone of the republic. A large number of internal migrants from other areas have also been found in the villages of Todzha, where previously Todzhan Tuvans represented the ethnic majority. In this study, we assessed the overall body dimensions and body composition indices, acquired using the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. The obtained results show that there are virtually no significant differences between the anthropometric data from urban and rural groups of schoolchildren by overall dimensions and body composition across the entire age range. The observed differentiation at individual age points is more likely related to sample specifics. The age of menarche is not different in urban and rural groups: for urban girls it is 13.1 years, for rural girls — 13.0 years. The physical characteristics of schoolchildren indicate a relatively small shift in socio-economic conditions in regions with different extent of urbanization. The differences are smoothed by the gradual withdrawal of the traditional way of life (stockbreeding), which is more intense among the indigenous groups of Siberia. Thus, our interim results of anthropo-ecological study conducted in Tuva Republic show significant desadaptive changes among the local indigenous population, both within the rural and the emerging urban communities.

Traditionally, the emergence of the Russian medieval town of Plyos is attributed to the second half of the 12^th c., when a fortress was built on the Sobornaya Mountain (upper part), and a settlement emerged in the lower area on the left bank of the River Shokhonka, right-bank tributary of the Volga River. Craftsmen and fishermen quarters, which presumably had appeared long before the fortress, located on the other side of Shokhonka. Plyos was first mentioned in written sources in 1141. During the archaeological excavations in the Varvarinskaya street (Varvara necropolis) on the territory of modern Plyos town (Ivanovo Region), managed by the «Ivanovo Archaeological Expedition» company, human skeletal remains dated to the 10^th–13^th c. were found. This palaeoanthropological material characterizes the population which inhabited the Upper Volga region (Verkhnee Povolzhye) in the Middle Ages. The aim of this study was to analyse the formation of the anthropological features of the medieval town population and assess its physical appearance. Material and methods: 17 skulls (11 male and 6 female) were examined according to standard craniological protocol, 19 uncomplete postcranial skeletons were measured following the standard osteometric protocol with some authors modifications: we present detailed data on the postcranial skeletons and the analysis of limb proportions and robustness of the long bones. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used for intergroup comparison with craniological series from ten different Russian and Belorussian towns (11^th–16^th c.). Major results and conclusions. Presented paleoanthropological study has revealed a number of characteristics for the male skulls, associated with elongated cranium, average-high face and sharp horizontal facial profile. The female skulls exhibit mesocrania and smoother naso-molar area profile. Morphological analysis of the postcranial skeletons has demonstrated relatively elongated forearms and shortened shins in individuals from this burial ground. Reconstructed living stature of the males appears to be above average, and for women, on the contrary, below average. The problem of the common and specific patterns in the formation of the anthropological traits of the medieval town population cannot be addressed with the available anthropological material. However, PCA of the studied craniological sample indicates that the males are morphologically related to the medieval individuals from Yaroslavl (Russia) and partly to those from Novogrudok (Belarus). Thus, medieval men buried on the territory of Plyos were undoubtedly related to (presumable) retainers buried in the sanitary graves in Yaroslavl.

Materials from the analysed sites of the Staroaleyka and Kamen Cultures in the Forest-Steppe Altai (Southern Siberia) are dated to the 6^th–2^nd c. BC. The aim of this study is to introduce the dental data for the Staroaleyka and Kamen Cultures into scientific discourse, to identify and analyse intergroup variability within both communities, their origin and genesis, and the direction of their relations with the Bronze and Early Iron Age populations. Materials of the Staroaleyka Culture are represented by a series from three burial grounds: Firsovo-14, Tuzovskiye Bugry and Obskiye Plesy 2, dated to the 6^th–5^th c. BC. The Kamen Culture series from the Forest-Steppe Altai has been collected from six burial grounds: Rogozikha-1 (6^th–4^th c. BC), Obyezdnoye-1 (5^th–4^th c. BC), Kamen-2 and Kirillovka-3 (5^th–3^rd c. BC), Novotroitskoye 1 and 2 (5^th–3^rd c. BC), Maslyakha-1 (3^rd–2^nd c. BC). In total, 402 individuals were examined using the Odontological program. The analysed craniological series are stored in the TSU (Tomsk) Cabinet of Anthropology and the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography of Altai of AltSU (Barnaul). As comparative data, published Bronze and Early Iron Age series from Western, Southern and south of Eastern Siberia, southern Trans-Urals, Aral Sea Region, Central and Western Kazakhstan were used. Study methods: 25 odontoscopic and odontoglyphic features were recorded. Ten key characteristics, which have comparative data in literature, were discussed. The evaluation of the traits and their further analysis were carried out according to the methodology of A.A. Zubov. The construction of circular polygons and calculation of the average taxonomic distances were carried out in the GROUP COMPARISON program (author — Olga M. Leybova), designed for processing of dental data. Intergroup variability was assessed through correspondence analysis in the STATISTICA 8 software. For the first time, dental data for the Staroaleyka Culture population have been received, and data for Kamen Culture has been significantly extended. Despite the territorial and chronological proximity of the Staroaleyka Culture series, it has been established that they belong to two different odontological variants. Odontological data does not exclude the presence of the «Ural» component in their morphological complex. The analysed samples of the Kamen Culture, with the exception of those from Rogoziha-1, appear to represent the Western odontological branch with different proportions of the eastern component in the series. In the morphocomplexes of the groups from the Obyezdnoye-1 and Kamen-2 burials, traits of an undifferentiated gracile type have been identified. The burial complexes of Novotroitskoye 1 and 2 and Maslyakha-1 were left by anthropologically uniform population representing a maturized odontological variant. Similarly to the craniological data, a fairly wide range of contacts has been established for the population of the Kamen Culture, including the early nomads of the Southern Urals, Western Kazakhstan, south-western and eastern Aral Sea region on the one hand, and Tuva and the Minusinsk Basin on another. Unlike craniological studies, odontological data does not suggest any proximity to the synchronous Pazyryk population of the Altai Mountains. Significant differences have also been revealed with the Kamen Culture population of the Ob River region near Novosibirsk.

Presented are the results of analysis of paleoanthropological materials — two teeth with gilded surface — found in catacomb 62 (Excavation III) of the Zmeyskiy burial ground (Stn Zmeyskaya, Kirovsky District, North Ossetia — Alania). The burial is dated to the 11^th–12^th c. This material is unique both for the area and the cultural tradition, and for the specified period. The scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis, gas chromatography mass-spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry were used. It has been determined that gilding was performed using organic binders — a mixture of animal fat, linseed and hemp oils. Based on the coating weakness, as well as traces of gilding detected on the dentin below the enamel layer, it has been concluded that the gilding process was postmortem. The analysis of composition of gold (Au 86.2 wt%, Ag 13.2 wt%), micro- and trace impurities, and its comparison with published data made it possible to attribute this gold to epithermal Au-Ag ores.

The Russian colonists, inhabiting southern and mid-taiga regions of Western Siberia since the 17^th c., always relied heavily on hunter-gathering in their subsistence. The reasons for this were the obvious difficulties of northern agriculture and the economic benefits that hunting, fishing and gathering brought, including their significant commercial value. The active development of the commercial harvesting among the Russian Siberians already in the 19^th c. was hampered by the inaccessibility of many valuable hunting and fishing areas – first of all, remote taiga territories, which were in patrimonial land tenure of the indigenous inhabitants. The process of settlers' penetration into such territories, which unfolded in the 20^th c., still has not been considered in detail in historical and ethnographic literature. The paper discusses the free colonization of the Demyanka River basin (Uvatsky District of the Tyumen region, Russia) by Russians in the first half of the 20^th c. based on field and archival data, as well as publications of the 1900-1930s. The main research methods include systematic and comparative historical analyses. It has been concluded that migrants from the Middle and Lower Irtysh regions populated the neighboring deep taiga territory using different routes; they presented two noticeably different models of colonization. The migration took place in several waves, but the most significant happened in the 1930s. The majority of the migrants were Russian Siberian old-timers who had the necessary experience and knowledge of the local conditions. For a substantial number of the Russian Irtysh region settlers — peasants, hunters and fishermen — the departure to the taiga became an escape from the external social pressure and government control, allowing them to improve their economic well-being. In this regard, surrounded by swamps impassable and vast area of the Demyanka River basin for several decades represented a reliable refuge for fugitives who wanted to be beyond the easy reach of the state.

The human body, its structure, appears as a universal model of the structure of the world around us and the society. Through the anatomical code, the Universal chaos is set in order, structures arise, hierarchies are established. The most illustrative example of a structure is the human skeleton. The purpose of this article is to identify the entire known corpus of information about this anthropomorphic model and to reconstruct the meaning and functions of the “bone” system in the worldview and life of the Turko-Mongols of Inner Asia. Historical, ethnographic and folklore materials represented the sources of the research. The methods used were comparative historical analysis which helps to identify common features in understanding and interpretation of natural phenomena and cultural objects in the Turko-Mongolian world, and the method of cultural and historical reconstruction, which allows to determine the logic of the archaic conceptions. In the culture of the Turko–Mongolian populations of Inner Asia, the anthropomorphic model in one of its variants, expressed in the skeleton, is extremely important for organising and regulating the life of society. In the nomadic culture, an extensive complex of ideas has been identified, related to the «bone» version of the anthropomorphic model and representing different ideas. The main ideas consider bones of a person as a life resource of their family (in case of animals — their species), closely connected with the generation counting system and the perception of the degree of kinship. These perceptions substantiate the ideas of the necessity to preserve the skeleton after the death of a person (and all living creatures in general, especially revered animals), and funeral traditions, also confirmed by linguistic data. The evolution of beliefs based on vitality contained in the bones was reflected in the religious customs of the hunting and fishing complex, the ritual practices of the daily life of nomads, accompanied by the slaughter of animals. The concept of «bone» and its derivatives in the worldview of the Turko-Mongols is associated with views about the social structure of the community, the state of the entire organism as a whole, the dignity and character of a person.

The purpose of this article is to show the specifics of the formation of cultural landscapes and geo-cultural images of Northern and Arctic cities within the concept of post-urbanism. The ontological and phenomenological category of cold, crucial for understanding of this specificity, has a decisive influence on the formation of both material and expressive (mental) environments and identities of the inhabitants of the Northern cities. Cultural landscapes of cold represent an ambivalent anthropological phenomenon. This phenomenon captures the complex integrity of the unique geo-cultural imagery, spatial representations, and a system of adaptation patterns to low temperatures, and their consequences. The rise and fall of the Northern and Arctic cities, in conjunction with history of development of particular countries and regions, show the fragility of their cultural landscapes, whose representations may reflect the stages of decline, ruining or long-term conservation of residential areas, administrative and industrial buildings, technological and public infrastructure. Geo-cultural images of the Northern and Arctic cities are genetically linked to the increased mobility of their founders and inhabitants. The same Northern city can «produce» many differentiated images of cold, due to its geo-cultural patchiness. The image of cold can be considered as an important component of the symbolic asset of the Northern and Arctic cities, as well as a field of implementation and struggle of various post-colonial practices. Cold as an autonomous ontology and cultural landscape of the Northern city can be a phenomenological basis for the dynamic post-urbanism of the Northern and Arctic territories. The phenomenon of co-spatiality, fundamental for understanding the post-urban trends of social development, acquires a special configuration in the cultural landscapes of the Northern cities, contributing to the enrichment of the semantic space of post-urbanism in general. In the future, geo-cultural and cultural-landscape studies of the Northern and Arctic cities may become some of the most important sources for accelerated development of new ontologies of mobile settlement systems.

The author uses the results of previous studies and experience of his own field research to problematize the study of the «Khatam-ash» ritual as a part of the local Islamic context in the Tyumen Region. A. Shahab was followed in understanding of the local Islamic context (Con-Text in loco) as a complex of meanings and practices that was formed as a result of previous hermeneutic interactions with the Revelation to the Prophet Muhammad. The «Khatam-ash» ritual is understood as a prescription/script (written or not) that includes sacrifice (depending on the occasion), uttering of Niyyah, recitation of Qur’an, collective supplication, giving of Sadaqah, and a collective meal. Fieldwork materials gathered by the author in towns and rural settlements of the Tyumen Region in the second decade of the 2000s served as the main sources for the article. The author also analyzed publications by historians, ethnographers and social anthropologists, who studied similar phenomena in Russian, Central Asian, and North African regions. We conclude that Khatam-ash is the main ritual that makes up the local Tatarian Islamic context in the Tyumen Region. This prescription underlies most of the home collective prayer meetings to commemorate one's passing away or to wish for the happiness of the living ones. The local people are familiar with this ritual since early childhood, because, through its ceremonies, they get acquainted with and constantly witness manifestations of Islam among their dear and close ones. Khatam-ash is the most affordable and comfortable way to satisfy the existential needs of the people who consider themselves Muslims, but who do not know how to behave in mosques and doubt if they have a right to attend a mosque. Through Khatam-ash, Tatars maintain and establish relations with their relatives. In the long term perspective, the author considers a detailed description and comparison of regional and local features of the performance of the ritual.

In this article, we aim to determine the dynamics of the position of a territory in the structure of communication network, the transport system of the region, to assess the degree of accessibility for the settlements located in the borderzone in the basin of the Lyapin and Nadym Rivers (North-Western Siberia), and to identify the problems related to the low accessibility of residence areas. The sources for the research were the authors' fieldwork materials, acquired during the expeditions to the Berezovsky district of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region of Ugra (2012, 2018, 2019) and Nadym district of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region (2017, 2019). It has been revealed that, during the 20^th century, there was a gradual change in the status of the settlements — they ceased being transit centres on important for Siberia trade routes. Despite the qualitative change in travel technologies from the beginning of the 20^th century, residents of remote settlements are limited in their movements, which is associated with the inaccessibility and cost of travel. The reason behind this is the lack of roads, railways, permanent navigable waterways, and distance from transport hubs. The transportation network, linked to industrial settlements and cities, creates conditions for territorial inequality, socio-territorial stratification and socio-economic asymmetry. An important resource for inhabitants of these poorly accessible areas are waterways and frozen soils, which allow building and using of the so-called winter roads that can be operated only in winter conditions.

The article is concerned with the anthropology of a city. As an instrument of conceptualization, we used a three-dimensional scheme: organization — communication — information, which allows giving the urban interpretation for each of the coordinates, and then, using the two-dimensional projections (organization-information, organization-communication, information-communication), to develop a concept of the three-dimensional image of city. It has been proposed to distinguish three types of organizational structures when considering the city as an organization: hierarchical, algorithmic, and relational. The necessity of curbing the growth of the city and solidating it in the context of communication has produced a number of projections. One of them, "A compact city or city of short distances" has been considered. The concept of a compact city is based on the cost-effective public transport system, and it encourages pedestrian traffic and cycling. When considering the city as an organization, the main focus lies on its structure. From a topological point of view, it has been proposed to distinguish between three types of such structures: hierarchical, algorithmic, and relational. A hierarchical structure represents a tree of power hierarchy, but its content is not necessarily associated with consistent delegation of authority power (from top to bottom) or gradual accumulation of information (from the bottom up). Thus, a library catalogue, as well as other classification means, is arranged on the principle of hierarchy. An algorithmic structure is a scheme of production process which consists of a set of sequential operations. Its mathematical model appears as a network diagram. Typical examples of such structures include an algorithm of construction of a building, from foundation to roof, a conveyed assembly of complex technical devices, etc. In relation to a city, this structure can be filled with different content. Thus, carrying out of repair and maintenance in one of the city networks often requires not only formal coordination, but also a network schedule of joint work with other community services (water, electricity grid, heating, communication lines, etc.). A relational structure is a group of objects of arbitrary nature, usually of the same type, singled out from the total quantity of objects on the basis of any common feature. A complex of educational or medical institutions, trade companies, domestic services, etc. could be an example of such group within the organizational structure of a city.

Based on the theory of resilience, the author analyses the role of science in the life-sustaining practices of northern cities on the example of the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (KSC RAS) in Apatity (Murmansk Region). The resilience of the territory is considered as a successful adaptation to changing conditions manifested in a crisis situation. The stability of the sociocultural resilience subsystem is ensured by the presence of the scientific community in the city. According to the typology of Arctic cities, Apatity is classified as a non-capital intracontinental university centre; the criterion for inclusion in the category is the presence of the KSC RAS in the city. It is the only RAS structure located in the Arctic. In the Kola Peninsula, the scientific institution has existed since 1930; since 1961, the majority of scientific institutions has been located in the Apatity Akademgorodok (Science Campus). Narrative interviews with residents of Apatity and Kirovsk became the source base of the study. The analysis of the interviews was conducted by coding method. The sample included citizens — employees of the scientific centre and those not related to it. Thirty interviews have been conducted. As a hypothesis, the thesis was put forward that, at the heart of the local community of Apatity, there have been and still remain scientists and people with an understanding of the activities of the KSC. Subsequently, this part of the population forms behavioural practices and sociocultural values for all residents of the city. The key research question was whether the presence of the KSC RAS was noticeable for different categories of citizens, and above all, for non-scientists. The city’s community considers separately KSC as a scientific organization, and Akademgorodok as a central urban neighbourhood. On the mental map, there is the Akademgorodok, which plays the role of Ge-nius loci. The Kola Scientific Center is perceived as a city-forming enterprise, although it has not been anymore since the early 1990s. The Kola Scientific Center is seen by the Apatity citizens as a place of attraction and a point of assembly of the urban community, without which it can lose the core factor of its sociocultural identity and merge with the neighbouring industrial Kirovsk.

There are two caves containing groups of wall paintings of the Upper Paleolithic age known in the Southern Ural: Kapova (Shulgan-Tash) and Ignatievskaya (Yamazy-Tash). In total, about 200 pictorial motifs have been recorded in the Kapova cave, among which there are life-like depictions of Pleistocene animals (mammoth and rhinoceros). Some 180 pictorial motifs have been found in the Ignatievskaya cave, which also show images of the Pleistocene fauna (mammoth and rhinoceros), although less realistic than those in the Kapova cave. The cultural layers have been discovered in the cave sediments at both sites. Archaeological excavations in the Kapova cave revealed multiple cultural layers which contained remains of the hearths, stone artefacts, fragments of ochre, decorations made of stone and tusk, a piece of burnеd clay cup, bone tools and animal bones (some with traces of ochre paint). In the Ignatievskaya cave, the Paleolithic cultural layer contains numerous fragments of charcoal, stone artefacts, rare fragments of ochre, decorations made from teeth of arctic fox and bison and from mammoth tusk, as well as the bones of Pleistocene animals. In the past two decades, a series of radiocarbon dates has been reported by different researchers based on the charcoal and bones from the cultural layers in both caves. Seventeen dates have been reported for the Kapova cave, including 14 Upper Paleolithic, 2 Bronze Age and 1 modern dates. The materials from the cultural layer of the Ignatievskaya cave have yielded 6 radiocarbon dates; another 3 dates were obtained directly from the charcoal used for the black paintings in the cave. Our analysis of publications, in which the radiocarbon dates from the Upper Paleolithic cultural layers of the Kapova and Ignatievskaya caves are used, has revealed that the dating results are often reported inaccurately or incompletely, which leads to serious errors in interpretations. In particular, the incorrect use of non-calibrated radiocarbon dates as calendar ages, completely changes the paleoclimatic context of the cave occupation; for the Kapova cave, for instance, such misinterpretation shifts the dates of the cave visiting and painting from the late part of the Last Glacial Maximum and early deglaciation to the Bølling-Allerød interstadial. In this paper, we revisit the published radiocarbon ages for these two Southern Ural sites, provide practical recommendations and re-emphasize the importance for accurate and complete reporting of radiocarbon ages in publications.

The paper reports morphological and typological characteristics of knives of the Petrovka Culture in the Southern Trans-Urals and Middle Tobol River region (the Early Alakul period, as defined by N.V. Vinogradov). According to the ¹⁴С dates (36 dates in total, half them are AMS dates), the chronological period of the Petrovka sites in the Southern Trans-Urals spans the 19^th through 18^th centuries BC. The inventory metal complexes of the Late Bronze Age cultures between the Don and Ishim Rivers, despite the large territory, have many common types of tools. This is particularly noticeable when comparing the largest category of the tools — the knives (49 specimens). Differentiation of the tools by type was based on the methodology of typological attribution of the inventory taking into account the presence or absence of particular qualitative characteristics and their combination — analysis of the handle decoration, presence of a bolster, knife tang, shape of the transition from the blade to the tang, and shape and cross-section of the blade. Alongside the morphological and typological characterization of the knives, mapping the tools finds and was also carried out with the search for analogues in neighboring cultures. The most effective results have been obtained by mapping of tools with rhombic tangs, crosshair and interception, which are most numerous (147 specimens). We have identified three types of the knives with prominent massive handle, knives with forged sleeve and seven types of the tools with tangs. The identified types of the Petrovka Culture of the Southern Trans-Urals are more or less characteristic of the family of related cultures of the Eurasian forest-steppe and steppe belt — Abashevo, Sintashta, Petrovka, Early Srubnaya, and sites of the Potapovka and Pokrovka types. On the basis of the statistical data, there have been identified the types of the knives with a massive handle, as well as those with a forged sleeve, which are predominantly associated with the metalwork centers of the Petrovka Culture. We have unraveled the particular significance of the knives with rhombic tangs, crosshair and interception in the ritual practices of the entire circle of the cultures from the forest-steppe and steppe belt, apparently related to the special social status of the buried individuals. Prototypes of most forms of knives with tangs have been found in the stereotypes of the objects from the production centers of the Circumpontian Metallurgical Province. The common momentum for the genesis of the forest-steppe and steppe cultures, originating from the Middle Bronze Age cultures of the Eastern Europe and Ural, explains the common morphology of the knives for the family of the related cultures of the first phase of the Eurasian Metallurgical Pro-vince with a variety of forms and in contrast to the uniform shape of the knives of the Srubnaya and Alakul types of the second phase of the Eurasian Province.

This paper presents the results of the typological study and technical-technological analysis of the pottery complex from the Late Bronze Age burial ground of Kulevchi VI (Southern Ural, Russia). The typological analysis of 107 objects yielded 10 types of the vessels correlated with four cultural and chronological groups: Petrovka; Early Alakul; Alakul and Alakul-Fedorov. The presence of all designated groups and types of vessels in the burial ground indicates functioning of the necropolis during the whole period of existence of the Alakul Culture: types IА, IБ and IВ — the formation stage of the actual Alakul Culture associated with the pottery of the Petrovka type of the sites; types IIБ, IIВ, III — the golden age of the Alakul Culture; and type IIГ — the late stage of the Alakul Culture, reflecting the engagement with sub-cultural groups of the Fedorovskaya population. The technical-technological analysis using the method developed by A.A. Bobrinsky revealed the pottery skills of the population making different types of vessels. Amongst the studied population, only natural clays were used for pottery. The molding composition included organic additives and talcum gruss, and sometimes also chamotte. One program of constructing of the clay blank, the vaulted bottom type, has been identified, and the use of the patchwork spiral applique has been recorded. The surface of the vessels was smoothened and subjected to glazing. The firing of pottery items was carried out in fire-pits and hearths. Close similarity of the potters’ skills at different stages of pottery making has been observed for the items of the Petrovka, Early and Classical Alakul and Alakul-Fedorov Cultures. Correlation of the collected information with the known data on the ceramics of the Petrovka and Alakul types demonstrates commonality of the skills possessed by these groups of the population of Southern Ural and Northern Kazakhstan. On the basis of similarity of the pottery-making technologies of different chronological groups of the burial grounds of Kulevchi VI, it has been established that the development of the pottery-making traditions of the population was taking place within affinal groups. The similarity of the pottery traditions and gra-dual evolution of the Petrovka, Early Alakul; Alakul and Alakul-Fedorov groups allow considering them within the framework of the same phenomenon — the Alakul Culture.

The paper reports on the results of experimental-traceological study of stone tools used for metal forging by the Late Bronze Age population of the Middle Tobol River region (Western Siberia). The chronological span of the study, according to the radiocarbon dating, extends from the 17^th to 9^th centuries BC. This paper aims to substantiate and expand the existing knowledgebase on the metalwork production with the aid of experiments in forging copper and bronze. The research materials include about 60 stone tools from the Late Bronze Age sites and 23 experimental tools. The trace evidence analysis and microphotography of the signs of use-wear have been performed using a continuous-zoom microscope MC-2 ZOOM with 10х to 40х magnification and a Canon EOS-1100-D camera. The experimental study involved cold and hot forging of copper and bronze items with different tin content and their surface smoothening. As a result, the efficiency of the stone tools in molding has been confirmed. The signs of use-wear of the tools have been recorded. Distinctive use-wear features of hammers for cold and hot forging associated with the tool kinematics have been identified. It has been concluded that the wear signs on the hammers used for incomplete hot and hot forging were identical. It appeared that the smooth working area of some flatters was the result of preliminary abrasive treatment. Smoothening and drawing proved efficient in processing of copper items and low-alloyed bronzes. This treatment was carried out on the hot metal. It has been ascertained that the kinematics of processing of the copper and bronze items was the same. The signs of usage of the tools employed for shaping bronze moldings with different tin content differ from those on the tools used on copper by more extensive chipping, which is due to a higher hardness of tin-copper alloys. Prototype multi-functional tools used in different operations, viz., forging and drawing, have been identified. Their specific is the working area with a combination of several groups of wear marks overlapping each other. Therefore, we managed to produce a series of the experimental tools used in copper and bronze forging. This allowed us to elaborate the functional identification and technology of some archaeological instruments from the Late Bronze Age sites of the forest-steppe Tobol River region.

This paper presents the results of the analysis of housebuilding tradition and graphical reconstruction of nine buildings from three stages of the eastern branch of the Itkul Culture (end of the 8^th — 6^th c. BC): Itkul (end of the 8^th — first half of the 7^th c. BC); Karagay-Aulsky (second half of the 7^th c. BC); and Vak-Kurovsky (6^th c. BC). The fortified settlements, whose buildings have been studied, are located in the valley of the Tobol River (subtaiga — northern forest-steppe zone, Western Siberia): Karagai Aul 1; Karagai Aul 4; Vak-Kur 2; and Sanatoriy Lesnye Gorki 1. By means of constrained reconstruction based on the analysis of planigraphy and stratigraphy of the excavation site, basic elements of the building frame, viz., the postholes marking the boundary and belonging to the building structure, were identified. Then the specifics of the building frame, techniques employed in construction of walls and roof, and building materials were determined. In the final step of the reconstruction, a series of drawings of the buildings were created. As a result of the analysis of the building remains, a long-lasting housebuilding tradition of the western Itkul Culture population has been recorded — the use of a pile-dwelling structure built on the day surface. In terms of the shape, elongated sub-rectangular and polygonal-rounded dwellings have been identified. The wall framework consisted of two pillars joined by a beam at the top. These modules constituted perimeter of the structure and were held together by a second row of joists. The framework of the walls and the ridge beam were fixed to each other by scaffold poles placed on the ridge beam at one end and on the wall joist at the other end. The space between the frame elements was filled with tilted timber logs, whole or split lengthwise, and the walls at the top would be insulated with bark and hay or have a soil filler. The roof of the buil-dings was mainly double-slope and a four-slope roof has been recorded only in one instance. The exit from the building was located in one of the walls, usually the short (face) wall. Annexes (lofts?) have been recorded for four buildings. The pile-dwelling structures of above-ground type have a broad range of territorial and chronological analogies; although in the Tobol River region at the turn of the Bronze to the Early Iron Age they appeared in a developed form. The origins of this phenomenon in the studied territory can be established by further research.

The paper presents the results of the research on the Middle Ages iron axes found in different years in the north of Western Siberia and the Urals, excluding pole-axe (berdysh Rus.) that appear in large numbers in the study area with the growing of the Russian population. The relevance of such study has matured, since there are enough sources that need to be generalized and critically compiled. Taking into account the morphological features of the archaeological evidence, the authors propose to classify all currently known axes by 2 groups and 13 types. The first group including 3 types of minting axes were made exclusively for combat use. The second group includes 10 types of axes, classified as universal, which served both for the military and for economic purposes. The text with the description of the sites contains also table with the data on the basic parameters of axes (item length, blade width) and the time of their use (existence). For the first time, a new type of battle axe (type 13), accidentally found in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Ugra, is published. We present analogues of this subject among the products of Russian blacksmiths of the 13^th–14^th centuries and explain the position on the dating and on origin of the axe. The paper discusses the evolution of certain types of objects, describes plots concerning the origin of certain items (imports from Volga Bulgaria, Russian lands, etc.) and the special attitude of the local population to this type of weapon, which could be stored for centuries in the holy places of the Ob Ugrians. The authors come to the conclusion that imported axes of the second group were used as a standard for Siberian blacksmiths. But local products, characterized by primitive technology (a multilayer package), low quality welding of iron strips and an abundance of slag inclusions, can be finally identified only after metallographic microstructural analysis. This research should be prolonged, because annual archaeological investigations replenish the source base, and, with no doubt, the typology of axes proposed in the article will be supplemented and adjusted.

To reconstruct the technological methods and technical achievements of Northern Selkup blacksmiths, the components of the Northern Selkup shaman costume, which is composed of ferrous metal, were studied using metallographic analysis methods. The materials were found in two graves in a Kikki-akki burial ground from the XVII–XVIII centuries (Western Siberia, Taz river). It was found that the basic raw materials for production were unevenly carbonized steel and soft iron; high-carbon steel was also found in rare instances, which was most likely received by Northern Selkup blacksmiths from Russia. The iron items of the shaman costume were forged by professional blacksmiths who possessed complex technological skills and production equipment.

In Siberia, ceramic tile manufacturing should be dated to the 1670s–1680s, when the stone building in Tobolsk commenced. The source base for studying the tile craft in Siberia is provided by archaeological investigations on Russian settlements. This paper aims at the typology of plots and graphical reconstruction of the appearance and color scheme of a collection of repousse polychromic tiles acquired in the course of archaeological investigations of the Governor’s Palace in Tobolsk. The collection is dated to the first half of the 18^th century. Most of the tiles were fragmented and had signs of burning. The discovered tile fragments belong to the repousse polychromic type. We consider them to be the stove decoration sets due to the traces of smut and soot on the back side and by the presence of a box-shaped rump with some space from the edge. The rump has holes on the sides made to fix the tiles onto a stove with wire. The tiles from the Governor’s Palace can be subdivided as follows: 1) wall tiles of ‘small hand’ and ‘large hand’; 2) corner wall tiles; 3) corner wall halves; 4) flat banded tiles; 5) corner flat bands; 6) roller-band; 7) cornice belt; 8) valances; 9) legs and 10) gorodki (product made of clay with variations in size used for decoration of brick furnaces). Twenty themes have been reconstructed from the preserved fragments. The stoves with such facework belong to the Renaissance type. In the tile manufacture, opaque, dull enamels were used: blue; turquoise green; white and yellow, as well as translucent glaze producing a glossy brown color on red clay. The study of the tile drawings and ornaments revealed that most of them were borrowed from other centers of tile manufacturing. A large part of the drawings either has stylistic similarity or is an accurate copy of the drawings on the tiles manufactured in Moscow in the 1670s–1680s. The drawings on five tiles do not have records in the earlier published works, and therefore they may have local origins. The tile ornament is mainly floral-geometrical, except for three tiles. Two of the latter have zoomorphic drawings of birds and the third one depicts a planter. Both plots are amongst the most popular themes in Russia.

This paper aims to introduce into scientific discourse the information on unique pathological features observed in the individuals of the Jetyasar archaeological Culture buried in the necropolis of Altyn-Asar 4. In the course of examining the extensive paleoanthropological collection of the human remains (more than 600 individuals) of the Jetyasar Culture from the excavations of the Kwarism Expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the Eastern Aral region, three cases of a rare skeletal anomaly have been discovered, which is manifested by forearm synostosis. In the modern medical literature, slightly more than 350 of such cases have been reported. Radioulnar synostosis severely restricts the movements of pronation and supination (ulnar adduction and deviation) by fixing the radial and ulnar bones in a single possible position. Methods of differential diagnostics have been used in description of the skeletal features, alongside the digital micro-focal radiography and microtomography. There is evidence to suggest congenital form of the above maldevelopment in the Early Medieval Eastern Aral region. Although this pathology may lead to partial disability, its bearers, attributed in the context of the Je-tyasar Culture, were fully socially adapted and each of them had sufficiently long life by the expectancy of the time. Radioulnar stenosis has been identified in a 30–34-year-old male from the grave no. 326.1 of the burial ground of Altyn-Asar 4l and in two 25–29-year-old females from the burial ground of Altyn-Asar 4r (graves nos. 345 and 454.2). The former case is the earlier one, no later than the 4^th c. AD according to the archaeological data. By the context of this multiple-body burial, this individual was married and might have carried the congenital pathology onto his descendants. The burial of the married woman with the same pathology in the burial ground of Altyn-Asar 4r (no. 454.2) was made later in the last third of the AD 6^th c., according to the planigraphy and AMS radiocarbon date for a neighbouring kurgan. The latest grave no. 345 of the same burial ground, according to the results of the direct dating (UGAMS#43733 1450 ± 20 years BP), is distant in time from the previous case by one generation and corresponds to the beginning of the 7^th c.

Differentiating various pathological conditions involving the spine, particularly those leading to vertebral ankylosis, is a challenging task both in paleopathology and clinical practice. The Introduction summarizes cases of ankylosing spondylitis (Bekhterev’s disease) and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (Forestier disease) from the territory of former USSR. In this regard, it is important to mention that, having different etiologies, DISH and seronegative spondyloarthropathies have different reconstructive potential. It is assumed that the increase in DISH prevalence may be associated with an increase in life expectancy and characteristics of the group’s nutritional status, while spondyloarthropathies – with endogamy, increased population density due to sedentary lifestyle and the intensification of agriculture. It is noted that differential diagnostic procedure has been reported only in few Russian-language publications that deal with the topic. This often leads to the statement of not quite justified paleopathological diagnoses. This paper presents results of paleopathological study of a 25–40-year-old male skeleton from burial 183 of the Novo-Sasykul cemetery, dated to the 1^st–2^nd centuries AD. The site is located in the Lower Kama River region (Bakalinsky District, Republic of Bashkortostan) and attributed to the Pyany Bor Culture. The study is focused on differentiating pathological conditions that lead to vertebral ankylosis on skeletal remains. Principal pathological changes, recorded on the skeleton from burial 183 of the Novo-Sasykul cemetery, were: 1) ankylosis of five consecutive thoracic vertebrae (T7–11) with right-sided ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament and 2) bilateral fusion of the sacroiliac joints. Possible diagnoses include seronegative spondyloarthropathies (ankylosing spondylitis, reactive and psoriatic arthritis), diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), rheumatoid arthritis, and degenerative changes (osteoarthritis). The differential diagnosis based on macroscopic (morphological) indicators allows suggesting a diagnosis of DISH, possibly associated with a spondyloarthropathy and minor degenerative changes in the spine. Ankylosing spondylitis is certainly excluded from the spectrum of probable spondyloarthropathies. It is noted, however, that specific diagnosis requires an X-ray exa-mination. As a guideline for the specialists, the need for careful differentiation between different pathological conditions leading to ankylosis of vertebral segments is emphasized. The latter is important, since reporting ill-considered diagnosis may severely complicate the use of the published data in bioarchaeological reconstructions.

The body of works on craniological and paleoodontological analyses of the materials from the Bronze Age sites of the Southern Trans-Urals still has not clarified the question of the genesis of the people who lived in this area. This is partly due to fragmentary state of the available materials, so that publication of new data appears highly relevant. This paper deals with the results of craniological and dental analyses of an osteological sample from two kurgans of the Nepljuevski burial ground, excavated between 2015 and 2017 by a Russian-German archaeological expedition. The burial ground is located 300 km south-west of Chelyabinsk city, in Kartalinsky district in the steppes of the Southern Trans-Urals. The recovered materials are dated to the Late Bronze Age and attributed to the Srubnaya-Alakul Culture variant. Materials and methods. Metric description of 5 male and 6 female crania is given. The dental sample comprised remains of 14 children and adolescents and 12 adults. Standard craniometric and paleoodontological protocols were used. Statistical procedures included principal component analysis (PCA) for craniometric traits and correspondence analysis for odontological traits. Results. Generally, the crania show morphology characteristic for the European (Caucasian) groups. The male crania are homogenous in such traits as narrow, vividly protruding nose and a pronounced horizontal profiling. The sample is dominated by individuals with a high facial height. Females and males generally show morphological similarities, but females, on average, have a relatively higher braincase, wider and lower orbits, a relatively wider nose, and slightly less pronounced horizontal profiling. The odontological analysis is in line with the cranoimetric data indicating European ancestry. One of the distinct characteristics of this sample is the presence of «enamel pearls» — a usually rare trait — in 5 out of 12 individuals, which may indicate an increased percentage of biological relatives in it. Conclusion. Overall, the crania from kurgan 1 find analogies among gracilized high-faced forms widespread in Southern Urals and Kazakhstan during the Bronze Age, often linked to the southern ancestry. The attribution of the Nepljuevski sample to the circle of gracile forms is indicated by the results of odontological analysis, which revealed its proximity to the Tripolye culture sample.

This paper aims at reconstructing the genealogy of Siberian Tatars of Knyazevs (Western Siberia), identifying the origins of their surname, which is not characteristic of the Tatars, and at analysis of the influence of socio-political and socio-economical processes in Russia in the 18^th through 20^th centuries on the social transformation of the family. The sources were represented by the materials of the Inventory Revision Book of Tarsky District of 1701 and census surveys of the end of 18^th through 19^th centuries, which allowed tracing the Knyazev family through the genealogical succession and identifying social status of its members. In this work, recordkeeping materials of the 18^th–20^th centuries and contemporary genealogical and historical traditions of the Tatars have been utilized. In the research, the method of genealogical reconstructions by archival materials and their correlation with genealogies of modern population has been used. The history of the Knyazev family is inextricably linked to the history of modern village of Bernyazhka — one of the earliest settlements of the Ayalintsy (a group of the Siberian Tatars) in the territory of the Tarsky Irtysh land which became the home to the Knyazevs for more than three centuries. The 1701Inventory Revision Book cites Itkuchuk Buchkakov as a local power broker of the Ayalynsky Tatars in the village. During the 18^th century, this position was inherited by his descendants who eventually lost this status in the beginning of the 19^th century in the course of the managerial reforms by the Russian government. Nevertheless, the social status of the members of the gens remained high. In the mid. 19^th century, the village moved — the villagers resettled from the right bank of the River Irtysh onto the left one. As the result, the village was situated nearby the main road connecting the cities of Omsk and Tara. At the same time, the village became the center of the Ayalynskay region. That led to the strengthening of the social status and property enrichment of the descendants of Itkuchuk Buchkakov. The Knyzevs’ surname first appeared in the materials of the First All-Russia Census Survey of 1897. Some of the descendants signed up under this surname later in the Soviet period. During the Soviet years, members of the Knyzev’s gens had different destinies: some worked in the local government, whereas the others were subjected to political repressions and executed. Knyazevs took part in the Great Patriotic War and seven of them perished. Presently there are no descendants of the Knyazevs in Bernyazhka as they spread over the villages of the Omskaya Region, some living in Omsk and other towns of Russia and abroad.

On the basis of original field materials, the author set a goal to reveal the identifying functions of the food culture, particularly, of such a characteristic component of the Northern Eurasian population as hot drinks (teas), in different ethnocultural groups of Siberia: descendants of the old settlers and later Russian migrants, old-believers and followers of the official church. The practices of Siberian tea-drinking have been studied from the perspective of ethnocultural identity within the framework of the mundanity theory. It is the folk customs and beliefs related to the consumption of decoctions of local herbs and later of Chinese leaves (tea) that provide opportunity to infer the place of hot drinks in people’s culture. The author reports interesting facts about the traditions of Siberian tea-drinking and table etiquette in the countryside. Chinese tea-drinking from samovars (table boiling tanks) was not embraced by the old-believers and by some Russian migrants in the late 19^th — early 20^th c. (South-Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians), where the former refrain due to “suspicious glare” of the surface resembling snakeskin, while the latter by the slimy samovars. In Siberia, the spread of the tea-drinking with Chinese leaf coincided with formation of local old-settler population in the 17^th—18^th centuries and therefore it can be regarded as an old custom for the service-class people and Cossacks. The fact that the Chinese tea was relatively a novation in the culture of the Siberian population is evidence by that it was not part of the ceremonial practices (e.g., family), in contrast to various herbal brews and kisels (jellies). Siberian tea-drinking traditions of the old-settlers (apart from the old-believers) had strong influence on formation of the regional and ethnocultural identity of the Siberians, in the wide sense of the term as Siberia locals. The established traditions can be considered as a consequence of integration processes amongst the Slavic people in Siberia. The tea-drinking traditions support the conjecture that the differentiation process (comparative evaluation) was accompanied by another process — cultural interference and is inextricably linked to the cognitive process — collective identification, which inhibits non-critical adoption of ‘extraneous’ traditions.

This paper concerns the study of the specifics of self-consciousness and self-identity of one of the indigenous minorities of Siberia — the Teleuts, in different periods of their ethnic history from the mid. 18^th century until the present time. Main forms of Teleuts’ identity are considered: national; class; ethnic; ancestral and local. The instances of using various ethnonyms, genonymums and class attributes by Teleuts are analyzed. Identity multivariance is considered as a mechanism of minority self-preservation and adaptation to the continuous assimilative influence of the nonethnic majority. The paper is based on the archival sources and field materials of the author collected during the expeditions to Teleuts in 1978–2014. The field materials include samples of the folklore, written folk literature, records of biographies, family chronicles and narratives about other societies recorded by the author. It has been shown how Teleuts ideas about other societies adjusted in the course of their adaptation to the new social and cultural environment within the Russian state. The attention has been drawn to how the ethnic consolidation of the Teleuts in the 19^th–20^th cc. transformed the local self-consciousness and self-identity. The names associated with small territorial communities often acquired derogatory sense and transferred from endo- to exo-type. It has been deduced how the legal status of the ethnic group within the state influences development of their ethnic culture. Notably, the non-Russians status of the Teleuts brought to them some rights and privileges in terms of the land tenure, taxes and exemption from the compulsory military service. On one hand, this has been helping to strengthen the national identity of the Teleuts, but on the other hand, it facilitates their ethnic self-affirmation. Teleuts have always been proud with their non-Russians status within the Russian state. The ethnic status of the Teleuts in the post-Soviet period is protected by their official recognition in 1989 as a separate ethnic group and subsequent affiliation with the indigenous minorities of the North.

Modern approach to the study of ethnicity implies examination of its variability (drift, shifts and procedurality). This paper aims at the analysis of manifestations of ethnicity amongst the Ob-Ugrians in different historical periods (traditional society, Soviet modernization and post-Soviet democracy). The author draws attention to explaining dominant role of one or another manifestation of ethnicity. The work is based on author’s observations made during the expeditions in the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug (1980s-2000s) and publications by other researchers. Prior to the 1930s, the Ob-Ugric population was represented by a family of related languages and local ethnic groups with close cultures. The main factor of their self-identity was local ethnicity – names by a river. ‘People of the same river’ were bound by commercial, exchange and cultural-ritual bonds. In the official records, the Russian government registered, in the first place, social status of the indigenous population, calling its people ‘inorodtsy’ (‘non-Russians’) and ‘yasashnye’ (‘tributary’). Socialist transformations in the socio-economical, cultural and ideological spheres marked the beginning of the assimilation policy with respect to the peoples of the North. As the all-Soviet standards of living were adopted, and social (including ethnocultural) uniformity achieved, ethnicity of the Ob-Ugrians continuously leveled out. At the same time, their ethnic identity was largely influenced by recording their nationality in the passports – Khanty and Mansy, coincident with the name of the okrug. In the post-Soviet period, ethnicity of the Khanty and Mansy, ‘hibernated’ during the Soviet time, ‘woke up’ suddenly and loudly turning into a powerful creational factor. The ethnic mobilization unwrapped by the initiative of ethnic leaders significantly raised the status of the ethnic culture and people themselves. As a result, three levels of identity emerged. The first level is trans-ethnicity of ‘natives’ or ‘aborigines’, which is an important political instrument. The second level is official ethnic identity, which is reflected in the ethnonyms ‘Khanty’, ‘Mansy’ and ‘Nentsy’. Its representation in the ethnocultural politics of the okrug (organizing celebrations and festivals, folk group activities etc.) is given a high attention. Lastly, the third level is the traditional local ethnicity.

This paper investigates the role of science in the identity strategies of the Ob-Ugrians (Khanty and Mansi). The main source for the study comprised author’s field reports collected over the years in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra. As the reference point of the analysis we chose the Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Research and Development, where a polling of Ob-Ugric science professionals was held in 2018. The author suggests exploring the research topic through the concept of multifaceted identity. A complex system of individual self-identification implies the presence of its different forms, including professional and ethnic, amongst others. This approach leads to the conclusion on superimposing roles of a scientist and a member of the ethnic group (professional and ethnic identities) in the scientific activities of the Ob-Ugrians. To indicate this specificity, we suggest using the term ‘ethnoscience’. The latter is defined in this context as an entity emerged in a specific way, spatially localized and aimed at studying the autochthonous foundations of knowledge within its ethnic community. As a methodological approach, the concept of ‘cultural trauma’ has been employed. Within this theory, scientific activities of the northerners are considered as a manifestation of ‘coping’ with the trauma. The example of Ob-Ugrians shows that ethnic science professionals are often driven by the perception of practical relevancy of such activities ‘for the sake of saving the nationality and its culture and raising its prestige’. These phenomena can be regarded as a kind of protest action aimed to compensate real and perceived slights. Nowadays, research activities of the Ob-Ugrians are focused on recovery of the ‘lost knowledge’ and its application in the modern context. The search for the ‘roots’ and ethnic self-identification is carried out through ‘revival’ and ‘restoration’. As a drawback of this strategy, some weak points evince (‘sympathetic ethnography’) which steadily diminish as the nor-thern ethnoscience continues to integrate in a wider science context.

This paper reports the results of field studies carried out in November 2018 in the towns of Murmansk Oblast and in February — March 2020 in the city of Murmansk. The research was aimed to evaluate resilience of the Kola North as the most extensively urbanized northern region and of Murmansk as the largest city above the Arctic Circle. The material for the paper is based on the poll data of 444 residents of Murmansk Oblast and interviews of 23 residents of Murmansk. A residence-stratified sampling model combined with sex and age quotas has been employed. On the basis of research on resilience in psychology and theory of time-space of Mikhail Bakhtin, the authors conduct analysis of the perception of the population towards the elements of urban chronotopos: time (chronos), space (topos), and human (anthropos), which either repel the population, thus weakening the resi-lience, or attract it, hence strengthening the resilience. The level of resilience of a region is firmly bound to the population attitude towards it, and apathy towards the city, let alone hatred, take a heavy toll on the resilience of the cities in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation, instilling conditions for weakening bods between people and the dwelling and causing decay of the social climate. In this paper, we identify problematic urban areas inducing negative emotions of the population (climate, ecology, standard of living, state of the education and infrastructure, a lack of ideas and perspectives of development which are clear to the urban residents) and strong points enhancing the resilience (natural environment, social links, pace of living, frontier location, understanding of historical role and strategic importance). Models of mental behavior which have effect on the urban resilience have been identified. It is argued that temporary and shift workers have negative effect on the urban resilience, whereas positive influence comes from traditional and new nomads, innovators, proprietors and amateur researchers. Traditional nomads of the Kola North — fishermen and seamen — create the image and mission of the cities understandable to their residents. The model of a new nomad brings dynamics and hospitability to the region. The innovator creates new models of development of the territory, while the proprietor explores the North and looks after it. The model of special importance for the cities of the Kola North is that of exploration, characte-ristic of researchers and artists, since new values may become new ideas of the cities supporting their resilience.

In this paper, we examine the series of AMS radiocarbon measurements (N = 52) obtained from the Late Bronze Age settlements of Kamennyi Ambar and Usty’e I in the Southern Trans-Urals, Russia. The exploratory data analysis applied to uncalibrated dates allows for the batches and outliers isolation. Furthermore, based on the facts of stratigraphy and application of the Bayesian statistics, we reconstruct the chronology, estimate spans of habitation, and discuss issues of the existing samples. As the first step of the analysis, we consider archaeological contexts of the measurements and statistically identify apparent outliers. Despite the small sample size, the dataset from Ust’ye I obtained in the way that allows to date stratigraphically isolated construction/utilization episodes and thus are highly reliable. At least five measurements from Kamennyi Ambar date the natural events before the settlement construction and serve as upper limits in models. On the second stage of the analysis, the Bayesian models of the sites’ chronology constructed with OxCal 4.3. For Ust’ye I, we designed a three-phase model that allows to date two early habitational phases during which the walls and ditches were built around the settlement. The third phase defines the lower limit of the previous period, as this phase consists of a single radiocarbon measurement. The model suggests the existence of the gap between the two earliest stages, associated with the Sintashta and Petrovka ceramic types. While the sample size is small, this hypothesis agrees well with the site’s stratigraphy, as the settlement was re-modeled entirely at least once. We designed two models for Kamennyi Ambar. The first model includes all available data and consists of three phases: 1) natural events before the settlement construction; 2) the early «walled» phase; 3) the late «unwalled» phase. The second model incorporates data on the wells’ stratigraphy and uses only measurements from the wells. The models almost the same for the early habitational phase, but the modeled chronology of the late phase differs drastically, as the wells-based model condenses the phase and pushes it earlier. Further, the models suggest that Kamennyi Ambar existed only for about 50 years, and Usty’e I for nearly 100 years. The habitational phases within the same periods are partially desynchronized, and possible gaps in the habitation suggested by the models. One possible explanation of the short-term habitation spans and differences is that people needed to resettle regularly as resource depletion made the areas inhospitable for the communities of the livestock breeders.

The article presents an attempt to interpret the semantics of one of the brightest examples of the burial rite among the pastoral population with high level of metal production, which left the sites of the Sintashta and Petrovka type, localized in the Southern Trans-Urals (Trans-Ural peneplain). They are presently dated to the period between the 21^st and 18^th c. BC (transitional time from the Middle to Late Bronze Age). Materials from the burial sites (cemeteries of Sintashta and Krivoye Ozero) have been analysed, with direct involvement of the author. The problem appears as follows. The vast majority of researchers believe that within the burial chamber of some Sinthashta and later Petrovka socially significant persons, the chariots were placed, in an assembled or disassembled form, yet chariots. The main purpose of the chariots, in their opinion, was participation in military activities, with a caveat about the possibility of their use in rituals, and that the buried themselves should be recognised as chariot drivers-warriors who ruled the life of communities (clans). The article substantiates the hypothesis of the apparent existence of a tradition in the Sintashta, Petrovka and other synchronous Eastern European steppe cultural formations, of placing in the burial chamber the very parts of a chariot, especially the wheels, and not the whole chariots. The author suggests considering the funeral rite of the chosen members of the Bronze Age Sintashta and Petrovka communities (clans) of the Southern Trans-Urals, which involved the use of chariot parts (wheels), as a kind of symbolic text, as a modelled realization of the funeral myth, which tells the story of the journey of the soul to the afterlife on the burial chariot of the Vedic twin gods — Ashwins. The detailed parameters of such models should not be literally correlated with the real transportation means. According to the author, the individuals buried in such tombs were not necessarily chariot drivers-warriors. The paper discusses another important aspect — the localization of the other world for the Bronze Age Sintashta and Petrovka population of the Southern Trans-Urals. According to our observations, the ideas about the localization of the world of the dead were not permanent and could change over several centuries, from the Sintashta period to the time of the classical stage of the history of the Alakul Culture (pottery with a ledge shoulder, with ornamentation spread across two or three zones). The majority of adults in the Sintashta burials with wheel hollows, were orientated with their heads to the northwest sector. Similar was the orientation of symbolic wagons and equally symbolic horses. For alike Petrovka burial sites, the latitudinal orientation already prevailed. These changes, as it appears to the author, reflect modifications of the funeral myth.

The purpose of this publication is to present to scientific discussion a unique casting mould. The foundry mold was discovered accidentally in 2019 near the Pyshma River in the Yalutorovsk District of the Tyumen Region. It represents a four-sided trapezoid bar of gray slate stone, slightly tapered to one end. On three sides of the bar, negatives are cut out for casting three different products. The first side has a negative for casting а slotted spearhead with roller on pen slots. The bushing is hollow, the blade is laurel-shaped. The second negative was also used for casting the short-socketed slotted spearhead. The third matrix was for casting celt-adze. The synchronicity of the negatives of the spearheads and the celt-adze on the cast allows dating this mould to the 15^th–11^th c. BC and correlating it to the time of existence of the Alekseevka-Sargary Culture.

The article considers the materials of the Urd Ulaan Uneet cave burial, investigated in 2015. This complex is located in the Tsagaanbulag Myangad Somon of Kobdo Aimak of Mongolia, at the altitude of 1327 m a.s.l. Presented is the description of the circumstances of discovery of this important site, as well as the existing experience of studying and publishing of the materials. The main objective of the study is the detailed analysis of the main categories of finds from the cave burial, the most informative of which include wooden saddle, iron bits with horn psalia, compound bow, arrowheads, leather quiver with iron hook, and wooden vessel. For the interpretation of these items, extensive archaeological sources of the Syanby-Rouran and medieval time, assembled during the excavations in various parts of the Central Asian region, were involved. Based on the results obtained, a number of conclusions have been made regarding the cultural and chronological interpretation of the site. It has been established that the Urd Ulaan Uneet complex is one of the rare objects of the Rouran time in Mongolia, and the only known cave burial of this chronological period. The monument can be confidently dated to the middle of the 4^th –5^th c. AD with the possible extension of the upper chronological boundary to the beginning of the 6^th c. AD. This conclusion is generally supported by the results of radiocarbon analysis presented in the publications of Mongolian archaeologists. An indicative characteristic of the cave site, not revealed during the excavations of other objects of the Rouran period in Mongolia, is the accompanying burial of a horse. Obviously, this feature of the funeral rite is explained by contacts with the population of the Bulan-Koby Culture. The weighty argument in favor of the proposed possible interactions between the Altai cattle breeders and nomads of Western Mongolia in the Rouran period could be found among the investigated burials of the Bulan-Koby Culture in the Bayan-Ulgiy Aimag. The material complex found during the excavation of the Urd Ulaan Uneet cave burial reflects the very wide contacts of the population of Mongolia in various directions (Altai-Sayan Region, Trans-Baikal Region, Manchuria, East Turkestan, Central Asia) in the middle of the 1^st mil. AD. In addition, the «western» relations are clearly distinguishable; these obviously demonstrate the complex migration processes of the Great Migration Period.

The paper is focused on burial grounds of the Mazunino Culture (or Mazunino stage of the Cheganda Culture of the Pyany Bor Cultural-Historical Community by R.D. Goldina) in the Middle Kama Region. They date to the 3^rd–5^th c. AD and chronologically correlate with the Great Migration Period. The processes of major and minor migrations of that time had an impact on various components of the autochthonous Kama Region cultures. The focus of our research is the burials with throwing weapons, primarily arrowheads found in the Mazunino archers’ burials. The interest in throwing weapon was trigged by the heuristical observation of anthropologist Ivan G. Shirobokov for the Boyar «Aray» cemetery, where the existence of morphological differences in a group of buried men with arrowheads was statistically proven. To examine this phenomenon, a working hypothesis was put forward: intra-group differences of one small necropolis could be reflected in the burial rite and the grave goods of all Mazunino archers’ burials. In total, 148 burials and 146 skeletons with arrowheads from 12 necropolises of the Mazunino Culture have been examined. The comparative analysis of the burial rite features demonstrated a stable correlation between the presence of arrowheads and male burials. The archers’ burials correspond to the burial practices of the majority of the Mazunino population. Rare deviations suggest close relations between local communities and other cultures and ethnicities, primarily with nomadic tribes. Bone arrowheads as a primary weapon of the Mazunino warriors continue the previous traditions of the Ananyino, Pyany Bor (Cheganda) / Kara-Abyz Cultures. A comprehensive analysis of the inter-occurrence of implements in male equipment with arrowheads allowed distinguishing two conventional groups of burials. The first one is characterized by the presence of only arrowheads in the burial equipment. These grave goods were typical for Mazunino population and consisted of ordinary belts, iron knives, beads, etc. The second group was significantly different, as these were individuals who were skilled in using various weapons, and their kit included various types of weapons for both close and long-range combat. Probably, there was a military gradation among such archers, which needs to be supported by analysis of a larger number of the Mazunino burials. The results of our work need to be verified using the anthropological materials from other Mazunino burial grounds.

The paper presents the results of the study of the Sarov complex in the Roza Vetrov VII settlement, located in the forest-steppe Tobol River Region (Western Siberia). The Sarov stage of the Kulayka Culture terminates the Early Iron Age and dates to the 1^st c. BC — 3^rd c. AD. The dwelling represented by a hut-like superstructure used by fishermen during the spawning period of the warm season is described. Also characterised are the tools including pestle, grindstone, and a fragment of the casting form. The pottery complex reflects all specific features of the Sarov stage ware — the monotony of the ornamental composition, which consists of multiple repetition of rows of the combed stamp and waves, downswept rims. The characteristic of the sample is the complete absence of figured stamps in the ornamentation. The time of migration of the northern taiga population into the sub-taiga and forest-steppe zones of Western Siberia is based on the chronological position of the Sarov sites and specifics of the historical and cultural situation in the present region in the end of the Early Iron Age. The Sargatka Culture, which was spread in the territory of the forest-steppe Trans-Urals, existed until the end of the 2^nd — early 3^rd c. AD. The Sarov complex of the Ayga VIII settlement is attributed to the 3^rd c. AD; the burials of the multicultural Kozlov burial ground, where the Sarov pottery has been found, are dated to the 3^rd–6^th c. AD. The spread of the Sarov population occurred from the Surgut area of the Ob River Region or the Lower Irtysh River Region along the main water arteries — the rivers of Irtysh, Tobol, Tura, Iset — from the 3^rd c. AD. The Sarov materials of the Roza Vetrov VII settlement could be dated to the same time. The Sarov population took part in the genesis of the early medieval cultures of the forest-steppe and the sub-taiga Trans-Urals. Bakal Culture inherited from the bearers of the Sargatka Culture the pottery ornamentation technique, while from the population of the Sarov and Karym Cultures — the shape of vessels with a whisk and cornice sloping inside. The influence of the northern taiga population can also explain the spread of fortifications with bastions in Tobolo-Ishim Region.

The research was carried out on the materials of 2009–2019 archeological-historical investigations in one of the first Russian cities in Siberia — Tara, founded in 1594. The aim was to study the process of tobacco distribution in the region and the specific aspects of tobacco smoking in the 17^th–19^th centuries. The perception of this habit from the local administration and various groups of the population, such as servicemen, Old Believers and other social strata of the city, has been considered. The attitude to tobacco smoking changed over the studied period from the government ban to protection by the highest authorities. The perception within the society also varied, from semi-underground smoking and punishment for this habit to permission and encouragement. In total, during the excavation, 10 pipes for tobacco smoking and 2 mouthpieces were found. Pipes from archeological excavations of Siberian sites of the Sayany ostrog, as well as those from Moscow and Saint-Petersburg, were analyzed. Based on this analysis, the Tara pipes were divided into the following types: locally produced items of the 18^th century, «Moscow» pipes of the 18^th century, and porcelain pipes of the 19^th century. By their design, they split into heads with small cups for finely cut tobacco and pipes with large cups for Russian coarsely cut tobacco. The collection of pipes obtained during archaeological research in the city of Tara overall fits into the general concept of the distribution of smoking in Siberia, proposed by A.V. Shapovalov. The mouthpieces are made of wood and bone and fit with dimensions of the pipe heads. Planigraphically, the findings of pipes and mouthpieces in the 17^th century are associated to the interhouse spaces, and pipes of the 18^th–19^th centuries — to the location of drinking houses. This is related to the prohibition of smoking by local administrations before Peter the Great time, and then to the protests of Old Believers against smoking. The issue of the use of drugs during smoking, primarily hashish, a tradition that could come to Siberia from Central Asia, is still to be addressed.

Researchers associate the medieval archeological artifacts of the Middle Trans-Urals, whose pottery bears cord impressions, with the Chiyalik, Molchanvo and Yudina Cultures. Despite the large number of artifacts that have been studied, many questions remain open. These include the status, chronology, and interaction of the Molchanovo and Yudina antiquities, as well as the evolution and specifics of their pottery complexes. Publication and analysis of the ceramic collections from Vak-Kur, the largest burial ground of the Yudina Culture, contribute to addressing some problems related to «the Corded Ware cultures». The Vak-Kur burial ground is dated to the 10^th–11^th centuries based on the assemblage of the associated goods. It is located in the south-eastern part of the Yudina Culture areal, on the right shore of the Tobol River. For all the time of excavations in the area of the necropolis, 220 burials have been studied. The dead were buried in shallow pits according to the ritual of inhumation, on their backs. A specific feature of the funeral ritual is breaking of a part of the accompanying equipment and use of funerary masks. Decorative and morphological features of 143 Yudina vessels have been examined. The tableware has been categorized according to four topographic groups after excavations 3 to 6. It has been noted that, despite the similar shapes of pots, and ornamental proportions and patterns, the pottery from excavations 3 to 6 demonstrates a different frequency in use of such elements in the décor as the cord and figured stamps. The biggest differences were detected between the ceramic artifacts found in excavations 4 and 6. It was suggested that the differences in décor between pottery from different excavations are determined not by their asynchronous nature, but by the existence of several tribal sites in the area of the Yudina necropolis. The comparison of ceramic collections from the Vak-Kur burial ground with those from the medieval burial and settlement sites of the Yudina Culture showed that the pottery from the necropolis is most closely related to collections from the Plamya Sibiri 6 and 7, and Antonovo 1 settlements located in the Tura River basin. These sites were dated by their investigator to the earlier period (6^th to 9^th centuries) and attributed to the Molchanovo Culture. Based on the significant similarity between the pottery of the named sites and the dishware of the 10^th to 11^th centuries from excavation 4 of the Vak-Kur burial ground, a revision of the chronology and cultural attribution of these sites has been proposed.

This study is focused on the cranial sample from the Novo-Sasykul cemetery of the Pyany Bor Culture in the Lower Kama region (Bakaly District, Republic of Bashkortostan). The Novo-Sasykul cemetery is dated to the 1^st–2^nd c. AD, and it is fully excavated. The frequency of traumatic injuries has been analyzed in a sample consisting of 94 skulls of adult individuals (47 males, 47 females) stored in the Bashkortostan National Museum (Ufa). Injuries have been examined according to recommendations and methods used in the forensic medicine and paleopathology. The distribution of traumas was studied depending on sex and the side of the skull (left / right or frontal / dorsal). The intergroup variability of the ratios of combat traumas was studied with the involvement of a number of the Early Iron Age samples. The differences in frequencies were analyzed using the chi-squared test and two-tailed Fisher's exact test. It has been noted that the analysed sample is characterized by the high level of fatal combat injuries. In total, 16 injuries were recorded on 12 skulls (21.3 % in males, 4.3 % in females). A significantly larger number of traumas are localized on the left side of the skull, which may indicate a predominant strike direction from right to left. The identified traumatic injuries are grouped into five types. With the exception of one case of injury by a trilobate bone arrowhead, all injuries are qualified as blade weapon traumas. All traumas are perimortal, without any traces of healing. Against a comparative background, the studied sample is characterized by the high level of combat traumas, similar to those of the Late Sarmatian population from Esaulovskiy Aksai, the Hun from Ulangom, and the Bulan-Koba Culture sample from the Stepushka cemetery. However, archaeologically identified low level of armament of the Novo-Sasykul cemetery population, as well as the short period of the cemetery functioning, testify against the regular involvement of the analyzed group in armed conflicts. The high frequency of combat cranial traumas in this group, considering its low militarization, represented mainly by iron and bone arrowheads with a small amount of melee weapons, suggests that the Pyany Bor groups were more likely to be subjected to armed raids, acting more often as victims. Taking into account the planigraphy of the burials from which the injured skulls originate, it has been concluded that this part of the studied group died as a result of a possibly single armed conflict.

Arzhan-2, the archaeological site of world significance, a national treasure of peoples of Tuva and Russia, located in the «Valley of Kings» (Piy-Khemsk District, Tyva Republic), was investigated in 2001–2004 by the Central Asian Archaeological Expedition of the State Hermitage Museum headed by K.V. Chugunov. The sites has been dated to the 7^th c. BC and attributed to the Scythian-Siberian cultural community. When exploring the «royal» burial of the early Scythian site of Arzhan-2, the scientists faced the questions of the origin of the buried, periodization and chronology of the monument, its archaeological-cultural attribution, the autochthonous nature of the population that left it, and its relationship with other Eurasian early nomadic cultures. The present study is addressing the most important issue of the appearance of the buried people and characteristics of their anthropological type. The material for the study was comprised of male and female skulls from burial 5 of Arzhan-2 mound. The article describes in detail the process of reconstruction of the physical appearance of the deceased and provides examples of calculating ante mortem parameters based on craniometric measurements. The complex stages of preliminary work related to the restoration of skulls and manufacturing of their exact copies are highlighted. The results of the physical appearance reconstruction are presented in the form of visual museum objects — sculptural portraits. The scientific reconstruction of the ante mortem appearance on skulls of the «king» and «queen» was carried out in the Laboratory of Anthropological Reconstruction of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences by anthropologists Drs E.V. Veselovskaya and R.M. Galeev. In anthropological terms, the buried show a peculiar mosaic of Caucasoid and Mongoloid features. They are characterized by brachycephaly and dome-shaped head, with notably developed rugosity of the supercilium in the man and its absence in the woman. For the man, an average width of the face and a narrow forehead of medium height are noted. The woman has broad face and forehead, the height of the forehead is average. Both portraits are characterized by prominent position of eyeballs and large eyes. Man’s nose is short, prominent, with convex dorsum. Woman’s nose has a wavy dorsum, and is slightly prominent. On the male portrait, the cheekbones are moderate, on the female one — high and prominent. Faces of the «royal» persons are flattened in the upper part, with a certain degree of alveolar prognathism. The lower jaw of the man is medium in size, narrow in the corners. For the woman, some gracility of the lower jaw can be noted.

The object of the study is the texts about Tan-varp-ekva, «the tendon twistress», recorded during the 20^th c. The majority of the full-text tales has been recorded from the northern Mansi (Lyapin River Basin, Upper Lozva), some folklore stories have been published for various groups of Khanty (Yugan, Middle Ob, Berezovo, Kazym, Upper Purov, Shurishkar); the Nenets legend about the old woman-Sihirtia stands out. The tales mostly split into two plots: the first one is associated with the prohibition to spin veins at night, the second — with changeling and kidnapping of children. The analysis of the key points of the legends has been carried out, the position of the Ob-Ugorsk forest spirit among similar images of the Komi and Russians has been determined. The authors suggest that the village of Lombovozh (Lyapin Mansi) became the place of creation of the folklore storyline, linking it to the presence of a large archaeological site, a medieval settlement. The spread of the legend of Tan-varp-ekva among other Mansi and Khanty groups was the result of migrations. The main plot of the story refers to the introduction of regulations by the Ob Ugrians on inclusion of a daughter-in-law, young women into the foreign cult community. The story with a silver cup explains the rules of entry of a newly manufactured or brought from the outside object into the sphere of worship in the Ob Ugrians. Tan-varp-ekva in the role of a female deity could act as the patro-ness of needlework, as, for the Ob Ugrians, twisting of deer tendon threads was a traditional female work. The stories about Tan-varp-ekva are similar to those of many Russian fairy tales, ballades about mythical spinstresses, as well as bans on needlework during the night and transition time. Her image has a lot in common with Baba Yaga and with the character of Yoma — her double in Komi (forest spirits, creatures of the lower world, kidnappers of children, cannibals, treasure keepers, treasure givers, «spinning» deities). The motifs of killing and eating of daughter-in-law by the spinstress of tendons can be an allusion of the rite of transition to a new family, when the girl «died» for her former family and left the protection of the spirits-keepers of her family. The popular-Christian layer of views of the Russians and Komi provides material for comparative analysis of mythological concepts of Slavic and Finn-Ugric peoples, who for a long period experienced mutual influence on ethnocultural traditions. The function of Tan-varp-ekva as a «twister of tendons» can be secondary, borrowed from neighboring populations, for example, from the Komi, who, together with Orthodoxy, accepted and adapted the popular-Christian beliefs of the Russians.

The purpose of this article is to study the methods for manufacturing, wearing and ways of use of the Bashkir chest decorations in the end of the 20^th — beginning of the 21^st c. The research area includes the Republic of Bashkortostan and neighboring regions where the Bashkirs live. Information for neighboring regions was collected using the Internet and social networks: VKontakte, Instagram, YouTube. The chronological framework of the study covers the end of the 20^th — beginning of the 21^st c., that is the time of a renaissance of traditions and the growth of interest in them. Field materials collected by the author during the expeditions in 2010–2019 to different districts of the Republic of Bashkortostan, archival materials, museum collections of Ufa and Internet resources where old and modern photos with Bashkir chest decorations are posted became the source base of the study. The article uses general scientific methods: comparative-historical, and the method of scientific description and analysis. During the collection of field materials, we relied on ethnographic methods, such as in-depth interviews, observation, and photo fixation. To study the current state of tradition, monitoring of social networks was used. Different types of female bibs used to be popular among Bashkirs — selter, sakal, hakal, yaga, muynsa, almaizy and others. They were very highly valued and used as essential part of the bride dowry. Chest decorations made of silver coins and real corals were very expensive. Until the end of the 19^th — beginning of the 20^th c., chest decoration retained its ethnic, social, and sacred functions. In the beginning of the 20^th c., the traditional culture was undergoing a difficult period. During the hunger years of the 1920s, the period of the creation of collective farms, many Bashkirs were forced to surrender their jewelry for nothing. In the postwar years, very few people still had their authentic national decorations. In the end of the 20^th — beginning of 21^st c., on the wave of mobilization of ethnic identity and revival of interest in traditions, the bib as an ethnic marker became popular again. It has been revealed that there are five basic trends of manufacturing of the Bashkir bibs: from historical reconstructions to highly stylized pieces, from everyday to festive. Nowadays they are worn both for beauty and designating the ethnic identity, traditions, culture, demonstration of national Bashkir ownership. The initial spiritual and guarding function of chest decorations has now been lost.

This article is focused on the problem of formation and development of «Chinese markets». Most of the academic texts on the issue are based on materials from the Irkutsk «Shanghai» market. «Chinese markets» of the Ural cities have not been explored. The purpose of this manuscript is to trace the formation and development of ideas about the «Chinese market» among the residents of a large Ural city using the example of Chelyabinsk. The source base includes the author’s personal observations made in the Chinatown area (vicinity of the «Zarechny Market»), archival documents on migration and trade between China and Chelyabinsk Oblast. In 2019 the author gathered interviews with consumers of the «Chinese» market, apartment owners who rented out housing to the Chinese, and market workers. The Chelyabinsk and all-Russian press are important sources for studying public opinion regarding the «Chinese» markets. The complexity of the study object resulted in the use of a complex of methods. These are free informal interviews with city dwellers, included observation in the «Chinese market», analysis of press content and discourse. Our study of perception of the «Chinese market» showed a lot in common between the emergence of «Chinese markets», and, most importantly, the reaction of the host community in Chelyabinsk and Siberian cities to this process. In the media discourse and in the mass consciousness of the townspeople, ideas about the «Chinese market» created an image of a «Chinatown» and a large number of Chinese migrants. Around the market, a complex of perceptions of threats has been formed (crime, tax evasion, low-quality goods, etc.). The Chinese market has formed complex networks of social relations between traders and consumers, the host society and migrants. The term of «Chinese market» has incorporated a large number of meanings that are understandable without additional explanation: from organization of urban space to a set of markers that determine social status. Today, the «Chinese market» is the image of the «East» for citizens, where different ethnic groups, borders, and cultures are intertwined.

The city-forming role of the North Selkup state farms, as also the farms themselves, has not yet been the subject of a special research; the author had to «develop the virgin soil» exploring this topic. The study is based on materials from the Krasnoselkup Municipal Archive. Carried out was the analysis of the records for the Polyarny state farm for 1974–2000, the Tolkinskiy state farm for 1970–2004, the report of the Krasnoselkup Village Council for 1978, and the summary report on the performance of five local collective farms for the period of 1951–1961. Some information was gathered from the report of the Krasnoselkup oil and gas exploration expedition in 1979 stored in the Krasnoselkup Museum of Local Lore. Materials from conversations with the Krasnoselkup District residents from the author’s field archive were also used. This study confirms that the state farms, built on traditional economic activities, played the role of town-forming enterprises for the Selkup villages and served as guarantors of the Selkup economic and social well-being. The dependence of the inhabitants of the villages (or the Selkup part of the villages’ population) on the state farms was expressed in the opportunity of employment in the traditional economic sector, as well as in the use of the village infrastructure created by the state farms. The city-forming function of the northern agricultural enterprises was the result of the state policy of supporting the indigenous peoples of the North; it originated during the collective farm time and reached its maximum development during the state farm period. Socialist modernization is generally considered to be an unprecedented disintegration, destruction and breakage of a stable economic culture, and associated with the strong turbulence of the everyday environment. Owing to the city-forming function of the Selkup state farms, as well as their social orientation, the process of socialist changes among the Selkups proceeded gently, overall painlessly, improving the quality of life and being associated with an understanding of its normality and the absence of practices for avoiding and leaving for the informal economy. Selkup state farms, together with the villagers entrusted to them, began to experience strong turbulence with the onset of the state crisis in 1991. The 1990s decade ended with collapse of the state farms, and with the social tragedy for the Selkup population.

The paper examines the history of creation and life of the monument to the Mansi Stepan Chumpin on the top of the Blagodat Mountain (сity of Kushva, Sverdlovsk Region), in the context of development of the Russian memorial culture. The paper aims to explore conformity of this monument with the memorial landscape during the time of its installation, as well as with the trends in the development of public commemoration in the pre-revolutionary period. Chumpin was the discoverer of a large field of magnetite on the Blagodat Mountain. The monument belongs to the category of anniversary ones, as it was built shortly before the centenary of the discovery of the field. Commemoration of this important event with the monument was the idea of the head of Goroblagodatsky mining district Nikolai Mamyshev. This high-ranking official was also a sentimentalist writer. The monument he erected was not similar to those in the style of classicism that were made in Russia in this period. It represented a cylindrical bowl-shaped base for iron casting bursting tongues of flame. The inscription on the pedestal says that Chumpin was burned here in 1730. It is believed the latter was done by his tribesmen associates. The paper formulates and justifies the hypothesis of the influence of Mamyshev's literary work on the concept of the monument: Chumpin, a «contemptible» character and a foreigner, is portrayed as a «noble savage» and a figure that evokes compassion. Such image of the discoverer gave a distinct ethnic orientation to the monument. It also appears as a memorial, since it was erected over the remains of a glorified person (although historians have proved that the fact of Chumpin's death in this place is a fiction). The monument is attributed to the monumental ones, as it is related to the great discovery by Chumpin, and to geographically motivated ones, as it is placed on the Blagodat Mountain. The monument is also a reminder of a significant event — the discovery of a rich deposit, and it affirms the recognition of the merits of the Mansi by the state. Even by the beginning of the 20th c., this monument did not become typical for the Russian memorial environment, although it turned into a popular tourist attraction.

The article presents the analysis of the catalog «Ulchi» by the Khabarovsk Regional Museum n.a. N.I. Grodekov. The performance of the local museum is considered in the context of all-Russian experience of cataloging of the museum collections, which is of a particular importance for historical science. The author examines the program of scientific cataloging of the museum collections, featuring the traditional culture of almost all indigenous peoples of the Russian Far East. We conclude that the series of ethnographic catalogues of the museum has made a significant contribution to the Far East museum studies and ethnography. The new catalog «Ulchi» presents the largest ethnographic collection of the museum, which characterizes the material and spiritual culture of one of the eight indigenous populations of the Lower Amur River Region — the Ulchi. The catalog includes 808 ethnographic artifacts — household items, clothes, fishing and hunting equipment, items of ritual culture, shamanism and family relations of the Ulchi (19^th–21^st c.). Specific sections include more than 300 photographs and negatives (19^th–20^th c.), as well as detailed background information. Some artifacts, such as ritual sculptures, shaman clothing and attributes, utensils for ritual rites, ancient devices for fishing etc., are published for the first time. The catalog was prepared by a large team of authors involving Ulchi craftsmen and linguists. The catalog «Ulchi» introduces new materials into scientific discourse, and it can serve as a source for comparative ethnographic, historical and museum studies analysis. It has been emphasized that the newly published catalog of the Khabarovsk Regional Museum n.a. N.I. Grodekov allows representatives of this people to connect with their own cultural heritage; it contributes to the formation of their historical memory and identity.

Discussed in this review are the results of the research presented in the monograph of specialists in Northern studies K.I. Zubkov and V.P. Karpov «Development of the Russian Arctic: Soviet experience in the context of current national strategy (on the example of the Ural Far North and Western Siberia)». The reviewer notes that, in general, the study follows the pattern of state-centrism, teleologism and geopolitical alarmism typical for modern Russian Arctic historiography. Among the most important theses of the authors of this peer-reviewed monograph, are the following ones: (1) the transport and economic development was the basis of the Russian / Soviet Arctic exploration program; (2) the Soviet strategy of the Far North development dictated mainly the technocratic and commodity character of the territory exploitation; (3) modern Russia inherits the definition of the priorities of the state policy in the Arctic Region from the Soviet Union and relies on the territorial and production complexes created back in the USSR. The reviewer expresses serious doubts about the scientific productivity of the classic geopolitical paradigm used by the authors of the monograph: geared towards large-scale generalizations, it is simply unable to capture the full range of contradictions arising in the process of exploration of the Arctic Region. Hence the authors’ tendency to present the entire process of Arctic Region exploration as predetermined, while in reality the history of the Russian Arctic Region colonization is full of collisions; it is more intermittent than consistent. In particular, draws attention the constant reproduction of the same topoi in the rhetoric of Arctic Region exploration. For example, from age to age, it has been repeated that the Northern Sea Route is just about to become the largest transnational waterway. The reviewer notes the ambiguity of practical recommendations of the authors. Thus, repeatedly expressing the idea of Russia’s interest in the international cooperation in the development of the Arctic, the authors are concerned to the same extent that foreign partners may force Russia out of the region. The review is aimed at opening a debate on approaches to understanding the Soviet experience in the Arctic Region development.

The article studies a stone bead bracelet found in an Early Bronze Age burial of the Elunino archaeological culture during the excavation of the Teleut Vzvoz-I burial ground (heterogeneous in time) in the south of Western Siberia (Forest-Steppe Altai). According to a series of calibrated radiocarbon dates, the Elunino burial ground at the Teleut Vzvoz-I site was used in the 22nd–18th centuries BC. The artefact under study was found in double burial No. 16 of the indicated burial ground, on the wrist of an adult (gender is not established). The bracelet includes 66 stone beads, as well as one stone base. This piece of jewellery is unique in terms of technique, as well as the sacral meaning embedded in it. The ornament found on the beads bears no analogies to those discovered in the well-known Bronze Age archaeological sites of Western and Eastern Siberia. The present publication considers the morphological and raw material characteristics of the bracelet, as well as the specifics of its production and use. In this study, trace analysis was performed, i.e. the analysis of macro- and micro-traces left on the surface of the item as a result of its production and subsequent use. All traces were examined using an MBS-10 stereoscopic microscope at a magnification of ×16–56. It was found that some of the beads in the bracelet were made of serpentinite. The nearest sources of this stone are at least 250–300 km away from Teleut Vzvoz-I. The beads are made by counter-drilling, drilling of blind holes, polishing and grinding. This find is unique due to ornamental compositions found on several beads in the form of oblique notches on side faces. The extremely small size of the beads (average diameter of 3.3 mm; average thickness of 1.4 mm) makes the pattern invisible to the naked eye. Thus, it is concluded that the ornament had a sacred meaning, and the bracelet itself served as an amulet. Despite no finds of ornamented bracelets dating back to the Bronze Age in Western Siberia and adjacent territories, typologically the bracelet bears analogies to the antiquities of the Okunevo culture, the Yamna cultural and historical community, as well as in the materials of the Bronze Age archaeological site of Gonur Depe (Turkmenistan). The study of the bracelet demonstrates the relevance of performing trace analysis of such items from other archaeological sites.

The article analyses the main visual reconstructions of settlements belonging to the Sintashta-Petrovka type (SPT settlements): dwellings, fortifications and entire settlements. SPT settlements are located in the Southern Trans-Urals and Northern Kazakhstan. The stage of their habitation, which includes the use of fortifications and the regular layout of settlements, is associated with the materials of the Sintashta and Petrovka cultures, dating from the end of the 3rd to the first quarter of 2nd millennia BC. Traces and remains of buildings, preserved in a strongly transformed form in the occupation layers of sites and discovered during excavations and remote studies, constitute sources for reconstructions. The fragmented state of the sources explains the highly conditional character of reconstructions of entire structures. Early reconstructions appeared in the early to mid-1990s. They show the architecture of two settlements (Sintashta and Arkaim), whose dwellings are depicted with standardised layouts, flat roofs and shared longitudinal walls made from soil blocks. The fortifications were depicted as massive, complex structures, styled after the concept of the «Country of Towns». These images have become «classic», and authors of all future versions made a start from them. Most versions are dedicated exclusively to Arkaim and are rather controversial, often exaggerating the monumentality and complexity of the architecture of this site. The proposed reconstructions of Arkaim are not accompanied by a reliable study of archaeological sources. There are reconstructions of other SPT settlements exhibiting some differences from ‘classic’ visualisations. They constitute 3d models of individual sections of buildings (dwelling No. 5 of Kamenny Ambar, dwellings and fortifications of Ustye I), images of two different phases in the life of the entire Kamenny Ambar settlement, as well as a series of sketch drawings depicting these sites as settlements of pastoral farmers that have fairly simple fortifications rather than grand ‘proto-cities’. Due to the fragmented state of sources, the lack of procedures for reconstructing such architecture and insufficient argumentation, the existing reconstructions constitute largely a visual form of transla-ting subjective ideas of different authors about the architecture of SPT settlements.

The article is aimed at tracing the origin of Roman pendants (referred to as ‘charms’ in Baltic archaeology), dating them and, if possible, determining their semantic meaning. The analysis of these artefacts, found among the antiquities from the mouth of the Vistula River and south-eastern Baltic states, leads to the following conclusions. Hellenistic glass pendants in the form of amphorisks were supposedly the predecessors of charm pendants in question. In the early Roman time, German masters began to imitate them in the form of amber 8-shaped pendants. On the western edge of the Baltic world, these pendants appeared in phase C_1b. In the Masurian Lake District, bronze charm pendants of the subtypes Mączyńska 530a, 530 spread somewhat earlier. They were a symbol of the divine power of Donar/Heracles, displaying his club. Pendants in the form of pinheads, occasionally found among the antiquities of the Aesti in the final phase of Roman time, are genetically ascending to these finds. Presumably, they can be associated with Scandinavian two-eyed hollow pendants, which were used to keep incense. In the Merovingian era, the tradition of using these types of pendants among the Prussians faded.

The article presents two previously unknown stirrups from the collections of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local Lore and the Minusinsk Regional Museum of N.M. Martyanov. These items are accidental finds discovered in the pre-revolutionary period in the territory of the Minusinsk District. Both stirrups belong to the rare group of flat plate stirrups having a T-shaped footplate. The front side of these items is almost completely covered with an ornament in the form of triangles. In this study, we analysed information on all known early plate stirrups from the sites of Central and North Asia. The number of finds amounted to more than 30 items. While a significant part of this collection (about 20 items) is made up of accidental finds and objects from destroyed sites, only 11 stirrups are recorded in closed complexes. The analysis of available materials helps identify key typological features of items demonstrating the evolution of the morphological characteristics of objects, as well as the traditions of their use. It has been established that flat plate stirrups existed in Central and North Asia in the second half of the 5th — beginning of the 7th centuries AD. The distribution analysis of finds in archaeological complexes suggests that early plate stirrups are associated with various population groups of nomads from Central and North Asia. These stirrups from museum collections can be preliminarily associated with the material culture of Tashtyk population. It is likely that the appearance of such items in the territory of the Minusinsk Hollow is due to contacts with more southern territories. A further increase in materials, primarily due to field research in Mongolia and Northwest China (Xinjiang), will contribute to a more thorough cultural and chronological interpretation of early plate stirrups.

A large number of imported items found in the occupation layers of archaeological sites in the Trans-Urals and Western Siberia suggest that, in the Middle Ages, these regions were on the periphery of trade routes and were involved in global historical events. In this connection, the dating of material culture provides details about trade and economic, as well as social and political, aspects of the life of communities of the past. One of the new archaeological sites allowing the dynamics of material culture to be traced is a multi-layered Papskoye settlement. This site constitutes a fortification having two areas and powerful defensive lines, located on top of the right-bank terrace of the Iset River. In this study, structures attributed to different chronological periods were analysed and artefacts were collected (7th century BC — 14th century AD). Nevertheless, collections of items dating back to the High Middle Ages (late 9th — early 14th centuries) are the most representative as they most objectively reflect the historical and cultural processes that took place in this region. Most of the finds of arrowheads, elements of clothing and horse harnesses, as well as household items, in the Papskoye settlement belong to this time. In this study, we used a comparative-typological method followed by the identification of the types of things. In order to establish the most accurate chronological framework, as well as to determine the primary centres for the production of certain items, we applied the method of analogy using a wide range of material culture from the neighbouring territories, which include Altai, Mongolia, Volga region, Kama area, the Caucasus, the north of Western Siberia, etc. In this study, we identified two chronological phases within the High Middle Ages using the materials of the Papskoye fortified settlement: 1) late 9th — 12th centuries; 2) late 12th — early 14th centuries. They correspond to the period when the carriers of the Yudino and Chiyalik cultures inhabited this site. In addition, a large number of direct analogies with the neighbouring territories suggests that the territory of the forest-steppe Trans-Urals was located on the periphery of trade routes through which imports came from Southern Siberia, Volga Bulgaria and the Upper Kama area.

Berezov is one of the first Russian towns in the north of Western Siberia (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area). This article is aimed at describing the household structure, the commercial activities of the population inhabiting the posad of the town on the basis of animal bone remains, as well as at determining the degree of integration of the Russian and native population in the region. The study was carried out using the osteological collection (approximately 12,000 items) obtained during the excavations on the site in 2008–2018. Having compared the materials belonging to different construction layers, we identified three chronological periods covering the time from the mid-17th (the moment this site was built) up to late 18th centuries. When describing bone remains, species composition, skeleton element, as well as the degree of fragmentation, were determined. The age structure of domestic animals was described. During the period under review, as the urban economy was developing, foraging activities decreased in the town of Berezov, whereas production increased. Cattle and reindeer played a dominant role in the diet of the posad population. Starting from the end of the 17th century and later in the 18th century, the raising of predominantly beef cattle was gradually giving place to the raising of dairy cattle. Simultaneously, the region was witnessing a rapid development of large-scale reindeer herding, with the involvement of the Russian population of northern towns in this process. Thus, the lack of domestic meat was compensated for by domestic reindeer meat. The population of the posad kept a small number of pigs, sheep, horses and hens. Dogs were used for hunting and transportation. Game hunting (especially wild geese, ducks and capercaillies), as well as fishing, played an important role in the economy of the population. The population fished mostly large species of fish (sturgeon, pike, nelma) and hunted for elks, hares, as well as fur-bearing animals. The analysis of archaeozoological materials, as well as archaeological data, revealed that mixed Russian and original population resided in the posad of Berezov in the 17th–18th centuries. The economy of the population was typical for Russian towns, exhibiting local natural characteristics and involving the use of all available commercial resources, as well as active cooperation with the original population of the region.

The article studies the technology of making iron and steel items of Russian origin, discovered in the Kikki-Akki burial ground of Northern Selkups (18th–19th centuries) in the north of Western Siberia in the upper reaches of the Taz River. In the study, we established the origin and chronology of Russian industrial goods in Western Siberia, as well as factors under the influence of which they appeared among the indigenous Siberian population. We examined knives and axes (17th — early 19th centuries) using the methods of metallographic analysis including macro- and micrographic examination, as well as microhardness testing. They provide an opportunity to determine the structure of the metal, which in turn helps determine chemical composition, physical and mechanical properties of the product. The analysis of forged products revealed that they were made according to the technological traditions of Russian metalworking production existing in the 17th — early 19th centuries. Its distinctive features included the development and widespread practice in applying the modifications of two technological schemes for producing items from ferrous metal. The former was based on the welding either of iron and steel or of different grades of steel, whereas the latter involved all-steel structures. The former technological scheme predominated in the production of items found in the Kikki-Akki burial ground. Moreover, the production of welded structures lacked standardisation. The following techniques were used in the production of knives: two-layer wel-ding of iron and steel, three-layer welding, V-joint welding, oblique welding, built-up welding at the ends and wel-ding of the steel blade. The use of soft quenching was noted as an additional operation that improved the operational properties of the household tool. This variety of used technological schemes reflects the complex nature of the formation of the industrial goods market in Western Siberia. The selection of items made using different welded technologies is associated with the intention to use metal products of the highest quality for the fur trade and yasak collection. However, all-metal structures predominated in the main centres for the production of forged goods — cities of European Russia and Western Siberia.

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 the images 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.

Article is devoted to studying of bone remains from antique burial grounds from the territory of the Armenian Highland. Anthropological materials of burials consist of 322 skeletons and dated I–III c. AD. The article analyzes the differences in anthropological characteristics of urban and rural population of Armenia of Antiquity period. The work is based on classical craniometric and statistical research methods. Artificial cranial deformationare and unintended deformation of a cradle-type found among urban and rural populations. As an intragroup analysis showed, the main differences between male urban and rural population across the size of the width of the frontal bone and face. If the villagers face orthognatic, angle of horizontal profiling at the top level enters the category of averages, in urban women face mezognatik, the angle of horizontal profiling is characterized by small values. Intergroup analysis showed, closest to urban male groups it turned out the tribes of Chernyakhov culture and the population of the Middle East. A male part of the villagers shows intimacy with Scythians of Crimea, Ukraine and Transnistria. The female part of the towns’ people is close with the Scythians of Ukraine and Crim; villagers are morphologically similar to the carriers of the Middle Sarmatian cultures of the Don region, with a population of the first centuries AD from Tanais, European and Asian Bosporus. Morphological analogies with the population of Northern Turkmenistan (Tumek-Kichidzhik), Western Ukraine (Chernyakhov culture), Middle Dnieper and Moldova (Scythians) were also revealed. This circumstance confirms the fact of sustainable, constant migration flow to the territory of the Armenian Highlands.

The ritual attitude towards the cauldron as the sacred vessel can be found in all religious practices. Archaeological and ethnographic materials indicate the incredible versatility and polysymbolism of the cauldron in the cultures of the Ob Ugrians and Samoyeds. The first part of this research, which was published in the previous issue of the present Journal, covered the archaeological context along with the functional, morphological and social aspects associated with the cauldron as a unique ethnocultural phenomenon. The second part presented here aims to consider the sacral aspect of the cauldron. The conducted archaeological and ethnographic research was based on a structural-semiotic approach. In this article, we analyse field ethnographic materials collected during long-term fieldwork (1980s–2018) from Northern (Synya, Voykar, Sob, Kunovat, Polui, Ob, Polar Urals), Eastern and Southern (Salym, Yugan, Pim, Tromyogan, Agan, Vakh) Khanty; Northern and Western Mansi (Northern Sosva, Lyapin and Lozva Rivers); tundra and forest Nenets (Yamal Peninsula, Pur and Agan Rivers). The materials of research carried out in Western Siberia and the Urals were also applied. The use of cauldrons in rituals and rites is characterized by a wide diversity and local variability of traditions. Judging by the information presented in the article, the cauldron plays the roles of a divine sacrifice-gift, a guard-talisman, as well as a home-receptacle for gods and the souls of people. The cauldron concentrates the energy of life through participating in the rites of birth-rebirth and the cult of Mother Earth. Besides cult practices, the multifunctional character of the cauldron manifests itself in the funeral and memorial rites of the Nenets, Khanty and Mansi. Cauldrons from burials, as well as products made thereof (masks, mountings, brackets), indicate the social status of the deceased. Cauldrons act as a guard and a receptacle for the soul of the deceased and/or his posthumous image; they are used as an accompanying item and a vessel for preparing ritual food.

The study of housing conditions in Western Siberia in the second half of the 19th — early 20th century constitutes an important and scientifically relevant problem of everyday history. Housing conditions are one of the most important indicators of the level and lifestyle of the population. This subject matter has so far received little attention from historians. The study is aimed at identifying the specifics of the housing conditions in an important province of the late Russian Empire. In order to study provincial housing conditions in the second half of the 19th — early 20th century, a fairly wide range of sources was used: records of city magistracies; statistical studies, with one-day city censuses being of particular value; memoirs of contemporaries; periodicals, etc. The concept of the dwelling existing in the cities of pre-revolutionary Russia differed slightly from that in rural areas. While in villages the concept of the dwelling, as a rule, meant a ‘family home’, in towns, the concepts of ‘flat’ or ‘room’ were of particular importance. Some townspeople lived in their own houses, others rented out their property (‘apartments’, ‘rooms’ or even ‘part of a room’), while those having no property were forced to rent it. One of the most common types of buildings was a two-family house, whose lower floor was usually occupied by the owners and the upper floor was rented out. Most of the buildings were modest-looking, with many of them being battened and painted. Most often the territory of the yard was fenced, with a large high gate being placed in the middle of the fence, behind which there was a house on the left; outbuildings and sheds on the right; stables at the back of the house; as well as a vegetable garden next to the house. The housing conditions varied significantly among different population groups. Changes that occurred in the housing conditions in the region in the second half of the 19th — the beginning of the 20th century were primarily associated with the socio-economic development of post-reform Siberia. Rapid population growth often resulted in slum development. Urban planning reflects new trends, intensified following the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which helped overcome the economic and cultural isolation from the central regions of the Empire.

The present article is aimed at studying district congresses of rural doctors from the Tobolsk Governorate, a unique phenomenon in the history of the Siberian medical community. Congresses are considered to be an integral part and development indicator of the corporate social initiative, as well as the professional interaction of medical specialists. On the basis of documents being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the author analysed the activity of rural doctors within the paradigm of the general theory of modernisation, as well as characterised the materials of meetings, the range of issues under discussion, main recommendations and results. It is shown that the activity of the medical community was not limited to the work of scientific and practical societies of governorate centres — it was much wider and richer. The fact of holding two provincial and a number of district congresses in the Tobolsk Governorate (from 1903 to 1912) was established. District congresses became a place for establishing personal contacts between doctors, sharing opinions and experiences, formulating proposals, which were then discussed at the governorate forum and laid the foundation for administrative decisions. They demonstrated a strong motivation of rural specialists in medicine, which in fact began to develop in Siberia only starting from the late 1880s, for professional consolidation and for the development of common approaches to solving regional problems. The materials of district congresses also prove the formation of a new health model among the rural population, characteristic of modern society. A doctor became a familiar and necessary element of the social environment for a peasant. It should be noted that district congresses were not large-scale, they were not public mouthpieces, did not become the driving force of reforms and the generator of significant public projects. Their history was too short; the level of rural medicine and, in general, the entire medicine of the governorate was too low. Nevertheless, the need for professional consolidation and communication turned out to be so strong that it allowed doctors, albeit with the support of the administration, to carry out serious preparatory work in districts and hold two governorate congresses. Clearly, this constitutes definite evidence of qualitative changes in the state of the local medical community.

The present article considers the history of the social movement of Russian Germans in the Urals, as well as the factors in its formation, on the basis of previously unknown sources (archival and field materials obtained by the author). The Germans of the Urals formed as a single community in the second half of the 20th century, as a result of deportation, labour mobilisation (1942–1946) and a special settlement regime (1948–1955). The author concludes that the modern social movement contributes to the ethnocultural development of the German population in Russia through various projects aimed at the preservation of history, memory, language and culture. As a result of the activists' activities in the Urals, a network of German associations has formed: centres of German culture, meeting centres, national-cultural autonomies, «Rebirth» society, Russian-German houses, etc. The social movement of Ural Germans plays a key role in ethnocultural development. It emerged in the setting of the mass emigration of Germans to their homeland, both ‘from below’ at the initiative of Germans themselves aiming to preserve the history and culture of their people, and ‘from above’ with the aim of unifying and controlling the mood of the German population. Currently, German organisations initiate their ethnocultural projects directed at the preservation of historical memory, culture, language, as well as other foundations for ethnocultural heritage. For example, creative groups have become a place where ethnicity is updated, where Germans feel like Germans, using their native language and preserving folk traditions. In all projects, a significant, if not decisive, role is played by the personal position of leaders. To some extent, ethnic leaders devote themselves to their people and find self-fulfilment in the field of ethnicity, complementing and revitalising it with their initiatives. Our studies show that the ethnocultural potential of Ural Germans is most effectively realised if ethnic leaders, both socio-political and in the cultural sphere, are active, which helps preserve the cultural heritage of the community. The socio-political leaders of Ural Germans represented by E.A. Grib and O.F. Shtraler emerged at the height of the ethnic movement and the establishment of self-organisation of Russian Germans in the late 1990s — early 2000s. The areas and motives of their activities, on the one hand, were associated with personal self-realisation and, on the other, were explained by the desire to preserve the ethnocultural heritage of Germans whose number reduced sharply due to mass emigration. Their activities are reflected in numerous projects whose success contributes to the formation of the regional identity of the Germans in the Urals through a system of self-organisation.

The article considers the current features of ethnocultural identification and interethnic relations of Samara Tatars by examining their urban community, which formed in the 18th–20th centuries. The study is aimed at determining the features associated with the formation and preservation of the ethnocultural identity of Samara Tatars, as well as the practice of their interethnic interaction in a metropolis. The research is based on the materials of a field survey of Samara Tatars conducted by the authors in 2017–2019, as well as on the analysis of statistical and published data on the history and current situation in the Tatar community of Samara. The research methodology is based on the concept of ‘ethnic boundaries’ formed in the course of intra-ethnic and interethnic interaction, within which individual and group forms of ethnic identity are manifested. The study focuses on the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the community under study (language, material culture, religious and ritual traditions, etc.), which determine the nature of interethnic contacts and the features of ethnocultural identification in the group. The study revealed that the origin, nationality of parents and ancestors constitute the basis of ethnic identity of Samara Tatars, which, despite the loss of the language, ensures ethnic reproduction of the group. The Tatar language plays a significant role in the formation of ethnic identity and intra-ethnic communication for a significant part of Samara Tatars; however, it is functionally inferior to the Russian language in the private and public spheres. The role of the kinship group is significant; thanks to it, ethnic traditions in diet, as well as in the spheres of religion and festivities are mastered and observed. Despite the fact that a number of elements have lost their original, utilitarian significance in culture, they continue to influence the process of ethnic identification of community members as symbolic markers of ethnicity. Folk heritage, as well as professional culture, make a certain contribution to the foundation for the ethnicity of Samara Tatar. The activities of Tatar public organisations also contribute to transmitting ethnocultural experience to the younger generation. The long history of the urban Tatar community in Samara constitutes a powerful resource for the local ethnocultural identification of its members as ‘Samara Tatars’, as well as an incentive for integration into the modern multicultural space of the region.

The article considers one of the views on God existing within the modern Western literary tradition and outside of religious systems. The image of God was chosen as a cultural phenomenon relevant for interpretation, which exists both in religious and secular discourse. The research involved the creative heritage of Robert Sheckley – one of the most popular authors of fantastic literature in the mid-20th century. The analysis was based on fantastic tales, since they provide the opportunity to prove all strategies for social behaviour, as well as different views on life. The image of God created by Sheckley was reconstructed using intertextual analysis, which helps identify original mythological and religious narratives and individual allusions. This provides the opportunity to define the features of Sheckley's individual fantastic theology and find the reasons for using the image of God in secular literature. The analysis revealed that the used religious names, denominations and plots bear only formal similarity with the traditional ones. They are used and interpreted arbitrarily. God is interpreted as being anthropomorphic, pragmatic, partial and not interested in the fate of his creation. Communication with God is described as commercialised and is built on the model of the consumer society. The works of Sheckley indicate the possibility and necessity of contact between the man and God with the obligatory personal participation of the individual. The American writer creates texts that are modernised in terms of the plot using traditional Christian ideas about the spiritual development of people and the need to preserve the Christian value system as a universal one. In this connection, Sheckley offers possible behavioural models for the created image of God.