No 1 (2023)

The paper introduces the Late Mesolithic complex of the Kochkari I site (Krasny Yar District, Samara Region) and discusses evidence obtained with science methods. The authors outline the site location and the history of its study. The stratigraphy of the site and the results of palynological analysis of the cultural layer are described. The article features detailed information about the inventory categories with an emphasis on the tool complex. Based on radiocarbon dating, the chronological framework of the Kochkari I site functioning was established. The typological analysis of the flint complex and absolute age data made it possible to determine the place of the site within the system of region’s Mesolithic antiquities. The authors consider the issue of correlation between Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic complexes of the forest-steppe Volga region.

The article characterizes the current state of multidisciplinary research under the authors’ guidance focused on the objective reconstruction of ethnogenetic processes that took place in southwestern Siberia, primarily, in its forest-steppe zone (Baraba forest-steppe) during the Bronze Age. The approach used is based on the analysis of a representative diachronic sample of the ancient population by means of palaeogenetic methods with the interpretation of data in the archaeological and anthropological context of the materials from different periods. Particular attention is paid to possible directions for the development of diachronic models based on the sample representativeness and the depth of molecular genetic analysis. These directions are shown with various modern aspects of the development of the Baraba diachronic model, which was the first in Russia and one of the first similar models built and studied in the territory of Eurasia. The authors prove the necessity of continuous studies in such models as new archaeological and anthropological materials are being accumulated, moreover, there has been progress in the development of palaeogenetic methods and tools for storing, analyzing and interpreting the results of the research on such models in the form of multidisciplinary databases.

This paper investigates the problem of horse sacrifice in funeral rites using data of Bronze and Early Iron Age sepulchres in Armenia. To begin with, the study highlights the cultic-ritual role of a horse as a mythological creature, sacramental animal, divine attribute, etc. In this regard, the Armenian epos and petroglyphs are discussed. Horse sacrifice in other rites is also reviewed. As horse is the closest-to-human animal for Indo-Europeans, the author refers widely to the known archaeological and ethnographical evidence on the subject not only from Armenia but also from other countries in discussing the role and significance of the horse sacrifice in funeral rites. The presence of horse in sepulchral complexes demonstrates that human perceptions linked this animal to the abode of the dead. The tie between the horse and the next world also indicates that, in the beliefs of those times, this animal possibly served as a mediator between the worlds. Ethnographic and folkloristic sources and explorations help to reconstruct the main function of the horse in funeral rites. Most probably, ritual horse assumed the role of transferring the deceased from this world to the other, which is one of the most important functions contributing to the revival of the deceased.

The article publishes a collection of items of the barbarian enamel circle kept in the State Historical Museum, describes the circumstances of finding the items, and refines the context of the finds based on the documents stored in the museum. The author summarizes and supplements currently available data on the chronology of the items. Some adornments are published for the first time, previously they have not been considered in the context of the East European champlevé circle. This became possible owing to research on the technological methods used in their creation as well as some of the ornamental features. For all objects, the results of use-and-wear analysis are given to the extent allowed by the preservation of a certain item and the restoration measures applied on it.

Fieldwork of the Institute of Archaeology RAS in recent years has made it possible to unearth several hundred children’s burials, which belong to a narrow chronological range. Comparative research into these materials enabled to refine our understanding of the life quality of Russian towns’ population during the late Middle Ages. The study sample includes the remains of children aged from new-born to 10 year-old from the 16th–17th centuries cemetery at the Church of St. John Chrysostom, Yaroslavl, and a synchronous sample from the excavations of the Tula Kremlin. For comparison, previously published materials from excavations of other contemporary necropolises were employed. In constructing growth graphs, only those cases were taken into account, where the preservation made it possible to determine the age by the teeth confirmed by microfocus radiography. The lengths of tubular bones in children from all archaeological samples were smaller (with the exception of the sample from the Novokharkovskoye cemetery) than modern standards. Children from Yaroslavl, Tula and Mozhaysk were smaller than children of the 14th–17th centuries from the Lithuanian city of Alytus. Between the ages of one to seven, they were considerably smaller than the English children from Yorkshire (Wharram Percy Cemetery), but then overtook them in size. Comparison with Polish urban samples shows an early growth acceleration in Yaroslavl and Tula children at the age of seven rather than at eight. However, the clavicle length in children under the age of 10 from archaeological samples was practically the same as in the modern group, which probably imply that this feature can be used to determine the biological age of young children in groups of similar chronology.

The article analyzes graphic and written sources on the architectural appearance of the Cathedral of the St. Nicholas in Ugresha Monastery. The author establishes the reliability of the architectural drawings that were used to conceive the original appearance of the cathedral. Particular attention is paid to the history of the reconstruction of the cathedral in the early 1840s. As a result, it is stated that it is impossible to draw any definite conclusions about the original composition and design of the cathedral due to significant changes in its historical appearance in the middle of the 19th century and the presence of only assumptive ideas about it. Moreover, records in chronicles do not make it possible to determine when exactly the stone cathedral was built. Its dating can only be made provisionally from the period between 1521 and 1550.

On the territory of Astrakhan Region, an unusual burial was investigated containing a molded pot with a runic inscription on the body made in the Don script. This find is unique for the Lower Volga region. The burial is dated to the late 8th–9th century AD and can be correlated with the Bulgarian tribes. In addition to this complex, about 15 more burials with a similar ritual and accompanying goods were found in the Lower Volga region. All of them also correlate with the Bulgarians and date back to the late 8th–9th century AD. These complexes are contemporary with the Sokolovo-type burials under mounds found in the Lower Volga region. The material from those sites suggests that they were synchronous; interethnic and cultural contacts are traceable. Isolation of the Bulgarian component makes it possible to clarify the ethnic and cultural situation in the Lower Volga region in the Khazar period. The found pot with a runic inscription from Kazachiy hillock in Astrakhan Region clearly testifies to its connections with the area of the Saltov-Mayaki culture.

The article discusses the main ideas of British neuroarchaeology and American cognitive archaeology as well as their practical implementation. Neuro/cognitive archaeology is a new area of research that emerged at the junction of the social/cultural neuro/cognitive sciences and Palaeolithic archaeology. The basis of this line of research is the concept of “social brain”, which views this organ as a social/cultural “artifact”. Such an interpretation suggests that brain activity as well as another important human quality, mind, should be considered in conjunction with its corporeality and external environment. This idea has been further developed by L. Malafouris in his material engagement theory. He connected the mind with the ability to think and with tools in a process of tool activity. However, for the correct application of this theory, it is crucial to distinguish between ancient tools from natural mediators used by animals. The introduction of this distinction permits to establish an unambiguous connection of the emergence of tool making and mind with the beginning of the Oldowan. The previous stage of development (from 7 to 2.6 million years) was the period of the formation of preconditions for the transition that marked the beginning of the sociocultural development of our most ancient ancestors, which influenced their biosocial nature.