Записки ИИМК РАН. Вып. 5. СПб, 2010 г. Аннотация
Настоящее издание продолжает серию «Записки ИИМК РАН». Основой выпуска № 5 стали статьи Н. И. Платоновой, А. Н. Кирпичникова и А. А. Песковой, освещающие сложную историю Отдела славяно-финской археологии и яркие личности ученых, составивших научную славу этого подразделения в разные годы. В разделе «Статьи» публикуются работы, отражающие аналитические разработки, новые открытия и исследования. В статье В. В. Питулько на материалах верхнего палеолита Сибири показано, что распространение микропластинчатых технологий связано не только с изменением основного объекта охоты, но и с изготовлением орудий из кости и рога. Анализируя данные курганов Ноин-Улы, С. C. Миняев и Ю. И. Елихина приходят к выводу о необходимости корректировки общепринятых представлений о хронологии сюннуского культурного комплекса в сторону его омоложения. Несколько работ — В. А. Алёкшина, Л. Б. Кирчо, М. Ю. Вахтиной, С. А. Скорого, В. А. Ромашко и С. В. Кашаева посвящены ярким артефактам эпохи энеолита—бронзы и античного времени. В статьях В. Я. Стеганцевой, Н. А. Сутягиной, И. Ю. Шауба и Д. Абдуллоева на материалах катакомбной культуры, античного Боспора, захоронений железного века центральноазиатских кочевников и могильников Средней Азии исследуются особенности ритуальных и погребальных комплексов. Новые данные о кожаных изделиях Мангазеи как источнике реконструкции культуры и ремесла заполярного города вводит в научный оборот А. В. Курбатов.
Издание адресовано археологам, культурологам, историкам, музееведам, студентам исторических факультетов вузов.
The present edition continues the series of «Transactions of the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences» (IHMC RAS). The main section of volume 5 is devoted to the history of the Department of Slavonic and Finnish archaeology of IHMC. The papers by N. I. Platonova, A. N. Kirpichnikov, and A. A. Peskova elucidate the formation and work of the department, as well as bright personalities of the scholars who made its glory in different periods of its existence. The section of «Research papers» acquaints the reader with the results of new field and analytical research. V. V. Pitulko uses the Upper Paleolithic materials of Siberia to show, that the spread of the microblade technologies in this region was stimulated not so by the change of the main object of hunting, as by the necessity to substitute bone and antler tools for ivory ones due to the increasing shortage of mammoth tusks. S. S. Minyaev and Yu. I. Elikhina analyze the materials of the Noyon uul barrows and come to a conclusion that it is necessary to correct the generally accepted ideas about the chronology of the Xiongnu cultural complex, which in their view cannot be any earlier than the 1st century BC. Several papers, including those by V. A. Alekshin, L. B. Kircho, M. Yu. Vakhtina, S. A. Skory, V. A. Romashko, and S. V. Kashaev, deal with some bright artifacts of the Late Eneolithic, Bronze Age, and Classical Period. V. Ya. Stegantseva, N.A . Sutyagina, I. Yu. Shaub, and D. Abdulloev discuss various aspects of ritual and funeral assemblages of the Catacomb culture, Iron Age nomads of Central Asia, Ancient Bosporus, and Medieval Middle Asia. In A. V. Kurbatov’s paper newly discovered leather articles from Mangazeya are considered as a source for the reconstruction of culture and craftsmanship in a transpolar Russian town.
The volume is intended for archaeologists, culturologists, historians, museum workers, and students of historical faculties.
ИЗ ИСТОРИИ ИИМК РАН
Н. И. Платонова, А. Н. Кирпичников. Cектор/Отдел славяно-финской археологии ЛОИА АН СССР – ИИМК РАН: история и ученые
N. I. PLATOVOVA, A. N. KIRPICHNIKOV. Section/Department of Slavonic and Finnish Archaeology of IHMC: history and scholars
The history of the Department of Slavonic and Finnish Archaeology can be readily divided into two stages: «before» and «after» 1939. As to the first stage one should speak not of the Department as such, but rather of its predecessors, that existed within the framework of the Russian Academy (subsequently State Academy) of the History of Material Culture. In the 2nd (Archaeological) Division of the Academy these predecessors were represented, first of all, by the Section of Russian Archaeology, and the Section of Early Christian and Byzantine Archaeology. In addition, the thematic continuity links the Department with the sections of Old Russian Art, Old Russian Architecture, Ornamental Art, etc., which belonged to the 3rd (Art History) Division of the Academy.
An important progress in the methods of field and laboratory research was achieved in the 1920es due to the activity of the 1st (Ethnological) Division of the Academy (sections of Paleoethnology, Primordial Culture, etc.). It was there that the task of interdisciplinary study of East Europe as a geographical and historical entirety was formulated for the first time. The task required the complex study of various Iron Age and Medieval cultures and their interactions. Later on this set of problems was accepted for further elaboration by the Section of Old Russia and East Europe of Pre-Feudal and Feudal Periods, created in 1939 in the IHMC of the Academy of Science of the USSR. This division can be considered the direct administrative, ideal, and thematic predecessor of the present-day Department of Slavonic and Finnish Archaeology of IHMC RAS. It united the archaeology of East Europe of the 1st millennium AD with the Old Russian and Late Medieval archaeology (including architectural archaeology).
In the second half of the 20th century both the name and administrative level of the division changed several times. For instance, in 1951, on the peak of the anti-Marrism company, the Section was disembodied and reorganized into the «Group of Slavonic and Finnish Archaeology» of the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Archaeology. However, this had no serious influence on the range of research carried out by the division. As before, the study of the history of Old Russian culture and architecture was combined here with the works devoted to the genesis of Slavonic, Finnish and Baltic cultures and ethnic groups — in a wide East European context.
In 1974 the «Group» was reorganized into the Section (now Department) of Slavonic and Finnish Archaeology. The main fields of its activity are: a) the study of Slavonic and Finno-Ugric cultures of East Europe; b) the study of intertribal contacts in the north-west of Russia and in the Baltic region in the 1st—2nd millennia AD; c) the study of the history of Old Russian towns: d) the development of architectural and church archaeology.
Е. Н. Носов. Археологический «комсомольский» лекторий (к истории ЛОИА АН ССР – ИИМК РАН)
E. N. NOSOV. Archaeological «Komsomol» lyceum (from the history of the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Archaeology)
It was in 1971—1972 that the so called «Komsomol» lyceum worked in the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Archaeology (LBIA). The ideological name of the entertainment disguised its real sense, which consisted in the fact that the leading staff members told their young colleagues about their teachers, outstanding Russian and Soviet scholars. P. N. Tretyakov told about A. A. Spitsyn, P. I. Boriskovsky about V. A. Gorodtsov, M. P. Gryaznov about S. A. Teploukhov, B. B. Piotrovsky about A. A. Miller, Yu. A. Zadneprovsky about A. N. Bernshtam. M. A. Tikhanova told how a group of archaeologists visited M. Gorky in his country house. The author uses his personal notes to reproduce the impressions the lecturers had of the classics of Russian archaeology, first of all of A. A. Spitsyn and V. A. Gorodtsov. The «Komsomol lyceum» was an interesting phenomenon in the life of LBIA of the 1970es, and a specific (характерным) brick in the wall of its history.
СТАТЬИ
В. В. Питулько. Мегафауна и микропластинки (микропластинчатые традиции позднего палеолита Сибири в контексте проблемы вымирания мамонтов)
V. V. PITULKO. Megafauna and microblades (Late Paleolithic microblade traditions of Siberia in the context of the mammoth extinction problem)
The Sartan period witnessed a mass spread of microbblade technologies in Siberia. After 18 ka they were distributed throughout the whole area. As this phenomenon represents a cultural answer to environmental changes, it is often characterized as a «microblade adaptation», associated with the transition to reindeer hunting. Though the author does not reject the adaptive nature of the phenomenon under discussion, he finds possible to consider it from a somewhat different angle of vision. The climatic changes that took place in the Sartan period led to a radical rebuilding of Siberian landscapes. As a result, the mammoth area shifted to the north, while in many parts of South Siberia these animals disappeared for ever. At the same time, independently of the fact if the mammoth was the object of hunting or not, its bone remains always served as a valuable source of raw material for manufacturing various tools and, first of all, hunting weapons (massive big points and spears made of tusks). The disappearance of the «supplier» would inevitable have led to a raw material stress. Therefore, the spread of microblade technologies could have been stimulated not so by the change of the main object of hunting, as by the necessity to replace ivory with bone and antler, i.e. the materials which demanded the use of microblade inserts to make the hunting tools more effective.
В. А. Алёкшин. О функциональном назначении «реликвариев» Алтын-депе
V. A. ALEKSHIN. On the function of the terra-cotta «reliquaries» from Altyn-depe
The terra-cotta artifacts, conventionally named «reliquaries», were manufactured in the south-east of Turkmenistan during the Late Eneolithic (fig. 1), and Early (fig. 2, 1, 3) and Middle (fig. 2, 2 4, 5) Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC). No direct analogies to these artifacts are known beyond the Anau culture area. The only exception is represented by the fragments of clay and wooden boxes found at some Middle Eastern sites (settlements and cemeteries), which can be regarded as parallels to South Turkmenian «reliquaries». They include the fragment of a clay box from Shahr-i-Sokhta II (fig. 3, 1), the fragment of a wooden artifact with the wall decorated by step-like incisions from Shahr-i-Sokhta III, the clay box incrusted with stones from Shahdad (cemetery A, burial 356, fig. 3, 2), the terra-cotta objects of unknown function from the cemetery A of Shahdad (fig. 4, 1—3), and the fragments of painted clay artifacts from Damb Sadaat II and III (fig. 3, 3—5). All the objects mentioned above are believed to date from the first half — third quarter of the 3rd millennium BC.
Stone vessels from the cemetery A of Shahdad shed light on the function of enigmatic terra-cotta objects found in 33 burials of this site. Three burials contained miniature cosmetic phials of chlorite. Their upper parts served as containers, while the lower ones were supports (grave 072, fig. 4, 7; grave 122, fig. 4, 5, 6; grave 338, fig. 4, 4), and in burials 122 and 338 (fig. 4, 5, 4) the supports looked like diminished copies of the objects of unknown function. Proceeding from this, it is possible to assume that the latter served as supports for vessels. The same function can be proposed for the «reliquaries» of Altyn-depe: the bottom of a vessel might have been incased into the opening cut in the upper part of the artifact.
Both the «reliquaries» and boxes with legs (Mundigak III 4, fig. 5, 1; Mundigak IV 1, fig. 5, 2; Altyn 8, fig. 5, 3), as well as so called ceramic credences from the cemetery of Parkhai II in South-Western Turkmenistan (stage YuZT-IV, Early Bronze Age, fig. 5, 4, 5), were probably symbolic representations of tables.
Л. Б. Кирчо. «Реликварии» Алтын-депе
L. B. KIRCHO. Altyn-depe «reliquaries»
One of the most particular categories of artifacts, belonging to the cultural assemblage of Altyn-depe, are the terra-cotta boxes-«reliquaries». They appeared in South-Eastern Turkmenistan in the Late Eneolithic abruptly and in their full-fledged form, apparently reproducing the form of some earlier wooden prototypes. While most of the Altyn-depe «reliquaries» date from the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze periods, they continued to exist during the Middle Bronze Age, too. The «reliquaries» are represented by the objects of two types.
The majority of the finds belong to type 1 (fig. 1, 1—3). These «reliquaries» represent parallelepipeds (nearly cubs) with a cruciform opening in the upper lid. The walls are decorated with incised net-like patterns or borders formed by crosses and stepped figures painted alternatively in red and black. The corners of the lids bear cut-in stepped triangles, also painted red and black, whereas the lateral sections of the stepped rhomb in the centre of the lid always are red. The smooth areas of the outer surface are painted yellow. In all cases painting was preceded by firing.
The only intact «reliquary» of type 2 (fig. 1, 4) represents a sub-rectangular container with small cubic legs and without the upper lid. The two mutually opposite side walls bear through slots, one of which is wide and shallow, while the other is narrower and deeper.
Ornamental patterns shown by the «reliquaries» repeat the ornamentation characteristic of the Geoksur and Late Geoksur pottery of the Late Eneolithic period.
Independently of their size, all the terra-cotta boxes are heavy, fragile, and bear rich decorations, which make us to exclude their use for everyday activities. Probably they did serve as reliquaries — depositories of valuable cult (?) objects. They might have been models of showrooms and served as symbolic dwellings for the statuettes of domestic goddesses (?).
В. Я. Стеганцева. Еще раз о сходстве погребальных обрядов эпохи ранней бронзы в Восточном Приазовье и на Западном Кавказе
V. YA. STEGANTSEVA. Once again on the similarity of the early Bronze Age funeral rites in Eastern Azov Sea region and Western Caucasus
The Middle Bronze Age interments of the Catacomb culture in the steppes of South Russia share a number of traits with the Caucasian dolmens. The most important of these traits is the idea of repeated use of the burial chamber.
Many similar details can be found also in the architecture of the burial constructions: the presence of the mound and bipartite structure (shaft and chamber); inner lay-out of the shaft with the entrance in the form of a doorway (steps-ledges running along the walls and serving as supports for covering slabs, tray-shaped slope leading to the entrance to the chamber, canal-support for the stone slab protecting the entrance); presence of ocher drawings or engravings made with the use of a chisel; occasional presence of dromos; stone slabs covering the entry hole.
Next group of common traits includes building methods, excessive for a grave dug in the earth, but necessary for a stone construction. As to the chamber one can note its flat ceiling and rectangular or trapezoid shape with clear angles. The shaft is notable for its rectangular shape with clear angles and the presence of inner constructions and various steps. The walls were worked with the help of a narrow chisel-like tool.
Such traits are characteristic of the catacomb burials with either rectangular or trapezoid chambers, which were distributed over the vast areas of the lower reaches of the Kuban’, Don, and Seversky Donets. In the later burials, belonging to the developed stages of the catacomb cultures, these traits are absent, because their builders gave preference to the methods more suitable for the steppe conditions: the shape of the shaft entrances becomes oval or circular, and inner constructions are not used since the depth of the shaft decreases. The early Pre-Donets burials very rarely have rectangular chambers. A relatively high percentage of the latter is reported for the right bank of the Kuban’ in its lower reaches, but in the Lower Don and the Azov Sea region they are less frequent, and especially rare they are on the Seversky Donets (tabl. 1).
The mapping of the catacomb burials with the described characteristics enables us to ascertain that the spreading of the aforementioned «idea» or complex of common traits was directed from south to north. The decrease in numbers of catacombs in this direction seems to reflect the fading of the moving impulse.
С. В. Кашаев. Золотые украшения из некрополя Артющенко-2
S. V. KASHAEV. Gold adornments from the necropolis of Artyushchenko-2
The necropolis of Artyushchenko-2 is situated on the steep-to Black Sea coast 17 km south-east of the stanitsa of Taman’ and 4 km south-east of the Artyushchenko settlement (Temryuk district of the Krasnodar region).
Over 2 500 000 м2 of the necropolis were explored in 2003—2009. As a result, 81 intact burials and 5 disturbed by grave robbers were studied. The inventory of most of the burials can be dated to the early 5th—middle 4th cc. BC.
The paper deals with gold beads found in several burials. They are represented by two main types: type 1 — round hollow beads of two soldered halves; type 2 — analogous round beads with a grain-shaped pendant in the lower part.
Burial 20 (fig. 3, 1) yielded two gold beads (fig. 1, 1; 2, 1): a globular one, and a globular with a grain-shaped pendant. Burial 47 (fig. 3, 4) gave 27 gold beads, including 8 globular and 19 globular with grain-shaped pendants (fig. 1, 4; 2, 4). Twenty globular gold beads (fig. 1, 3; 2, 3) were found in burial 66 (fig. 3, 2), while burial 69 (fig. 3, 3) yielded 10 gold beads, 2 of which belonged to the first type, and 8 to the second one (fig. 1, 4; 2, 4).
The sets of gold beads from these burials can be dated after the accompanying finds — Greek clay vessels of the first quarter of the 5th c. BC.
М. Ю. Вахтина, С. А. Скорый, В. А. Ромашко. О месте находки скифского навершия с изображением Папая (Национальный музей истории Украины)
M. YU. VAKHTINA, S. A. SKORY, V. A. ROMASHKO. On the provenience of the Scythian finial with the image of Papai from the National Museum of History of Ukraine
Among the Scythian metal finials (about 150 items) a special position undoubtedly belongs to the bronze artifact from the collection of the National Museum of History of Ukraine (Kiev), bearing a very expressive image in its central part (fig. 1). The image is thought to represent Papai — the supreme god of the Scythian pantheon and the ancestor of the Scythians. In spite of the fact that this artifact has long become a part of the Scythian «classics», there are different views regarding the place of its discovery. According to the majority view, it comes from some location in the Dnepropetrovsk region, but until recently the arguments in favor of this opinion remained rather weak. According to another, newly proposed hypothesis, «Papai» was found at the village of Lysogorka of the Zaporozhie region.
The finial was acquired in 1896 by V.V. Khvoika, whose collection was then transferred to the Imperial Archaeological Commission in St. Petersburg. However, the object under consideration was then returned back to Kiev to become a part of the exhibition in the Museum of Antiquities and Art. We examined the archive materials relevant to the subject in both the National Museum of History of Ukraine and the Institute for the History of Material Culture (St. Petersburg). The comparison of the archive information with the data present on large-scale maps and in the lists of the residential places which existed in the 19th c. has led the authors to the unambiguous conclusion that «Papai» was found at the village of Novo-Pavlovka (Lysaya Gora) to the north of the town of Nikopol in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
This area is situated in the central part of what is supposed to be Herros — the region where the Scythians buried their tsars. As is widely known, the area to the north of the Kamenka-Nikopol crossing is abundant with Scythian barrows, many of which represent burials of noble people (for instance, Tolstaya, Khomina, Nechaeva, Orlova graves, etc.). The famous Chertomlyk barrow, one of the four sepulchres of the highest Scythian aristocrats, is situated here, too.
Fragments of a similar finial with «Papai» (fig. 6) were found in 1963 near the village of Maryanskoe east of Nikopol, also in the supposed Herros area.
The extreme rarity of the metal finials with the image of Papai, their semantics, size, and provenience allow us to consider these artifacts as social symbols of the Scythian elite, and probably also as special cult objects.
И. Ю. Шауб. Варварское и греческое в зольниках городов Боспора
I. YU. SHAUB. Barbarian and Greek components in the ash dumps of Bosporus
The archaeological study of the ash dumps of Bosporus has been carried out since the mid-1960es. However, both their origins and even function still remain rather vague. The present paper represents an attempt to show that ash dumps of Bosporus have much in common with the analogous constructions of the Forest-steppe. In the author’s opinion, this phenomenon was conditioned by the fact that the cult practice of Greek colonists was influenced by local traditions through the agency of their wives, who belonged to the indigenous population.
С. C. Миняев, Ю. И. Елихина. К хронологии курганов Ноин-Улы
S. S. MINYAEV, YU. I. ELIKHINA. On the Chronology of the Noyon uul Barrows
The Xiongnu were a herding people who in the last centuries BC occupied huge expanses of Central Asia and created there a powerful ‘proto-state’ formation.
The archaeological sites of the Xiongnu extend across a broad area of the steppe belt from the Enisei River to Manchuria. Studies in recent have shown that in most cases the Xiongnu burials form complexes consisting of a large central barrow and satellite burials distributed around it. The larger barrows are located higher than the others; the largest barrow in each complex in most cases is in the northern section of the cemetery. One can suggest that such large barrows were created first and thus are the earliest in each group.
The present article will show how this is possible for one of the best known Xiongnu monuments — the burials of the elite at Noyon uul mountain in Northern Mongolia. The cemeteries at Noyon uul mountain are located in three forested basins: Gudzhirte, Tszurumte and Sutszukte. In 1924—1927 Russian expedition headed by P. Kozlov extracted the nearly 2000 objects from some barrows. The datable materials from the Noyon uul collection include: lacquered Chinese cups (three of which specify the year of their production);a fragment of a Chinese mirror; inscriptions in Chinese characters on fabrics; samples of wood and charcoal, which have been dated by 14C analysis, allowing the results to be juxtaposed with the archaeological materials.
On the basis of the archaeological material and radiocarbon dates the establishment of the cemeteries at Noyon uul mountain dates no earlier than the end of the 1st century BC and more likely was in the 1st century AD. The archaeological material from other Xiongnu monuments in Transbaikalia and Mongolia likewise does not allow one to date these monuments any earlier than the 1st century BC. Such a conclusion contradicts the traditional view based on the written sources that the beginning date for Xiongnu complexes is the end of the 3rd century BC. Obviously it is necessary to correct the generally accepted ideas about the chronology of the Xiongnu cultural complex.
Н. А. Сутягина. Новые данные о погребальном обряде населения долины реки Или в конце I тыс. до н. э. – начале I тыс. н. э. (по материалам могильника Цюнкэкэ I)
N. A. SUTYAGINA. New data on the funeral rite in the Ili River valley at the boundary of the eras (with special reference to the materials of the Tsyunkeke I cemetery)
At the boundary of the 20th—21st cc. Chinese archaeologists studied and published materials of a considerable number of sites from the Chinese part of the Ili River valley.
The Tsyunkeke I cemetery is one of the biggest necropolises excavated in this region. Several types of above-ground constructions and burial pits were recorded here. The set of burial goods is very stable, it includes pottery, wooden utensils, an iron knife, as well as individual finds (stone, bone, and antler ornaments, everyday use objects). In addition, the inventory includes animal bones represented mainly by tail vertebra of sheeps. Taken as a whole the funeral rite of Tsyunkeke I finds numerous analogies in Sinkiang, Semirechye, Middle Asia, as well as in more distant parts of Central Asia. By analogy with the known sites of Semirechye the cemetery can be dated to the last centuries of the 1st millennium BC.
Д. Абдуллоев. Этапы перехода к мусульманскому погребальному обряду в Средней Азии
D. ABDULLOEV. Stages of transition to the Muslim funeral rite in Middle Asia
The paper deals with the transition from the Zoroastrian to Muslim funeral rite in Middle Asia. The author uses both written and archaeological records to identify the types of burial constructions («kata», «dahma», «astadan») associated with the Zoroadtrian rite. These constructions show two methods of the corpse deposition захоронения: а) inhumation, on the back, the corpse was laid on the floor of the «dahma-astadan» together with burial goods; б) defleshed bones were placed in small ceramic, stone or alabaster coffins with lids and left on the «astadan» floor together with burial goods. The transition from the Zoroastrian funeral rite to the Muslim one can be divided into three stages. During the first stage (middle 8th—early 9th cc.) the deceased were still put on «dahma». At the same time, some traits characteristic of the Muslim rite also can be seen. The latter include the absence of burial goods and the placement of coffins with human bones into graves with side niches («lyahad») oriented towards Mecca. On the second stage (early 9th—early 14th cc.) the coffins were replaced with boxes made of bricks (cysts). The construction of the boxes and the method of burying (inhumation on the back) remain Zoroastrian, but there are no burial goods, and the face of the deceased is oriented towards Mecca. It was on the third stage (from the early 14th c. and up to the present) that the Muslim funeral rite became dominant. The deceased are buried in the earth, in the graves which are not deeper than the average human stature, without any burial goods. One of the grave walls has a niche dug at the level of the bottom. The corpse is laid into this niche with its face oriented towards Mecca.
А. В. Курбатов. Кожаные изделия Мангазеи по раскопкам 2001–2007 гг. как источник реконструкции особенностей культуры и ремесла русского заполярного города
A.V. KURBATOV. Leather articles from Mangazeya as a source for the reconstruction of specific features in the culture and craftsmanship of a Russian transpolar town (based on the materials excavated in 2001—2007)
In 2001—2007 the expedition of from the Centre of Historical and Cultural Heritage (Nefteyugansk) and Krasnoselkup Regional Museum conducted wide-scale salvation excavations at Mangazeya. The object of exploration was the area of old excavation pit 22, studied in 1968—1973 by the expedition from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (St. Petersburg). In 2001—2007 259 m2 were restudied and 4537 leather articles found, including shoes (2331 items), mittens (64), cases for knives (61), remnants (1495), unidentifiable objects (9), layings (6), lids (1), details of ski binding (18), compass boxes (3), belts (3), parts of game balls (6), and inscribed or embossed remnants (2).
The leather articles from Mangazeya allow us to characterize one of the sides of everyday life of a transpolar Russian town in the first half of the 17th century. The production was based mainly on imported raw materials (hides) and half-products (shoe details). The Mangazeya craftsmen were engaged first of all in the repair of used things, though new articles were manufactured too (from imported hides and furs). A part of the hides could have been curried on-site (deer and elk hides).
In its design and décor the footwear found at Mangazeya reflects two traditions: 1) common Russian tradition, linking the Mangazeya finds with materials from the other Late Medieval towns of Russia; 2) local tradition, which formed as a result of adaptation to the polar zone conditions. Some features in the footwear design are indicative of the influence from aboriginal traditions of the North, and some shoes seem to have been made by the representatives of the indigenous population. The trade contacts of Mangazeya people embraced, first of all, the neighboring regions of the Russian North, including the Pinega basin, the Mezen’ basin, Ustyug, Vologda, and Kholmogory. These places were the sources both of local types of foot wear (high boots, kisy, kamusy, etc.) and of some models reflecting the influence of the western fashion (for example, women’s shoes on high heels). A part of the shoes found at Mangazeya could have been produced in Siberia (Tobolsk).
The analysis of 236 dendrochronological dates has shown that the main stage of building activity at Mangazeya falls on the period between 1601 and 1638. The bulk of archaeological finds, including leather articles, also should be dated to this time interval.
