Технология изготовления керамики андроновской (федоровской) культуры степного и лесостепного Алтая (по материалам исследований историко-культурного направления)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the technology of pottery production of the population of alakul culture of the settlement nijneingalskoe-3 in the lower tobol region. the analysis is made within the framework of historical and cultural approach and the structure of the pottery industry, developed by a.a. Bobrinsky. as a result of the study of the pottery revealed that the potters of alakul culture selected natural iron- enriched clay and silty clay containing natural admixture of river’s shell. during compiling of molding masses most often the potters used a fire clay and various organic additives, rarely they used a gruss and calcified bone. in the collection there are just 3 of the bottom part of the vessels, which gave information on the construction a«seed-body». they were made from clay patches in accordance with the bottom-capacitive program. the hollow body of the 10 vessels was made with clay patches too. the surface of vessels were treated with wooden and bone spatulas, stamps and cloth or fingers of potters. after smoothing the surface, and in some cases the inner surface of the vessels was glossing on the dry basis. Firing of finished products was manufactured in a simple piles or hearths. Following the results of the comparative analysis of the pottery traditions of the settlement’s citizens, their mixed characters in selecting the plastic raw material and composing the molding masses havebeen discovered. the comparison of the data with the technological information about ceramics assemblages from the neighboring regions showed that the citizens of the alakul culture are considered to be aliens on the territory of the lower tobol region.

Presented are the results of the analysis of pottery skills of a group of the Bronze Age Alakul Culture, who made burials under mounds 1 and 14 of the Alakul burial ground (forest-steppe Trans-Urals). The study was car-ried out within the framework of the historical and cultural approach and following the methodology developed by A.A. Bobrinsky. The traditional methods of making vessels that existed among potters of the analysed population have been determined, the heterogeneity of potters' views on the initial plastic raw materials has been detected, as well as some differences in the manufacture of vessels from different burial mounds at the stages of compiling moulding compounds and design. As a result of the study, the earlier assumption, based on the analysis of shape and ornamentation of the products, about the increased complexity of the composition of the analysed population at the stage of construction of mound 1 and the processes of mixing, in all likelihood, of related groups of the population who had their own traditions in the manufacture of pottery, manifested in the materials of kurgan 14, has been confirmed.

The Bronze Age in Central Asia was dominated by the Andronovo Culture and the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). Both cultural entities produced bronze, however, the extent of bronze production and use varied considerably in space and time across their territories. The introduction and spread of bronze metallurgy in the region is commonly associated with the Andronovo Culture, but comparatively little is known about the copper and tin sources that were exploited to make the bronze. To shed light on this aspect, this paper examines 91 bronze artefacts from the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) and the Late Bronze Age (LBA) recovered from twenty sites of Andronovo and the BMAC through a combined evaluation of chemical and isotopic analyses. Trace element patterns and isotopic compositions of lead, tin, and copper are determined for the objects complemented by tin isotope analysis of Central Asian tin ores. The data shows a clear separation of two source areas in the MBA and LBA I: the BMAC obtained copper from polymetallic (tin-bearing) deposits in Iran (Deh Hosein, Nakhlak/Bagh Gorogh) and possibly Afghanistan, while the Andronovo Culture mainly used copper from the Tian Shan Mountains. With the transition to the LBA II, a change in the material basis can be recognised, in which the BMAC increasingly relied on metal deposits from the Andronovo territory. The most important result in this context is the analytical proof of the coextraction of copper and tin from the copper-tin mine at Mushiston, Tajikistan, and the first direct link of tin in bronze objects with a tin deposit. Mushiston apparently supplied both cultural macro regions with a “natural” bronze, which accounted for about one third of all objects analysed, but there is no indication yet that metal or ores from Mushiston were traded or used at a distance of more than 500 km. Moreover, the artefact data indicates a decline in the exploitation of the mine in the course of the developed LBA, while other copper and tin sources in the Tian Shan and probably the Hindukush were exploited. This testifies to the intensive use of the rich mineral resources of Central Asia and beyond, as well as the intensification of cultural and trade contacts between Andronovo and the BMAC.

Introduction. The work focuses on anthropological materials of the border between two areals: the Srubnaya and Alakul cultures of the Bronze Age. New data is based on the burial grounds of the Kozhumberdy type of the Alakul culture from Western Kazakhstan. Methods and materials. The authors compare the craniological series which are formed according to the geographical localization of the monuments and modern archaeological ideas about their cultural interpretation. Analysis. As a result of statistical analysis, the craniological series of the Srubnaya and Alakul cultures are morphologically quite close, but the latter show higher variability of characteristics. More close to each other are samples of female skulls which show that the formation of physical characteristics of these populations occurred on a single anthropological substrate. Initially, carriers of different caucasoid complexes, mainly of steppe origin, and in a small proportion of the uraloid ones took part in the process. The populations of the Srubnaya and Alakul cultures for a long time interacted with each other. This is reflected in the materials of syncretic Srubnaya-Alakul monuments, as well as in the craniological characteristics of the population of these cultural entities. Judging by morphological features of the skulls, the eastern group of the Alakul population also contacted the collectives of the Fedorovo version of the Andronovo culture of Kazakhstan. The participation of any groups of Central Asian origin in the composition of Alakul populations is not denied, but if it took place, it was most likely of a secondary nature due to the incorporation of certain representatives of a foreign population. Results. The results and conclusions of this work should be used in historical reconstructions of the processes of the formation, development and extinction of the Bronze Age archaeological communities in the area of the VolgaUrals and Western Kazakhstan.

The article presents the results of the study of the ceramics obtained during the collections in 2006 and 2020 at the settlement of the Andronovo (Fedorovka) culture Chekanovsky Log-3 in the foothills of the Altai Mountains. Jar-shaped vessels have a rounded cut of the corolla, ornamentation in the form of various types of zigzags, indentations and incisions, and pots were decorated with triangles, less frequently meanders, with cannelures acting as a divider between zones. The tradition of adding chamotte to the molding masses is predominant, and the recipe with crushed shells belongs to the unusual ones. Comparison with materials of other one-time settlements of the region has shown that morphology, ornamentation, and technology of production of the studied ceramics, with some exceptions, are typical for Andronovo collections originating from the territory of steppe and forest-steppe Altai. The presence of individual vessels with pronounced differences in the technology of manufacture should be regarded as examples of import or contacts with the population from other territories.

ABSTRACTThis research aims to contribute to our knowledge of the chronology of the main cultural entities of the Bronze Age in the Southern Urals. The objectives of this work include the verification of earlier conclusions regarding individual sites, expanding the date series for the key cultures with reliable dates, and creating reference series for the Bayesian modeling of key archaeological sites. Thirty-two samples were selected from reliable contexts. They reflect seven different cultural traditions of the 2nd millennium calBC (Sintashta, Srubnaya, Alakul, Fedorovka, Cherkaskul, Final Bronze Age1, Transition to Early Iron Age2). Collagen (human and domestic animal bones), charcoal, and wood samples were used for radiocarbon dating. Pairs of different-type samples (human bone – animal bone, animal bone – charcoal) were obtained for the same undisturbed burial and the building floor at the time of its abandonment. The data and the composition of δ15N and δ13C isotopes allow the new dates to be considered reliable. Furthermore, the new results do not conflict with the previously obtained accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates. Determining boundary intervals for the main cultures of the Andronovo cultural community (Alakul and Fedorovka) resulted in statistically reliable conclusions on their relationship. The Alakul culture appeared earlier than the Fedorovka culture. The latter has a migratory origin in the Southern Urals. The two traditions have a long history of interaction, but the Alakul culture ending earlier. The series of dates for the Final Bronze Age, divided into two sub-periods, has been significantly expanded. Bayesian modeling of the chronology of the stratified settlement Sintashta II (Levoberezhnoe) made it possible to determine the intervals of the main phases of its history: 2004–1852 calBC (Sintashta culture) and 1410–1170 calBC (Final Bronze Age). Intermediate Cherkaskul phase is represented by a single date (1731–1541 cal BC).

A correlation of the results of the study of the paleoanthropological materials from the necropolis of Maitan by different scientific methods has been carried out in order to establish chronological and spatial differentiation of the burial ground and origins of the group. The complex approach allows the analysis of the problems of absolute and relative chronologies of the necropolis, demographic dynamics of the group in the context of the natural envi-ronment, and anthropological and genetic structure of the Bronze Age populations of the Eurasian steppes. The paleodemographic context reconstructed for the Maitan group is typical for the populations of the Bronze Age; some of its features may indicate an early period of adaptation, possibly related to migration of the group into the new territory. The intergroup statistical analysis of craniological materials suggests primarily western origins of the people. Particular craniological characteristics of some interred of the necropolis correspond with the recorded on the Maitan ware long-distance imports from the Urals-Tobol region of the Alakul Culture. For the first time on the materials of a numerically representative series of samples of humans and terrestrial herbivores of the Bronze Age Central Kazakhstan, Upper Tobol River region, and Trans-Urals steppes, the regional isotopic background has been established. Some individuals from the earliest burials of Maitan, according to the radiocarbon dating, are similar in isotopic ratios of carbon and nitrogen to the groups from further western regions of the Upper Tobol River steppes, whereas the other interred correspond in the isotopic values with local Central Kazakhstan sam-ples. It is possible that at the later stages of the spatial organization of the necropolis, women featuring a genetic profile different from other individuals and buried within the fences of the western planigraphic group took part in the formation of its remaining collective. In general, according to the series of calibrated radiocarbon dates, Mai-tan burial ground dates to the 18th — early 17th century BC.

The article presents previously unpublished memoirs of an ordinary participant in the development of virgin and fallow lands in the Orenburg region, Alexander Ferapontovich Plokhotnichenko (1918–2001). They can be referred to as “memoirs-autobiography,” as, along with the author's reflections on his own life, they contain information on previous family generations and an express message to future ones. The article is to expand the source base and to introduce unique memoirs into scientific use. They reflect most important episodes of mass development of the virgin lands (tselina). The author provides information on various aspects of the daily life of migrants. The analytical part of the study gives a brief historiographical overview of studying memoirs as a historical source and assesses studying tselina era memoirs. The value of these memoirs springs from the fact that they cover an impressive chronological period, almost a whole decade. When working with memoirs, both conventional and specific methods of source analysis have been used. On the basis of generally accepted methods of study, the place and time of the manuscript creation have been established; an attempt have been made to identify socio-political views of the author and their influence on his text. Specific methods have determined consideration of the memoirs in the light of historical, cultural, and typological approaches. Typological approach has found its expression in studying the memoirs as a unique source on the history of the tselina development in a single economy, the Komsomolsky sovkhoz of the Adamovsky district of the Orenburg region. Thus, the memoirs of the tselina developer are important for filling numerous historical gaps at micro-historical level. Historical and cultural approach has made it possible to evaluate the manuscript as a source of studying the grandiose tselina era as a whole. In this regard, the account of A. F. Plokhotnichenko can become the key to understanding this momentous development campaign at macro-historical level. The memoirs may be of interest not only to specialists studying the history of the large-scale tselina campaign and national agrarian history, but also to researchers of everyday problems, local historians, and others.

The article analyzes the specifics of the amateur choral art development from the second half of the XX century to the present in the context of Ukraine musical culture. It is emphasized that choirs are a form of revealing the creative potential of participants, act as a means of uniting people of different professions and ages by common interests, open opportunities to join the folk song heritage and participate in concert activities.The purpose of this research is to highlight the specifics and main trends in the development of amateur choral art in the second half of the 20th – early 21st centuries in the context of Ukrainian musical culture. This involves addressing the typology of groups represented in the domestic space, highlighting the key aspects of their concert and performing activities and identifying certain patterns of functioning in large and small cities and villages.The scientific novelty of the research lies in the determination of two socio-historical waves of influence on the development of Ukrainian folk choral art in the second half of the twentieth century, as well as the features of the folk choral groups functioning in large and small cities and in the countryside in Soviet times and in independent Ukraine. It also describes the factors that stimulate the preservation, transformation of organizational foundations and the growth of the creative level of amateur folk choral groups.The research methodology is based on the use of historical, comparative, source study, axiological and cultural studies approaches and the methods that follow from them. In particular, the historical-chronological method was used to establish the stages of development and continuity in the creative activity of folk choral groups, the axiological method to determine its socio-cultural significance, the comparative method for comparative characteristics of the functioning conditions of amateur choirs, the source study and cultural approaches help to consider the phenomenon of folk choral amateurishness is versatile, in a wide context. In addition, information obtained from official and unofficial surveys conducted in folk choirs of the Chernihiv region is used.Conclusions. The development of Ukrainian amateur choral art in the second half of the twentieth century was greatly influenced by two socio-historical waves. The first falls on the postwar period (1950-1960’s) when a huge number of vocal and choral groups were created at village clubs, city and factory houses of culture. The second (the 1990s) is related to Ukraine’s independence and the formation of completely new principles of the cultural and artistic life of civil liberties, the opportunity to participate in various festivals and competitions in Ukraine and abroad, and, as a result, rethinking the essence of amateur folk song, which is the basis of the repertoire of amateur choirs.

When the World Laughs: Film Comedy East and West

Introduction. The article presents results of a study of ceramics production technologies from Taldinsky-1 burial site (Central Kazakhstan). A total of four structures were excavated on the site, and three of them belong to the early Alakul culture, one — to the latest Bronze Age. Materials and Methods. A total of 16 vessels have been studied through the use of the MBS-10 binocular microscope according to the A. Bobrinsky method. Results. The research obtained data on characteristics of the raw material, compositions of molding compounds, methods for constructing seed and hollow forms, and surface treatment. The paper reveals the main cultural traditions of Alakul ceramics, namely: the raw material is medium ferruginous and medium plastic clay; the composition of the molding compound — medium-sized grus + manure in low concentration; the seed form — bottom-to-wall and patch-lumpy; the hollow form — single-layer and patch-lumpy. The discovered differences in manufacturing technologies make it possible to presume some of the vessels had actually been imported. Moreover, two of the discovered vessels proved to belong to the Fedorovo culture, one of them having been located in the same burial as the Alakul ones. This attests to the coexistence and mutual contacts of the Fedorovo and Alakul populations already at some early stage of development of the Andronovo cultural and historical community. All the three vessels found in the same latest Bronze Age burial were made by potters to have followed different cultural ceramic traditions. Conclusions. Thus, the data of the technical and technological analysis of the ceramics from Taldinsky-1 burial site reflect the processes of cultural interaction in the Bronze Age which took place both at the level of direct contacts between representatives of different cultures (Andronovo burials) and at the level of product exchanges (Bronze Age burial).

The article deals with the results of a comprehensive analysis of the molded ceramics of the Burla-3 settlement of the Late Bronze Age, carried out according to the method of A. A. Bobrinsky. Based on the study of molding masses (FM) of ceramic vessels, it has been established that the pottery tradition is represented by several groups associated with populations of different origins. The main one is the autochthonous technology for the use of chamotte as additives, at the same time, foreign cultural methods for the use of gruss are distinguished. The methods of designing vessels made it possible to reveal that the technological scheme of the Sargary-Alekseevsk culture is dominant. Correlation of the obtained data with the ornamental scheme of the ceramic complex made it possible to distinguish several technological groups: “Sargary-Alekseevskaya”, “Dongal”, “Irmenskaya”, and hybrid types between them. Keywords: Burla-3, Ob-Irtysh interfluve, steppe Altai, ceramics, technical and technological analysis, Late Bronze Age Acknowledgments: The article was prepared with the financial support of the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 20–18–00179 “Migration and the Processes of Ethnocultural Interaction as Factors in the Formation of Multiethnic Societies on the Territory of the Greater Altai in Antiquity and the Middle Ages: an Interdisciplinary Analysis of Archaeological and Anthropological Materials”.

Infant and child mortality has been viewed as an important indicator of the social and economic well-being of a society that correlates closely with fertility and population growth. The aim of the study was to investigate overall level and age distribution of child mortality in the Andronovo (Fedorovo) Culture of the Forest-Steppe Altai, dated to the Middle Bronze Age. Skeletal remains of 321 sub-adults (0–14 years of age) from the Rublevo-VIII, Firsovo-XIV, and Chekanovskiy Log-2 and 10 cemeteries were studied. The overall child mortality rate was 66%. In all three local groups, child mortality follows a general pattern with the majority of deaths occurring before the age of one year, after which the mortality rate consistently decreases with advancing age. A large number of full-term and preterm newborns buried in separate graves, with grave goods, within the communal cemetery suggest that all babies from the moment of the birth were integrated in the social structure of the Andronovo communities. There were local-territorial differences in the ratio of the neonatal (under 1 month), or endogenous, and postneonatal (between 1 and 12 months), or exogenous, mortality. In the Rublevo- VIII and Chekanovskiy Log-2 and 10 sites, the former was higher than the latter, in Firsovo-XIV — vice versa. However, field archaeological documentation shows that not all children buried in the cemeteries were represented in the sample studied because of poor preservation of their skeletal remains. Taking into account “missing” children, the overall sub-adult mortality could achieve 70%. High child mortality indicates high fertility in the Andronovo communities. The causes of high neonatal and postneonatal mortality rates remain unknown and require further investigation.

The article presents the data of the study of Early and Middle Bronze Age pottery from the settlement of Tukh-Emtor IV carried out within the framework of the historical and cultural approach according to A.A. Bobrinsky method. The main task was to identify the specific features of cultural traditions in the selection of raw materials and the preparation of the pottery paste. Studies decoration techniques include identification of the features of the tool working edge and the ornamentation techniques. It was established that ferruginous clays were used in the production of Early Bronze Age ceramics: ductile (67 %) and mixed with the finest dust-like sand (33 %). Pottery of the Middle Bronze Age was made of similar raw materials, but ductile clays make up 50%. Two variants of paste recipeswere identified: clay + chamotte, clay + chamotte + organic matter. The second recipe was recorded twice (c. 6 % of all vessels studied). Despite of the fact that 2 traditions in the choice of raw materials and 2 paste recipes were revealed, the decoration patterns of the wares are basically the same. The ornamentation was applied with comb and non-cogged tools. The most common are horizontal rows of impressions made with a comb stamp by stepping with rolling or dragging the working edge of the tool. Geometric motifs in the form of zigzags emerged on the Middle Bronze Age pottery. The Early Bronze Age ceramic complex has been attributed to the Stepanovo culture developed by the Early Elovsky Period. Early and Middle Bronze Age materials show parallels in terms of raw materials, fabrics, techniques of decoration and ornamentation motifs, which confirms the earlier hypothesis on the long and gradual interaction of various population groups, which did not lead to a sharp change of traditions.

For the teaching of traditional Chinese culture in universities, fully utilizing existing resources for innovation is crucial to its teaching effectiveness. Hence, this study advocates for the utilization of information technology and the flipped classroom methodology in university-level traditional Chinese culture education. By thoroughly examining the fundamental goals of teaching traditional Chinese culture at universities, this paper suggests employing information technology to develop diverse educational scenarios. These scenarios encompass generating cultural contexts, simulating cultural experiences, enhancing interactive exchanges, and broadening the scope of educational materials, all aimed at enriching the pedagogical approach to traditional Chinese culture. In the stage of designing flipped classrooms for traditional Chinese culture teaching in universities, the ARCS theory was introduced. Guided by attention motivation, association motivation, confidence motivation, and satisfaction motivation, research was conducted on course content design, teaching methods and means, learning experience, feedback, and evaluation. Through the integrated application of information technology and flipped classroom strategies, our objective is to diversify the pedagogical approaches for traditional culture. This initiative is designed to boost students' comprehension and learning outcomes regarding traditional culture, foster their enthusiasm and knowledge depth in traditional Chinese cultural studies, and encourage the preservation and evolution of traditional cultural heritage.