Archaeological Monuments Research Articles

Iron Cones in the Burials of Ulus Jochi: Aspects of Ethnocultural Identification

Cone-shaped objects, rolled from iron and bronze sheets, are found in the Golden Horde burials of the late 13th – early 15th centuries. The authors collected information on more than 100 burials with iron and bronze cones located in the territory of Ulus Jochi. This article is examines material from 78 iron cone burials. Specific features of the topographic location of these complexes, use of stones in rituals, construction of log cabins around graves is similar to archaeological and ethnographic monuments of Central Asia associated with ethnic Mongols. As a rule, human remains buried in graves are oriented north or northeast with their heads, which is also a feature of the Mongol funeral rite. Accompaniment of the burial with whole or stuffed horses remains in the complexes with cones is not common, but these features are also known in Mongolian cemeteries in Central Asia. The placement of a sheep tibia at the head of the buried occasionally in vertical position is considered a main ethnic feature of the Mongol culture. In general, the sample of the Ulus Jochi burials, united by the iron cones presence in the burial inventory, is characterized by an increased concentration of rather specific ritual signs typical of the Mongols of Central Asia. This allows us to conclude that the considered monuments belong to the same ethnocultural group of population. Moreover, the available anthropological data testify to the Central Asian (Mongolian) origin of the representatives of this group of nomads of Ulus Jochi Burials with iron cones. The authors observe manifestations of pagan shamanic and Buddhist rituals judging by the dominant features of funeral rituals left by the bearers of Mongolian ethnic and cultural traditions.

DOCUMENTATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE OF UZBEKSITAN

The Cultural Heritage Act provides strong protection for cultural monuments, but this is not enough to give cultural monuments the protection they need. Monuments and sites are illegally damaged or destroyed both deliberately and accidentally. Grants for expenses related to archaeological excavations in smaller, private development projects is considered to be an important tool for the preservation of archaeological heritage. Another important tool in this respect is up-to-date registers of various types of cultural monuments and sites. In Samarkand and the other region of Uzbekistan registers that contain information on the cultural heritage and the environment have been integrated into one database. It is also important to give everyone who comes into contact with archaeological monuments and sites sufficient information and make them aware of the valuable cultural heritage.

Image Abstraction Framework as a Pre-processing Technique for Accurate Classification of Archaeological Monuments Using Machine Learning Approaches

Image Abstraction Framework as a Pre-processing Technique for Accurate Classification of Archaeological Monuments Using Machine Learning Approaches

Lessons from archaeology and heritage studies for the long-term preservation of records, knowledge and memory concerning deep geological disposal sites for nuclear waste

Abstract. Safe disposal of nuclear waste in deep geological repositories requires secure knowledge transfer or knowledge recovery in time spans of many tens of thousands of years. Never before has any detailed record, knowledge or memory been reliably preserved or recovered over comparable time periods. This challenge has been extensively addressed since the late 1980s, initially during the SANDIA workshops in the USA and more recently in the Nuclear Energy Agency/Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (NEA/OECD) project on Preservation of Records, Knowledge and Memory Across Generations (Schröder, 2019). Experts from many disciplines including engineering, the natural sciences, information technology, social studies of science and technology, semiotics, public management, and design as well as artists have contributed to these discussions. Some scholars from the humanities have been involved in working on these issues, especially in recent decades. At the same time, much of the existing work has drawn on assumptions about human history, archaeological monuments and cultural heritage that have been scrutinized and deemed deeply flawed by Joyce (2020). The authors of the present paper are archaeologists and cultural heritage experts. For the past decade, they have been working with the challenge of preserving records, knowledge and memory concerning deep geological disposal sites for nuclear waste (Holtorf and Högberg, 2021). From the perspective of the human sciences, in particular archaeology and heritage studies, the unique task at hand involves not only the previously recognized challenges that require consideration of long-term material durability, linguistic intelligibility, and appropriate sense-making of any communicated information but also two challenges not previously addressed: Human action as informed by cultural and social processes. In designing of various long-term mechanisms, we risk overlooking that what people will do is not going to be governed by mechanics. How human beings learn, reason, value, decide, and act is informed by specific cultural and social processes creating context and meaning. We must avoid ignoring these complexities governing human thinking and agency. This challenge requires more work on understanding how sentient and intelligent beings like humans act in variable contexts across time and space. Our anticipatory assumptions. A proverb states that “nothing ages faster than the future”. In making assumptions about future generations' understandings, meanings, and significances of our nuclear waste we risk “colonizing” the future, fail to embrace variability over time, and miss realizing multiple futures and emerging conditions. We must therefore not foreclose uncertain futures but instead create circumstances favorable for change and transformation of relevant knowledge and memory. This challenge requires more work with processes of translation between generations. The challenges of assessing our anticipatory assumptions and understanding how humans act will also need to be addressed in transmitting records, knowledge and memory for the benefit of future generations.

NEW EXHIBITS OF ITEMS WITH CHAMPLEVE ENAMELS IN SUMY REGIONAL MUSEUM (PRELIMINARY REPORT)

During 2018—2020 items with Champleve enamels were presented to Sumy Regional Museum by Sumy residents, S. I. Gutsan and R. A. Bobkov. They were shown at an exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Museum in September 2020. The collection consists of more than 70 items (tabl. 1). There are brooches (horseshoe-shaped, triangular, round), pendants (cruciform, lunnula), chains, bracelets, diadems, torques, appliquй, finger-rings, trapezoidal pendants, spurs etc. Because these finds were kept in private collections and were presented to the Museum by their owners, the items could be considered accidental finds except location of them was more or less accurate.
 Preliminary analysis of things from the collection allowed us to determine the following. The area of finds includes different areas of Sumy region, but those found in Sumy’s suburbs significantly dominate, and by dating they mostly belong to the second stage of development of East European Champleve enamels, according to E. Gorokhovskyi — to the middle and second half of 3rd century. Metal and enamel of things were analyzed by the researchers of The Institute of Applied Physics of NASU using an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer.
 Situation around archeological monuments requires a rapid reconstruction, adaptation of science to new unfavorable conditions. This publication is prompted by an attempt to obtain maximum information from sources whose reliability is questionable. Moreover, the things analyzed in this publication are of great importance for solving many important questions of archeology, in particular, for the reconstruction of the Slavonic peoples’s genesis.

ANCIENT ROADS NEAR DAVYDIV BRID AT INGULETS RIVER

In recent years, due to expansion of the capabilities of using high-resolution satellite images and their availability on many resources on the Internet, the possibility of identifying new sites is becoming especially relevant. In order to reveal the ability of land communications as well as for the study of close relationship of the barrows and steppe roads we made the attempt to map them as completely as possible using the remote sensing methods in the area between the Dnieper and the Lower Ingulets Rivers. 
 The coverage of large territory made it possible to identify the place of the highest concentration of road residues which was located near the modern village of Davydiv Brid (Beryslav district, Kherson region). There were three identified so-called «Stars» — Bajdak-Mohyla, Shurzhyna and Bilohirka. At the base of each of them was a large mound of the 6—8 m high. All of them were in the line of sight from one to another and marked the place of the traditional crossing of the Ingulets River.
 On the basis of the remnants of roads associated with them the main directions of movement were identified: 1) the largest to the southeast to the area of the modern city of Beryslav; 2) a less saturated but clearly traced eastern route to the area of the modern Dudchany village; 3) along the Ingulets valley on the top of the steppe plateau.
 The internal structure and arrangement of the mounds and remains of roads is very complicated and can only be partially reconstructed. For example, we consider the fact of the seasonal use of Shurzhin’s star to bypass two lowlands located near Bajdak-Mogyla as obvious. From the last point several direct routes of the southeastern direction can be traced which were convenient in the dry season.
 The attempt to compare the roads identified by us with the paths of the «three-verst Schubert map» of the 19th century had a few results. Only in some cases it is possible to trace the coincidence of the historical paths with those recorded by us in the southeastern direction and only on certain sections. In the eastern direction and the route along Ingulets there are no this kind of coincidences were actually revealed.
 As a result we consider it necessary to admit that the remains of the roads we have recorded should be considered a special type of archaeological monuments accompanying other objects, primarily mounds. The phenomenon of the remains of these roads and the «stars» described by us is the phenomenon which reflects the certain part of human activity in the past and should be studied with the involvement of the as largest as possible territories and conducting field research.

The cultural and historical landscape of the Izborsko-Malskaya valley as a unique monument of nature and history in Pskov region

A cultural-historical landscape is understood as a compound historical-cultural and natural formation that developed in a specific territory possessing certain homogeneous natural (landscape) properties as a result of long-term interaction between the man and the landscape that occurred in the course of their coherent development. The Izborsko-Malskaya valley is a single, coherent cultural and historical landscape, with the unique nature of which modern villages and an archaeological monument – Truvorovo gorodische of the VII-VIII centuries, the Izborsk city fortress of the XIV century, the remains of the Malskaya fortress-monastery, churches and chapels, ‘Truvorov’ stone cross – blend in. Already in the X century, an agricultural district with a dense network of settlements was formed around the city. The Malsky cross stands as a witness to one of the branches of the historical path From the Varangians to the Greeks, since it served as a special indicator of the route’s direction. The specific nature of the Izborsko-Malskaya valley is due to its geological features and the history of its relief evolution. The dissected topography, with outlets of picturesque karst springs – the Slovenian springs – and the mosaic nature of the local landscape complexes predetermined the great variety and variegation of vegetation and fauna. The natural basis for the morphological structure of the Izborsk-Malsky cultural-historical landscape is formed by four physical and geographical areas belonging to three interfluvial plains: undulating end-moraine, glaciolacustrine and abrasion-depositional, dissected by dells formed by streams of melt glacial water, with inherited river valleys. The cultural and historical landscape of the Izborsko-Malskaya valley is characterized by a balanced combination of the natural and anthropogenic components, aesthetic appeal and economic feasibility, which all together created the cultural and historical image of a national landscape, formed by the culture of many generations.

Humus state of buried soils of different age archaeological monuments on the territory of Ufa (Russia, Republic of Bashkortostan)

The paper studies the humus state of buried soils on the territory of archaeological monuments: the New–Ufa Burial Ground (early Iron Age) and the Settlement Ufa–II (early Middle Ages), located in the urban district of Ufa (Russia, Republic of Bashkortostan). The soil cover of archaeological monuments is represented by Greyzemic Phaeozem over Grayzemic Phaeozem (gz–PH over gz–PH). The humus content in buried horizons is 2.06–5.26%, which is 2–4 times less in comparison with the native soil. There are two types of humus such as humate and humate–fulvate. Among humic acids, the fraction associated with calcium (HAs–2) predominates. The spectral curves of humic acids HAs–2 at different wavelengths for the buried humus–accumulative horizon of the New–Ufa Burial Ground have a steeper character and lower optical density values compared to the background soil. The spectral curves of the buried horizons of the Settlement Ufa–II have flatter disposition and, in terms of optical density, are close to the values of the native soil. Obtained results make it possible to estimate the transformation of organic matter in the soils after their burial in comparison with the modern native soil Greyzemic Phaeozem (gz–PH) of the city park.

Mingtepa Monument In Archaeological Research

The article presents the historical issues of the Mingtepa archaeological monument, which is famous in the Fergana Valley. The archaeological study of Mingtepa as well as the scientific analysis of the various archaeological and historian's works on the solution of the archaeological problems of the Fergana Valley will be carried out. Also, in the article, opinions are expressed about the studies that have a special place in the historiography of this archaeological research. In the process of analyzing the historiography of Mingtepa archeology, an attempt was also made to cover the issue of the ancient capital of David . In addition, the data from the research archaeologists who studied this monument are comparative-analyzed, as well as the conclusions of the historiography. The results and prospects of the joint archaeological research carried out by Chinese-Uzbek archaeologists in the territory of Mingtepa today are summarized, and the scientific achievements of these expeditions are observed.

Phenotypic identification of soil bacterial and fungal communities inhabiting an archaeological monument at Augustine University, Ilara Epe, southwest Nigeria

Phenotypic identification of soil bacterial and fungal communities inhabiting an archaeological monument at Augustine University, Ilara Epe, southwest Nigeria

NATURE-LEARNING AND GEO-ARCHEOLOGICAL ROUTES OF THE EASTERN PART OF LVIV

Geomorphological and geological features of the eastern part of Lviv have been analyzed. A new, extremely picturesque and informative tourist, recreational and geo-educational route has been developed, namely “Chatovi Rocks – Vynnykivske Lake –Medova Pechera”, which forms an extension of “Vysokyi Zamok – Chatovi rocks” tourist route. Picturesque relief, exposure of sediments of various ages and genesis, as well as rich archeological monuments occurring along the routecan perform educational, educational, cognitive, ecological, and aesthetic functions. Archaeological memorials, little known to the general public, are extremely valuable, too, because they illustrate the history of populating the city of Lviv and its neighborhood. Mostly inanimate objects located along the route are well accessible for exploration; however, today they are not very popular among Lviv residents. This is primarily due to the lack of proper infrastructure – marked trails, information stands, etc. Anthropogenic impact on the objects located along the proposed route is extremely diverse and large-scale. Some sites (such as Chatovi Rocks and Medova Pechera) are affected heavily, as they are actively used for hiking, mountaineering, etc. Others (for example, Zhupan and Lysivka archeological monuments) virtually do not experience it. The monuments of Mlynivtsi I and II are exposed to the greatest threat, up to complete destruction. They are endangered due to the extensive construction of a new sports and recreation complex, deployed around Vynnykivsky Lake. The refore, the condition of these facilities needs to be monitored continuously. On the other hand, the said complex will open up new prospects for the use of picturesque relief, complex geomorphological and geological structure of the eastern part of Lviv in the future recreational and geo-educational activities. There is no doubt that the new center of attraction, created by the sports and recreation complex, will increase the attendance of Vynnykivsky Forest Park. Therefore, the need to establish appropriate tourist, recreational, geo-educational infrastructure along “Chatovi Rocks – Vynnykivske Lake – Medova Pechera” route is obvious today. Key words: nature-learning and geo-archeological route; Upper Cretaceous marls; Neogene sands and sandstones; woods, travertines; archeological monuments.

CREATION OF MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL CENTERS IN KASHKADARYA AND SURKHANDARYA

The green garden city Shakhrisabz is famous for its unique architectural monuments, most of which were built under Timur and Timurids.The majestic white palace Ak-Saray, the huge blue dome of the Kok-Gumbaz mosque, the monumental ensembles Dorus-Saodat and Dorut-Tillyavat - these and other sights of Shakhrisabz were designed to turn the hometown of Amir Timur into a second capital, no less luxurious than Samarkand. About 100 archaeological sites have been excavated, discovered and studied in the region for more than 100 years.Thanks to archaeological research carried out in the Surkhandarya oasis, unique historical monuments, archaeological monuments, in particular, Teshiktash, Zaramsay, Jarkoton, Old Termez, Kampyrtepa, Dalverzintepa, Fayoztepa, Koratepa and others clearly demonstrate the place of world civilization of the Bstanaktrian region in the history.

"I HAVE EXPERIENCED ALL THE BEAUTIES OF RUSSIAN PRISONS": MOISEI GINZBURG‘S EXILE TO PINEGA

To date, there are no studies in Russian and foreign historiography that would objectively cover the individual stages of the biography of the Russian and Soviet philosopher, historian and publicist Moisei Isaakovich Gintsburg (Dayan) (1877-1940). A significant body of his scientific heritage remains not involved in the research field, which is represented by developments on the history of the Jews, the study of the archaeological monuments of the Crimea and the issues of museum affairs in the USSR, which actualizes the topic of this study. The article analyzes in detail the initial period of biography M. I. Gintsburg, associated with revolutionary activities in the early twentieth century. Based on the analysis of a new corpus of archival sources from the funds of the State Archive of the Arkhangelsk Region, the period of M. I. Gintsburg's stay in exile in the territory of the Arkhangelsk province in 1903-1905 is restored. In synthesis with the documents that we have identified in the collections of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, we were able to characterize the period of his political and revolutionary activity in the ranks of the General Jewish Workers Union in Lithuania, Poland and Russia (Bund). The classification of the obtained data allowed us to restore the ideas about the political views of M. I. Gintsburg in the context of the brewing revolutionary situation in the Russian Empire. The new archival documents discovered and involved in the research field, as well as the description of the processes and phenomena described above, made it possible to supplement and interpret a new body of informative material on the history of key historical processes in the territory of the Russian Empire during the revolutionary upheavals of the early twentieth century.

Seismic vulnerability assessment of free-standing massive masonry columns by the 3D Discrete Element Method

Free-standing masonry column is a recurrent typology of built cultural heritage. Usually raised without seismic design, columns are subject to intense rocking and overturning under strong ground motions. In this paper, a strategy to assess their seismic vulnerability using the 3-D Discrete Element Method is proposed. It includes calibrating the elastic parameters (joint stiffness parameters) using ambient vibration test data and developing fragility curves from a large set of time history analysis results. This procedure was verified for four selected water towers, a representative archaeological monument in Pompeii, Italy. Based on preliminary structural analyses, the water towers were modeled as rigid monolithic blocks. The outcomes of modal analysis were used to calibrate the input elastic parameters, starting from a range of values given by analytical calculations derived by literature. Artificial earthquakes with peak ground acceleration levels ranging from 0.167 g to 0.803 g were implemented as ground motions. Collapses and non-collapses configurations were subdivided through a threshold concerning the maximum allowable rotation of the blocks. Fragility curves were statistically developed; these revealed the overturning probabilities of the investigated structures and also enabled to conduct a parametric study of the Rayleigh damping constants.

Once again about objects with stone ridges

The article examines the cult-ritual or cult-memorial objects known in science as barrows with “mustaches”, which are still mysterious both in their origin and in content, as well as in their functional purpose. In general, the content and nature of the events that unfolded on the area of these objects are not entirely known, since so far the researchers do not have sufficient materialized remains, which give rise to various hypothetical conclusions and guesses, starting from a purely pragmatic approach in order to save time and labor costs. ending with the act of recoding the originally laid down semantic load in order to adapt it to their mythological complexes. In addition, the issues of chronological attribution of this type of archaeological monuments and the need to return to the issue of their comprehensive study at an interdisciplinary level are touched upon. According to the author, the latter circumstance will allow, first of all, to determine the dates of specific objects, and in some cases the stages of construction of various components of the entire ensemble, since there are opinions about the simultaneity of individual components – a large mound and small objects, the whiskers themselves, which could be attached later to early burial (or memorial) structures. The author proposes to consider in the future “barrows with mustaches”, geoglyphs and arans, as similar in content semantics load, one-order phenomena that took place in the steppe space in the 2nd-5th centuries. Key words: burial mounds with “ridges”, cultural and chronological affiliation, Hunnic time, pre- Türks, semantic meaning.

Findings of antiquities on the territory of the Penza Governorate in the 19th – early 20th centuries based on the materials of the State Archive of the Penza Region

The paper deals with archaeological findings on the territory of the Penza Governorate in the 19th beginning of 20th centuries based on the materials of the State Archive of the Penza Region. To compare the information obtained with the published data, the study used published sources such as: the Reports of the Imperial Archaeological Commission, the description of antiquities of the Governorate (A.A. Spitsyn, 1925) and other sources. The process of archaeological study of the Penza Governorate in the pre-revolutionary period depended on the activities of the provincial statistical committee, the provincial scientific archival commission, independent researchers and the provincial administration. As a result a set of archaeological discoveries made on the territory of the Penza Governorate in the 19th beginning 20th centuries was drawn up. The list of findings includes facts of the discovery revealed in the research of archaeological sites and individual artifacts with indication of detection time, place and composition of the find or treasure. According to the research, in the 19th early 20th centuries, 148 evidence of found antiquities were revealed. Coins, Stone Age tools, jewelry and other items had different destinies: they remained in the hands of the finders, were sold, melted down, settled in scientific organizations and museums of St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Penza. In most cases, the treasures were returned to the finders, and less often they were transferred to the metropolitan museums and given a reward for them. The issues raised in the paper are inextricably linked with the problem of accounting and protection of archaeological monuments and preservation of cultural heritage.

Proposed Policy Guidelines for Managing Heritage at Risk Based on Public Engagement and Communicating Climate Change

ABSTRACT The deterioration and loss of our historic environment due to natural erosive processes, exacerbated by climate change, already outpaces available resources for preservation and will accelerate over the coming century. While this process is divisive and destructive, it is also bringing together international collaborators who are developing more holistic approaches to addressing heritage at risk. In 2018, an intensive fieldtrip and series of workshops as part of the Learning from Loss project brought researchers and practitioners from both sides of the Atlantic together with community stakeholders. Over twelve days, the delegates considered alternative futures for heritage at risk, exploring diverse perspectives and observing action previously taken at threatened sites by both heritage professionals and local communities, often working in collaboration. Recognising that not everything can be saved, the structured discussions and site visits revealed a number of insights into ways that action could be planned in the future. The suggestions also highlighted differences in the way that heritage is managed in the UK and the US. This paper summarises the findings of the field trip and discusses how there may need to be a sea-change in thinking in the United Sates in order to prepare for the growing disaster facing an increasing number of archaeological monuments

Formation of monument protection activities in Soviet Belarus in the years of «thaw» (1953–1968)

The author analyses the change in state policy, as well as the revival of public initiative in the field of protection of cultural monuments, as a result of the liberalisation of social and political life in Soviet Belarus during the «thaw». Public speeches of cultural figures, scientists, teachers, journalists served as an impetus for the actions of republican and local state bodies, who decided the fate of national heritage objects. The state officials and society representatives efforts undertaken during the period under review resulted with the creation of the Belarusian voluntary society for the protection of historical and cultural monuments (1966), the State inspectorate for the protection of historical, artistic, architectural and archaeological monuments (1967), as well as with the adoption of «On the protection of cultural monuments» law (1969).

Formation of new approaches to the research practice and preservation of architectural and archaeological monuments of the North Black sea area (Comparative castellology and digital technologies)

The article is dedicated to the investigation of the current tasks of the modern study and preservation of the architectural and archaeological heritage of the peoples of Eastern Europe in the North Black Sea area based on comparative castellology and digital technologies. The comparative analysis of two outstanding monuments - the Belgorod fortress in the western part of the region and the Tyagin fortress in the eastern part, which historically go back to the history of the Moldavian and Grand Lithuanian principality of the XIV-XV centuries, is made and general trends and features in the planning structure and the architecture of the monuments are considered. The positive results of the work of scientific teams, representing scientists from different countries of the world united by special projects to study outstanding monuments, the use of modern methods of studying architectural complexes, including modeling individual objects and creating computer models of monuments in general, are presented. Questions were raised about the need for joint efforts for the preservation and tourist use of the cultural heritage, the development of good neighborly relations between the countries of the Black Sea region and Europe as a whole.

EARLY STAGES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE KASHKADARYA OASIS

The article analyzes the first stages of studying the archaeological sites of the Kashkadarya oasis from a historical point of view. Beginning in the 18th century, Europeans began to record information about the Kashkadarya oasis. Their main focus is on highlighting the lifestyle of the population, as well as information on historical monuments. In particular, in memoirs, reports and brochures, A. Burns, N. Khannykov, V.V. Bartold, N. Maev, V. Krestovsky, B. Litvinov, D. Logofet, A. Validov, I. Kastane, L. Zimin, you can get a lot of information on this topic. Despite this, the first studies were mostly brief. Most importantly, the attention of architects and art critics is focused on the history of architectural structures in Shakhrisabz, built during the reign of Amir Temur and the Temurids. However, attempts to shed light on the history of the cities of Karshi and Shakhrisabz based on written sources consisted in a collection of the first archaeological observations, historical artifacts and manuscripts. Noteworthy is the information written by N. Khannykov, V.V. Bartold, N. Mayev. Subsequent studies also made extensive use of their memoirs. B. Litvinov's information about the Kashkadarya oasis was supplemented by his drawings. According to Logofet, the history of the city of Shakhrisabz is emphasized, and archaeological excavations show that its history goes back two thousand years. Logofet pays great attention to the medieval history of Karshi, cites various historical sources. It is important for I.Kastana and L.Zimin to describe the archaeological monuments preserved in the vicinity of Karshi from the point of view of that period and compare them on the basis of ancient and medieval written sources.