Sk Province Research Articles

Copper and zinc isotopic variations in Ni-Cu-PGE ores of the Noril’sk Province (Russia)

Research subject. Mineral assemblages of sulfides from massive and disseminated sulfide nickel-copper-platinum-group element (Ni-Cu-PGE) and low-sulfide PGE ores of the Noril’sk Province, which hosts the richest complex deposits of platinum-group metals, nickel, and copper. Aim. In order to identify sources of ore material and explore new forecasting approaches for Ni-Cu-PGE deposits, we study the Cu- and Zn isotopic compositions of sulfides from economic Kharaelakh and Noril’sk-1 intrusions containing unique and large sulphide Ni-Cu-PGE deposits (Oktyabr’sk and Noril’sk-1, respectively), subeconmic Zub-Marksheider and Vologochan intrusions containing small- to medium-size Ni-Cu-PGE deposits, and non-economic Nizhny Talnakh and Nizhny Noril’sk intrusions containing low grade disseminated Ni-Cu mineralization. Results. The analyzed samples are characterized by sulfide mineral assemblages, which contain mainly chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, troilite, cubanite, and galena. Sulfide Ni-Cu-PGE ores of the Oktyabr’sk and Noril’sk-1 deposits, associated with economic intrusions (i.e., Kharaelakh and Noril’sk-1), demonstrate distinct δ65Cu values from –2.42 to –1.40‰ and from –0.33 to 0.60‰, respectively, which differ from the δ65Cu values for sulfides from other Ni-Cu-PGE deposits and ore occurrences of the Noril’sk Province (data comprise 36 analyses). We note that the Cu-isotopic composition for sulfide minerals of massive and disseminated ores from the Kharaelakh intrusion has similar “isotope-light” characteristics. The most pronounced shift towards “isotope-heavy” copper was found in the horizon of low-sulfide PGE ores of the Noril’sk-1 intrusion (δ65Cu = 0.51–0.60‰). The isotopic composition of Zn (δ66Zn) for the studied sulfide samples from economic, subeconomic, and non-economic intrusions, with the exception of one sample (0.73 ± 0.14‰), is characterized by similar “isotope-light” values (from –0.65 to –0.03‰). Conclusions. The revealed variations in the Cu- and Zn-isotopic composition in the studied sulfide assemblages from all types of ores reflect their primary characteristics; however, for the unique Oktyabr’sk Ni-Cu-PGE deposit, characterized by the most “isotopically light” composition of copper (δ65Cu = –1.9 ± 0.34‰), the possibility of assimilation of an external source of Cu during the formation of sulfide Ni-Cu-PGE ores cannot be excluded. The combined use of Cu and Zn isotopic parameters proved to be a weakly informative predictive indicator for the detection of high-grade sulfide ores, primarily due to the similarity of the Zn isotopic composition of the ore material in all investigated intrusions of the Noril’sk Province.

Forecasting criteria for sulphide PGE-copper-nickel deposits of the Noril’sk province (In English)

Research subject. World-class sulphide platinum-group-element (PGE)-Cu-Ni deposits occur within the Noril’sk-Talnakh region of northern Siberia, Russia. The signifcance of these deposits presents opportunities to determine the most effective approaches for the search of similar deposits using commercial PGE-Cu-Ni deposit examples. Materials and methods. Petrological and geochemical analysis of the ultramafc-mafc intrusions of the Noril’sk province ranks them into three types in terms of sulphide mineralization style and economic signifcance: 1) economic intrusions containing unique and large sulphide PGE-Cu-Ni deposits (Oktyabr’sk, Talnakh and Noril’sk-1); 2) subeconomic intrusions that contain small- to medium-sized Cu-Ni sulphide deposits, and medium-sized to large PGE deposits (Chernogorsk, Zub-Marksheider, Vologochan, etc.); 3) uneconomic intrusions that contain low-grade disseminated Cu-Ni ores with ≈0.2 wt % of Cu and Ni, and low Cr and PGE (Nizhny Talnakh, Zelyonaya Griva, etc.). Results and conclusions. Principal sources used in exploration for rich sulphide PGE-Cu-Ni ores include structural, magmatic, stratigraphic-lithological, geochemical, mineralogical, metamorphic and some others. Based on an analysis of isotope-geochemical data, new indicators for locating sulphide PGE-Cu-Ni mineralization are suggested. A restricted range of S-isotope values, and a negative trend for coupled S-Cu isotope compositions can be employed as useful guides to assess the economic potential of a PGE-Cu-Ni sulphide deposit. It is proposed that the Chernogorsk ultramafc-mafc intrusion of the Noril’sk province is the most promising target in a search for rich PGE-Cu-Ni ores. It is suggested that the previously known mineralogical-geochemical and novel isotope-geochemical characteristics of sulphide and silicate minerals are important indicators in assessing the potential ore content of ultramafc-mafc intrusions of the Noril’sk province.

Oxygen isotope composition of zircons from the Talnakh economic intrusion of the Noril’sk province: first data

This study presents the first results of oxygen isotope analyses (18O) collected on zircons from the Talnakh economic intrusion within the Norilsk province. Zircons from gabbro-diorite, gabbroic rocks of the layered series and plagioclase-bearing wehrlite have similar mantle-like mean 18O values (5,39 0,49; 5,64 0,48 and of 5,28 0,34, respectively), which differ from 18O in zircons from sulfide-bearing melanocratic troctolite with a taxitic texture in the lower part of the intrusion (mean 18O = 6,50 0,98). These new oxygen isotope data support (i) the mantle-derived origin of the primary magma(s), parental to the Talnakh intrusion, and (ii) possible involvement of a crustal component during the formation of sulfide-bearing taxitic-textured rocks.

Oxygen Isotope Composition of Zircons from the Talnakh Economic Intrusion of the Noril’sk Province: First Data

This study presents the first results of oxygen isotope analyses (δ 18 O) collected on zircons from the Talnakh economic intrusion within the Noril’sk province. Zircons from gabbro-diorite, gabbroic rocks of the layered series and plagioclase-bearing wehrlite have similar mantle-like mean δ 18 O values (5,39 ± 0,49‰; 5,64 ± 0,48‰ and of 5,28 ± 0,34‰, respectively), which differ from δ 18 O in zircons from sulfide-bearing melanocratic troctolite with a taxitic texture in the lower part of the intrusion (mean δ 18 O = 6,50 ± 0,98‰). These new oxygen isotope data support (i) the mantle-derived origin of the primary magma(s), parental to the Talnakh intrusion, and (ii) possible involvement of a crustal component during the formation of sulfide-bearing taxitic-textured rocks.

Red Patriots against White Patriots: Contesting Patriotism in the Civil War in North Russia

This article uses the example of Arkhangel’sk province in North Russia to examine how the two main parties in the Russian Civil War—the Bolsheviks and the White armies—used elements of nationalism and xenophobia to delegitimise their enemies. It reveals the evolution of patriotic rhetoric, first used by the Whites to discredit the Bolsheviks as German agents, and then by the Reds to delegitimise the Whites as agents of the Entente. In the 1920s anti-Allied sentiments became the main trope in the memory of the civil war both among émigrés and in the Soviet North.

Results of chemical dating of monazite from the Talnakh economic intrusion (Russia)

Economic copper, nickel, and platinum-group element (PGE) deposits are associated with the Talnakh ultramafic–mafic intrusion of the Noril’sk Province in the northwestern part of the Siberian Platform. The results of the chemical Th–U–Pb dating of monazite from the ore-bearing melanotroctolites of the Talnakh intrusion are presented. The isotope-geochemical features of monazite are compared with zircon, sulfides, and baddeleyite.

Isotopic-geochemical characteristics of the ore-bearing ultramafic-mafic intrusions of western Taimyr, Russia

The composition and isotopic-geochemical peculiarities of zircons from the orebearing ultra� mafic-mafic intrusions of western Taimyr that are promising for finding Pt-Cu-Ni mineralization were characterized for the first time. The similar U-Pb age of zircons from the Binyuda and Dyumaltei intrusions (248.3 ± 13 and 244.4 ± 2.4 Ma, respectively) indicates that the intrusions were formed almost synchronously with tholeiitic basalts of the Siberian Platform. The age and Nd-Sr data of intrusions of western Taimyr are distinct from those of economic orebearing intrusions of the Noril'sk province characterized by longterm magmatic evolution of the rocks and different material sources.

Insights into ore genesis of Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposits of the Noril’sk Province (Russia): Evidence from copper and sulfur isotopes

Abstract Combined Cu–S isotope data for Ni-Cu-PGE sufides from the economic deposits hosted in the Noril’sk-1, Talnakh and Kharaelakh intrusions, from the subeconomic deposits in the Chernogorsk, Zub-Marksheider, and Vologochan intrusions, and from the non-economic occurrences in the Nizhny Talnakh intrusion in the Noril’sk Province (Russia), and the J-M Reef in the Stillwater Complex (USA), are presented for the first time. Most sulfide samples including the ores from the Talnakh intrusion and the Stillwater Complex have a restricted range of δ 65 Cu values from − 1.1‰ to 0‰, whereas those from the Kharaelakh and Noril’sk-1 intrusions have more variable δ 65 Cu values of − 2.3‰ to 1.0‰. Samples from the three economic deposits in the Noril’sk Province have distinct mean δ 65 Cu values of –1.56 ± 0.27‰ for Kharaelakh, –0.55 ± 0.41‰ for Talnakh and 0.23 ± 0.28‰ for Noril’sk-1, consistent with those for carbonaceous chondrite and iron meteorites. The variation of δ 65 Cu values is interpreted to represent a primary signature of the ores, although a magmatic fractionation of Cu isotopes and/or assimilation from an external source cannot be ruled out, particularly in the case of the Kharaelakh ores. Collectively the eight investigated intrusions have an overall sulfur δ 34 S range from − 0.7‰ to 13.8‰. Disseminated and massive ores of the same intrusion have similar δ 34 S values. The disseminated and massive ores of the Khraelakh intrusion have a mean δ 34 S value of 12.57 ± 0.54‰ and 12.76 ± 0.42‰, respectively, which are distinctly different from those of the disseminated (10.97 ± 0.44‰) and massive ores (10.88 ± 0.77‰) of the Talnakh intrusion. The different δ 34 S values of the intrusions may be attributed to sulfur fractionation in deep-seated magma chambers rather than at shallow levels or the present emplacement site. The mean δ 34 S value of the disseminated ores from the subeconomic Ni-Cu-PGE deposits and non-economic occurrences spans over 10.5‰, averaging 0.39‰ with a standard deviation of 1.55‰ for the highly contaminated Zub-Marksheider rocks, 6.38 ± 1.89‰ for Nizhny Talnakh, 6.90 ± 1.17‰ for Vologochan and 10.86 ± 0.43‰ for Chernogorsk. Samples from the Zub-Marksheider intrusion have mantle-like S isotope signatures, consistent with a deep-seated origin. Although individual mineralized instrusions have a restricted range the overall trend they define of falling δ 34 S with rising δ 65 Cu values might be a useful indicator of the economic potential of Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposits.

First U-Pb age of detrital zircons from sandstones of the Upper Emsian Takaty formation of the Western Urals with regard to the problem of primary sources of the Uralian diamond placers

Several alternative points of view currently exist on the origin of the primary sources of diamonds from the Cenozoic Western Urals placers. Some researchers suppose that their economic diamond resource potential is related to diamonds from tuffisitic facies of the mantle kimberlites-lamproites or impact structures. Other researchers suggest that diamonds originated from the eroded sandstones of the Upper Emsian Takaty Formation of the Lower Devonian, which represents ancient (fossil) placers or intermediate reservoirs. It is assumed that these reservoirs collected diamonds from worn kimberlite bodies, which were located in the Urals or on the East European platform (EEP). This paper presents the first U-Pb (LA-ICP-MS) age of detrital zircons from quartz sandstones of the Takaty Formation, which spans a range from 1857.5 ± 53.8 to 3054.0 ± 48.0 Ma. The absence of detrital zircons younger than 1.86 Ga excludes that the structural complexes of the Uralian, Fennoscandian, and Sarmatian EEP parts were the provenance areas that supplied the clastic material to the sedimentary basin, which accumulated the Takaty Formation. The similar age of our zircons and ancient crystalline complexes of the Volga-Uralian EEP part allows consideration that it was a single provenance area. If we assume that the diamond resource potential of the Western Urals is completely or partly related to the ancient diamond placers from the Takaty Formation, then the intermediate diamond reservoirs from its structure originated due to redeposition of destruction products of primary diamond-bearing rocks of the Volga-Uralia area. Thus, within the Volga-Uralian part of the EEP basement, we may expect identification of a previously unknown stage of kimberlite formation, which is significantly older than that responsible for the diamond resource potential of the Arkhangel’sk province.

Russia's Red Revolutionary and White Terror, 1917–1921: A Provincial Perspective

This essay re-examines White and Red terror during the Russian Civil War by studying public participation in the acts of political violence. It shifts attention from the ideological and political motifs of terror to places and contexts where violence occurred. On the example of paramilitary groups of White and Red partisans in Arkhangel'sk province in the Russian North, it demonstrates how local factors, such as the nearby frontline, poor economic conditions or traditional enmity between neighbouring communities, contributed to the escalation of terror at a grass-root level.

East Scandinavian and Noril’sk plume mafic large igneous provinces of Pd-Pt ores: Geological and metallogenic comparison

This paper compares the geological, geophysical, and isotopic geochemical data on the Paleoproterozoic East Scandinavian Pd-Pt province in the Baltic Shield and the Late Paleozoic Noril’sk Pd-Pt province in the Siberian Craton. Both provinces contain large magmatic PGE deposits: low-sulfide in the Baltic Shield and high-sulfide in the Siberian Craton. Multidisciplinary evidence shows that the East Scandinavian mafic large igneous province, which has a plume nature, is intracratonic and was not subjected to the crucial effect of subduction-related and other contamination processes, whereas the Noril’sk province is pericratonic with substantial crustal contamination of the intrusive processes. Low-sulfide Pd-Pt deposits dominate in the East Scandinavian province, while high-sulfide Ni-Cu-PGE deposits play the leading role in the Noril’sk province. The U-Pb, Sm-Nd, and Rb-Sr isotopic data indicate multistage and long-term (tens of millions of years) geological history of mafic large igneous provinces. The plume magmatism with specific geochemistry and metallogeny is probably related to lower mantle sources.

Литовські Статути в Подільській губернії у першій половині XIX ст.: данина традиції чи правові рудименти?

Литовські Статути в Подільській губернії у першій половині XIX ст.: данина традиції чи правові рудименти?

Re-Os AND S ISOTOPE CONSTRAINTS ON TIMING AND SOURCE HETEROGENEITY OF PGE-Cu-Ni SULFIDE ORES: A CASE STUDY AT THE TALNAKH ORE JUNCTION, NORIL'SK PROVINCE, RUSSIA

The ultramafic–mafic Noril’sk-type intrusions in the northern part of Siberia, in Russia, host some of the world’s major economic platinum-group-element (PGE)–Cu–Ni sulfide deposits. We present the results of Re–Os and S isotope systematics of PGE–Cu–Ni sulfide ores associated with the economic Talnakh and Kharaelakh intrusions within the Talnakh ore junction, Noril’sk Province. At Kharaelakh, Re–Os isotope analyses of disseminated and massive PGE–Cu–Ni sulfide ores identify distinct sources of sulfide mineralization, with Re–Os isochron ages that cluster around 247 Ma. Different initial Os isotope compositions of massive (187Os/188Os = 0.1283 ± 0.0054, γOs(t) = 1.1) and disseminated (187Os/188Os = 0.1331 ± 0.0052, γOs(t) = 4.9) sulfide ores at Kharaelakh indicate either a less contaminated nature of the massive orebody with respect to sulfide disseminations or distinct isotope sources involved in their generation. At Talnakh, Re–Os isotope systematics of massive and disseminated ores show broadly similar patterns ( e.g., 187Os/188Os = 0.1366 ± 0.0037, γOs(t) = 7.6 and 187Os/188Os = 0.1350 ± 0.0036, γOs(t) = 6.4, respectively), indicating their similar sources, likely of mantle origin. Combined with new geochronological and isotope-geochemical data on zircon, the Re–Os isotope systematics of sulfide ores are consistent with protracted evolution of ultramafic–mafic magmas at deep-seated staging chambers in the Noril’sk region, which served as the favorable factor for accumulation of ores of unique scales and concentrations. Sulfur isotope values (δ34S) of disseminated and massive PGE–Cu–Ni sulfide ores at Kharaelakh (12.2 ± 0.5‰ and 12.7 ± 0.1‰, respectively) are notably different from those at Talnakh (10.8 ± 0.1‰ and 10.9 ± 0.1‰, respectively), indicative of distinct involvement of heavy sulfur during formation of PGE–Cu–Ni sulfide ores. The restricted range of δ34S values can be employed as useful fingerprint in the assessment of the potential of prospective ore deposits.

Origin of garnet megacrysts from kimberlites

The asthenospheric source is commonly accepted for the genetic interpretation of minerals in megacryst assemblages from kimberlites and deformed lherzolites. Both assemblages are regarded as highest temperature and high-pressure formations in the mantle [1‐5]. According to [1, 2, 6], minerals of the megacryst assemblage are products of fractional crystallization of the asthenospheric melt. At the same time, the problem of close association of the formation of megacrysts and deformed lherzolites is discussed in [6], in which the lithospheric origin of deformed peridotites is suggested and evidence of refertilization of the lower lithosphere by asthenospheric melts is presented. All these problems remain to be solved and require further investigations. In this communication, we discuss data on the major oxide and REE contents in garnet megacrysts from kimberlites of the Mir pipe (Malobotuobinsk field); the Udachnaya, Dal’nyaya, and Zarnitsa pipes (Daldyn field); the Zapolyarnaya, Novinka, Komsomol’skaya‐ Magnitnaya pipes (Verkhnemunsk field) in the Yakutian province; and the Grib pipe in the Arkhangel’sk province; and garnets from xenoliths of deformed peridotites in the Udachnaya-Vostochnaya pipe. Our aim was to characterize the REE patterns in garnets from the deformed lherzolites and megacrysts, to establish the geochemical evolution of melts in equilibrium with these minerals, and to discuss their possible origin. The xenoliths and megacrysts were examined in detail under an optic microscope. The cores and marginal zones of garnet grains were analyzed for major oxides on a JXA-33 (Jeol) microprobe at the Institute of Geochemistry, Irkutsk. The trace element contents were determined with the SIMS method on a Cameca IMS ion probe at the Institute of Microelectronics and Informatics, Russian Academy of Sciences (Yaroslavl), using the technique described in [7]. The latter method provided measurements accurate to 10‐15% for concentrations of >0.1 ppm and 40‐50% at concentrations of <0.1 ppm.

Northerners into Whites: Popular Participation in the Counter-Revolution in Arkhangel'sk Province, Summer – Autumn 1918

This article examines popular participation in the anti-bolshevik movement in Arkhangel'sk province of the Russian North during the first months of the Civil War. Using the example of local administration, mobilisation and bread supply it demonstrates how the particularities of the revolution in the province influenced the growth of the White movement and how people were able partly to adjust the anti-bolshevik regime to their own needs. It thus shifts the traditional scholarly focus from the bolshevik-controlled centre to the Russian periphery, and from elite party politics to the role of population in shaping the White regime.

Detection and Identification of Bacterial Agents inIxodes persulcatusSchulze Ticks from the North Western Region of Russia

Ixodes persulcatus Schultze ticks are traditionally associated with transmission of Lyme disease, babesiosis, and tick-borne encephalitis. Here we compared the prevalence of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, and rickettsial and ehrlichial agents in I. persulcatus ticks collected in different locations of the North Western administrative region of Russia. Altogether, 27.7% of ticks were infected with at least one organism, while the DNA of two or more bacteria was found in 11.8% of ticks tested. The highest average prevalence of Anaplasmataceae (20.8%) was detected in ticks from Arkhangel'sk province, while the prevalence in ticks from Novgorod province and St. Petersburg, respectively, was 7.3% and 12.2%. Only Ehrlichia muris DNA was identified by DNA sequencing. In comparison, the prevalence of B. burdorferi DNA was 16.6%, 5.8%, and 24.5% in the respective locations. The 382-bp amplicon of gltA from Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae was detected in 2.75% and 1.6%, respectively, of ticks from Arkhangel'sk and Novgorod provinces, extending further west and north the area where this rickettsia is known to be present. DNA of the rickettsia-like endosymbiont Montezuma was primarily associated with female ticks, 8-28% of which were infected. Since I. persulcatus is so commonly infected with multiple agents that may cause human diseases, exposure to these ticks poses significant risk to human health in this region.

Cranial anatomy and phylogenetic affinities of the Permian parareptile Macroleter poezicus

ABSTRACT The Parareptilia, the sister group to the Eureptilia, is poorly known, with many taxa in need of adequate description. One such taxon, Macroleter poezicus is found in Middle Permian strata of the Mezen River Basin in the Arkhangel'sk Province of Russia. The cranial anatomy of Macroleter is described from four new well-preserved specimens, and 89 cranial characters are incorporated into a phylogenetic analysis of parareptiles. A single most parsimonious topology is found, consisting of 205 steps, with the novel result that Macroleter is the taxon most closely related to pareiasaurs. This result has important implications for the phylogeny of the Parareptilia as well as for the identity of a disputed element (the tabular) in the skull of pareiasaurs.

Kimberlites and related rocks of the Arkhangel’sk diamondiferous province and adjacent areas: A comparative petrogeochemical analysis

The formational and metallogenic affiliation of the alkaline ultramafic rocks of the Arkhangel’sk diamondiferous province and the adjacent areas of the northern East European platform were analyzed using recent concepts on the structure of the formational and metallogenic family of kimberlites and related rocks, petrogeochemical criteria, and discriminant diagrams based on reference associations. It was shown that the alkaline ultramafic magmatism of the Arkhangel’sk province belongs to various formations, which is typical of the provinces of ancient craton margins. In addition to diamondiferous kimberlites, the area hosts abundant low-grade diamondiferous kimpicrites and alpicrites, which are typically associated with rare-metal carbonatites. Significant petrogeochemical differences were detected between the diamondiferous kimberlites of the Arkhangel’sk province and the kimberlites of the classic Central Yakutian diamondiferous province. This allowed us to consider the rocks of the Arkhangel’sk province as a specific geochemical type of diamondiferous kimberlites.

“Genshtabisty”1 in Service at the Headquarters of the Red Army’s Iaroslavl Military District During the Civil War

The Iaroslavl Military District (IMD) was established by an order of the Higher Military Council (HMC), dated March 31, 1918, on the territory of the Iaroslavl, Petrograd, Pskov, Novgorod, Kostroma, Nizhegorod, Vladimir, and Tver’ Provinces (guberniia). With the formation of the Petrograd District and dissolution of the Belomorsk District in September 1918, the territories of Vologda Province, Northern Dvina Province, and even parts of Arkhangel’sk Province became part of the IMD. In all, the IMD included “within its boundaries the enormous territory of twelve provinces encompassing the entire northern third of European Russia.” Of the seven “provincial” military districts the Bolsheviks established in Autumn 1918 and which played a determining role in securing the two main Bolshevik fronts during the Civil War (Eastern and Southern), the IMD was undoubtedly one of the most powerful, second only to the Moscow, Petrograd, and Orel Districts. The transfer of district headquarters to Ivanovo-Voznesensk (September 1918–March 1919), caused by the July (1918) mutiny in Iaroslavl, in no way affected the quality of work with regard to the district’s military development (voennoe stroitel’stvo).2

Death by Lightning: For Sinner or Saint? Beliefs from Novosokol'niki Region, Pskov Province, Russia

Death by Lightning: An Ambivalent Fate The present short paper provides some additional material for an article of mine, recently published in Folklore, which was based on fieldwork carried out in Novosokol'niki region, Pskov province, Russia in 1995 (Warner 2000a; 2000b). The article was concerned with category of the dead traditionally regarded by the Russian peasantry as unclean. In addition to suicides, this category included many others who had died prematurely, through the violence of others, by disease or by accident. In the last group, particular place was occupied by those killed by lightning, attitudes towards whom remained ambiguous into the early part of the twentieth century and, to some extent, beyond. One of our informants in Novosokol'niki region, Evgeniia Markovna Savinova [1], from Zhukovo village, when asked whether, in her opinion, good or bad were most likely to be killed by lightning and why such thing should happen to them, gave the following interesting response: These were fated [literally named, narechennye] by God. That is your horoscope [planeta] you have to bear. For example, we don't know when we'll die. But if you're named it means you're born with this fate. You might be fated to be killed by lightning or knows how, by bullet, by falling tree or whatever. Evgeniia, like others we questioned on this point, seemed to have no judgemental attitude towards victims of lightning strikes and did not explicitly regard them as unclean. However, she has listed those killed by lightning together with others who have died violent death, thus subconsciously at least appearing to categorise them as such. Her comment also contains confused sense about why the event should take place, purely an accident of one's horoscope or as the result of having been chosen by in some way. This apparant contradiction has been typical of Russian peasant attitudes to death by lightning for many centuries. The beliefs and behaviour associated with fires and other tragedies caused by lightning suggest that, even in the nineteenth century and early part of the twentieth century, the Russian peasantry regarded them as extraordinary events, worthy of extraordinary measures. Thus, it was widely considered that fire started by lightning could not, or should not, be extinguished by conventional means. Pouring water on fire begun by lightning, for example, was regarded as unlikely to be efficacious: fire caused by lightning is extinguished by kvass, beer, milk or eggs; Over fire caused by lightning pour milk from black cow (nineteenth century, no location given; Dal' 1957, 929): My great-grandad's mother, she swore at dog and she was struck by lightning. Her dress caught fire. She flung another garment over the top of it. There wouldn't have been any point in pouring water over the fire ... (recorded in summer 1916 from I. A. Koptiaev, Kodema village, Shenkurskii uezd, Arkhangel'sk province; Bogatyrev 1916, 66). Attempts to save people, animals, or belongings from building set on fire by lightning were discouraged: When something catches fire because of lightning that is sign of grace. You should not try to save single object (recorded in summer 1916 from Anna Klement'eva, aged 55, Kuzedevskaya village, Shenkurskii uezd, Arkhangel'sk province; Bogatyrev 1916, 65). A thunder storm was described variously as a gift from God [blagodat], the charity of God [miloserdie] or God's grace [milost' bozh'ia] (see, for example, Dal' 1957, 929). Similarly, it was considered that people killed by lightning are `pleasing to God' (recorded in 1899 from P. I. Kamanin, Domnino village, Melenkovskii uezd, Liakhovskaia volost', Vladimir province; Firsov and Kiseleva 1993, 120) and that anyone who met their end in this fashion would automatically enter the kingdom of heaven (Magnitskii 1883, 133). …