Steppe Nomads Research Articles

«Asyk» in Nomad culture

As the main occupation of steppe nomads was cattle breeding, they used all their products efficiently. Animal milk was used as food, skin and wool as clothing, horns and bones as various tools. The bone from the animal's tail is called "asyk" and is widely used in the upbringing of offspring. Archaeological excavations in the areas inhabited by steppe nomads prove that the history of "asyk" is very deep. And our study of its place in the upbringing of the next generation was clarified through the elements of our archeological, cultural and linguistic resources, and tried to determine its place in our culture. As the two largest representatives of modern nomadic culture, linguistic and cultural ties in relation to asyk in Kazakh and Mongolian culture were considered comparatively

Multi-disciplinary analysis of an elite Xiongnu tomb from Belkhin Am cemetery, Ulaanbaatar

The Xiongnu Empire was the first integrated political formation of Eastern Steppe nomads, whose history is known from the contemporaneous Chinese written sources and the archaeological findings of their burials. Here we present a complex multidisciplinary study of a tomb from the Xiongnu cemetery of Belkhin Am. The archaeological features characterized the grave as an elite Xiongnu burial. By radiocarbon analysis the tomb could be dated to the middle of the Xiongnu era, between the 1st century BCE and 1st century CE. The phylogenetic connections of the human remains found in the grave were in concordance with its Inner East Asian location.

Хозяйственные обязанности мужчин и женщин в кочевых обществах Центральной Евразии XVIII – начала XX вв.

Introduction. In early nomadic societies of Central Asia, gender was the major factor in the division of labor. However, the written sources and archaeological evidence in the field do not provide enough detail to describe this division, hence the solution to the problem may be sought in the ethnographical data of the peoples, nomadic in their recent past. The article aims to analyze the household responsibilities of men and women in the nomadic societies in Central Eurasia in the 18th – early 20th centuries to use this data for a reconstruction of the gender labor division of the early nomadic societies in the region. Materials and methods. The study makes use of published sources on the recent nomads. Notably, the present authors proceed from the fact that, granted the largely conservative character of nomadic economy and the regional environment that remained unchanged in the period in question, the forms of regional nomadic economies were largely of a similar type. Hence, it may be possible to use the data on recently nomadic peoples for the reconstruction of the economy, culture, and socio-economic structures of the ancient nomads of the Eurasian steppes. Results. The undertaken analysis of the sources indicates a clear gender division of economic activities in the Eurasian nomadic societies in the 18th – early 20th cc. Tradition prescribed the division of household duties into strictly male and female, and any violation of the gender roles was discouraged. Conclusions. The range of economic responsibilities of men and women was clearly circumscribed in the nomadic societies of Central Eurasia, their ethnic affiliation and religion playing no part in the existent labor division structures. Men took care of the herds, keeping them safe and enlarging their number; crafts were also largely men’s field; men’s duties included maintenance and protection of caravans, as well as protection of the family and aul, property and livestock from enemy raids and baranta. Women were involved in childcare and domestic chores, including processing of animal raw materials, looking after livestock in the aul, cooking food, and collecting fuel for winter seasons. Thus, the data on labor division between men and women characteristic of the recent nomads makes it possible to reconstruct the gender labor division in the societies of the early nomads in the Eurasian steppe.

From Mulan (1998) to Mulan (2020): Disney Conventions, Cross-Cultural Feminist Intervention, and a Compromised Progress

Directed by the feminist filmmaker Niki Caro, Disney’s 2020 live-action remake of Mulan (1998) strove to be a more gender progressive, culturally appropriate, and internationally successful adaptation of the Chinese legend of Mulan than the animated original. Contrary to the film’s intended effect, however, it was a critical and financial letdown. The film was criticized for a wide range of issues, including making unpopular changes to the animated original, misrepresenting Chinese culture and history, perpetuating Orientalist stereotypes, and demonizing Inner Asian steppe nomads. In addition, the film also faced boycott calls amid political controversies surrounding China. It received exceptionally low audience ratings in both the US and China, grossing a total well under its estimated budget. This article argues that Mulan (2020) is not, as many believe, just another Disney film suffering from simple artistic inability, cultural insensitivity, or political injustice, but a window into the tension-ridden intersectionality of the gender, sexual, racial, cultural, and political issues that shape the production and reception of today’s cross-cultural films. It discusses three major problems, the Disney problem, the gender problem, and the cultural problem, that Mulan (2020) tackled with respectful efforts in Caro’s feminist filmmaking pattern. The film made significant compromises between its goals of cultural appropriateness, progressive feminism, and monetary success. Although it eventually failed to satisfactorily resolve these at times conflicting missions, it still achieved important progress in addressing some serious gender and cultural problems in Mulan’s contemporary intertextual metamorphosis, especially those introduced by the Disney animation. By revealing Mulan (2020)’s value and defects, this article intends to flesh out some real-world challenges that feminist movements must overcome to effectively transmit messages and bring about changes at the transcultural level in the arts.

THE ROLE OF TRADE FAIRS DURING ZHANGIR KHAN

Annotation.The article examines the rule of Zhangir Khan in the Bukeev Horde. Opening of shopping establishments in Uyala and Shop-Shagyl district. Trade fairs in the khanate have expanded over time, and the proportion of representatives of different linguistic peoples has increased accordingly. Various trade relations were established here, steppe nomads and urban population, cattle breeders and farmers, village blacksmiths, experienced merchants and shepherds who did not understand trade, manufactories, steppe Shonzhars, Tatars, Cossacks and Russian peasants clashed and traded. Zhangir Khan paid great attention to the legal course of the fair and strictly regulated the sphere of trade by rules. Due to the fact that multinational peoples gathered at the fair for trade, and that there was no theft, mounted Cossacks were put on guard and a special bazaar was appointed for the fair. In addition, the quality of goods at the fair was checked, the correctness of the scales, the goods were certified, and the entry of merchants who arrived at the fair without documents was prohibited.

Relations between Steppe Nomads and Farmers in Eastern Europe and M. Gimbutas’ Migration Concept

After Ukraine had gained independence, artificial problems began to arise in the study of the ancient history of Eastern Europe, especially in the relations of steppe herders and farmers of Polissia. In particular, this applies to the Migration Concept of the American archaeologist M. Gimbutas recognized in Europe. After an unfounded “unscrupulous criticism” of archaeologists – representatives of the “Russian World” – an archaeologist from Moldova V. Dergachev spoke in defense of the objectivity of the 50-year study of this topic by M. Gimbutas in his monograph. Earlier, the Migration Concept of conquering Europe was supported by D. Telehin, Kh. Todorova, N. Ryndina, Ye. Chernykh, and others.Our study confirms the conceptual foundations of the ancient history of relations between nomadic steppes and farmers of Eastern Europe relying on the Migration Concept of M. Gimbutas. On the basis of the sources, protective fortifications of Kukuteny-Trypillia settlements and a large number of arrowheads – weapons of steppe riding archers – were found. In the early, middle, and late stages of Kukuteni-Trypillya culture, three waves of military invasion against European farmers by the Middle-Volga’s, Middle-Stog’s and Novodanyliv’s nomadic tribes of the eastern steppes can be traced. Further research will allow the author to solve the problems of the origins and causes of the disappearance of Kukuten-Trypillia tribes, the problems of burning Trypillia settlements, the fate of Buh-Dniester and East Trypillian tribes.

21st-Century Archaeological Discoveries of the Early Nomadic Cultural Remains – Centered in the Middle Section of the Great Wall Area in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Since the beginning of the 21st century, eight early nomadic cultural remains located in Xinzhouyaozi Village, Xiaoshuanggucheng Village, and Xindianzi Town, have been discovered in Manhan Mountain, Hunhe River and two other districts in the middle section of the Great Wall area in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The new discoveries have crucial academic significance to the study of the formation of nomads, cultural exchanges, and the culture of steppe nomads, in terms of burial styles, animal sacrifice customs, and characteristics of grave goods

“The Holder of Forty Spears” in the list of Däftär-i Čingiz-nāmä: definition meaning, symbol

The article explains the meaning of the term “the Holder of Forty Spears” (“қырықсүңгілі”) in a separate list of the Turko-Tatar ChroniclesDäftär-i Čingiz-nāmäat the end of the XVII century. Besides, a trial of identifying some characters was done from the mentioned source as “the Holder of Forty Spears” – Bolat bahadur” and his son “Bek bey” with real historical figures (beks, tribal chiefs) of the Golden Horde at the time of Janibek Khan. In the military history of the ancient settlers of Eurasia and late medieval Turko-Mongol nomadic tribes, spears and lances were one of the main types of weapons of the close combat and their importance was mentioned more than once in the writings. In addition to the basic, functional, combat assignment, spears and lances in the military culture and traditions of the Turko-Mongol nomads of the Great Steppe had a symbolic meaning. A spear, as a means of armament, used in a ram attack and a close combat, evolved into the symbol of statehood in the form of banners, flags, and possessing them equaled the status of “a commander-in-chief” or “a major warlord”. In this regard, by analyzing and taking into consideration continual several century-long military traditions of the steppe nomads, the article implies the word combination “the Holder of Forty Spears” (“қырықсүңгілі”) inDäftär-i Čingiz-nāmäis equal to “Commander-in- Chief Army”, in other words, in our opinion, in this sourcespear-lanceis represented as an abstracted textual symbol indicating “an army”, “a huge troop” and its Holder as “a commander-in-chief”, “major warlord”.

«Добрый» или «святой» Джанибек-хан (1342–1357) в устной исторической памяти кочевников-казахов

Research objectives: To identify the main reasons for the formation of the cult of Janibek Khan of the Golden Horde in the oral historical memory of the nomadic steppe tribes which was embodied in the narrative tradition of Kazakhs from the fifteenth to eighteenth century. Research materials: The texts of the Kazakh folklore sources from the last quarter of the eighteenth to the beginning of twentieth century, published in different genres (tales, epics, legends, fairy tales) and dedicated to Janibek Khan or characters of the oral narratives closely related to him. Results and novelty of the research: The historiography of the Golden Horde and the medieval history of Kazakhstan considers it conventional wisdom that Uzbek Khan (r. 1313–1342) played the decisive role in the Islamization of the tribal population of the Ulus of Jochi during the fourteenth century. However, none of the Kazakh folklore sources recorded from the last quarter of eighteenth to beginning of twentieth century mentions his name. Rather, this role is given to the son and successor of Uzbek, Janibek Khan, who is the most popular character of oral narratives of Kazakhs dedicated to the Eurasian Middle Ages. This fact leads to the conclusion that the innovative activities of Uzbek in the field of religion covered mainly the western part of the Ulus of Jochi but had a limited impact on the steppe nomads of the Eastern Dasht-i Kipchak. The main role in the spread of Islam and Islamic culture to the east of the Ural River valley, in the territory of the ethnic nomadic ancestors of the Kazakh tribes, was played by Janibek Khan, which was reflected in the popular historical consciousness of Kazakhs. This article demonstrates the influence of Sufism’s cult of the “saints” borrowed by Muslim communities of the steppe in the process of sacralization of the historical Janibek Khan in the Kazakh narrative tradition and highlights the most characteristic features of his mythologized image. The scholarly novelty consists in the statement of the abovementioned theme of research and the structural analysis of the revealed folklore texts, which allows one to solve the long-standing problem of the association of the folk literature Janibek Khan of the Golden Horde and the historical Kazakh Khan of the same name who ruled in the eastern part of the former Ulus of Jochi in the later period.

On the development of the Sargatka Culture in the Tobol River basin region (based on materials of the Ustyug-1 burial ground)

The article is concerned with characteristics of funeral traditions of the Sargatka Culture population based on materials of the Ustyug-1 burial ground located in the Zavodoukovsky District of Tyumen Region. Six barrows of the Early Iron Age were studied in the area. Mounds 5 (5th–3rd c. BC), 51 and 52 (5th–4th c. BC) belong to the early stage of the culture. Sargatka burials of mounds 27 and 49 (3rd–2nd c. BC) were made during the middle stage. Burial from mound 56 (2nd–3rd c. AD) belongs to the final period of the Sargatka Culture of the Early Iron Age. Thus, burials in the Ustyug-1 necropolis were made during the entire time of existence of the Sargatka Culture. The comparison of different periods of functioning of the cemetery within the same culture and microregion re-vealed a number of characteristic features of the complex in the context of the historical development of the Early Iron Age cultures in the forest-steppe zone. Furthermore, it was possible to trace the process of formation of the culture in the Tobol River basin, the composition and status of the individual groups of the population, and the nature of cultural ties. We conclude that the variation between the objects of different periods reflects the deve-lopmental stages of the Sargatka Culture in the local microregion. In the early stage of the culture, part of its population migrated from the east into the Tobol basin region. It was transformed here under the influence of local groups of the Baitovo Culture on the one hand, and certain groups of steppe nomads on the other. The burial rite of the local population changed dramatically as a result of contacts between the bearers of the Sargatka Culture and nomadic groups. This indicates the strengthening of the Iranian worldview component in the Sargatka envi-ronment. At the next stage, the interaction of the local population with the nomads of the Sarmatian circle became more active, and the level of militarization of the local population increased. In the late period, social stratification within the Sargatka Сulture society increased, which was accompanied by an increase in prestigious consumption. This was expressed in a clear separation of the elite funeral rite from the ordinary one. The study of such monu-ments, which existed for a long time, can help us to understand the processes of formation and extinction of cultures.

Көне ұйғыр әліпбиінің жазба ескерткіштерде қолданылу ерекшеліктері

Ancient Uyghur writing occupies a special place in the culture of steppe nomads. It is believed that the ancient Uyghur writing arose based on the Sogdian writing (more precisely: it was adapted to it), nevertheless, this writing was used by the steppe nomads for a long time and played an important role in the formation of the ancient Uyghur literary language. Ancient Uyghur inscriptions found in East Turkestan became the object of close attention of scientists after the discovery of the ancient Turkic runic writing.It should also be noted that the ancient Uyghur inscriptions are very diverse in genres, differ in the variety of content and forms of grapheme writing, the classification and analysis of which is the subject of this article. Moreover, we have systematized by content all the main texts of the era of the Uyghur Kaganate, revealed the features of their functioning. Thus, we are trying to reveal the significance and importance of the ancient Uyghur culture in the common Turkic culture and make our contribution to its research.

Ранневизантийские элементы престижного конского снаряжения с декором в стиле перегородчатой инкрустации в постгуннское время (Восточная Европа, Подунавье и евразийские степи)

The elements of prestigious horse tack of the Early Byzantine origin, decorated with cloisonné inlay style decor, have long been identified among the steppe nomads of the Post-Hunnic Period (the so-called Shipovo horizon from the second third of the fifth to the second third of the sixth centuries), as well as among the sedentary barbarians in Eastern and Central Europe. These finds include disc-shaped badges or plaques or appliques, rectangular belt-ends, and horse bits with zoomorphic images. Now it is difficult to infer specific mechanisms for the distribution of prestigious early Byzantine artefacts in the Barbaricum in the Post-Hunnic Period. It looks like that apart from the usual military trophies these items could have been included in diplomatic gifts. Written sources testify to specific cases of donation of horse accessories (saddles) to barbarian leaders. Along with weapons, these artefacts could also be obtained as a result of a symbolic investment of the Empire’s allies on behalf of the emperor. The hypothesis of making the artefacts in the cloisonné inlay style directly in the Barbaricum seems less probable, though the presence there of craftsmen including those who knew the technique of the Constantinople jewellery “school” is quite possible. However, it should be remembered that the technique of sawing and processing precious stones was particularly complex and was owned by a very limited number of craftsmen. Therefore, the overwhelming majority of barbarian jewellery pieces from the Hunnic and Post-Hunnic Periods used the secondary-used stones, in contrast to the case of the finds in steppe, like those from Morskoi Chulek, Bylym-Kudinetovo, Ialpug, or Altynkazgan. Rather, the latter were made in the Mediterranean workshops.

Interfaces and Crossroads, Contexts and Communications: Early Medieval Towns in the Syr-Darya Delta (Kazakhstan)

In the late first millennium ad , the Aral Sea region comprised two broad cultural zones: in the south the civilizations of Central Asia, in the north the steppe nomads. On their interface, in the delta of the Syr-Darya, there is an isolated cluster of urban sites, including Dzhankent. Fieldwork results show that in the ninth to eleventh centuries ad this site was a fortified urban settlement, but it had a predecessor from the sixth/seventh century onwards. Urban design and finds indicate close links to the southern civilization of Khwarazm, but also to local populations and Turkic nomads. It is suggested here that Dzhankent may originally have been a Khwarazmian trading post, later serving as nomad winter quarters while continuing as a transhipping point on the crossroads of two important trade routes. Location and functions also raise questions about the application of emporia typologies to this case.

Искупленный дважды: толмач Ставропольского войска Афанасий Шорин (опыт реконструкции нетипичной биографии крещеного калмыка второй трети XVIII в.)

Introduction. Religious policies of the Russian Empire in early modern history is a topical issue of historiography. An important (though poorly researched) aspect of this question is the role of Kalmyk Christian elites. Being part of the diverse ethnoreligious cluster, the latter served as a conductor of Russia’s influence on subject nomadic communities (Oirats, Turkic tribes) during the period under consideration across southeastern steppe peripheries and adjacent territories. The Stavropol Kalmyk host established in 1737, quartered next to the fortress of Stavropol-on-Volga, and since 1745 referred to as Stavropol Corps of Kalmyk Christians was one of such groups.Goals.The study seeks to reconstruct the biography of Afanasy Shorin, an interpreter socially representing army elites. His life journey may be instrumental in tracing the shaping (and details) of communication patterns between Russian authorities and steppe leaders during the mentioned period. Materials and Methods. The study analyses rich source materials from Russia’s central and local institutions that reflect certain phases of Afanasy Shorin’s biography. The research tools include those of source criticism and archaeography which provided a systematic insight into the documents. Special attention is paid to the collected indirect testimonies that would clarify separate aspects of the person’s life. Results.The biography reconstructed from the documents contains a number of milestones, such as birthright privileges, military career prospects, escape attempts and refusal of active service, two discharges from any liability for the offences by the Russian authorities as a tribute to the social status and merits of ancestors, admission to the Collegium of Foreign Affairs, civil service in Stavropol-onVolga, and an important political mission in 1757–1758. The article identifies how and why the life trajectory unusual for a representative of such background and status — a school teacher, interpreter but not a military officer — reflected the processes of interaction between Russia proper and steppe nomads. It also underlines the importance of the Oirat factor for the state before and after the fall of Dzungaria. In the meantime, the text describes sentiments of the Stavropol host leadership and emphasizes the dissatisfaction with restrictions to have resulted from social class policies of Russian authorities by the late 1760s. The article contains the idea that it was the discontent with his position, which was fully characteristic of many including Afanasy Shorin, that pushed the highest authorities of the host to participate in the Yemelyan Pugachev’s Rebellion. As a possible prospect, the departure was suggested, by the example of the Kalmyks of Ubashi Khan, who departed to China in 1771. The article proves first to reveal the mechanism of how service conditions, kinship and confessional contacts influenced the inclusion of Kalmyk Christian elites into the border Russian military-andpolitical system. The text gives arguments that essentially contradict the trend (previously expressed in historiography) to consider the anti-serfdom protest as the only reason why Stavropol Kalmyks supported Pugachev’s Rebellion. Conclusions. The paper concludes the Kalmyk Christian nobility and related elites of the Kalmyk community played a significant role in foreign and religious policies under Elizaveta Petrovna and in the early years of Catherine the Great’s reign, which explains the increased attention of the government towards them. However, their relevance within the established border system and, consequently, their positions were largely exhausted in the 1770s. This was also facilitated by the decline in the importance of the Oirats, and the rise of the Turkic direction in Russia’s foreign policy in the south and southeast.

Varna, the prehistoric trade center in the studies of Harald Haarmann. Some critical notes

The name Varna occupies a key place in world ancient history. Everyone has heard about the gold of the phenomenal Varna I necropolis. This is the reason for our interest in the two books published in recent years by the famous German archaeolinguist Harald Haarmann: "The Mystery of the Danube Civilization" (2015) and "In the Footsteps of Indo-Europeans" (2020). The author defines Varna as one of the oldest, permanently inhabited places in Europe. He connects it with the earliest gold and the earliest processing of grapes for wine. He examines the social development of the local society and proclaims the emergence of the upper class and hierarchical structure of the society. For him, the Varna I necropolis testifies to the earliest elitist model, in contrast to other egalitarian Balkan Chalcolithic cultures. These are generally the positives, but along with them, there are many negatives. It turns out that H. Haarmann does not know or does not use terms such as "Varna culture" and "necropolis", but speaks of Varna as of a city and trade center, and of the Varna necropolis as a "field with graves", which is absolutely incorrect. As for the thesis about the "elite cavalry detachments of steppe nomads, bearers of the Kurgan culture, who had conquered Varna peacefully", it reveals a weak knowledge of the facts and is close to absurd. In this sense, the article gives positive assessments of a number of the views of the great archaeolinguist referred to the Chalcolithic center near Varna. At the same time, it does not spare him some critical remarks. Moreover, his books are aimed at the mass reader with a promotional focus. This is what makes some mistakes unwanted and dangerous, which can create a misconception and mislead the reader.

Troubles in Tuva: Patterns of perimortem trauma in a nomadic community from Southern Siberia (second to fourth c. CE).

Warfare is assumed to be one of the defining cultural characteristics of steppe nomads in Eastern Eurasia. For the first-centuries CE, a period of political turmoil in Northern China and Southern Siberia, relatively few data are, however, available about the degree and variability of violence in these communities. Here, we provide new data on violence among steppe nomads during the first-centuries CE by analyzing the type, anatomical distribution, and demographic distribution of perimortem trauma at Tunnug1 (Tuva, Southern Siberia-second to fourth c. CE). Perimortem traumas were assessed on 87 individuals representing both sexes and different age classes. The timing of the lesions was assessed based on morphological criteria, including the absence and presence of bone reactive processes and the relative plasticity of the bone at the moment of impact. The distribution by age, sex, and anatomical location of trauma was analyzed by means of logistic models, Fisher's exact tests, and 3D visualizations. A total of 130 perimortem traumas, including chop marks, slice marks, penetrating lesions, and blunt traumas were identified on 22 individuals. Chop marks were mostly at the level of the skull and vertebrae and were likely caused by bladed weapons. Slice marks were found on the cervical vertebrae and cranium and may be the result of throat slitting and scalping by means of smaller bladed implements. Traumas were more frequent in males, and their presence is not correlated with age. This study adds new data to the few available regarding violence among steppe nomadic cultures and provides new insights about the effects of political instability on the life of the people inhabiting Eastern Eurasia during the early centuries CE.

ЭЛЕМЕНТЫ КОНСКОГО СНАРЯЖЕНИЯ ПОСТ-ГУННСКОГО ВРЕМЕНИ НА СЕВЕРНОМ КАВКАЗЕ И ИХ ПАРАЛЛЕЛИ НА ОКРАИНАХ СТЕПИ

On the archaeological sites of the North Caucasus for the post-Hunnic Period (the so-called horizon of Shupovo, mid-V – mid-VI centuries AD), a number of indicative elements of horse equipment — bits, buckles, strap appliques, and metal appliques for saddles — were revealed. The same things are recorded in settled barbarians on the boundary of the nomadic steppe. Moreover, with the exception of saddle appliques, they are absent in the burials of the steppe nomads of the same time (Huns, Bulgarians, Ugrians). Nevertheless, it seems that the distribution of horse equipment is evidence of the spread of a kind of "military" fashion, primarily in the "leader" environment of sedentary barbarians, culturally, and maybe politically oriented to the nomadic steppe. The latter circumstance can explain the distribution of the things examined here primarily in the borderlands of the Great Steppe Belt. We can talk about barbarians who were in allied (or subordinate-allied) relations with the steppe nomads.

THE GRAVES WITH WEAPONS AT THE OSTRIV BURIAL GROUND (excavations of 2017—2019)

In 2017 the new burial ground on the right bank of Ros river between Puhachivka and Ostriv villages, in Rokytne district, Kyiv region was discovered. During 2017—2019 67 burials have been excavated there. Diverse and spectacular archaeological objects discovered during excavations — the spiral torques, cross-bow ladder fibulae of type Bliujiene V, penannular brooches with rolled terminals, poppy-head terminals, funnel-shaped terminals, star-shaped terminals and widening terminals, bracelets with zoomorphic terminals, chains, temporal-rings and rings — all these grave goods are typical to Western Baltic tribes (Old Prussians, Curonians, Skalvians). The burial assemblages with weapons compose the notable number. Buried men were equipped with axes, spears, pila. As M. Plavinsky stated using of the pillum was the feature of Baltic military-technic tradition. In generall the weapons discovered in the Ostriv burial ground points to the prevalence of infantry in that community. This allows suggest that people buried in the Ostriv burial ground were the warriors of Ros defensive line.
 From historical point of view archaeological finds well illustrate and prove the chronicle evidences about activity of first Kyiv princes, first of all of Volodymyr the Great and Yaroslav the Wise, directed to the strengthening of the southern borders of Kyiv Rus. The lands of Ros basin historically were the border with steppe and the Ros river was a proper, natural defensive factor, the frontier between the world of settled farmers and steppe nomads. Kyiv princes traditionally placed here their military forces, defending the capital of Rus from nomadic charges. We believe that the Ostriv burial ground could be associated with the garrison of Stari Sukholisy hill-fort consisted of Western Baltic people.

Ethnography vs Philology: “Rod” in Turkic and Mongolian Nomadic Societies in the Studies of N. N. Kozmin and His Contemporaries

The article is devoted to the views of soviet researchers of the 1920s — 1930s. on the social organization of the nomads of the Eurasian steppes, with a focus on the interpretation of the concept of “rod” (clan). The main attention is drawn to the thoughts of the Irkutsk researcher N. N. Koz’min, viewed through the prism of polemics with opponents, the main of which he himself saw other representatives of the pre-revolutionary school were W. Barthold and B. Ya. Vladimirtsov. The article attempts to show that initially the views of N. N. Koz’min were quite close to the views on social processes among nomads by such researchers as W. Radloff and H. Vámbéry, based of ethnographical material and finally became the basis for studying the social history of nomadism. Most important in the position of N. N. Koz’min was the perception of nomadic unions as politically organized units. That, in turn, intends to consider ethnic and social processes in nomadic societies as closely related and inextricable.

Early nomads of the Eastern Steppe and their tentative connections in the West.

The origin of the Xiongnu and the Rourans, the nomadic groups that dominated the eastern Eurasian steppe in the late first millennium BC/early first millennium AD, is one of the most controversial topics in the early history of Inner Asia. As debatable is the evidence linking these two groups with the steppe nomads of early medieval Europe, i.e. the Huns and the Avars, respectively. In this paper, we address the problems of Xiongnu-Hun and Rouran-Avar connections from an interdisciplinary perspective, complementing current archaeological and historical research with a critical analysis of the available evidence from historical linguistics and population genetics. Both lines of research suggest a mixed origin of the Xiongnu population, consisting of eastern and western Eurasian substrata, and emphasize the lack of unambiguous evidence for a continuity between the Xiongnu and the European Huns. In parallel, both disciplines suggest that at least some of the European Avars were of Eastern Asian ancestry, but neither linguistic nor genetic evidence provides a sufficient support for a specific connection between the Avars and the Asian Rourans.