No 2 (2025)

The article introduces the results of a comprehensive study on the Stone Age site of Luzhki II (Samara Region, Krasnoyarsk District). A representative collection of artifacts was obtained numbering more than 5,500 units. Out of this number, 1,060 flint products and 3,345 ceramic fragments from 274 vessels, as well as most of the osteological materials, are associated with the Stone Age. This ceramic complex is homogeneous and is associated with the developed Neolithic of the region (the Middle Volga culture), while among the lithic artifacts, a small group stands out, finding the closest analogies in the Middle Stone Age of the forest-steppe Volga Region. Radiocarbon dating makes it possible to relate the time of visiting the site in the Mesolithic to the first half of the 7th millennium BC, and in the Neolithic – to the last quarter of the 6th millennium BC. The second period of the site functioning is characterized by fairly dry and warm conditions when steppe landscapes with cereal-wormwood groups were common.

The paper presents research on heat residue in stone casting molds unearthed at the multilayered settlement Siniye Skaly in Eastern Primorye region. The study is aimed at the detection and interpretation of the features determined by metal-casting technology. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry and X-ray fluorescence portable spectrometry were applied to the investigation of considered stone molds for the first time. The surface texture and elemental composition of heat residues were investigated. As a result, traces of Cu-Sn-Pb alloys were detected as well as certain evidence of special surface covering, presumably of animal origin, improving casting quality. The data obtained make it possible to clarify the significance and place of the stone casting molds from Siniye Skaly in the context of ancient metalworking in the south of the Russian Far East.

The Gorny 10 burial ground located in Krasnogorsk District, the Altai Territory, was partially explored in 2000–2002. The burials contained composite bows (14 sets of antler mounts), iron arrowheads (132 items) and a series of combat knives (9 items). Given the almost complete absence of weapons in the Odintsovo sites of the Forest-Steppe Altai of the Early Middle Ages, probably due to the peculiarities of ritual practice, the published materials are the first that make it possible to present the characteristics of the combat weaponry of the tribes in the region. The identified types of items were compared with finds from early medieval sites of Northern and Central Asia. It was established that the developed assemblage of weapons from the Gorny 10 burial ground was formed mainly under the influence of the military traditions of the Central Asian Turks. At the same time, it is possible to note the closeness of the studied items to finds from the sites of the Upper Ob and Ryolka archaeological cultures in the Ob region, as well as the Saratovka culture in the Kuznetsk Basin. The weapon complex of the population of the Altai northern foothills during the period of the Turkic Khaganates was designed primarily for effective confrontation with a poorly protected enemy.

The article features a comprehensive study of the Malinovka 1 and Malinovka 2 settlements in Primorsky Territory, which date back to the Ming Dynasty (mid-16th century) – a period that is actually a «blank spot» in the archaeology of the region. A complex study of the materials from the sites including application of natural science methods made it possible to characterize the subsistence pattern of the population in the Bolshaya Ussurka River basin during the Late Middle Ages. This study is the first to apply spore-pollen analysis for that historical period in the region to obtain information on the climatic conditions and surrounding vegetation during the functioning of the settlements, as well as on economic activity and possible anthropogenic impact on the landscape. Based on the analysis of the planigraphy, stratigraphy of the sites, a complex of artifacts and ecofacts, it was established that the settlements functioned as seasonal camps associated with fishing and related activities. An assumption was made about the existence of developed polycultural agriculture in the subsistence system of the population determining the way of life and suggesting the presence of settlements with corresponding agricultural plots in their settlement pattern.

At the Golden Horde Bagaevka settlement of the second half of the 13th–14th century AD in Saratov region, almost all (with a few exceptions) kitchen ware are pots of Old Russian origin. The characterization of this part of the assemblage is complicated by the fact that it is a mixture of imported and locally made items, moreover, the local part is also associated with different pottery centres in Rus. Local products can be pots made of paste similar to the Golden Horde ceramics of the Lower Volga (with an abundant admixture of fine sand), or alternatively, with gruss, partially or completely consisting of fragments of gaize, which is a stable companion to local clays. In the first case, some difficulties arise in distinguishing the pottery of Old Russian origin from that of the Golden Horde. The most recognizable imported groups come from the Upper Don (white clay without visible admixtures), the Upper Volga (Torzhok and Tver lands), and Vladimir Opolye (with characteristic rims). A significant part of the ceramics is widespread throughout North-Eastern Rus, and its division by centres of production is fundamentally possible in the future. The differences in the traditions of local craftsmen are evidenced by the use of different starting techniques (this is a substrate feature): bottom and bottom-capacitive ones.

The article discusses finds of pot-shaped tiles in the territory of Smolensk from the 1970s to the present. It is established that Smolensk tiles have similarities in both lines of pot-shaped tile evolution traced through the finds in Belarusian castles; the two lines originating from the common root. The period of existence of such tiles is determined within the 15th–16th centuries AD. It is assumed that Smolensk was part of the distribution zone of this product type. The authors also suggest that pot-shaped tiles characteristic of spreading Western «stove fashions» can serve as an important cultural marker distinguishing the material world of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from its eastern neighbour.

The article reconstructs an episode of the scientific biography of the archaeologist N.E. Makarenko. The basis for the reconstruction is his letters to archaeologist and art historian M.I. Rostovtseff written in 1927. These documents kept in the archive (library) of Duke University (USA) provide information on the development of archaeology in Ukraine in the mid-1920s. The events of earlier periods are also mentioned which makes it possible to clarify the scientific and private biography not only of N.E. Makarenko (in particular, the period of his work in the Hermitage Museum), but also that of M.I. Rostovtseff. Makarenko’s letters complement the source base on the history of archaeology and museum activities in Ukraine in the 1920s and on the situation in scientific milieu of the «Russian abroad» accumulated to date. Makarenko’s letters to Rostovtsev may also be used in reconstructing one of the early stages of the Soviet state’s science policy in the field of archaeological excavations, in particular, organization of joint international expeditions.