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Paper abstract:

This paper focuses on the problems of dating and identifying the origin of cast-iron moldboards found in the territory of Southern Siberia (Mountain Altai, Khakassia, Tuva). These agricultural tools are traditionally dated back to the period of reign of the Tang dynasty in China (618–907). I argue that the currently accepted dates of this category of items have actually no reliable basis. The study of analogous findings from the territory of China shows that the items from the northern regions of China dating back to the 10th–14th centuries, i.e. the period of the Northern Song (960–1127), Liao (916–1125), Western Xia (1038–1227), Jin (1115–1234) and Yuan (1279–1368) states, show the greatest similarity with the moldboards found in the territory of Southern Siberia. In contrast with the previously suggested dates, I argue that the moldboards found in Southern Siberia should be dated back to the late 13th – mid 14th centuries, when this territory was a part of the Yuan Empire. I assume that the appearance of Chinese agricultural tools and the manufacture of their analogues in Southern Siberia resulted from the establishment of military agricultural settlements, the development of agriculture and iron foundry under the auspices of the Yuan governors, who needed food to supply the army. New interpretations of Chinese inscriptions on the surfaces of the tools reveal their connection with the center of metallurgical production in Qiyang (Shahe County, Hebei Province, China), which was founded no later than in Song epoch and remained flourishing under the rule of the Yuan Empire. Some of the moldboards were produced in Qiyang workshops, while others are the local imitations of the products of this cast iron center. This paper is mostly based on the published materials, including excavation reports, museum collections catalogues, historical records, research papers by Russian and Chinese scholars. One recent finding of a cast-iron moldboard from Mountain Altay area, which is unpublished, has also been involved in the study.

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This paper focuses on the results of multidisciplinary study of the pottery of Kulai culture (Western Siberia, ca. 4th century BC – 4th century AD). Ceramics from the archaeological sites located in the Surgut Ob region (248 vessels) and the Novosibirsk Ob region (97 vessels) were analyzed. The study was carried out using interdisciplinary methods, including traceological analysis, petrography, X-ray difraction analysis, thermal analysis and 3D modeling. Previously, the ceramics of this culture had not been studied using an integrated interdisciplinary approach. I argue, that the Kulai culture in different territories was influenced by neighboring archaeological cultures, what was reflected in the traditions of ceramics manufacturing.

Complex analysis has revealed, that in the Kulai culture of Novosibirsk Ob region, ferruginous natural clays were used as raw materials for pottery. The most common clay paste composition was: clay + broken stone. The use of chamotte (grog) as an artificial additive to clay was much less often. Admixture of organics was rarely used. Vessels were molded using the patch building technique. The surfaces of vessels were processed by mechanical smoothing. Vessels were fired in a reducing or redox gas environment. In the Kulai culture pottery of the Surgut Ob region, ferruginous natural clays were used as raw materials. The most common clay paste composition was also: clay + broken stone, however, at some archaeological sites the dominant composition was: clay + chamotte (grog). Organic admixtures were also rarely used. Vessels were molded using the patch building and band building techniques. The mouth-rims of vessels were additionally molded with a thin roll up to 1 cm in diameter. Combinations of tools for surface treatment were diverse, for instance, at one settlement (Barsov gorodok I/4) 39 combination variants were discovered. At all archaeological sites of Kulai culture in Surgut region, the use of a specific method of smoothing the inner surface of the transition part between vessel shoulder and body with a notched tool was identified. Vessels were fired in a reducing or redox gas environment.

As shown by a comprehensive analysis of the studied materials, having common origin, the pottery traditions of the Kulai culture vary greatly in different regions, that is manifested in different compositions of artificial additives for clay pastes, different skills in sculpting vessels, different tools for processing vessel surfaces, etc., which indicates the influence of other cultures. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant no. 21-78-00039.

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Paper abstract:

This paper explores shifting patterns of the development of mobile pastoralist practices in prehistoric Central Asia. The tradition of practicing mobile pastoralism in Central Asia’s steppe region stretches back to at least the Bronze Age period (ca. 3500 – 800 BC). The site of Koken, East Kazakhstan is located at the confluence of two distinct cultural and geographic interaction spheres of the Central Eurasian Steppe and the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC). Despite its importance as a key zone for the development of economic and cultural connections, East Kazakhstan has not been extensively researched by zooarchaeologists. The multi-period site of Koken (ca. 7300-1100 BC) with its long history of occupation provides an opportunity to document this crucial area in detail.

I analyze a large zooarchaeological assemblage that was obtained during the 2018-2020 field seasons from initial settlement excavations at Koken. Based on the extensive morphological analysis of herd composition, I argue that Koken inhabitants had a sheep/goat (Ovis aries and Capra hircus) dominated economy throughout the Bronze Age period, supported by the gradual intensification of horse breeding (Equus caballus) and only minor use of domestic cows (Bos taurus) in the Late and Final Bronze Age. The presence and intensive utilization of non-locally domesticated south-west Asian taxa (sheep/goat and cow) in the Early Bronze Age domestic context of Koken demonstrate socioeconomic connections of prehistoric East Kazakhstan societies to the earliest Central Asian pastoral communities of Kopet Dag mountains (modern-day Iran and Turkmenistan, ca. 6500-3500 BC). In addition, the intensification of horse utilization at the site shows that Koken inhabitants were open to the adoption and continuous development of pastoral practices related to horse breeding emerging from the area of modern-day North Kazakhstan and presumably the area of the Black Sea, the center(s) of horse domestication.

This research of faunal data from Koken is one of the first comprehensive zooarchaeological analyses of the East Kazakhstan Bronze Age. The zooarchaeological morphological identification analysis of faunal data uncovered at the site of Koken contributes to ongoing research about the economy and social interaction in the Eurasian Bronze Age, as well as to the ongoing discussion on the routes and timing of adoption and dispersal of mobile pastoralism to the Eurasian interior.