THE IMAGE OF THE IRON POPLAR IN ORAL HISTORY (IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERPRETATION OF PAZYRYK CULTURE MATERIALS)

The world tree is one of the universals of culture. Despite the fact that the image of a tree, in particular a birch, is well developed in Altai folklore studies, the motives associated with poplar have been little studied, which is the relevance of the topic. A typological analysis of the materials of the Altai heroic epic revealed such stable motives about the poplar as a sacred object that gives prophetic knowledge, the elixir of immortality, and also as a ritual pillar with the sacrifice of the maral. As a result of the study of the material in the context of the Altai Pazyryk culture, it was possible to interpret the image of a tree on a buckle from the Siberian collection of Peter I as a prototype of the world poplar. In conclusion, the chemical properties and their features on human impact are noted, and, accordingly, the possibility of using black poplar for medicinal purposes and for embalming in the Pazyryk time.

OSTEOLOGICAL REMAINS OF HORSES DETECTED IN ALTAI DURING EXCAVATIONS FROM THE PAZYRYK BARROWS AT THE KATANDA-II AND ARAGOL SITES (BASED ON MATERIALS FROM THE ZOOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES)

This article continues the publication of information about the osteological remains of the Pazyryk horses, which are stored in the funds of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg). Among the available collections, materials from the burial mounds of such Altai sites as Katanda-II and Aragol were identified. The first archaeological complex in the 1920s was studied by S.I. Rudenko. It is located in a section of a valley near the confluence of the Katanda River with the Katun River. There, nearby in 1865 V. V. Radlov conducted his work. In 1925, two ancient burial mounds with the burials of ordinary nomads, who were accompanied by ritual burials ofhorses, were excavated. The second complex was discovered and studied in 1924-1925 on the territory of Eastern Altai, not far from the well-known group of “royal” burial mounds in the Pazyryk tract. In 1929, a detachment of V.S. Adrianov during the planned work researched three burial objects of the Scythian-Saka time with the skeletons of horses in two burials. In total, in these mounds, the osteological remains of seven horses were recorded. Incomplete skeletons of these animals were found in the storage. The recorded materials formed the basis for archaeozoological determinations. Keywords: altai, archaeological excavations, Pazyryk culture, horses, osteological collection, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, archaeozoology

METAL MIRRORS FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF GORNO-ALTAI STATE UNIVERSITY

The article presents the characteristics of metal mirrors from the collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography of Gorno-Altai State University. The history of the formation of this small collection, which includes four items from the burials of the Pazyryk culture of the Bike-III and Taldura-II necropolises, is considered. Due to the fact that publications devoted to the introduction into scientific circulation of the results of excavations of the indicated burials did not imply a detailed characteristic of metal mirrors, a description of these objects is given. It has been established that the analyzed finds from the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography of GAGU are represented by two types of products. All mirrors are relatively small in size, which is one of the important chronological features of such objects. The lifetime of products with similar characteristics is determined within the wide boundaries of the late 5th -early 3rd centuries BC with the possibility of limiting this period to the framework of the 4th century BC. Prospects for further comprehensive study of metal mirrors from museums in Altai and other regions are obvious. Keywords: metal mirror, altai, museum, archaeological site, Pazyryk culture

CERAMIC DISHES WITH HANDLES IN ALTAI: BRIEF OVERVIEW OF STUDIES, ANALYSIS OF SOURCES AND RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES

Ceramic dishes with handles appeared in Altai approximately in the 2nd half of the 6th century B.C. Their design is very peculiar and has no parallel in the cultures of the preceding period. This article investigates the results of the earlier studies and talks about the spread of ceramics with handles in China (in Gansu and Xinjiang) and its adjacent regions. The article also presents published opinions of scientists about the finds in the Pazyryk burials. Comparative analysis has allowed us to make the assumption that the presence of ceramics with handles in the Early Iron Age monuments in Central Asia is a reflection of migration during which people mastered the technologies of making such ceramic ware. Further comprehensive research of the existing data on these archaeological finds will provide a more detailed picture of the interaction between different ancient populations. Thus, this article describes the research lines which are ought to be carried out. Keywords: altai, Eastern Xinjiang, bronze age, early Iron Age, ceramics with handles, Pazyryk culture, migration, technology diffusion