Labor Market Features in the Russian North: Employment, Wages and the Role of Northern Allowances

This article focuses on the labor market in the Russian northern regions. The labor market in the Russian North was formed due to the state policy of the no longer existing state, aimed at the active attraction of migrants from other territories for the industrial development of the country. This policy of attracting migrant labor in the state was implemented mainly through the creation of the institution of wages, which provided additional northern payments to the salary, designed to compensate for the discomfort of living and working conditions in the North. This led to an increase in employment in the North. The re-search goal is to study the formation and development of the wage institution, as well as to determine the impact of wages on employment in modern conditions. The article presents the history of formation of the institution of wages in the Russian North. The dynamics of labour market indicators is given, the change in the ratio of wages in the North is presented, based on official statistical data over the past 15 years. The results of the study show that the northern territories have problems of the labor market that have arisen in recent decades: high levels of unemployment, reduced employment, and wages, once being a significant factor, had a positive impact on employment, but today contribute to the decline in the economic attractiveness of life in the North.

«NORTHERN LIGHTS»: VISUALIZATION OF THE NEW RUSSIAN HISTORICAL NARRATIVE

The article is devoted to the analysis of one of modern Russia’s local or group historical narratives, which articulates the mystical connection of the north-Russian population with Finno-Ugric shamanic practices based on runes «Kalevala». The TV series «Northern Lights» (the original script of Victoria Platova) in the genre of a mystical detective discusses one of the ways to deploy a «folk» or popular historical narrative, which is some controversial attitude of the state policy of memory and a conservative turn in historical policy. The relationship of the representations about Finnish roots of Russian ethnos with such unrelated concepts as «escapism» and «Aryan myth» was analyzed. The gradual drift of popular history in mass media is considered from the purely Slavic narrative of origin and ancient mystical practices of the people of north-western Russia to the recognition of Finno-Ugric roots or even the unity of Russian and Finnish peoples of the Russian north. The deconstruction of the series by visual anthropology techniques revealed a constant appeal to the everyday magical practices of the Karelian heroes of the series, who identify themselves as Russians. The inhabitants of the Island, where the action takes place, all the structure of their daily lives and holidays are built around the gods and heroes of Kalevala. The narratives «Finnish roots» in media are considered in connection with the interpretation of dubious results «Russian Nobility DNA Project», the origin of Princess Olha and Old Ladoga, as the source of Russia. The conclusion is reached on the participation of many actors and polyphonicity of modern Russian historical narrative, search for new lines of interface of Russian history and Europe.

Региональная языковая картина мира на базе текстов арктических путешествий XVIII–XIX вв.

The article considers texts of scientists and public figures of the second half of the 18th–19th centuries, who wrote travel essays on the natural-climatic and historical-cultural peculiarities, social and daily life of the population of the Russian North and the Arctic coast. Ways of modelling the regional linguistic worldview on the basis of text analysis are suggested. The article describes the stages of working with semantically diverse texts, which make it possible to differentiate and systematise texts for the purpose of forming semantically homogeneous discourses allowing identification of the basic parameters of conceptualisation and categorisation of the world objects reflecting the essential aspects of regional life.

Traditional Culture: “Small” Wooden Temples of the Russian North

Wooden chapels are a bright and typical phenomenon of the traditional culture. The chapels were non-altar temples of a small peasant parish, which retained their independence, providing a special atmosphere for performing rituals. The work examines the reasons for setting chapels according to historical and typological characteristics and the specifics of the formation of their architectural and structural features. The empirical base of the research was the material of 36 architectural and ethnographic expeditions, archival and museum sources of the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions, Karelia, Moscow, St. Petersburg, NAO.

A Review of S. B. Adonyeva (ed.), Disaster Rituals: Anthropological Essays. St Petersburg: The Propp Center, 2020, 208 pp. (Primary Signs, or Pragmemes)

This collective monograph examines the disaster rituals of the Russian countryside, in particular the rituals performed during epidemics and epizootics, as well as during village fires. The authors use not only published sources, but also their own notes taken during expeditions into the territory of the Russian North-West. Chronologically, the studies cover the period from the mid-17th century to the present, but most attention is paid to data from the mid-19th century to the first third of the 20th century. The book attempts to develop a general theory of disaster rituals using the ideas of Emile Durkheim, Pitirim Sorokin, Victor Turner, and Mircea Eliade. The reviewer notes the value of the empirical material—which is being introduced to science for the first time—but expresses opposition to some of the authors’ observations. In particular, he criticizes the attempt to apply the methodological toolkit developed by Victor Turner in his description of the Isoma ritual of the African Ndembu people to this new material. With this approach, the rites of different peoples are not actually compared to each other, but are characterized together in such a way that the characteristics of one rite are ascribed to another. As a result of this paradoxical meta-description, Vologda rituals appear to resemble the African Isoma, although in fact they have little to nothing in common with it.

Mining wastes of the Russian North-West: microbiological prerequisites of reclamation

Russian North-West is the region with extremely high diversity of superficial mining wastes, deposited in form heaps and hills. These substrata are potentially dangerous for environments and. therefore, should be reclaimed. One of the most effective way of utilization of mineral wastes is to incorporate them to natural processes of revegetation and to initialize the priming of initial soil formation process. Thus, we have investigated microbial processes in very initial superficial ecosystems of numerous heaps of pre quaternary materials of former abandoned and recently explored quarries. The research question of this study: what groups of microorganisms we do have on the surface of mining mineral wastes and are we able to qualify their role in further recycling of mineral waste to natural processes, including pedogenesis and ecogenesis of terrestrial ecosystems. The great variation of taxonomy composition of microbiome composition was revealed. At the same time, some phylums of microorganisms were dominant in all revegetated heaps investigated - Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexia, Verrucomicrobia. They could be considered as a core components of very initial soil microbiome. Primary data have showed the increasing of microbial biodiversity with timing rate of waste exposure on surface.

Iron, Phosphorus and Trace Elements in Mussels’ Shells, Water, and Bottom Sediments from the Severnaya Dvina and the Onega River Basins (Northwestern Russia)

Trace elements in freshwater bivalve shells are widely used for reconstructing long-term changes in the riverine environments. However, Northern Eurasian regions, notably the European Russian North, susceptible to strong environmental impact via both local pollution and climate warming, are poorly studied. This work reports new data on trace elements accumulation by widespread species of freshwater mussels Unio spp. and Anodonta anatina in the Severnaya Dvina and the Onega River Basin, the two largest subarctic river basins in the Northeastern Europe. We revealed that iron and phosphorous accumulation in Unio spp. and Anodonta anatina shells have a strong relationship with a distance from the mouth of the studied river (the Severnaya Dvina). Based on multiparametric statistics comprising chemical composition of shells, water, and sediments, we demonstrated that the accumulation of elements in the shell depends on the environment of the biotope. Differences in the elemental composition of shells between different taxa are associated with ecological preferences of certain species to the substrate. The results set new constraints for the use of freshwater mussels’ shells for monitoring riverine environments and performing paleo-reconstructions.

Stone Burial Grounds to the East of Lake Peipsi: To the Statement of the Problem

В статье рассматриваются каменные могильники второй половины I - начала II тысячелетия, расположенные к востоку от Псковско-Чудского озера в зоне интенсивных культурных контактов между территориями российского Северо-Запада и Эстонии. Выделяется две группы памятников: на западной окраине Ижорского плато и в Псковско-Изборском регионе. Могильники Ижорского плато, аналогично каменным могильникам Северо-Восточной Эстонии, представляют собой так называемые могильники с оградками (таранды), сооруженные в римское время и использовавшиеся для захоронений в середине - третьей четверти I тысячелетия. Могильники Псковско-Изборского региона датируются эпохой викингов (за исключением могильника Выбуты) и представляют собой отдельное культурное явление. Каменные могильники обеих групп часто топографически связаны с позднейшими курганно-жальничными могильниками, в которых встречены аналогичные каменным могильникам кладки. Stone burials of second half of 1st - the beginning of 2nd millenium, located to the east from Lake Peipsi (Pskov-Chudskoe) in the zone of intensive cultural contacts between territories of the Russian North-West and Estonia are considered. Two groups of monuments are distinguished: on the western outskirts of Izhora Plateau and in Pskov-Izborsk region. Graves of Izhora plateau, similarly to stone burials of NorthEastern Estonia, are so called fenced burials (tarands), built in Roman time and used for burials in middle - third quarter of the 1st millennium. Graves of Pskov-Izborsk region date from the Viking Age (with the exception of Vybuty burial ground) and represent a separate cultural phenomenon. Stone burial grounds of both groups are often topographically connected with later barrow-zhalnik cemeteries, in which fences similar to stone burial grounds are found.

Peculiarities of the formation and transformation of cultural landscape of the historical settlements of Onezhskoye Pomorye

The object of this research is the historical,-cultural and natural environment of historical settlements of the Russian North. The subject of this research is the traditional dwelling as a factor of formation and transformation of the cultural landscape of Onezhskoye Pomorye. The goal lies in studying the peculiarities of formation and transformation of cultural landscape of the rural settlements Onezhskoye Pomorye based on the material of traditional dwelling. The research relies on the empirical data acquired in the course of expedition of the Scientific Center for Traditional Culture and Museum Practices of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences to Onezhsky District of Arkhangelsk Region (2018–2021);archival sources of A.V. Shchusev State Museum of Architecture (Moscow), experience of exploring the monuments of wooden architecture of the open-air museum “Malye Korely” (Arkhangelsk Region). The data were obtained by photofixation of the architectural monuments, schematic measurements, and ethnographic survey conducted among local residents using the method of interview. The research employs the original methodology developed by the Doctor of Culturology A. B. Permilovskaya on the architectural-ethnographic exploration of the sites of wooden architecture. Cultural landscape of Onezhskoye Pomorye (and the Russian North overall) primarily is the landscape of rural historical settlements. Northern settlements emerged in close connection with the natural landscape and transformed it into a cultural one. Special role in this process was played by the local population – the Pomors, who were guided by the principles of creating compact settlements, with closed type of dwelling to due to the harsh climate. The adaptive capabilities of traditional dwelling, reflected in its architectural design, allowed the people to survive in the severe conditions of the North. The dwelling is a reflection of natural space of the Russian North and the Arctic, passed through the “prism” of local mentality and carpenter's culture, coexistence of man and the surrounding natural environment, special marker of the North Russian identity, and intrinsic part of the North Russian cultural landscape.

Pb-Pb and U-Pb Dating of Cassiterite by In Situ LA-ICPMS: Examples Spanning ~1.85 Ga to ~100 Ma in Russia and Implications for Dating Proterozoic to Phanerozoic Tin Deposits

This paper investigates applicability of cassiterite to dating ore deposits in a wide age range. We report in situ LA-ICPMS U-Pb and Pb-Pb dating results (n = 15) of cassiterite from six ore deposits in Russia ranging in age from ~1.85 Ga to 93 Ma. The two oldest deposits dated at ~1.83–1.86 Ga are rare metal Vishnyakovskoe located in the East Sayan pegmatite belt and tin deposits within the Tuyukan ore region in the Baikal folded region. Rare metal skarn deposits of Pitkäranta ore field in the Ladoga region, Fennoscandian Shield are dated at ~1.54 Ga. Cassiterite from the Mokhovoe porphyry tin deposit located in western Transbaikalia is 810 ± 20 Ma. The youngest cassiterite was dated from the deposits Valkumei (Russian North East, 108 ± 2 Ma) and Merek (Russian Far East, 93 ± 2 Ma). Three methods of age calculations, including 208Pb/206Pb-207Pb/206Pb inverse isochron age, Tera-Wasserburg Concordia lower intercept age, and 207Pb-corrected 206Pb*/238U age were used and the comparison of the results is discussed. In all cases, the dated cassiterite from the ore deposits agreed, within error, with the established period of magmatism of the associated granitic rock.