Kangur – totem czy esencja? Dwie koncepcje krajobrazu

The paper analyzes landscapes of indigenous societies. Howard Morphy, in his work focusing on the Aborigines, treated the landscape as a representation of past mythical events. Such an approach involves taking a closer look at the material aspects of landscape and emphasizes the existence of realties between contemporary Aborigines and the past. A different theoretical approach was developed by Tim Ingold, conceptualizing landscape as a human-land relationship based on essence, where all beings derive their essential form and substance directly from the land, which embodies the creative forces of the ancestors. Ingold’s understanding of landscape led me to rethink my research in the Altai Mountains of Southern Siberia, conducted 25 years ago. I argue that the relationship with the land is crucial for the Altaian people. The land’s essence is not changeable and all living beings are its emanation. The landscape is therefore not a record of the past, but an active field in which the relationship between human and non-human subjects and the land is established.

The Modern State and the Dynamics of Minor Landforms Found in the Steppes of the Southern-Minusinsk Hollow

В статье изложены результаты многолетних исследований генезиса, морфологии, особенностей функционирования, современного состояния и динамики малых эрозионных форм рельефа в условиях котловин гор Южной Сибири на примере Южно-Минусинской котловины. Овражные формы представлены здесь локально. Доминируют береговые промоины и овраги, секущие крутые борта долин рек Абакан, Енисей и их притоков. Густота расчленения и плотность современных овражных форм рельефа возрастает на сельскохозяйственных землях (пашни и пастбища) и в пределах селитебных ландшафтов. Размеры малых эрозионных форм рельефа отличаются большим диапазоном. Так, протяженность коротких промоин составляет первые десятки метров, длинных логов — 3–5 км. Глубина вреза изменяется от 1,5–3 м до 10–20 м, ширина между бровками достигает 40–60 м. В настоящее время, несмотря на период увеличения увлажненности территории, после достаточно длительного засушливого периода овражные формы активно задерновываются. Этому способствует рост температуры и выпадение осадков слабой интенсивности. В результате происходит зарастание нарушенных земель ильмом мелколистным, наблюдается превращение степных ландшафтов в парковые. The article discusses the results of a multiannual research of the genesis, morphology, modern state and dynamics of minor landforms that can be found in the mountains of Southern Siberia in the Southern-Minusinsk Hollow. The majority of ravine landforms found in the area are bank gullies infesting the steep banks of the Abakan River, the Yenisei River and their tributaries. The density of ravine dismemberment increases in agricultural areas (arable lands and pastures) and in residential areas. The size of ravine landforms varies over a wide range. The length of short gullies does not exceed a few dozen meters. The length of long logs can reach 3–5 kilometres. The depth of incision varies from 1.5–3 metres to 10–20 metres. The distance between the brows of a ravine can reach 40–60 meters. Nowadays, despite a period of higher humidity, prolonged dry periods and high temperatures make ravines peaty. As a result, the areas overgrow with small-leaved elm and steppe landscapes are gradually transformed into parks.

Rare plants of the mountains of southern Siberia in the collection Polar Alpine Botanical Garden

In the Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden (67o38′N and 33o37′E) plants of the mountains of Southern Siberiahave been tested since 1934 (Altai) and 1936 (Sayan Mountains). Plants obtained from field trips to that areas. Theanalysis of the existing diversity of rare and endangered plants from the mountains of Southern Siberia in the open groundcollection of the Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden is carried out. Currently, the collection of rare plants of the mountains ofSouthern Siberia totals 18 species belonging to 14 genera of 12 families. Four species are included in the Red Book of theRussian Federation: Allium altaicum, Erythronium sibiricum, Fritillaria dagana, Rheum compactum. Three plants in needof protection are included in the Red List of Threatened Taxa of the International Union for Conservation of Nature: –Species in close to threatened status (conservation status NT): Allium altaicum; – Least Concerned Species (conservationstatus LC): Allium ledebourianum, Paeonia anomala. All studied species in the conditions of the Arctic annually bloomand are able to produce viable seeds. The group of plants reaching the fruiting phase is very heterogeneous:– bear fruitannually: Allium altaicum, Sedum roseum, Erythronium sibiricum, Callianthemum sajanense; – bear fruit almost annually:Allium ledebourianum, Stemmacantha carthamoides, Iris bloudowii, Iris sibirica, Paeonia anomala, Primula elatior ssp.pallasii, Primula veris ssp. macrocalyx; – bear fruit irregularly: Iris humilis, Rheum altaicum, Adonis apennina; – rarelybear fruit: Brunnera sibirica, Gentiana dschungarica, Hemerocallis lilio-asphodelus, Fritillaria dagana.

Archaeological evidence for two separate dispersals of Neanderthals into southern Siberia

Neanderthals were once widespread across Europe and western Asia. They also penetrated into the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, but the geographical origin of these populations and the timing of their dispersal have remained elusive. Here we describe an archaeological assemblage from Chagyrskaya Cave, situated in the Altai foothills, where around 90,000 Middle Paleolithic artifacts and 74 Neanderthal remains have been recovered from deposits dating to between 59 and 49 thousand years ago (age range at 95.4% probability). Environmental reconstructions suggest that the Chagyrskaya hominins were adapted to the dry steppe and hunted bison. Their distinctive toolkit closely resembles Micoquian assemblages from central and eastern Europe, including the northern Caucasus, more than 3,000 kilometers to the west of Chagyrskaya Cave. At other Altai sites, evidence of earlier Neanderthal populations lacking associated Micoquian-like artifacts implies two or more Neanderthal incursions into this region. We identify eastern Europe as the most probable ancestral source region for the Chagyrskaya toolmakers, supported by DNA results linking the Neanderthal remains with populations in northern Croatia and the northern Caucasus, and providing a rare example of a long-distance, intercontinental population movement associated with a distinctive Paleolithic toolkit.

Assessing the Territory According to the Degree of Thunderstorm Danger

This chapter studies the dynamics of lightning activity in the mountains of southern Siberia. The information base for the studies was data on lightning discharges for 2011-2016, recorded by WWLLN. Daily and seasonal courses in the number of lightning discharges are analyzed. Maps show the average annual density and the coefficient of variation of the number of lightning discharges for the plots with dimensions of 10 × 10 km. A cluster analysis of lightning discharges during the passage of individual thunderstorms in the territories of Altai Republic and the Republic of Buryatia was performed. During the study, the daily course of the number of lightning discharges was detailed. Sites with a high average annual density of lightning discharges were identified as lightning-hazardous areas of the mountains of southern Siberia. An analysis of the spatial distribution of lightning-discharge clusters made it possible to trace the dynamics of thunderstorm focus.

Xylena czernilai Volynkin, 2011: New data on the distribution and description of female (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

A poorly-known noctuid species Xylena czernilai Volynkin, 2011 is recorded from North-West Altai and East Sayan (Russian Federation, Southern Siberia: Altai Territory and Buryatia Republic). The new locations proved its wide distribution in the mountains of Southern Siberia. The female of the species is described for the first time.