Siberian Federal University

Supplementary material

Application 1 (.pdf, 4.8 MB)

Issue

Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences. 2024 17 (9)

Authors

Berdnikov, Ivan M.

Contact information

Berdnikov, Ivan M.: Irkutsk State University Irkutsk, Russian Federation; ; ORCID: 0000-0002-1943-7507

Keywords

Cis-Baikal; Baikal-Yenisei Siberia; Middle Neolithic; hiatus; hunter-gatherers; burials; pottery traditions; domestic dogs; radiocarbon dating

Abstract

The problems of the Middle Neolithic of Cis-Baikal and the discontinuity in the development of mortuary traditions (hiatus), characteristic of this stage, are considered. Based on the analysis of 32 reliable radiocarbon dates from multilayered sites and burials, it was demonstrated that, contrary to the opinion of some researchers, the Middle Neolithic is well filled with data from various sources. It has been proven that by this time the Ust-Belaya and Posolskaya pottery traditions had become widespread in the region, the existence of which is determined by the interval of ~6.7–6.3 ka cal BP. The formation of the Middle Neolithic cultural model is associated primarily with the emergence in the region of new populations of hunter-gatherers who came from the west. In addition, according to recent data, in the Middle Neolithic the appearance of another ceramic, Aplinskaya, was recorded, which is obviously the result of a mixture of Early and Middle Neolithic pottery traditions. Only four burial complexes are known so far. Radiocarbon dates made it possible to establish their age within the range of ~6.5–6.1 ka cal BP. The most interesting among them are the burial from the mouth of the Ilir River (Angara region), where the grave goods contains small items with images of waterfowl, as well as a complex discovered near the work settlement Zhigalovo (Upper Lena) with a bone arrowhead of the “Shigir” type. The nature of these burials also indicates close ties between the local Middle Neolithic population and the cultures of the Trans-Urals and Western Siberia. Another grave from the Verkholensk burial ground testifies to the penetration into the Cis-Baikal of the carriers of the Isakovo burial tradition, which at this time begins to take shape in the Northern Angara region. The analysis also included data on the remains of eight domestic dogs, which apparently had a special status for Middle Neolithic hunter-gatherers. It is concluded that the mortuary hiatus and the Middle Neolithic of the Cis-Baikal region are quite well characterized today, and the solution to the problems associated with them is directly dependent on the quality of the correlation of materials from the burials and hunter-gatherer campsites

Pages

1638–1651

EDN

YTRIWS

Paper at repository of SibFU

https://elib.sfu-kras.ru/handle/2311/153755

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).