NATIONS AND RELIGIONS OF EURASIA

The principal approaches to the study of composite slotted tools in the Late Paleolithic-Neolithic of Eurasia

E.N. — 2025-09-24

This article provides a review of the principal methodological approaches of slotted bone and antler tools studying from the earliest classification attempts made in the end of 19th century to contemporary interdisciplinary research. This category of tools is crucial for understanding technological aspects of subsistence in ancient societies. Because these artifacts are one of the earliest composite tools, incorporating bone bases, inserts (geometric and non-geometric microliths), and adhesive compounds, their study presents a more complex challenge compared to non-composite stone or bone tools. This complexity arises from the usage of multiple materials, the miniature nature of the slotes, and the limitations imposed by the non-destructive analysis required. The experimental use-wear analysis, which has long been the standard for determining the functional characteristics and utilization methods of slotted tools, has recently been supplemented by three-dimensional modeling, X-Ray photo and computed tomography techniques. These advancements allow researchers to examine both the internal and external structures of the tools. Additionally, chemical analysis of the adhesives used in slotted tools, when residues are detectable, enables the reconstruction of the technological development of the societies (whether the adhesive composition was simple or complex) and their adaptive strategies to environmental conditions, where the most readily available resources (bitumen, tar, or adhesives derived from animal or fish collagen) were utilized in glue production. Obtaining absolute dates from the organic bases of tools allows researchers to determine their place within ancient Eurasian cultures and even construct cultural-chronological frameworks for the development of microlithic technologies across vast regions. The comprehensive application of these scientific approaches facilitates a high-level reconstruction of hunting methods, butchery practices, and primary operations carried out at ancient sites — insights that were inaccessible to researchers even in the late 20th century.

Distribution of finds as a reflection of natural and cultural processes (evidence from archaeological horizon 4 of the Tolbor-4 site, Northern Mongolia)

D.V. Marchenko — 2025-09-24

The aim of this article is to reconstruct the nature of human activity at the Tolbor-4 site during the final stages of the Early Upper Paleolithic based on materials from Archaeological Horizon 4, as well as to determine the degree of deformation of the horizon by natural processes. The primary source of this research is the spatial data (i. e., coordinates) of finds

recovered during the 2005 excavations. Statistical methods are used to identify patterns in the distribution of finds, which are interpreted in conjunction with the results of artifact collection analysis and stratigraphic and lithological data. The kernel density estimation method is employed to create visual density distribution maps of the finds. Two clustering algorithms are used to study the distribution of different categories of finds (cores, tools, etc.).

As a result, spatial structures were identified in part of the studied area, formed by slope displacement and represented by concentrations of small and larger finds aligned perpendicular to the slope, alternating with empty areas of similar shapes. The northern and southwestern parts of the excavation are identified as less disturbed, preserving traces of spatially organized human activity, including tool use (northern section) and operations combined with tool-related activities (southwestern section). Available data suggest an increasing intensity of human occupation at the site from the initial to the final Early Upper Paleolithic.

Elemental composition of the metal of the accompanying inventory from the burial mound No. 4 of the Utinka burial ground of the Tagar culture (based on the materials of the excavations of V. V. Bobrov in 1974, 1975 in the northern forest-steppe)

A.S. Savelieva — 2025-09-24

In order to supplement the data on the change of the traditions of bronze production of the Tagar culture at the Saragashen and Tesin stages in the northern forest-steppe, it was undertaken the study of the elemental composition of bronzes from the burials of different periods in the burial mound No. 4 of the Utinka burial ground. Three burials from the 5th-4th centuries BC and a crypt from the 2nd-1st centuries BC were excavated and attributed in 1974 and 1975 by V. V. Bobrov. To compare the alloys of items intended for specific individuals who died in the Tagar era, the data on the composition of the metal are considered in the context of the items belonging to the sets that accompanied specific buried individuals. The elemental composition of the metal of 36 objects made of copper-based alloys was determined using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The studied materials are represented by five objects from the crypt; 11 objects from grave No. 1; 15 objects from grave No. 2; five objects from grave No. 3. Analysis of the obtained data showed that for the metal of the inventory of three graves of the 5th-4th centuries BC, the predominant ligature is tin, present in this capacity in all the studied bronze alloys from graves No. 1 and No. 2, as well as in the metal of 80 % of the objects from grave No. 3. In addition, lead was found as a ligature in the bronzes of grave No. 2. In relation to the metal of objects from the crypt of the 2nd-1st centuries BC, alloying with tin was identified as an isolated case. The predominance of arsenic and the presence of antimony as alloying components of the alloys were established here. A comparison of the metal of objects from four sets of accompanying inventory showed, in general, the unity of the bronze recipes within the sets. Based on the nature of the distribution of ligatures and natural impurities to copper, it is assumed that two pairs of objects were made from the metal of one casting (chase No. 104 and ingot No. 53 from grave 2; hemispheres No. 22m and 22b from grave 3).

Memorial complexes of ancient nomads of Inner Asia: results and prospects of study

A.A. Tishkin — 2025-09-24

The article provides a brief overview of the research experience of widespread memorial complexes left by ancient nomads in the territory of Inner Asia. It is said that it is necessary to continue studying this important historical and cultural phenomenon, in which the “deer” stones were of great importance. The definition of the concept of “memorial complex” is given in the context of the features of the identified and investigated archaeological sites. Variants of interpretations and primary systematization of the obtained data are proposed. Individual examples of the studied objects on the territory of Mongolia, Altai and Tuva are given. The widespread use of military memorial complexes within the framework of the Kherksur and “Deer” Stones culture makes it possible to reconstruct the ideology of the archaic nomadic empire that existed at the end of the II — 1st third of the I millennium BC. Some problems and prospects for studying this type of archaeological sites are outlined. The ways to solve them using an interdisciplinary approach, geoinformation systems and digital technologies are highlighted. Such researchs will provide the necessary information potential for understanding the historical and cultural situation in the period under review.

«Strict supervision or eviction?»: toward a question of the situation of germans in Petrograd province in 1914-1916

O.V. Erokhina — 2025-09-24

With the outbreak of the First World War, the German population of the Russian Empire had a hard time as they were labeled as “parasites on the body of the Russian people”. Legislative acts were adopted against them, which were restrictive or prohibitive in nature. At present, there are many works in which the authors addressed the changes and problems of the situation of Germans during the period in question. But they studied mainly the regions of the Volga region, Novorossiya, Siberia and the Caucasus, as for the Petrograd province, the topic almost did not attract the attention of researchers. In the article the authors attempt to show how the “liquidation legislation” introduced in 1914-1916 influenced the development of the Petrograd province. The authors attempt to show how the “liquidation legislation” introduced in 1914-1916 affected the life and activities of German colonists. The main sources for our article were materials from the archival collections of the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg, the Russian State Historical Archive and the periodical press. The authors of the article came to the following conclusions. The policy of the authorities was ill-conceived. Their interference in the issues of private land ownership, when the estates of German owners were liquidated without taking into account their economic profitability and the presence of Russian citizenship, had a detrimental effect not only on the farms themselves, but also hit the economy of the state. In addition, numerous violations on the part of officials provoked a lot of complaints about their actions. As a result, local and central administrations had to reconsider their decisions if Germans proved their Russian citizenship or if their relatives received awards on the battlefields.

New economic policy against Belarusization in the 1920s: Pskov province

O.V. Kobets — 2025-09-24

Following the decisions on the nationalities question made at X and XII congresses of the Russian Communist Party of the Bolsheviks, Belarusization as part of the general nativization policy started to be implemented not only in Belarus itself, but also in Russian regions in places where the Belarusian population lived compactly. These primarily included the border governorates of Pskov, Smolensk and Bryansk. In the first of the three, three districts — Sebezhsky, Nevelsky and Velizhsky — were considered the «most Belarusian» after the liquidation of Vitebsk governorate in 1924.

However, even in these districts, the topic of Belarusians and Belarusization began to appear on the agenda of local authorities only in 1925, and then under constant pressure from Moscow.

Based on the materials of the funds of the People's Commissariat of Education and the Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the State Archive of the Pskov Region, developed and previously unused, as well as publications of the Pskov Nabat newspaper, it can be argued with good reason that the weakness of working with Belarusians in the province was determined by the following circumstances. Firstly, the local population together with the authorities, from the volost executive committees to the governorate one, believed that there was no separate Belarusian people, as well as no language, but there was a small part of Great Russians who spoke “corrupted” or “slangy” Russian. So, from their point of view, there was no reason to engage in Belarusization. Secondly, the Belarusians who lived in the Pskov region were few in number and scattered in separate villages, unlike, for example, the communes of the Latvians. This circumstance did not allow for any collective work among them. Thirdly, the authorities had no time for Belarusization during the first half of the 1920s. First of all, it involved the transfer of schools to the Belarusian language. But the new economic policy that began at the same time led to the mass closure of schools, especially the primary ones, due to their transfer to the local budget. In fact, the new economic policy turned out to be incompatible with the objectives of Belarusization.

Nations of Siberia, their number and its dynamics in the post-Soviet period

T.B. Smirnova — 2025-09-24

The collapse of the USSR led to global and irreversible consequences in all spheres of life of our country, including demographic processes. The article analyzes the dynamics of the number of peoples living on the territory of the Siberian Federal District, which includes 3 republics (Altai, Tuva, Khakassia), 2 territories (Altai and Krasnoyarsk), 5 regions (Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Tomsk). The post-Soviet period has seen changes in the ethnic structure of Siberia's population and changes in the number of peoples living here. The total population decreased from 18 million 490 thousand people in 1991 to 16 million 493 thousand people in 2025, i. e. by 2 million people in 33 years (11 %). There are significant differences in demographic processes among different nations. In absolute terms, the number of Russians has decreased most of all — by 2,795,000 people; the share of Russians in the national republics and in the Republic of Tuva has decreased from 32 to 10 %. The number of peoples called “old diasporas” has decreased: the number of Ukrainians in the regions of the Siberian District in the post-Soviet period decreased from 542.0 to 72.8 thousand people, Belarusians — from 124.3 to 15.7 thousand people. The main reasons are lower birth rates, natural assimilation and emigration to other regions of Russia. Low birth rates, assimilation and emigration were the reasons for the decline in the number of Germans, Jews, Greeks, Poles, Latvians and Estonians. The population loss in Siberia was partially compensated by migrants from the former Soviet republics, in the first years after the collapse of the Soviet Union — Russians and Russian-speakers, and later — representatives of the titular peoples of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan. The number of these “new diasporas” in Siberia has grown significantly: Kyrgyz — 3.3 times, Uzbeks — 2.5 times, Tajiks are characterized by almost 10-fold growth. Indigenous small-numbered peoples of Siberia have, although small, but stable numbers, due to higher birth rates and social benefits. As a result of demographic processes of the post-Soviet period, the ethnic structure of Siberia's population is quite different from that of the Soviet Union.

Marital behavior of the Udmurts according to the 1994 microcensus

S.N. Uvarov — 2025-09-24

The article examines the marital behavior of the Udmurts of Udmurtia according to the 1994 microcensus. It recorded the first intermediate results of radical market reforms. Traditionally, the microcensus contained a block of questions devoted to marriage, giving an idea, including about the marital behavior of the population. At the same time, this list was expanded, new marital statuses were taken into account. For the first time, unregistered marriages were recorded. Again, as during the previous microcensus, the program included a question on remarriages. For researchers, this opens up the opportunity to study marital behavior in more detail. The article lists its elements, but makes a reservation that the main attention will be focused on marital status.

Based on the unpublished data from the 1994 microcensus, the marital status of the Udmurt population is analyzed in comparison with the entire population of the Udmurt Republic. According to a number of indicators, the marital status of the Udmurts was better in 1994. For example, the proportion of married people was higher, the proportion of divorced and separated people was lower, and the Udmurts remarried less often compared to all residents of Udmurtia. However, there were more widows among the Udmurt women than among women in the republic. The reasons for this include the consequences of the Great Patriotic War that persist in older generations, as well as the increased mortality rate among Udmurt men. The data obtained indicate that registered marriage was highly valued among the Udmurts, and the proportion of cohabitation was low. The statistical data allow us to draw an unambiguous conclusion about the greater strength of the institution of marriage among the Udmurts.

German schools of St. Petersburg province (Leningrad region) in the XIX — first third of the XX century: general regularities and peculiarities of development

I.V. Cherkazyanova — 2025-09-24

This article analyzes the history of German settler schools near St. Petersburg/Leningrad practically throughout their existence, from the emergence of the first forms of education during settlement in new places to their closure for political reasons in the late 1930s. The purpose of the paper is to identify the common and special features in the development of school education and school construction of St. Petersburg colonists in comparison with the colonists of other regions of the country, primarily the Germans of the Volga region. The common features in the formation and development of colonist schools are related both to the Protestant tradition of compulsory education of children and the general government policy towards the German population and their educational sphere. Characteristic features of the schools of St. Petersburg colonists are manifested at all stages of the period under study, which is largely due to the proximity of the capital (in the pre-revolutionary period) and the country's largest scientific, cultural and educational center, the status of which was maintained by Leningrad. The peculiarities were manifested in the provision of schools for the German population, the possibility of obtaining teachers from among the city teachers, as well as the special attitude towards Germans on the part of the authorities both before the revolution and during the years of Soviet power.

Ethnic minorities in Siberia and the Far east in 1939-1959: the main trends of reproduction

N.V. Chernysheva — 2025-09-24

The article is devoted to ethnic minorities living in Siberia and the Far East in 1939-1959. The purpose of the publication is to identify the main trends in the reproduction of ethnic minorities in Siberia and the Far East in the late 1930 years and late 1950 years, which were included in the statistical sample of the Central Control Commission of the USSR. The sources of the research were archival materials and the results of the All-Union population censuses of 1939 and 1959. The theoretical and methodological basis of the scientific publication was the theory of demographic transition with the identification of regional and national characteristics of individual territories. The research methodology is represented by general scientific, historical and statistical methods. In the USSR in the 1930 years and 1950 years, the demographic transition had its own distinctive features due to its discontinuity, socioeconomic processes (industrialization and urbanization), internal and external political events, the most important of which are the famine of the 1930 years and the post-war famine, the Great Patriotic War, the specifics of settlement, national characteristics, etc. The authors conducted a regional section of reproduction of individual ethnic minorities (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Tatars, Kazakhs, Jews, Armenians) Siberia and the Far East, which showed differences in demographic behavior, consistent with the general trends characteristic of the second phase of the demographic transition.

Based on Materials from the Republic of Tatarstan

G.F. Gabdrakhmanova — 2025-09-24

The purpose of the article is to show, using the example of the Republic of Tatarstan, the extent to which the ideas representing Islam promoted in the official public discourse and the frames about it present in the mass consciousness coincide. The scientific problem of the study — a comparison of the ideas of the ruling and mass strata of Russian society — predetermined the use of the principles of comparative analysis and a multiparadigmatic methodology. It included the constructivist approach of P. Berger and T. Lukmann, the phenomenological approach of E. Husserl and A. Schutz, the theory of frames by I. Hoffmann, ideas about the image as a cultural phenomenon and the image of religion in a sociological perspective. The empirical base is the materials of a sociological study, including a discursive analysis of the texts of the Addresses of the Head of the Republic of Tatarstan to the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan for 2013-2023, data from a survey of Kazan residents in 2024 (n=501) and the results of a secondary assessment of data from questionnaires of Tatarstan residents in the 2000s. The novelty of the study lies in the author's sociological approach to studying the image of Islam in the views of different social groups and in demonstrating the possibilities of its use on specific data.

The use of the comparative analysis method allowed us to identify the specific foundations of the image of Islam and their coincidence in the official public discourse and public opinion. 1. For the rais of Tatarstan and for the residents of the republic, the association of this religion with the sphere of interfaith relations is equally significant. 2. A coinciding view is the frame about Islam through ethnicity. 3. Differences between the ruling and mass layers were found on the topic of “Islamic economy and interaction with the countries of the Islamic world”. It is very significant for R. N. Minnikhanov, but does not occupy high positions in the rating of associations about Islam in public views. 4. At the mass level, a very common basis for the perception of Islam is the public service of its followers. This marker is actively used by the head of the republic in public speeches. The image of Islam as a socially responsible religion, equally significant for the population and the ruling layer, is the basis for promoting a coordinated strategy of positive branding of this religion in Russia. It can become a social reference point for believers in today's unstable world through service to their immediate surroundings.

The ethno-religious factor in the socio-economic adaptation of the Muslim population of the Yenisei province in the XIX — early XX centuries

P.K. Dashkovskiy — 2025-09-24

The article is devoted to the problem of socio-economic adaptation of the Muslim population in the territory of the Yenisei province within the framework of modernization processes that took place in Russian society in the second half of the XIX — early XX centuries. The work was prepared on the basis of an analysis of normative legal acts, as well as archival materials presented in the collections of the State Archive of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The authors draw attention to the fact that despite the reforms carried out in the country, the territory of the Yenisei province, even at the beginning of the XX century, continues to be mainly the land of exiles, which undoubtedly had an impact on the social composition of the population, as well as its economic situation. The Russian old-timers were reluctant to accept Muslim settlers, which is explained by the social and economic instability of most of them. An analysis of the sources allowed the authors to conclude that the old-timers did not dislike Muslims on ethnic grounds, and all conflicts had an economic basis, where the religious factor was indirect. Experiencing economic difficulties, Muslims, especially those with the status of exiled settlers, sought to establish themselves in the city and be counted among the bourgeoisie.

State-confessional relations in the Caucasus in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

S.R. Chedzhemov — 2025-09-24

The confessional history of the peoples of the Russian Federation in modern conditions has not only a purely historical and analytical aspect, but also a significant practical significance in the context of the need to use the positive experience of the past in the harmonization of interethnic and confessional relations. Russia, as a state-civilization, has been formed for a long time, but this process has not yet been properly studied both due to certain class imperial preferences in the pre-revolutionary time, and class stereotypes that dominated society in the Soviet era. The Russian state and the Orthodox Church were in many respects united until the Soviet decree of V. I. Lenin on the separation of church and state. With regard to other traditional religions and beliefs, a tolerant policy was carried out, which made it possible not only for Orthodox Christians to occupy major government positions and receive the highest military ranks. In the 20th century, the peoples of the Caucasus were legally part of the Russian Empire and, in addition to the general imperial legislation, their life was also regulated by local acts, which, unlike the legislation of other empires of those years, guaranteed them the preservation of freedom of conscience. The author does not agree with the statement that the imperial and Soviet authorities destroyed the traditions of real Christianity, Islam and folk beliefs in Ossetia by terror. Based on the analysis of the materials of the peoples of the Caucasus, the article characterizes the state-confessional relations in the mainstream of the country's domestic policy, emphasizes the historical continuity of the humanistic policy of the central Russian government in the national regions of the country.