ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURES
ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURES, based on cultural features common for archaeological sites (settlements, dwellings, ceramics, funerary artifacts, tools, etc) belonging to the same time and area while having differing local features. Several of such A.c., formed at the same time and area, constitute to a cultural and historical commonality.
On the territory of Bashkortostan, there have been identified the following A.c., belonging to: Stone (Agidelskaya, Garinskaya, Ilmurzinskaya, Pribelskaya, Surtandinskaya, Tashbulatovskaya, Yangelskaya cultures), Bronze (Abashevskaya, Alakulskaya, Mezhovskaya, Petrovskaya, Sargarinskaya, Sintashtinskaya, Srubnaya, Fyodorovskaya, Cherkaskulskaya and Yamnaya cultures) and Iron (Ananian, Kara-Abyzskaya, Kurmantauskaya, Pyanoborskaya, Savromatskaya, Sarmatskaya cultures) ages. In the Middle Ages on the territory of Bashkortostan, there formed such archeological cultures as Bakhmutinskaya, Imenkovskaya, Kara-Yakupovskaya, Kushnarenkovskaya, Mazuninskaya, Turbaslinskaya and Chiyalikskaya. The most famous of them is the Bakhmutinskaya A.c. (3–8th centuries), whose artifacts on the territory of Bashkortostan are located in the basin of such rivers as Belaya, Bystry Tanyp, Kama and Ufa. Towns, fortified by ramparts and moats, are located on the high terraces above the floodplain while the rural settlements – on the low terraces. What served as dwellings were inground log buildings with hearths and household pits. Low-necked cup-shaped ceramic vessels, tools, weapons made of iron and bone as well as bronze and glass ornaments were found there. The leading industries were animal husbandry, agriculture, hunting, fishing, iron and bronze metallurgy, and weaving. The majority of funerary artifacts were simple burial grounds. The dead were buried in deep grave pits with the bodies stretched out on their backs and their heads placed in the direction of the river. The population developed on the basis of the local tribes of the Pyanoborskaya and Kara-Abyzskaya cultures with the participation of alien nomadic tribes of the south and southeastern steppes. A part of the Bakhmutinskaya culture tribes was assimilated, while another part was supplanted by populations of the Kara-Yakupovskaya, Kushnarenkovskaya and Turbaslinskaya cultures. Belonging to the Bakhmutinskaya culture people became one of the components in the formation of the north-western part of the Bashkir nation; the Kara-Yakupovskaya A.c (8–9th centuries or, according to other data, 7–12th centuries), whose artifacts on the territory of Bashkortostan are localized in the basin of the Dyoma River and in the lower and middle flows of the Belaya River. The settlements are represented by ancient towns located on the floodplain terraces. The dwellings were in the form of log houses and yurts. Various pottery items, ceramic vessels, weapons, jewelry and belt sets were found there. The majority of funerary artifacts were in the form of burial mounds. The dead were buried in shallow oval or rectangular grave pits, stretched on their backs with their heads placed towards W. Various earthen vessels with sacrificial food (horse bones) were found in the upper part of the grave. In the lower part of the grave, there were found remnants of horse skin or horse harness. According to some researchers, the culture was formed in the forest-steppe regions of Western Siberia, while according to others, it developed in the south and southeast steppes of Kazakhstan and South Siberia. According to N.A.Mazhitov, A.N.Sultanova and others, its bearers were various Turkic tribes (the area of the artifacts distribution is associated by them with the territory of the Bashkir settlement), according to V.A.Ivanov, E.P.Kazakov, E.A.Khalikova – Finno-Ugric tribes of Western Siberian origin. These particular tribes cooperated with the tribes of the Bakhmutinskaya, Kushnarenkovskaya and Turbaslinskaya cultures, and also maintained close ties with the Bulgars, Kipchaks and other ethnic groups of Asia and Eastern Europe; the Kushnarenkovskaya A.c. (late 6th – mid. 8th centuries or, according to other data, 6–12th centuries), whose artifact (about 40 of them) on the territory of Bashkortostan are localized in the basins of the middle and lower reaches of the Belaya River. The settlements were located on the floodplain terraces and were of short-time, seasonal nature. There were found pitcher-shaped ceramic vessels, weapons, horse harness, belt accessories and jewelry. The majority of funerary artifacts were in the form of burial mounds. Signs of ritual burials of skulls, limbs and hides of horses were found in these mounds. The dead were buried in shallow oval or rectangular burial pits, stretched out on their backs, with their heads in the direction of N or NW. According to some researchers, the culture was formed in the south and south east steppes of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, while according to others – in the forest-steppe regions of Western Siberia. According to V.A.Ivanov, E.P.Kazakov, E.A.Khalikova and others, its bearers were various Ugric tribes, according to S.M.Vasyutkin and V.F.Gening – Samoyed tribes, N.A.Mazhitov, A.N.Sultanova – Turkic tribes (presumably Bashkirs). The Kushnarenkovskiye tribes were one of the components of the formation of the population of the Kara-Yakup culture; the Turbaslinskaya A.c. (5–8th centuries) has approx. 30 archeological artifacts localized in the middle reach of the Belaya River between the Sima and Chermasan rivers. The settlements are represented by towns and villages located on the floodplain terraces of the said rivers. The dwellings were rectangular half-timber log houses. There was found pottery, including spherical jugs with handles, egg-shaped vessels, and also, weapons, horse harness accessories, tools, belt accessories, and jewelry. The majority of funerary artifacts were kurkun burials, and sometimes crypts located in the catacombs. The deceased were buried in narrow rectangular grave pits, often with the use of a slab placed in the northern wall. The bodies were stretched on the back, with the head placed mainly in the direction of the N. There were found traces of artificial deformation of the skulls. V.F.Gening, V.A.Ivanov connect the origin of the culture with the Ugrian tribes who came to the Ural region from Western Siberia; G.I.Matveeva, F.A.Sungatov – with the resettlement of nomadic tribes from the S; N.A.Mazhitov – with Turkic tribes (presumably, ancient Bashkirs). Contacts with the tribes of the Bakhmutinskaya, Kara-Yakupovskaya, Kushnarenkovskaya cultures have been recorded.
