This study continues a series of articles published in two last issues of this journal, exploring the split of the ancestral species H. heidelbergensis ~400 ka BP in the Levant and the subsequent origin of two filial species, Neanderthals and Denisovans. Certain members of H. heidelbergensis had moved to Europe, where a new taxon, H. s. neanderthalensis, emerged 200–150 ka BP. Others had migrated to Central Asia via Iran ~400–350 ka BP. Their assimilation of native populations of H. erectus, adaptation to changing environments, and natural selection led to the emergence of H. s. denisovan. In Uzbekistan, no Early Paleolithic sites are known. Based on archaeological evidence, one can presume that this territory was first peopled by Denisovans, who had migrated there from Tajikistan during MIS 6. At the final stage of the Karatau culture in Tajikistan, associated with pedocomplex 4 (MIS 11), new elements appeared in primary lithic reduction, types of stone tools, and the ways they were fashioned. In Uzbekistan, excavations of two key sites, Kulbulak and Obi-Rakhmat, have been ongoing for over five decades. Owing to long stratigraphic sequences, the evolution of the Middle Paleolithic industry of Denisovans has been traced over a long period spanning MIS 7–3. The only cave site excavated in Central Asia to-date, is Teshik-Tash in Uzbekistan, where Neanderthal fossils were found together with a Mousterian industry.

We have analyzed microblade production at Sukhotino-4, a stratified site in the southern part of Chita, Eastern Transbaikalia, excavated in the 1970s and 1980s. Its lithic industry specialized in bifacial tools and, to a large extent, in microblades and tools made on them. The sample includes over 300 cores and their preforms intended for manufacturing microblades and found in eleven layers. On the basis of morphological and typological analyses, we reveal an absolute predominance of narrow-faced microcores, including wedge-shaped ones. Most microcores from all layers of Sukhotino-4 were made according to a standard scheme, which concerned all stages, from the choice of blanks to the use of the core. The analysis of metric parameters suggests that most microcores have a frontal height of 25–30 mm and a width of 9–11 mm. The predominance of a single standard in the preparation of blanks and in the utilization of cores allowed us to describe the Sukhotino type of narrow-faced microcores. Other types are represented by just a few specimens. Morphological and typological homogeneity of most microcores and bifacial tools from all layers, correlating with the Sartan glacial cooling, suggests that the Upper Paleolithic industry of Sukhotino-4 existed for a long time.

This study focuses on sculptural representations of human heads and faces and related sources from Northern Mesopotamia, dating to the 10th to early 8th millennia BC. Consideration is given to archaeological context, placement relative to other ritually meaningful objects and complexes, and to material traces of actions performed with them. The distribution of masks and separate sculptural and relief images of the human head, in Northern Mesopotamia in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN), is determined in its western and central regions during the Late PPNA, Early and Middle PPNB periods. The tradition of manufacturing such objects, like the custom of burying or otherwise ritually manipulating separate human skulls, had been practiced in the Levant at least since the Upper Epi-Paleolithic. Many PPN masks and sculptured heads were found in contexts resembling those relating to human crania (and sometimes postcrania) in ritual complexes. Ritual actions with human skulls and sculptural representations of human heads were apparently based on similar religious beliefs broadly aimed at the wellbeing of the community, its security, stability, and reproduction.

We present the findings of a multidisciplinary study of burial 2 at Ust-Aleyka-5 on the Upper Ob. In 1982, an upright burial of a child with abundant funerary offerings (lithic artifacts, ornaments made of bones and teeth of mammals, shells of Unio bivalves) was unearthed. We focus on a find unique in the region—the shell of a sea snail Tritia nitida, a gastropod, which, at present, lives in the Mediterranean, Black, and Azov seas. The Raman spectroscopy analysis of a mineral pigment detected on the shell allowed us to identify it as red ocher. Similar traces were found on dropshaped pendants made of bone, antler or deer teeth, and on fossil shells of Unio aff. tumidus. On the basis of AMS analysis, burial 2 dates to the mid- or late 4th millennium BC. The T. nitida shell indicates ties (likely indirect ones) of the Barnaul stretch of the Ob to the Black Sea region.

The study describes new materials from Neolithic burial 33 at Krokhalevka-5 in the Kudryashovsky archaeological micro-region (Novosibirsk Region). The burial was single and had been disturbed. Details of funerary rite and descriptions of lithics are provided. The outlines of the lower part of the pit and the infill with remains of wood suggest that part of a wooden boat had been placed in the grave, possibly as a symbol of passage in space. Similar religious beliefs are evidenced by practices of the Neolithic Lower Ob people, who made tiny boats of clay. The custom of using boats or their copies in the funerary rite has survived until recently among the West Siberian natives, primarily those of the Ob basin. Results of radiocarbon analysis corrected for freshwater reservoir effect suggest that the burial dates to the mid-5th millennium BC (late 6th millennium BC without correction). Closest parallels to the lithics found there are those relating to the Zavyalovo stage of the Upper Ob culture and to certain Neolithic burials of the Barnaul-Biysk area and the Altai Mountains. Broader parallels include those from the Neolithic cultures of the Baraba forest-steppe and the Lower Ob. Craniometrically, the individual from Krokhalevka-5 burial 33 reveals eastern features. The graphic reconstruction of his appearance demonstrates that he differed from people of the Baraba forest-steppe.

We describe Seima-Turbino artifacts from museum collections and sites in China—two spearheads from the Gansu Provincial Museum and two daggers from the Tianshui Museum. The composition of metal was analyzed. Spearheads are made of copper with minor additions, and daggers are made of bronze. The shape of the latter is identical to that of the specimens from Sopka-2/4B. Their type and technology suggests that they were not made by people of the Qijia culture, but were imported by the Seima-Turbino people. Typology and chronology of daggers and spearheads from China are examined. Parallels with those from Western Siberia are listed. We conclude that ties between the cultures of Qijia and Seima-Turbino date to 2200–2000 BC, and the origin of metallurgy in China was intrinsically linked to that phenomenon.

The article examines late 3rd and 2nd millennia BC mining and metallurgy across vast territory of Central Eurasia, inhabited by Andronovo pastoralists and Central Asia farmers. We provide chronological framework for the emergence and evolution of mining techniques (exploitation of various horizons of the oxidation zone of volcanic massive sulfides, copper porphyry, skarn and copper sandstone deposits, the use of specialized mines), appearance of arsenic bronze, tin bronze, and iron. Despite local peculiarities, mining and metallurgy passed through similar consecutive developmental stages in Central Eurasia. Archaeological data suggest that in the Late Bronze Age, Andronovo communities settled southwards from the steppes of Northern Eurasia to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. They played a major role in the spread of tin bronze and the exploitation of tin mines in Central Asia in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. So far, there is only indirect evidence of contacts between Andronovo communities and people of the Iranian Highlands. The most promising sites that may yield such evidence are those of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex in northeastern Iran. Mineralogical and geochemical research methods help to assess the technological features of metallurgy and to discover ore sources; however, the interaction between Bronze Age communities can be explored only through archaeological and typological studies of sites and artifacts.

Archaeological excavations carried out in the Republic of North Ossetia – Alania over the past 15 years have yielded numerous artifacts associated with the Proto-Koban (15th/14th to early 12th century BC) and “classic” Koban culture (9th–8th centuries BC). Here, we analyze antimony artifacts from the cemeteries of Adaidon, dating to the Proto-Koban stage, and Elkhotovo, representing “classic” Koban. The analysis of composition of the metal revealed the recipes used by ancient craftsmen for manufacturing weapons, ornaments, and votive items. Antimony ornaments from Elkhotovo suggest that this substance was used not only in the Middle and the beginning of the Late Bronze Age in the Caucasian highlands, but also much later in the piedmont zone of the region. The study of certain bronze artifacts from Adaidon suggests that to make ornaments and votive items more attractive, antimony in the amount of 4.5–5.0 % was added. As a result, they acquired a light-golden color and luster.

This article presents the findings of excavations of mound 46 at the Khankharinsky Dol cemetery on the left bank of the Inya River, 1–1.5 km southeast of the Chineta village in the Krasnoshchekovsky District of the Altai Territory (northwestern Altai). Inside the mound, there was a burial of a male, placed in a crouched position on his right side, with his head oriented toward the east. Along the northern wall of the grave, the burial of a horse was found, oriented in the same direction. The most interesting funerary items were an iron dagger, an iron pickaxe, and decorated belt plaques made of horn. Parts of a horse harness included iron ring bits, a horn girth buckle, and a block. Analysis of the funerary rite and artifacts allows us to attribute the mound to the Pazyryk culture, and tentatively date it to the late 5th to 4th centuries BC. The fact that the dagger and the pickaxe were real weapons rather than replicas, and that the horse was buried, suggests that the man was a professional warrior, possibly a high-ranking one. Another sign of this are the decorated horn belt plaques, known to be endowed with important socio-cultural meaning among the Central Asian nomads.

This article introduces the findings relating to the construction of a mound-vault Skalnaya-5 in Khakassia—the only virtually completely preserved Tes funerary structure. On the basis of these data and using the Blender 4 software, we carried out a visual reconstruction of the vault. This collective tomb was a cabin, whose walls were built of nine layers of logs and covered with a multi-layered timber ceiling. Functionally, such a construction ensured a maximal influx of air. The entrance, which had two steps at the inner end, was arranged as a special opening in the wall and was used for a considerable time. Inside the vault, there was a two-level construction with upper shelves made of three log-spacers opposite the entrance and the lower ones made of wide planks, placed along two walls. The bodies and/or their effigies with clay-plaster masks were laid on the shelves and on the log floor. The analysis revealed the secondary use of wooden details of dwellings or household buildings, which had been trimmed in situ before being joined. We were able to record construction techniques used during the Tes and earlier stages. These could be related to winter huts or utility buildings dug into the ground, or wooden structures strengthening the walls of mining shafts. The closest constructive parallels are found in the Pazyryk culture, possibly evidencing the conservatism of housebuilding in the Altai-Sayan highland during the Early Iron Age.

Written sources of the 17th century mention “kosoi” (angular or slanted) forts. F.F. Laskovsky of the Engineer Corps interpreted this term as referring to forts with walls made from inclined logs (palisades). This idea was generally accepted by the scholarly community. The architect S.N. Balandin, without offering any proof, claimed that the “kozelchaty” forts (from “kozly”, trestle supports) were a subtype of “kosoi” (angular) forts. The purpose of the present study is to test the conclusions of Laskovsky and Balandin using new evidence. As it turns out, neither the written nor archaeological sources support these versions. In fact, there is enough information to disprove both. The meaning of the word “kosoi” in the 17th–19th century Russian language suggests four hypotheses regarding the structure of walls of “angular” forts. Comparison of them reveals that the term “angular” referred to fortifications with nonstraight walls, those joining not at a right angle, as well as those that were triangular in plan view. The specific layout of “kozelchaty” forts cannot be determined due to the lack of evidence. Probably their walls actually rested on trestle supports—two supports made of two or three logs each, on which a horizontal log was placed. Such forts were common mostly in northeast Asia, where forests were scarce, and the ground was frozen or rocky, preventing people from digging ditches for log palisade walls.

In the 18th century, the ancient and traditional cultures of ethnic groups inhabiting the Russian Empire came to the attention of prominent scholars. This was in accordance with the ruling empress’ new attitude toward heterodox citizens of her state. This study describes findings of the Peter Simon Pallas 1768–1769 expedition to the Volga region and the Urals, published in 1773 in the second volume of his fundamental work “Travel to Different Provinces of the Russian Empire”. Special attention is paid to scarce but important evidence about ritual structures associated with various confessions, and places where various pagan rites were performed by local dwellers of the respective areas. A number of sites have since been subjected to anthropogenic factors, destroyed, or rebuilt, sometimes radically changing their function. To various degrees Pallas’s descriptions supplement the available information and can be used by experts as a source of knowledge about the traditional beliefs and history of certain monuments of religious architecture.

The study examines certain aspects of the bear cult practiced by the Lower Amur peoples. Using myths and rituals of Nivkhs, Ulchi, and Nanai people, a human-animal interface is reconstructed in the context of the Amur hunter-gatherer worldview. Reference is made to the concept of personification and situational identity, offering an approach to the beast image in ritual from the standpoint of perceiving it as a human capable of shapeshifting. With this approach we were able to explore the anthropomorphic aspect of the bear image in traditional beliefs. The comparative analysis of the bear cults of Eurasia and North America suggests that the mythical carnivore is not the same as that hunted by humans. Rather, oblique terms used with reference to the bear show that it was perceived as a personified ancestor, relative, member of a different world, one from which the welfare of each human being depends. Such a status agrees with the Amur natives’ belief that the bear personifies the “taiga/mountain man” visiting his “earthly kin” to help them solve their problems and fulfill their wishes. Ceremonial butchering symbolized the beast’s transformation: the animal was supposed to cast off its fur to put it on again after returning to its kin. The Amur bear feast, as the analysis shows, carried yet another, social message. Ceremonies of the bear cult were performed to conclude marital, clan, and trade treaties. In the 20th century, changes in the life of the Lower Amur peoples, relating to literacy, consumers’ ethics, and a more rational worldview, caused the decline of the bear’s ritual and social role.

Based on my fieldwork in 2018–2019, 2022–2023, late 19th to early 21st century studies by other experts, and internet resources, I explore the functioning of traditional prayer rituals in modern Udmurt culture. Current religious rites fall into three groups: continuing, renewed at ancient sanctuaries, and initiated elsewhere. Prayer rituals are continuing in several Southern Udmurt villages and meant to secure the communities’ wellbeing. They are a peculiar manifestation of Udmurt ethnic identity. Their deep meaning, however, is not always preserved, many elements are lost, and religious life in general is declining. Since the early 1990s, prayer rituals have been initiated at new places during festivals and holidays. They are thought to stimulate interest in Udmurt beliefs and rites and to propagate ethno-cultural codes outside Udmurtia. Under globalization and unification, the practicing of traditional rites preserves ethnic identity despite historical changes. Ceremonies with prayings contribute to the understanding and preserving ethno-cultural legacy.

In this study, we aimed to identify prehistoric and modern humans on the basis of the shape and texture of occlusal surfaces of their molars. Twelve specimens were tested (6 in each group). We used surface plot and plot profile analysis in the first experiment, and also three-dimensional (3D) surface plots, facet orientation, and roughness calculations in the second experiment, to test the deviation of the top gray or surface peak with fossa or surface valley and also bottom gray. Calculations from the three regions of interest indicate that the deviation results from prehistoric human teeth are smaller than those from modern human teeth. The calculated indices of molar surface roughness of prehistoric humans are generally lower than those of modern humans. The findings demonstrate that prehistoric human teeth were a bit more worn than modern human teeth.