Portable Sculptures from Neolithic and Bronze Age Habitation Sites near Lake Baikal
Abstract
Portable sculpture provides important information on past worldviews, the ways various objects were perceived, and subsistence activities. This study addresses fi gurines from Neolithic and Bronze Age habitation sites on Lake Baikal relying on a summary of published specimens and those from recent excavations, totaling 32 intact and fragmentary fi gurines from twelve sites. Chronology, assessed on the basis of stratigraphic observations and radiocarbon analysis, suggests that fi gurines were manufactured on Lake Baikal since the Early Neolithic (over 7000 cal BP). Most of the early specimens represent fi sh, and some depicts Baikal seals. They conform to the Kitoy artistic tradition. Late Neolithic fi gurines (5590–4870 cal BP) evidence a different style, typical of the Serovo-Glazkovo tradition. Bronze Age depictions of fi sh are highly stylized. Overall, these differences make it possible to track chronological changes in the contents and styles of portable sculpture in the region. Most representations of fi sh have perforations for appending and were probably used as lures. Larger ones without holes might have been used in rituals.
About the Authors
A. G. Novikov
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences;
Irkutsk State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090;
Karla Marksa 1, Irkutsk, 664003
O. I. Goriunova
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences;
Irkutsk State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090;
Karla Marksa 1, Irkutsk, 664003
References
1. Aseev I.V. 2003 Yugo-Vostochnaya Sibir v epokhu kamnya i metalla. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAE SO RAN.
2. Dolganov V.A., Goriunova O.I., Novikov A.G., Weber A.W. 2011 Kompleks s punktirno-grebenchatoi keramikoi i ego mesto v neolite Pribaikalya (po materialam mnogosloinogo poseleniya Sagan-Zaba II). In Drevniye kultury Mongolii i Baikalskoi Sibiri, iss. 2. Irkutsk: Izd. Irkut. Gos. Univ., pp. 75–81.
3. Dolganov V.A., Goriunova O.I., Novikov A.G., Weber A.W. 2013 Kompleksy s keramikoi posolskogo tipa v neolite Pribaikalya: Po materialam V verkhnego sloya geoarkheologicheskogo obyekta Sagan-Zaba II. Vestnik NGU. Ser.: Istoriya, fi lologiya, vol. 12 (7): 125–132.
4. Goriunova O.I. 1997 Serovskiye pogrebeniya Priolkhonya (oz. Baikal). Novosibirsk: Izd. IAE SO RAN.
5. Goriunova O.I., Nomokonova T.Y., Losey R.J., Novikov A.G., Weber A.W. 2014 Radiouglerodnoye datirovaniye neoliticheskikh kompleksov Priolkhonya (po materialam mnogosloinogo poseleniya SaganZaba II). In Trudy IV (XX) Vseros. arkheol. syezda v Kazani, vol. I. Kazan: Otechestvo, pp. 237–240.
6. Goriunova O.I., Novikov A.G. 2012 Skulptura malykh form v iskusstve neolita i bronzovogo veka Priolkhonya (oz. Baikal). In Arkheologo-etnografi cheskiye issledovaniya Severnoi Evrazii: Ot artefaktov k prochteniyu proshlogo. Tomsk: Agraf-Press, pp. 83–90.
7. Goriunova O.I., Novikov A.G., Weber A.W. 2014 Ranneneoliticheskiy kompleks V nizhnego kulturnogo sloya poseleniya Sagan-Zaba II na Baikale: Planigrafi ya i datirovka. Izvestiya Irkut. Gos. Univ. Ser.: Geoarkheologiya. Etnologiya. Antropologiya, vol. 8: 45–62.
8. Gryaznov M.P., Komarova M.N. 1992 Raskopki mnogosloinogo poseleniya Ulan-Khada. In Drevnosti Baikala. Irkutsk: Izd. Irkut. Gos. Univ., pp. 13–32.
9. Kushnareva K.K., Khlopin I.N. 1992 Raskopki poseleniy na yugo-zapadnom poberezhye Baikala. In Drevnosti Baikala. Irkutsk: Izd. Irkut. Gos. Univ., pp. 84–91.
10. Nomokonova T.Y., Goriunova O.I. 2004 Neoliticheskiye kompleksy mnogosloinogo poseleniya Katun I (Chivyrkuiskiy zaliv oz. Baikal). Izvestiya laboratorii drevnikh tekhnologiy, iss. 2: 117–123.
11. Nomokonova T.Y., Losey R.J., Goriunova O.I., Bazaliiskii V.I. 2014 Holocene seal imagery in the Lake Baikal Region of Eastern Siberia. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, vol. 42 (3): 21–28.
12. Nomokonova Т.Y., Losey R.J., Goriunova O.I., Weber A.W. 2013 A freshwater old carbon offset in Lake Baikal, Siberia and problems with the radiocarbon dating of archaeological sediments: Evidence from the Sagan-Zaba II site. Quaternary International, vol. 290/291: 110–125.
13. Okladnikov A.P. 1936 Kamennye ryby: (K izucheniyu pamyatnikov neoliticheskogo iskusstva Vostochnoi Sibiri). Sovetskaya arkheologiya, iss. 1: 215–244.
14. Okladnikov A.P. 1941 K voprosu o naznachenii neoliticheskikh kamennykh ryb iz Sibiri. MIA, No. 2: 193–202.
15. Okladnikov A.P. 1950 Neolit i bronzovyi vek Pribaikalya, pt. 1–2. Moscow, Leningrad: Izd. AN SSSR. (MIA; No. 18).
16. Okladnikov A.P. 1975 Otchet o raskopkakh mnogosloinogo neoliticheskogo pamyatnika v bukhte Zagan-Zaba v 1974 g. Novosibirsk. Arkhiv IA RAN. R-1, No. 5567.
17. Petri B.E. 1916 Neoliticheskiye nakhodki na beregu Baikala: (Predvaritelnoye soobshcheniye o raskopkakh stoyanki Ulan-Khada). Sbornik MAE, vol. 3: 113–132.
18. Reimer P.J., Bard E., Bayliss A., Beck J.W., Blackwell P.G., Ramsey C.B., Buck C.E., Cheng H., Edwards R.L., Friedrich M., Grootes P.M., Guilderson T.P., Hafl idison H., Hajdas I., Hatté C., Heaton T., Hoffmann D.L., Hogg A., Hughen K.A., Kaiser K., Kromer B., Manning S.W., Niu M., Reimer R., Richards D.A., Scott E.M., Southon J.R., Staff R.A., Turney C., Plicht J. 2013 IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon, No. 55: 1869–1887.
19. Studzitskaya S.V. 1970 Izobrazheniye cheloveka v iskusstve Pribaikalya v epokhu neolita i rannei bronzy (melkaya plastika). Sovetskaya arkheologiya, No. 1: 19–33.
20. Studzitskaya S.V. 1976 Sootnosheniye proizvodstvennykh i kultovykh funktsiy sibirskikh neoliticheskikh izobrazheniy ryb. In Iz istorii Sibiri, iss. 21. Tomsk: Izd. Tom. Gos. Univ., pp. 74–89.
21. Svinin V.V. 1976 Periodizatsiya arkheologicheskikh pamyatnikov Baikala. Izvestiya VSOGO SSSR, vol. 69: 167–179.
For citation:
Novikov A.G., Goriunova O.I. Portable Sculptures from Neolithic and Bronze Age Habitation Sites near Lake Baikal. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2016;44(4):60-66. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2016.44.4.060-066
Views: 158
Email this article 