The initial peopling of China by H. erectus occurred ~1.7 Ma BP, maybe even earlier. Despite climatic changes in the Pleistocene, ecological conditions for the permanent occupation of this territory by members of that taxon remained favorable, causing their continuous morphological and genetic evolution in situ along the line leading to H. sapiens. As a result, between 120–40 ka BP, they evolved convergently into early anatomically modern humans in this territory. A large part of the morphological variation of Late Middle to Early Upper Pleistocene hominins in China is attributable not only to the divergence of separate groups of H. erectus descendants, who convergently, under different ecological conditions, evolved into anatomically modern humans using various adaptive strategies, but also to the immigration of Denisovans and their assimilation of native groups. Contacts between the latter and Neanderthals in the second half of the Upper Pleistocene cannot be ruled out too.

This article outlines the results of the analysis of animal bone remains from Pleistocene deposits in Denisova Cave, Altai, presenting the longest and most complete Paleolithic record in North and Central Asia. The faunal sample comprises 158,000 bone and tooth fragments from lithological layers 15–9 in the cave’s East Chamber, spanning the period from MIS 7 to 2. The fossils represent 35 species of large mammals from six orders: rodents, lagomorphs, carnivores, proboscideans, perissodactyls, and artiodactyls. Building on a comprehensive (morphometric, taphonomic, paleoecological, and zooarchaeological) analysis, we compiled a systematic review of the most characteristic animal species in the Denisova Cave area, reconstructing the general trend of environmental changes throughout the Pleistocene sedimentation period. Taphonomic features of separate sedimentation stages are presented, and the role of Paleolithic humans and predators in the formation of taphocoenoses is assessed. We concluded that when sedimentation layers 15 and 14 were formed, significant areas were occupied by forests. The accumulation of fossils in the lower part of the sequence was largely caused by humans. During the sedimentation of layers 13–9, steppe areas predominated in the vicinity of the cave, with forested areas being most likely confined to river valleys and northern-facing mountain slopes. Taphocoenoses in this part of the section originated mostly as a result of the subsistence activity of predators.

Biface trimming elements represent an important diagnostic source of information for studying various stages of bifacial tool production. In Middle Paleolithic assemblages, they often constitute a significant portion of the sample, making them particularly useful for identifying specific technological operations such as primary reduction and shaping of bifacial preforms, edge formation and retouching, working edge rejuvenation, and modification of bifacial tools. Here, we present the findings of a systematic typological analysis of biface trimming elements. Through a comprehensive metric and morphological analysis of experimental collections and Middle Paleolithic assemblages representing the Sibiryachikha industries of the Altai, we have developed a refined typology of technical spalls with regard to local archaeological specificity. Our analysis revealed no statistically significant differences either between parameters of type 0 and type 1 spalls or between those of type 2 and type 3, suggesting that these groups correspond to specific technological operations. In contrast, type 4 and type 5 technical spalls, which indicate onsite tool modification, show significant metric differences. The results demonstrate functional and technological distinctions between the assemblages. Materials from Chagyrskaya Cave are especially indicative of primary edge retouching and tool shaping, while the Okladnikov Cave industry mostly evidences maintenance and modification of bifacial tools.

This paper deals with the specifics and methods of revealing and documenting rock art at the flooded and deteriorating site of Ust-Tuba III on Mount Tepsey, on the right bank of the Tuba River at its confluence with the Yenisei. Petroglyphs from that site have been known since the mid-19th century, and their most comprehensive surveys were undertaken by Alexander Adrianov in 1904 and Yakov Sher in the 1960s, before their flooding by the reservoir of the Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Station. Sher had copied and published 98 decorated surfaces. The most numerous among the chronologically heterogeneous images are those of the so-called earliest stratum. The site is highly important for understanding the rock art of the Minusinsk Basin in general. At present, a more accurate recording of imagery is required for reliable interpretation. This is achievable by using more advanced documenting techniques and by the fact that the site is still available for study during periods when the water level in the reservoir is lowered. By 2023, about a half of the surfaces copied in the 1960s had been preserved. During their search and redocumenting, 34 new ones have been revealed. Most are situated above the water level, and some are at high altitude on rocks that are hard to access. Problems involved in the recording of such objects are addressed, and search strategies are described. Photographs of some newly detected panels and tracings of images on them are published. New findings have extended the database on the Minusinsk rock art and especially on its important and complex constituent— the earliest stratum, which has yet to be attributed both culturally and chronologically.

We describe ceramics of the Osinovoye Ozero culture from the 1962 and 1965 excavation seasons at the Osinovoye Ozero settlement on the Middle Amur River, with a view to reconstructing certain stages of pottery production in that region, using methods such as binocular microscopy, petrography, and derivative thermogravimetry. Two subtypes of raw material were identified on the basis of natural admixtures: one with brown iron ore and mica plates, the other with sporadic inclusions of organic matter. Petrographic analysis revealed two groups of clay: 1) with micaceous illite-muscovite and feldspar, and 2) with micaceous illite-muscovite-biotite, quartz-feldspar, and dark-colored minerals. Eight recipes for paste are described; five of them with grus, five with sand, three with organic solution, and two with grog. Two unmixed recipes are the most common. Surfaces of vessels were smoothed with a hard tool and sometimes polished. Most vessels are well baked. The quality of baking in the ceramics of the Osinovoye Ozero and Lower Amur (Malyshevo, Kondon) cultures was compared. In this regard, certain specimens from Osinovoye Ozero resemble Early Neolithic ones. Osinovoye Ozero and Novopetrovka ceramics belong to different traditions of pottery manufacture. Our findings suggest that the Osinovoye Ozero people used several recipes for paste preparation, practiced in one and the same settlement.

Since the early 7th millennium BC, when ceramics had become widespread in the Eastern Fertile Crescent, specifically in central valleys and the western foothills of the Zagros, they were tempered exclusively with organic plant remains. Here, we outline the findings of the study of this temper using microscopic technological analysis, X-ray tomography and spherulite analysis, upholding the suggestion that dung was present in the paste. The samples fall in the interval from late 9th to 6th millennia BC; originating from the piedmont of the Taurus, Upper Mesopotamia, the highlands and foothills of the Zagros, and the Armenian Highland. The use of dung as temper provides additional evidence of an early beginning of animal domestication in this region. It can be assumed that this tradition spread as a large-scale phenomenon from the Zagros and its foothills northward to Upper Mesopotamia, the foothills of the Taurus Mountains, and further west and east. In the 7th millennium BC pottery, the dung was likely that of sheep and goats; from the late 6th millennium BC onward, that of cattle. Since the early 6th millennium, dung had been less and less widely used for tempering tableware while being still in use with regard to utility ware. One possible reason is a worsened attitude to dung; another, improved firing conditions.

Two archaeological cultures have been described at the sites on the Upper and Middle Kama in the Neolithic: the Kama culture, marked by ceramics with combed designs, and the Volga-Kama culture, whose distinctive feature is pottery with pricked designs. Vessels of both types sometimes co-occur. We analyze three types of ceramic assemblages depending on decoration: combed, pricked, and mixed. Apart from the morphology of the vessels, we describe their technology, using binocular microscopy, traceology, modeling, and petrographic analysis. As a result, ceramic traditions typical of each group are revealed. The most common temper is grog. Mixed (combed and pricked) decoration testifies to contact between various traditions, evidenced by a smaller proportion of combed designs on grog-tempered pottery. At the middle stage, grog temper associated with pricked designs becomes more common. The blend of traditions is also evidenced by the use of unsanded raw materials in crushed form for the pottery with pricked designs in mixed assemblages, and by the appearance of inward-beveled rims (thickened or not) on vessels with pricked designs. It is attempted to trace the evolution and further spread of various ceramic types.

The article outlines the findings of a multidisciplinary study of an Early Metal Age burial of a woman in Treugolnaya Cave, Primorye—the first such burial in the region. The human skeleton was accompanied by funerary goods including stone and bone artifacts and ceramics. The most noteworthy specimen among the lithics is a polished knife, very similar to those from the late 2nd to early 1st millennia BC sites in Primorye. DNA analysis showed that the individual was a female member of a Mongoloid population. Her morphological features indicate an age of more than 50 years and a stature of ~153 cm. Her elongated cranium reveals an antemortem deformation. The comparative analysis suggests that the closest morphological parallel was a cranium from Rodinka II, Yakutia, associated with the Belkachi Neolithic culture. The paleogenetic analysis suggests that the most similar paleogenomes are those from China, Mongolia, and the Russian Far East. Two of the latter are Neolithic ones from Primorye (Chertovy Vorota and Boismana-2). We conclude that genetic continuity in this region was high during the Holocene. A more detailed analysis of population affinities is ongoing. A facial reconstruction was carried out. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the burial in Treugolnaya Cave dates to the late 12th–11th centuries BC.

The triunity of phenomena, features, images, and objects is a universal principle known since the earliest times and manifested in many ancient artifacts. The most expressive examples relate to objects of art made of metal, bone, and wood. Here we focus on Pazyryk wooden artifacts blending zoomorphic, anthropomorphic, and fantastic images rendered in bas relief, composite, and sculptural carving. Examples demonstrate their merging into a coherent semantic whole. Central images combine three different representations such as griffin, horse, and deer. They functioned as ornaments of composite horse harness and of female headgear. In pommels of “royal” staffs of tribal chiefs, they were markers of supreme power. Also, such artifacts may have played an apotropaic role.

A revision of archaeological collections obtained in the 1960s from the excavated eastern part of the Poltse I settlement on the Amur channel in the Jewish Autonomous Region, housed at the IAET SB RAS, has made it possible to assemble a number of organic samples for radiocarbon dating. Fifteen of these were analyzed at the Laboratory of Isotope Studies at the Core Facilities Center “Cenozoic Geochronology” of the IAET SB RAS. Dates were calibrated using the latest Calib8.1.0 version. Most calibrated dates form a relatively compact cluster, spanning an interval from the mid-2nd–early 1st century BC to the early 3rd century AD, concentrated in the interval before the 130s AD. Analysis of the calendar intervals indicates a foundation date in the latter half of the 1st century BC. The change of the settlement plan was due to natural factors causing the obsolescence of structures, which were presumably destroyed by fire in the 80s AD. New absolute dates suggesting that the settlement existed in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD are supported by archaeological finds which have parallels in contemporaneous cultures of northeastern China, Korea, the Amur Basin, and Primorye, dating to the XiongnuXianbei stage of East Asia.

This study discusses the motives behind the construction of numerous mosques in Ahmedabad city during the Gujarat Sultanate era. It examines the political, economic, and social factors that influenced urban expansion and mosque location criteria. Ahmedabad experienced three major phases of urbanization, reflecting shifts in capital cities and demographic growth. The study explores the role of princes, dignitaries, and royal court women including those professing Hinduism, in mosque construction. It outlines the totality of factors underlying the urban development of medieval Gujarat, focusing on the relationship between Sufism and urban development in Ahmedabad during the Sultanate era. The Sufi presence was key in selecting the sites of mosques, which were not just religious centers, but also symbols of political patronage and urban planning initiatives. The profound respect for Sufism extended beyond mere religious devotion, Sufi masters being actively engaged in political affairs alongside sultans. The deliberate construction of mosques along procession routes underscores the intentional nature of urban planning in Ahmedabad, which was influenced by Sufi s during the Sultanate. Suburban growth and mosque construction were under control, which shaped the city’s historical landscape. This comprehensive study highlights the enduring effect of spiritual, political, and social dynamics on Ahmedabad historical evolution.

This article discusses the symbolism of the color blue in modern funerary rites practiced by Komi dwellers in the Ob River region. Findings of fi eld studies in several villages of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO) and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO) suggest that the local Izhma Komi consider blue as a funerary color. According to a custom that appeared in the village of Ovgort (YaNAO) in the late 1900s, elderly people were buried in coffins painted with blue, light blue or, less often, black dye, whereas younger people were buried in red coffins. Since red was considered apotropaic, protecting from the harmful effect of death and from demonic beings, a red coffin was a barrier protecting a person who died of an unnatural cause. The red–blue opposition was semantically loaded in the Komi culture. In world culture, blue was associated with black, being viewed as dark, cold, sinister, as well as the color of death and the afterworld. In folk beliefs, blue marked the boundary between the worlds, and its shades were considered a typical attribute of demonic characters and an omen of impending death. Blue and light blue are colors of water and the sky, both being otherworldly realms. In Christian reinterpretation, azure and light blue are heavenly colors, associated with the Mother of God. Crosses and grave fences are often painted blue. In the Ob Komi tradition, shades of blue are considered proper for eggs eaten at funeral repasts, but not at Easter. By adding new elements to funerary ritualism, the Izhma Komi, purposefully or intuitively, employ ideological constructs with traditional sacral meanings.

This study focuses on Southeastern Siberia, which includes ethnic Buryatia. The chronological framework spans the period from the late 1800s to early 1900s, which is the upper limit of the Buryat traditional culture. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the kite and hawk images in the traditional Buryat worldview on the basis of ethnographic, lexical, and folkloric sources. The main approaches used are structural-semiotic and comparative-historical. The role of kites and hawks in Buryat life is assessed with reference to linguistic data. The findings of a comparative cultural analysis reveal the ambivalence of those birds. Killing them was taboo because of the Buryats’ reverence for Garuda— the mythical ruler of birds, related to deities. Kites and hawks were celestial messengers, being at the same time associated with the idea of shapeshifting. In addition, the kite was connected with water symbolism, a messenger of deities, a celestial shaman, the originator of the tradition of female shamanism, and the shaman’s spiritual aid. The hawk had a solar nature, embodying the male element and the warrior. However, the attitude to those birds was negative because of the demonic beings’ propensity to turn into them.

The article continues a series of multidisciplinary studies of the Tartas-1 cemetery in the Baraba forest-steppe, southwestern Siberia. Here, we present the fi ndings of a paleogenetic analysis of human remains from double burials associated with the Andronovo (Fedorovka) and Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) cultures. Three types of double burials are described: two adults, adult and child, and two children. In all 11 cases of adult burials, pair members belonged to different sexes. Close kinship was detected in only one Late Krotovo pair, where a male was buried with his elderly mother. Other pairs of adults were unrelated. Four adult-subadult burials were those of mothers and their children. Some members of double children’s burials were unrelated, while others were likely maternally related siblings of different age. Certain observations on various types of double burials can be interpreted with regard to Andronovo burial traditions and family/marital structure. Further conclusions would be premature at this stage, because results based on a small sample from a single (albeit the largest) cemetery can hardly be extrapolated to other populations.