The paper concerns the stone altars, clay dishes, and censers from the sites of the Sargatka Culture of the Early Iron Age. Analysis of their morphological features is carried out, as well as of the dynamics of changes in the forms, the context of their deposition in burials, and specifics of their use. As the result, the reasons for the appearance of these products in the forest-steppe zone of the Tobol-Irtysh and Baraba areas (Western Siberia) are clarified and their subsequent distribution in the given region is traced. Stone altars of types I, II, and IV started appearing in the 5th–4th cc. BC in the Irtysh Basin and Baraba regions as a consequence of the Saka mi-gration. Transformation of the religious and mythological views of the Sargatka population, as a result of the inter-actions of the Tobol-Irtysh communities with the nomads of the Ural-Kazakhstan steppes, led to the appearance of new rituals requiring small stone altars for their performance, due to which there was a growing demand for these products among local communities. However, by the 4th c. BC the production of altars in the Kazakhstan center ceased due to the decline of the Early Saka Culture. From this time, the population of the Sargatka Culture began making local copies of small type I altars from stone, although their production in the Sargatka area was difficult due to the lack of sandstone outcrops, which facilitated the use of more accessible material — clay, as reflected in the appearance of clay dishes of types III–V in the territory of the Baraba and Irtysh Basin. Connection between the local and imported products is indicated by the traces of their similar use. From the 3rd c. BC, scarce altars of type I could make their way into the Sargatka context as a result of close contacts with the population of the Upper Ob Basin, among whom these objects were widespread up until the 3rd–2nd cc. BC. The appearance of type III stone altars and type VI clay dishes in the complexes of the Sargatka Culture of the Tobol and Irtysh Ba-sins in the 5th–4th and 4th–3rd cc. BC might have been caused by the migration of a small group of nomads of the Southern Urals, or by close contacts with the population of the Gorokhovo Culture. Type V altars also were bor-rowed from the bearers of the Gorokhovo Culture. Their appearance may indicate the process of assimilation of the newly arrived Sargatka population in the Tobol Basin. In the 4th c. BC, clay dishes of type I appeared in the Irtysh Basin. From the 3rd c. BC, as a result of the intensification of contacts between the local population and nomads of the Sarmatian origin, these products became more widespread, while ceramic censers and clay dishes of type II also appeared.
The article is concerned with characteristics of funeral traditions of the Sargatka Culture population based on materials of the Ustyug-1 burial ground located in the Zavodoukovsky District of Tyumen Region. Six barrows of the Early Iron Age were studied in the area. Mounds 5 (5th–3rd c. BC), 51 and 52 (5th–4th c. BC) belong to the early stage of the culture. Sargatka burials of mounds 27 and 49 (3rd–2nd c. BC) were made during the middle stage. Burial from mound 56 (2nd–3rd c. AD) belongs to the final period of the Sargatka Culture of the Early Iron Age. Thus, burials in the Ustyug-1 necropolis were made during the entire time of existence of the Sargatka Culture. The comparison of different periods of functioning of the cemetery within the same culture and microregion re-vealed a number of characteristic features of the complex in the context of the historical development of the Early Iron Age cultures in the forest-steppe zone. Furthermore, it was possible to trace the process of formation of the culture in the Tobol River basin, the composition and status of the individual groups of the population, and the nature of cultural ties. We conclude that the variation between the objects of different periods reflects the deve-lopmental stages of the Sargatka Culture in the local microregion. In the early stage of the culture, part of its population migrated from the east into the Tobol basin region. It was transformed here under the influence of local groups of the Baitovo Culture on the one hand, and certain groups of steppe nomads on the other. The burial rite of the local population changed dramatically as a result of contacts between the bearers of the Sargatka Culture and nomadic groups. This indicates the strengthening of the Iranian worldview component in the Sargatka envi-ronment. At the next stage, the interaction of the local population with the nomads of the Sarmatian circle became more active, and the level of militarization of the local population increased. In the late period, social stratification within the Sargatka Сulture society increased, which was accompanied by an increase in prestigious consumption. This was expressed in a clear separation of the elite funeral rite from the ordinary one. The study of such monu-ments, which existed for a long time, can help us to understand the processes of formation and extinction of cultures.
The article is devoted to the presentation of the results of an analytical study of metal products from the Sargatka culture sites of the Tobol river region by X-ray fluorescence analysis to clarify the directions of contacts of the local population. As a result of the analysis, we have received evidence of the wide distribution of products made of pure copper (Сu), tin bronze (Cu+Sn) and brass (Cu+Zn) among the population of the Sargatka culture, and we also noted the use of rare alloys not previously identified on the materials of the Sargatka culture: leaded brass (Cu+Zn+Pb) and leadtin bronze (Cu+Pb+Sn). Such a variety of alloys indicates the presence of broad trade and exchange relations among the population of the Sargatka culture at different stages of its existence. The new data do not contradict the idea widespread in the literature about the receipt of ingots and products made of pure copper from Itkul metallurgists, as well as things made of bronze with a high tin content from Central Asia, the Volga region, the Cisurals, the eastern regions of Siberia, Altai and Transbaikal. The new material allowed us to draw a conclusion about the origin of lead-tin bronze products from the Xiongnu of Transbaikal, and jewelry made of double and three-component leaded brass from the population of the Kushan period of Northern Bactria.
The article is devoted to the ritual practices of the population of the Gorokhovo culture, which were reconstructed based on materials of the burial mounds Vodennikovo-I and Murzino-IV. We assumed that the vessels with red-hot talc hammers were used for ritual purification and fumigation of the space before placing the deceased. Bronze bells were probably considered magical items that could provide a link between the living and the dead. We associate the absence of a bell clapper with the Ugric tradition of tying up clappers and hiding noisy things during the wake, as well as the tradition of deliberately damaging the things. Bronze wheels could be used as flywheels for whirligig in divination or spindle whorls in sacral spinning. This material allows us to talk about two main components that underlie the worldview of the population of the Gorokhovo culture — substrate Ugric component and superstrate Iranian component.
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