A study of the life of our ancestors allows us to learn more about the roots of modern civilization. Therefore, archaeologists, anthropologists, historians are constantly engaged in the study of ancient peoples, their way of life, lifestyle. Many ancient tribes lived on the territory of Russia, the history of which is still not well understood. And people far from archeology know very little about the ancient peoples who lived in the Asian part of the country. We will tell about what Tagar culture of the early Iron Age of Siberia is, how its representatives lived, what they were doing and what these people were interested in.
Geography
In the Yenisei region, peoples have lived since ancient times. Tagar culture was localized in the area of the Middle Yenisei, mainly on Tagar island, from where its name came from. Now the Republic of Khakassia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory are located here. The area of this culture covers the Minusinsk depression and the place where the Abakan River flows into the Yenisei, as well as along the Tuba, Erba, Chulym, Sydy, Uryula rivers. It was the convenience of the territory that was the reason that people have long loved to settle here. A large island on a river with an area of about 30 km 2 made it easy to keep defenses from enemies. Forests were rich in game, rivers gave a lot of fish, so life here was well-fed. Although the harsh climate required local residents endurance and special organization of their life. However, the culture covered a fairly large territory. Monuments of Tagar culture are found on the site of the Khakass-Minusinsk depression, as well as in the northeast, modern Kemerovo region. The northernmost finds were made on the Chulym River, south of the modern city of Achinsk. The western border of the Tagar culture lies along the foothills of the Kuznetsk Alatau and the Abakan Range. The southernmost traces of this people are found at the borders of the Western Sayan Mountains and the Joy Range. There is also a site near present-day Krasnoyarsk, where mounds of Tagar culture were found in the forest-steppe.
Dating
Researchers believe that the Tagar culture of Siberia existed from 10-9 to 3 centuries BC. The main monuments of this culture date back to 7-2 centuries BC. e. However, scientists determine the milestones indicated approximately, before the 7th century, no monuments typical of this culture were discovered. And in the 2nd century, the Tagar culture was replaced by its successor, the Tashtyk culture, which precisely dates from the fact that iron tools unfamiliar to its ancestors are widely used in it.
Anthropological characteristics
Scientists spend a lot of time understanding how the representatives of the Tagar culture of the early Iron Age of Siberia looked. Initially, there was a basic version that the Tagars are representatives of the Mongoloid race. Numerous finds in neighboring regions where the Mongoloids really prevailed spoke in favor of this point of view. However, with the improvement of technologies for the study of the remains and the establishment of their genotype, this version was refuted. It turned out that most of the Tagars belonged to the Caucasian type. Their ancestors were representatives of Andronovo culture. Paleogenetics proved that representatives of the Tagar culture belonged to the West Eurasian group. It also turned out that Tagars are very close in their genes to representatives of the Scythian world. It confirms the version of the European origin of the Tagars and the study of their language. It is assumed that they spoke one of the branches of the Indo-European language. Closer to the 2nd century BC e. the number of remains of people of the Mongoloid type is increasing, which indicates the assimilation of peoples. Gradually, the population draws closer in its anthropological characteristics to representatives of the Tashtyk culture.
Study history
The true history of Tagar culture is a consistent chain of discoveries and refutations made by scientists of different years. For the first time, attention to this culture was drawn in 1722, when the first excavations of the Tagar Kurgan were carried out. A scientific expedition led by the “father of Russian archeology” D. Messerschmidt was engaged in the study of Siberian lands and carried out the first excavations. Several scholars of German descent, who conducted the study of Siberia on behalf of the Russian emperor Peter the Great, decided that the found mound belongs to the grave of the Minusinsk depression. The found artifacts did not arouse much interest, and the local mounds were left without further study.
The second stage of the study of these territories dates back to the 19th century. Scientists V.V. Radlov, D.A. Klements, A.V. Adrianov and others excavated several mounds. But they still believed that the items found belong to other cultures. And only in 1920, the Siberian explorer, archaeologist S. A. Teploukhov justifiably proved that the finds in this region are a separate, independent culture. He gave her the name Minusinsk. At the end of the 20s, S. V. Kiselev proposed a new term “Tagar culture”, along the main island, on which representatives of the discovered community lived. The term has taken root, and all subsequent expeditions have already been engaged in this culture. In the Soviet period, from 30 to 90 years of the 20th century, many archaeologists excavated in the Yenisei region. Over the years, about 9 thousand different bronze objects belonging to this culture were found.
Periodization Approaches
All researchers agreed that Tagar culture existed and had its own specific features. However, scientists did not have a single point of view on the periodization of this culture. In Russian archeology, three approaches have developed to determine the temporal boundaries of the Tagar culture.
The first theory belonged to S. A. Teploukhov. He believed that 4 periods of development of the Tagar archaeological culture can be distinguished:
- Bainovsky (7th century BC. E.);
- Podgornovsky (6-5 centuries BC);
- Saragashensky (4-3 centuries BC);
- Tesinsky (2-1 centuries BC).
This concept has become classical, and it is these periods that have been fixed in archeology.
The second approach was developed by S.V. Kiselev; he distinguishes only three stages without giving them names. The first - 7-6 centuries BC. e., the second - 5-4 centuries BC. e., the third - 3-1 centuries BC e. Kiselev refuted the ideas of Teploukhov and argued that there was no reason for finer fragmentation of the history of the culture under study.
The third approach was proposed by A.V. Subbotin in the 21st century. He says that the early stage of Tagar culture dates to the end of the 8-6 centuries BC. e., the developed period - 5-3 centuries BC. e., the late period, the time of the change of cultures, - 2-1 centuries BC e. Today, researchers say that the lower limit of culture are 3-2 centuries BC. e., and then we can talk about the transitional, Tagar-Tyshtyk culture that existed in the 2nd century BC. e. and 1st century AD e. Disputes about the late period of this culture continue and await a final decision.
Lifestyle
Tagarians lived in the south of Siberia at the foot of the Sayan mountains. Scientists continue to argue about the origin and ancestors of this culture. The reasons for the disagreement are that anthropologists and paleogenetics prove that representatives of the Tagar culture of Siberia belong to the Caucasian race. And ethnographers and archaeologists, studying the monuments and sites of this people, talk about the oriental signs of this culture. Genetic studies have shown that the Scythians of the Black Sea region are closest to the Tagars. Representatives of the Tagar culture led a sedentary lifestyle, as evidenced by archaeological excavations. Scientists have found homes, burials, and even fortified settlements. The forms of Tagar settlement are divided into two types. There are villages in the area of pastures and agricultural land without special defensive structures. There are also fortified settlements of a permanent and temporary nature. They are round shelters with a rampart and a moat. This suggests that periodically the population had to hide from the invaders, and they prepared in advance for defense. Today, about 100 settlements of this culture are open.
Livestock
The steppe and forest-steppe Tagar culture in Khakassia is characterized by a sedentary lifestyle. But at the same time, the Tagars, as residents of the steppes, were engaged in nomadic animal husbandry. They raised cows, horses for riding, as well as horses for agricultural and draft work; to provide themselves with food they kept sheep and goats. They used branding to label their herds. Dogs, which were also used to protect homes and livestock, helped in the work of shepherds. To provide livestock with residual food, shepherds, sometimes with families, roamed the steppes. In the drawings of representatives of this culture, images of horses carrying carts with belongings were found. Tagarians have not yet been engaged in the preparation of feed for the winter, so the animals year-round got their own fodder. For this, the usual scheme was used: in front were horses who smashed snow with their hooves and opened the grass. And then cows and small cattle already went. To maintain a family of 5 people, pastures of approximately 800 hectares were needed, they needed to be kept intact. Therefore, the Tagarians had to move a lot.
Agriculture
Despite the fact that animal husbandry was the main occupation for the Tagars, they were already engaged in agriculture. Archaeological finds prove that they arranged a system of irrigation canals for their fields, made dams to hold water. According to its farming traditions, Tagar culture is included in the group of settled tribes. This is no longer gathering and temporary land, but permanent cultivation of the land. The main crops grown were millet and barley. The Tagars had a whole arsenal of tools for cultivating the land: hoes, sickles with bronze parts. For processing the crop, grain mills and hand mills were used.
Crafts
For hunting and organization of life, the Tagars had to engage in various crafts. Discovered monuments of Tagar culture prove that they were successful miners. They own the largest bronze foundry in the region, and they also developed copper mines. Among the findings were not only bronze products, but also ingots of this metal, which indicates the export of bronze to other regions. Tagarians significantly improved the quality of bronze alloys, and their metal was in great demand. Wood processing was also at their high level. Not only residential and funeral structures were built from wood, but also dishes and household items were made. Tagars made clothes and home textiles by simple weaving, as well as by making leather and fur, they were great masters in terms of knitting.
Weapon
Hunting and protecting their property were very important in the life of the Tagars. Therefore, the weapon was of great value, a lot of attention and effort was paid to its manufacture, it was often put in the graves. Therefore, today the history of Tagar culture is studied precisely on the basis of found weapons. It was varied and well crafted. For long-range combat, the Tagars used a bow and arrows. The shape of the bow and arrow strongly resembles the traditional weapons of the Scythians, but the method of shooting is considered to be "Mongolian", for this special thimbles for fingers were used. To protect the body from the arrows of the enemy, the Tagars made shields and armor. For close combat, as well as for cutting animals, knives were widely used in this culture. There are two main models of these tools: with a ring on the handle so that it can be tied to a belt or horse harness, and smooth knives with a wrapped belt or wooden handle. The knives were wedge-shaped and curved modifications. In the early and middle periods of the development of culture, they were bronze, and in the later periods iron tools began to appear. But Tagars continued to make bronze weapons longer than their neighbors.
Organization of life
The dwellings in Tagar culture were of four kinds. These are temporary yurts from animal skins; they could be put on sledges and transported from one pasture to another. Also, conical huts from tree branches were sometimes built for parking. Permanent dwellings were built of wood or stone-wooden. Wooden cattle were erected for cattle. In the houses, adobe stoves and large open hearths were installed.
Utensil
The ancient Tagar culture in Transbaikalia did not know the potter's wheel, therefore rectangular and square banks, with and without ornaments, as well as a variety of dishes and bowls predominate among dishes. A lot of utensils were made of wood: dishes, cutlery, furniture. The Tagars' life was simple and there was no great variety in the dishes and household tools.
Funeral rites
Mounds are what have largely been preserved from the national Tagar culture. The most famous burials are:
- Safronovsky burial ground. This field, on which several graves are located, their age is about 2.5 thousand years. Mounds have a pyramidal shape, they are made of stone. Starting from the 18th century, they were subjected to predatory excavations, so many items were lost.
- Salbyk barrow. The burial height is more than 11 meters. Around the large mound, several dozen smaller burials were found. Today, the archaeological museum "Ancient mounds of the Salbyk steppes" is open here.
The graves belong to noble representatives of the community, they buried people in vestments and jewelry, with weapons and a set of dishes, utensils. This allows us to judge the lifestyle and development of crafts in this culture.
Art
The main monuments of Tagar culture are works of art, they allow us to talk about the continuation of Scythian traditions. The so-called “animal style” is used in jewelry, that is, they depict domestic and wild animals, most often horses. The most popular jewelry is headbands. They were made of leather on which bronze plaques with patterns were sewn. Earrings, belts, bracelets from bronze were also found. The main monument of Tagar culture is Boyarskaya Pisanitsa. These are walls dotted with petroglyphs, telling about the life of the Tagars.
There are images of dwellings, animals, people, utensils. This is a real encyclopedia of Tagar life. According to the researchers, the art of this culture is characterized by simplicity, monumentality, and the use of images of domestic animals. Most often relief images are found.