Issue 4 (85)
| SEASONAL CAMPSITES OF THE SAL STEPPES: IDENTIFICATION OF CULTURAL LAYERS AND ECONOMIC STRATEGY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2024 | Number | 4 (85) |
| Pages | 100-112 | Type | scientific article |
| UDC | 39:94(470.61) | BBK | 63.5(23) |
| Authors | Shishlina Natalia I. Leonova Nadezda V. Kalinin Pavel I. Zanina Oksana G. Usachuk Anatoly N. |
Topic | |
| Summary | The paper describes the studies of the seasonal camps that steppe herders arranged in the balka systems of the Sal and Manych rivers in the Rostov region as well as their results. It also considers the model of everyday economic activities that small groups of mobile herders who occupied these sites engaged in throughout several historical periods. Extreme scarcity of material remains suggests that the everyday routine of the site residents depended on the biological rhythm of the animals and that the occupants of these sites used a minimalistic set of tools and implements. Production activities included repairs of broken items and fabrication of necessities using locally available materials as well as hoarding of some raw materials, such as bones, and, possibly, skins and hides. Presumably, the sites occupants prepared some reserves of fodder (reed mace) and fuel (reed mace and dung cakes that they used as fuel), and dried meat and dairy products as was done by the Kalmyks in the 18th — early 20th centuries. Absence of construction structures and hearths suggests that the site residents built small dwellings using locally available materials (turf/mudbricks, mace reed, wood) employing expedient technology and using, predominantly, open fire or bonfire pits for cooking food or keeping warm, dung cakes were their main type of fuel. Absence of construction structures also emphasizes that these people stayed in balkas for a short period of time. | ||
| Keywords | balka systems of the Sal and Manych rivers, cultural layers, economic strategies, mobile pastoralism, ethnoarchaeology, ecology | ||
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