Karasuk culture: description and history of origin

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

The Karasuk culture is the name given to a group of Bronze Age societies that dates from around 1500 to 800 BC. BC e. She replaced the Andronovo culture, from the eastern branch of which she came.

The Karasuk archaeological culture stretched from the vicinity of the Aral Sea or the Volga in the west to the upper reaches of the Yenisei River. The remains of this culture are few and mostly associated with objects found in burials.

The period of this culture predates the Scythian culture, which during the Iron Age existed from 800 to 200 BC. e. and in its development had similar features that testify to continuity.

The Karasuk archaeological culture, which, after it had merged into the final concept, was in demand by both Indo-Iranians and Turkologists, with the Indo-European school dominating. In general, it belongs to the easternmost outskirts of the Kurgan culture of the Eurasiansteppes.

General characteristics

Considering briefly the Karasuk culture, we can note the following. From the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. the relationship between the culture of the Minusinsk steppes and the ways of its development have changed. The change can be traced in the monuments of the so-called Karasuk type, named after the river. Karasuk near the village of Bateni in the Minusinsk Territory.

The continuity of the development of the Karasuk culture from the previous Afanasiev culture is clearly seen in the design of the mound and in the tiled masonry of the tombs, although they differ, for example, in a rectangular fence made of stone slabs laid vertically in the ground.

The tomb structure of the Karasuk type, as a rule, includes one burial with the same type of inventory as in the Andronovo sites. The Karasuk type, however, stands out for its subtlety of finish and technique. Typical are spherical vessels with a convex bottom of a fairly high level of craftsmanship. Their surface was glossy, sometimes painted and completely covered with geometric ornament, always in the upper part of the vessel. The variety of forms and the nature of the decoration of the Karasuk-type ships clearly testify to the extraordinary technical skills of the craftsmen. The craftsmanship of the bronzes also reveals the nature of the craftsmanship, demonstrated by the multitude of forms and the variety of their functions and manufacturing techniques. A special place is occupied by various forms of knives. The art of bronze work is also depicted on animal figurines, often adorning their handles.

Development

In the history of the Karasuk culture, an extremely important step in the development of the economy was the use of livestock not only for the production of meat, but also for milk. Sheep became the main supplier of meat. The burials contain only their bones, while the dairy cattle were probably not killed. Sheep, whose raising has become almost the main form of economic activity, simultaneously became a cult animal, as evidenced by the finds of their images carved in stone, often associated with the image of the sun.

The image of the foremother (full or bust) is also found on stone monuments. Vessels for milking cattle, made in the form of animal udders, were found in the Minusinsk steppe. All dairy farming accessories have been associated with women.

The abundance of meat and dairy products, the development of the economy as a whole had a positive impact on population growth and its density. This is evidenced by the numerous and compact Karasuk clan cemeteries, within which archaeologists can accurately identify individual structures corresponding to family units. The growth of the role of a separate patriarchal family and its property is associated with the appearance of the tamga sign - a sign of ownership.

Territory

Karasuk culture covers the territory of the Minusinsk steppe. In central Kazakhstan (village Dyndybai in the Karaganda region), one burial was investigated in Karasuk, which had specific local features. The closest to the Minusinsk Karasuk aresimilar sites in the upper reaches of the Ob and Tomsk with pronounced local differences, which prompts archaeologists to classify these sites as separate variations (Tomsk and Upper Ob) of the Karasuka culture.

This separation of the Karasuk territory from the one that was previously occupied by the Andronovo culture was the result of a shift in the center of gravity of cultural ties to the east. Objects of the Karasuk type are found in the west no farther than Tomsk, and in the east and south - in the Republic of Tyva, in the basin of the river. Selenga and in China.

Formation and influence

In the course of studying the Karasuk culture, scientists did not find materials to explain the reasons for the collapse of the Andronov Union and the eastern "orientation" of Karasuk. It is difficult to reveal the reasons in the materials of this period. There is no doubt that the connections between South Siberia and Central Asia, which began to be clearly traced in the 3rd century BC, did not arise by chance, and they were preceded by a period of first acquaintance (possibly through an exchange), still in 1000 BC. The split of the Andronovo tribal union, marked by the Karasuk stage, is associated with the formation of the Scythian culture to the west of the Minusinsk territory and the Hunnic culture in the east a couple of centuries later. To a certain extent, the territory of the Minusinsk region, due to its position and the development of its culture and economy, was once a neutral zone, when the so-called Minusinsk barrow, or, in other terminology, the Tagar culture, developed. This suggests that, although iron has already firmly established itself as a common occurrence in Altai and Jeti-Su, bronze in the territory of Minusinsk is stillremained dominant. The Minusins were influenced by Western Scythian culture, and only with their inclusion in the system of the Great Hunnic state did they again occupy a leading position together with the Huns in the historical process of this area.

Archaeological material

Karasuk's graves are fenced with a fence of rectangular slabs set on the surface of the soil and laid in the ground in a vertical position. However, in the northwest of Minusinsk, these stone fences are often erected in a circle, reminiscent of older forms from Afanasyevo and Andronovo.

Smaller rectangles are often found around larger ones. In the center of these fences, under a low embankment, there is usually a trapezoidal pit covered with Devonian sandstone slabs.

The skeleton usually lies on its back or slightly turned to the left, the head is located at the wider base of the trapezium.

The inventory of the graves says the following: the dead were provided with clothes and food, which they needed "on the road". At the same time, there were no household or military weapons. This is confirmed by one characteristic feature: several knives found in the graves were not near the corpses, but near each of them there were pots and animal bones. Most likely, these knives served as tools, and not as weapons. The dead were provided not only with meat, judging by the found animal bones, but also with food in pots.

Among the finds of the Karasuk culture of Southern Siberia there is also an object shaped like a yoke. What was he forintended, still remains a mystery. This is what they call it: “an item of unknown purpose (PNN) of the Karasuk culture.”

Ceramics

A significant number of vessels were found in the graves. Their shape is completely different from Andronov's. They don't have a flat bottom. Wherever the typical form of Karasuk is found, vessels with a rounded bottom are found. Basically, they are spherical, sometimes irregular in shape with a straight throat of medium height. Sometimes it expands slightly, as in the Andron vessels.

According to researchers, the round bottom of ceramic vessels is a specific feature of the Karasuk culture of Siberia.

The base of the neckline stands out very clearly, sometimes it has well-marked decorations. As for the ornament, on the one hand, there are vessels that have rather primitive, prong-like decorations. Sometimes the surface may have been treated simply with a tuft of grass. One of the common archaic patterns is "pine" or "herringbone". These ornaments are known from the Afanasiev era. There are other vessels: with triangles, rhombuses and transverse stripes.

The manufacturing method is completely new: the vessels are handmade and shaped from clay with a lot of sand. Outside gray-brown, but inside dark with a bluish tint. They are thin-walled, and their quality is much higher than that of previous crops. Perhaps the sides of the vessels were flattened with a hammer.

Jewelry

Besides pottery, inJewelry and metal items of clothing were also found in the graves of the Karasuk culture. Among them are pendants in the shape of legs made of bronze, which could be braided. Rings were worn on the fingers of both hands. They were open or overlapped, with double-sided printing. They were found not only in graves, but also quite often among random finds.

There are three types of bracelets: made of wire in the form of a spiral or in the form of wide or narrow ribbons. Ribbon ones are mostly ribbed, wider samples are also decorated with dots or rosettes.

Small bronze tubes are part of necklaces and beads. They are quite common in graves. Sometimes they are cylindrical, sometimes conical, smooth or ribbed. The beads are made from a variety of materials.

There are cast bronze beads of biconical or barrel shape and from flat metal plates. There are also mother-of-pearl beads, and sometimes lead beads. In only one case was a piece of carnelian found.

At that time, chest decorations were often worn. They consisted of a piece of leather with small leather straps on which small bronze clasps were located. Another type of breast decoration is a round copper disc with similar straps with clasps.

Weapons and tools

Knife samples found in the graves have no predecessors in the Andronovo excavations. They do not differ completely from Tagar knives, but have very little resemblance. In addition, Karasuk knives have a more bent shape. Among them area group of angled knives in which the handle and blade form an obtuse angle. Another characteristic feature of these knives is the cap-shaped handle, sometimes also the head of an animal. The second group consists of backward curved knives. Some researchers characterize this shape as S-shaped.

Clothes and food

In terms of clothing in the Karasuk culture, too few fabrics have been preserved to be compared with other cultures. But in at least three cases, woolen fabrics were found. In two of them, the weave was simple, in the third - more complex, the so-called diagonal fabric.

Leather items have also been preserved, in particular cases for weapons and tools.

Gifts to the dead in the form of food are of great importance. But since chemical studies have not been carried out, there is no certainty about its nature.

Animal bones were found only next to the vessels. However, they were not in every grave: out of 290 cases, they were found only in 63 (22%).

Housing

Knowing about Karasuk settlements is very limited. Unfortunately, intact residential areas were found only in two places: near the villages of Anash and Bateni (the so-called "arches"). In both cases, the cultural layer was very thin. There are found stone tools, arrowheads and scrapers. Calcined stones were also found, lying in a circle, apparently, these are the remains of fireplaces.

Karasuk sculpture

These are female figures. Some of them have amazing faces.realistic. Sometimes there are bull or deer horns or animal ears on the head. In other cases, the faces are extremely stylized. Some of them cross the transverse lines that form the ornament. In the middle of the forehead there is an image of the third eye.