Archaeological sites of Megino-Kangalassky ulus (disctrict) of Sakha Republic (Yakutia): map creation using GIS-technologies

Pestereva Kiunnei Aidaarovna ORCID: 0000-0001-6270-1230 Senior Lecturer; Faculty of History; Northeastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov Research fellow; Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous People Problems of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IHRNIPP SB RAS) 677000, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, ul. Belinsky, 58 pestereva17@gmail.com Other publications by this author     Prokopeva Aleksandra Nikolaevna ORCID: 0000-0002-8329-159X Research fellow; Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous People Problems of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IHRNIPP SB RAS) 677027, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1 sendiele@gmail.com

Filippova Viktoriya Viktorovna ORCID: 0000-0002-3900-918X PhD in History Senior Researcher; Head of the Center for Arctic Research; Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous People Problems of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IHRNIPP SB RAS) 677027, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1 Filippovav@mail.ru

Introduction

The relevance of the research is due to the creation of a unified database of archaeological sites of one of the largest subjects of Russia – the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the low level of study of the spatial location of archaeological sites. One of the important tasks facing the archaeologists of the republic is the geographical reference of archaeological sites, both previously studied and identified.

Megino-Kangalassky ulus is one of the most accessible areas in terms of transport, with a high population density and at the same time the smallest in territorial terms. This has led to a fairly intensive history of archaeological exploration of the area and at the moment it is one of the most explored with a relatively dense map of archaeological sites. There are objects covering almost all epochs, starting from the Upper Paleolithic, ending with settlements of the XIX century. The archaeological study of funerary monuments actually began on the territory of the district, almost all large and significant expeditions worked here ^[1]. A small area, high population density and increased industrial development increase the risks of partial or complete loss of archaeological sites. The choice of the area is also dictated by the lack of a map of archaeological sites created on its territory. As V.V. Filippova and V.M. Dyakonov have revealed, out of 35 administrative-territorial units of Yakutia, maps of archaeological sites have been created for 25 districts, among which our research area is not among them ^[2].

The district is located on the territory lying between two large rivers Lena and Amga and is characterized by a combination of the taiga massif with thermokarst basins (alas). The bottoms of these basins are covered with meadow grasses, birch spikes and thickets of shrubs. An indispensable attribute of alas is the presence of a reservoir in the form of a lake or a "grass river" connecting several lakes. The Alasian relief appeared and developed due to the geomorphological features of the Central Yakut lowland ^[3]. The erosive-accumulative type of relief in this area has the forms of shallow dissections forming an extensive network of small rivers and streams. The poorly developed river network is caused by poor precipitation and the fact that most of the precipitation is accumulated by the Alas. The combination of reservoirs and vast spaces became the place of settlement of ancient cultures at first, later from the Middle Ages made Alasi the place of settlements of the first horse breeders and cattle breeders.

In recent years, active exploration and security and rescue work has been carried out in the area of the design and construction of the railway and the Lena Bridge. The development of mineral deposits in the district is expected, and intensive development of land for residential development is underway. In this regard, the development of such a map is an urgent solution for carrying out measures for the protection, systematization of archaeological sites, generalization of research results and spatial analysis of the distribution of objects across the territory.

The archaeological study of the territory.

Purposeful archaeological research on the territory of the Megino-Kangalassky ulus began in the 1930s and was associated with the activities of employees of the Yakut Republican Museum of Local Lore (YARKM) I.D. Novgorodov and S.I. Bolo, who studied the material culture and genesis of the Yakut people. Then the burials dated XVII–XVIII centuries were studied. Their material became the basis for the analysis of issues related to the early history of the Yakut people.

The study of monuments belonging to ancient cultures on the territory of Megino-Kangalassky ulus begins with the work of the Lena historical and Archaeological expedition led by A.P. Okladnikov, aimed at researching the archaeology of the Lena River basin. In 1940-1946, the expedition discovered and studied the sites of Bestyakh, Kapchagai, and Ymyakhty, which recorded material characteristic of the Neolithic and Paleometallic eras. ^[4] In general, thanks to the activities of the LIAE, the foundation and prospects for further study of the ancient history of Central Yakutia have been created. A new stage in the study of ancient archaeological sites begins in 1985, when a new-built detachment of the archaeological expedition of the M.K. Ammosov YSU began systematic work on the territory of the Megino-Kangalassky ulus and neighboring districts, the purpose of which was to conduct security and rescue excavations of archaeological sites located in the highway construction zone. In the 2000s, a systematic study of the archeology of the Stone Age began on the territory of the ulus by the staff of the YSU (later the NEFU named after M.K. Ammosov), as a result, new monuments of the Stone Age, Bronze and Early Iron Ages were discovered and explored, which significantly expanded the range of knowledge about the cultural and historical heritage of the area ^[1]. The unique monuments of the Stone Age and the Paleometallic epoch, studied by archaeological expeditions since 1985, have confirmed that the Megino-Kangalassky ulus has been inhabited by tribes with a vibrant material and spiritual culture since ancient times.

A relatively large number of monuments of the Middle Ages and Modern Times have been discovered and studied on the territory of the ulus. So, at the moment, five settlements of the Kulun-Atakh culture have been identified, including the reference monument – the settlement of Kulun-atakh ^[5]. During the work of the New Construction team, the Sandiele settlement was opened, which supplemented the knowledge about the ceramic traditions and religious life of the Kulun-Atakh people ^[6]. A characteristic ceramic complex, metal and bone products have been found in the settlements, and objects of religious worship are found. The burial of a child of the Kulun-Atakh period, discovered in the settlement of Kerdyugen, is unique ^[7]. Unfortunately, several monuments discovered during exploration by the previous generation of researchers were not properly accounted for and the field documentation was preserved in a fragmented form. Further study of these monuments is one of the tasks of the modern stage of the archaeological study of Yakutia.

The most numerous are settlements of the Yakut culture, which can be attributed to the era of the so-called "Kyrgyz Yetis". Archaeologically, twelve monuments have been identified, consisting of the remains of dwellings and household structures. Nevertheless, there are very few excavated archaeological sites, so this area of archaeological study of the ulus remains promising in terms of obtaining comprehensive knowledge about the region's past. In the last decade, the archaeological team of the IGIiPMNS SB RAS resumed work on the search and systematization of settlement monuments in the district together with the Megino-Kangalassky Museum of Local Lore named after R. G. Vasiliev.

From the very beginning of the archaeological study of Yakutia, the territory of the ulus attracted researchers of Yakut burials. At the moment, there are 18 funerary monuments with a known location, including two graves with an accompanying horse burial and one aerial burial ^[8]. The main number of burials of the XVII-XVIII centuries was studied along the middle course of the Suola River, the work of the Sakha-French archaeological expedition played a significant role here ^[9]. Based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the clothing complexes, these monuments are characterized as the graves of the local nobility and aristocracy, more often consisting in the context of multi-temporal burial grounds. The graves of warriors and shamans, which are single graves, have been identified. Most often, the northern side of the terraces of the alas, the indigenous banks of rivers and streams were chosen for the construction of the grave. Air burials, judging by folklore and archaeological materials, were located in the forest, at a greater distance than inhumations ^[8].

Results. One of the main factors in the destruction of parking lots and burials is anthropogenic impact, most of the monuments are lost during road construction and industrial developments. In this regard, the compilation of such a map is an urgent solution for carrying out measures for the protection, systematization of archaeological sites, generalization of research results, spatial analysis of the distribution of objects across the territory.

The development of a map of the archaeological sites of the Megino-Kangalassky ulus of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is based on a previously created database that includes information about 87 ulus monuments dated to a wide time range, designated from the Paleolithic to the XIX century. The information in the database was grouped as follows: the name of the monument; location (district, locality); coordinates; chronology; cultural affiliation; description of the monument; researcher (researchers); publications; sources. Field reports and scientific literature served as sources for clarifying information on archaeological sites ^[10]. In order to clarify information about a number of archaeological sites included in the database, as part of the implementation of the NEFU Priority 2030 program, work was carried out with materials from field reports stored in the funds of the MAE NEFU.

The geographical reference of the archaeological sites of the Megino-Kangalassky ulus (district), database filling and mapping were carried out using QGIS 3.36 in the geographical coordinate system WGS-1984.

The structure and content of the database corresponds to the unified database of archaeological sites of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and contains the following categories: the name of the administrative-territorial affiliation (district, area); the name of the archaeological site, its location; type of monument; category of monument; chronological information (period); full name of the researcher and the year of discovery, expedition; list finds; sources and publications on the monument. Based on the collected and systematized materials entered into the database, including information about 87 archaeological sites, a series of maps for the territory of Megino-Kangalassky ulus was compiled.

Fig. 1. Archaeological sites of Megino-Kangalassky ulus

(compiled by the authors)

As can be seen in Fig. 1, archaeological sites are located along highways and roads, in the first case this is explained by the fact that exploration was carried out primarily along the routes of highway design and in places near existing roads. The second reason is that the roads are laid along the terraces of the Alas and, accordingly, affect the parking lots and burials located on them.

As mentioned above, the first archaeological work on the territory of Megino-Kangalassky ulus was carried out back in the 30s of the last century (Fig. 2). During the study of the burial ground in the Kiis Tierbit area by Kovynin M.A., Novgorodov I.D. and Bolo S.I. in 1937, several burials were opened, including a grave the famous rich man Ab Wos Jorgo, his daughter-in-law and son. The partially mummified remains of his daughter-in-law and fairly well-preserved costume elements have been on display for a long time in the permanent exhibition of the Yakut Museum. The graphic reconstruction of M.M. Nosov's clothes and jewelry from these excavations is a valuable source on the history of costume. The Kiis Tierbit burial ground is still an active cemetery ^[8]. Subsequently, in the 1940s and then in the 1980s and 90s, research was conducted on monuments belonging to older eras, but for a long time the attention of archaeologists was mainly focused on the study of Yakut burials and medieval settlements. The Taiga-Alasian landscape of the Megino-Kangalassky ulus seemed to be the territory of concentration, mainly of cattle breeding societies. But as a result of the work of the New-built detachment of the archaeological expedition of YSU in the 1990s, many Stone Age and paleometallic monuments were found.

Fig. 2. Research periods (compiled by the authors)

The oldest archaeological site in the studied area is represented by the Late Paleolithic site of the Old Quarry, opened in 1997 by the New-built detachment of the AE YAGU in the construction zone of the Maya-Lomtuka highway (Fig. 4). A scraper, fragments of a knife-shaped plate and a chip were found in the parking lot. Currently, almost the entire parking lot is damaged due to the development of a sand pit and the construction of a highway ^[11]. Among the ancient archaeological sites, burials are of particular interest to the researcher as the most informative in terms of studying the socio-cultural organization and spiritual culture of ancient communities (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Types of monuments (compiled by the authors)

Two Neolithic and Early Iron Age burial complexes have been studied in the district, which were severely destroyed during the construction and operation of roads. Matt's burial was discovered in 1996 in Megino-Kangalassky ulus on the southwestern outskirts of the village of Matt and was in a severely damaged condition on the slope of a 7-meter cape-shaped terrace, in an old road track. The burial was determined to be female, the spine and the entire right half of the skeleton were missing, 3 fragments of ceramics with mesh prints were found at the feet of the skeleton. Instead of the missing hand, a hare's foot was found. Probably, the presence of such an element of funeral equipment here is associated with the special importance of this animal in the life of the ancient population of the area. The burial was attributed by researchers to the Syalakh culture of the early Neolithic period of Yakutia ^{[12; 13]}.

The Chuya burial complex dating back to the Neolithic and Early Iron Age was investigated in 1992 and 2010, in a severely damaged condition. In 1992, local residents found a fragment of a jaw and a bone tubular needler on the outcrop of the terrace formed as a result of the construction of the Yakutsk-Amga highway, which were initially correlated by archaeologists with a dilapidated skeleton discovered at 10 m., and the burial was tentatively attributed to the Neolithic era. Later, when the dating was clarified, it was found that the jaw belongs to the Yyyakhtakh culture of the late Neolithic, and the backbone to the Early Iron Age ^[14]. Given the significant degree of damage to the burials, most of the information about the appearance of the spiritual culture of the ancient population of the district remained lost, which increases the urgency of expanding measures to protect the archaeological monuments of Megino-Kangalassky ulus.

Fig. 4. Archaeological periods (compiled by the authors)

A relatively large number of monuments of the Middle Ages and Modern Times have been discovered and studied on the territory of the ulus. So, at the moment, five settlements of the Kulun-Atakh culture have been identified, including the reference monument – the settlement of Kulun-Atakh. A characteristic ceramic complex, metal and bone products have been found in the settlements, and objects of religious worship are found. The burial of a Kulun-Atakh child, discovered in the settlement of Kerdyugen, is unique. More numerous are the settlements of the Yakut culture, which can be attributed to the era of the so-called "Kyrgyz Yetis". Archaeologically, twelve monuments have been identified, consisting of the remains of dwellings and household structures. Nevertheless, there are very few excavated archaeological sites, so this area of archaeological study of the ulus remains promising in terms of obtaining comprehensive knowledge about the region's past.

The late monuments are represented by settlements of the XIX-beginning. XX centuries. Chuochabyl, Maya III, Sygynyakh, Jarama II. These settlements are located on the site of Stone Age and paleometallic sites, which may indicate the continuity of traditions in the development of the landscape and the formation of the organization of living space, traced from the Stone Age in the Taiga-Alas landscape of Central Yakutia.

Spatial mapping of objects has shown that archaeological sites are located along modern highways and roads, for which there are several reasons. Firstly, many monuments were discovered during contractual exploration along the routes of highway design and construction of the main water pipeline. Secondly, the design of road connections is influenced by the peculiarities of the Alasian landscape: the most level and stable sections along the terraces of the Alas are chosen for laying the route and, accordingly, archaeological sites are affected. This becomes one of the main factors in the destruction of sites and burials. Monuments are destroyed both by the most expensive and by quarries arranged for their construction. An essential factor is the intensification of mining, construction and repair of roads and railways.

A chronological cross–section of the monuments shows that settlements, burials and other ethnographic objects of the XIX - early XX centuries are practically untouched. Meanwhile, during the field work, local residents and the administration repeatedly addressed the archaeologists with the problem of the destruction of cemeteries and settlements due to the melting of permafrost and the crumbling of river banks. There were cases when a village was formed around the cemetery of the XIX century. During settlement, but today it is falling apart and scares the locals with exposed bones. The cultural context of modern Yakutia also leaves its mark, where the topic of death remains taboo. The problems of forest fires destroying the remains of settlements and wooden tombstones remain relevant. Further expansion of such databases and maps should be carried out taking into account these problems.

Conclusion.

Given the high degree of saturation of the regions of Central Yakutia with monuments of historical and cultural heritage and predicting the risks to the preservation of archaeological sites, the development of such maps is currently an urgent and important area in archaeological research. When making maps, it is necessary to be guided not only by the need to fix the location of objects on the territory, but also to provide for the possibility of spatial analysis. The study of the localization and spatial distribution of archaeological sites in the context of the surrounding landscape will provide important data on the economic and cultural aspects of the life of the ancient population of the study area.

The map of the archaeological sites of Megino-Kangalassky ulus created using GIS technologies allows us to assess the study of this territory and assess the possibility of preserving archaeological sites. In the future, the map will allow us to reconstruct the ways of development of one of the most densely populated areas of Yakutia in various chronological periods and plan further field research.