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The article deals with the problem of Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Dagestan (Northeastern Caucasus). The sites of Tinit-1 and Rubas-1 (upper assemblage) in the Rubas valley is characteristic of a watershed period between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic in this part of the Caucasus. The analysis of these industries makes it possible to infer that Levallois technique was gradually phased out, with its transformation focused on a more intensive use of technical volume of a core within the semi-volumetric blade technique. At the same time, lithic industries underwent changes in their toolkits: the Middle Paleolithic pointed forms were vanishing, the treatment of side-scrapers tended to become simpler, the number and variability of the Upper Paleolithic types increased, the isolated tool-markers (shouldered and carinated end-scrapers, truncated-faceted pieces, transverse multiple burins) came into use. In addition, the general typological composition of tools corresponded to a single function. The lithic industries discussed above demonstrate gradual change within the frame of a single strategy during the whole period of their existence, lasting about 15 ka (50-35 ka BP). Comparison of materials from the sites of Rubas-1 and Tinit-1 with collections obtained from the sites in the South Caucasus has revealed significant differences between them. Thus, during the early stages of their occurrence (80-50 ka BP), the Middle Paleolithic industries of the Dagestan showed a resemblance to the industries of the Zagros-Taurus type (including materials obtained from the sites in the South Caucasus), and later they became distinctly different from the assemblages discovered in the adjacent areas. This suggests that the Dagestan industries represented a local version of the Middle Paleolithic industries developed in the Middle East. Therefore one can argue that the development of later lithic industries occurred in the region on a local basis.

In 1961 A.P. Okladnikov discovered an outstanding archeological site on the shores of Lake Osinovoe in the Amur region. In 1962 and 1965 stationary studies were carried out. They resulted in several excavated dwellings which gave abundant data for characterizing the Neolithic culture. The result of the research was the allocation of late Neolithic Osinoozerskaya culture. Its tribes lived in this area in 3,000-2,000 BC and were a settled population, mainly engaged in hunting and fishing. In relation to the discovery of millet grains in the hearth dimple of one of the dwellings it was concluded that the inhabitants practiced crop farming. Despite the fact that over the last decade archeologists have studied several new sites, greatly expanding the range of sources for the analysis of Osinoozerskaya culture, it remains the least studied among the Neolithic cultures of the region. The problems associated with such controversial issues as its genetic link with the earlier Novopetrovskaya culture (in spite of the time gap of 4,000 years) and the emergence of agriculture, remain unsolved and require further reflection. In 2012, in order to gather new data on the culture, studies were continued on the periphery of the Neolithic settlement. There were pole-holes identified at the lower stratum of the occupation layer - they could have been designed for a light shed. The output is a collection of artifacts (pottery and stone), several of them were defined by use-wear analysis as a tool set including household items of daily use with frequent trimming and alteration, peculiar to dwellings and sites with a variety of human activities. Overall the excavated site is a mono-cultural one, which refers to the period of Osinoozerskaya culture and was used by the inhabitants for economic activity.

The article is based on the results of work with the collections kept in the museums of Fukuoka prefecture (Kyushu, Japan), and on analysis of a wide range of literature devoted to the phenomenon of elite female burials in Yayoi culture accompanied with large numbers of bronze mirrors. It is illustrated with the most significant data on Sugu-Okamoto, Mikumo, and Hirabaru necropoleis. The events which occurred on the Japanese Islands during III BC - III AD marked not only the shift from one culture (Jomon) to another (Yayoi), but also fundamental changes almost in all cultural components. These changes included replacement of subsistence economy with the producing one; emergence of new technologies and the upgrade of former ones; modification of burial ritual and social structure. All these changes were connected with a strong migratory impulse from the territory of Korean Peninsula. Yayoi culture was spreading across the archipelago from the territory of Kyushu, where the new forms of social organization (complex chiefdoms) headed by charismatic leaders appeared. According to historical records and archaeological data, women occupied a special place among these leaders. The authors use these data to interpret the role of mirrors in Yayoi society. Mirrors belong to the traditional shamanistic attributes among aboriginals in North and Eastern Asia. With the emergence and spread of metallurgy mirrors became part of prestige economy and served as indicators of a special status of the buried persons. The case of the elite Yayoi burials on Kyushu shows parallel development of several interesting processes: moving from the import of bronze mirrors to their manufacturing with the local or Chinese molds; emergence of items with hypertrophic parameters based on prestige technologies; empowerment of chiefs with the unique skills to master the “magic” of the mirrors, and gradual institutionalization of mirrors into one of the Sacred Japanese Treasures.

In 2014, in the Amur region near the Amur River on the site Ozero Dolgoe two submarine pits were excavated. On the present-day surface submarine pit № 16 was rectangular in shape with rounded corners (4,2×5 m), steep sides and a depth of 46 - 52 cm. The submarine pit № 17 is square shaped with rounded corners (4,6×4,8 m), with steep slope, depth 40-51 cm. The stratigraphic and planigraphic observations, structure of the burnt wooden frames at the bottom of deep pits № 16 and № 17, and the discovered artifacts allowed to suggest that these are funerary complexes of Mohe of Troitskaya group dated from the VIII century. However, AMS 14C analysis of coal samples from the pit № 17 allowed to obtain the new dates - 1760±40 years ago (MTS-17572), cal. ±1δ 230-340 BC, ±2δ 139-385 BC, or the first half of the III-IV century. Theses dates are different from the previously proposed ones, therefore the discrepancy of 400-500 years in dating requires additional carbon dating of samples, and additional study of similar depressions (there are 41 of them left on the site). Findings from a filling of a deep funnel pit № 17 include 95 kg of glandular wreckage of kritsa of various sizes (total weight 1.55 kg), 89 pieces of slag (weight 0.4 kg); 200 fragments of pottery vessels from at least three groups of Mohe of Troitskaya group; a piece of iron armor plates and possibly fragment of an iron boiler; 17 riverine pebbles, 7 pebbles splintered, 2 stone, and 7 stone chippings and flakes, about 240 burnt animal bones. They have developed into a complex of objects associated with the smelting of small portions of iron in ceramic vessels-furnaces. Similar vessels for smelting of iron and bronze were found at the of Mohe settlement of Aspen Lake. The presence of industrial waste in a depression on the surface of the terrace suggests that somewhere near to metal smelting there was a special area or workshop, which was periodically cleaned and freed from the iron manufacturing waste. Remains of iron production belong to Mohe of Troitskaya group, and dated IX-X centuries.

The article analyzes the collection of finds - iron objects of armament and horse harness from the Minusinsk Hollow. Judging from the good state of preservation and bent blade of a broadsword they could belong to the culture of the Yenisei Kyrgyz. The iron tip of a spear from the collection is distinguished by its original design. The tip has a rhombic shape with indentations on the sides. The similar tips of spears in the burial mounds of the culture of the Yenisei Kyrgyz did not occur in the past. Among the objects there is an iron broadsword with bent blade and detachable guard. According to design features, this finding relates to the third type of broadswords that were in the inventory of the Yenisei Kyrgyz warriors in the era of the High Middle Ages. A horse harness from the collection has iron bits, composed of two elements with the rings on the ends. There are also two damaged iron stirrups with flat loops and apertures for threading the leather straps. The embossing ornament is drawn on the surfaces of the loops, that reproduces a schematic image of a bird. Judging by the composition and form of the discovered objects of armament and harness from the Minusinsk Hollow, they could originate from the burial place of the Yenisei Kyrgyz warrior, buried in the uplands in the valley of Tes’ River in the end of the first millennium - the beginning of the second millennium A.D. The fact that among the weapons from the internment in the valley of Tes’ River there is a broadsword, whose blade was bent twice for ritual purposes, and a spear of infrequent form, this burial mound could belong to the professional Kyrgyz warrior - combatant. In the past objects with similar shape were found by archaeologists in the course of excavations of burial mounds of the culture of the Yenisei Kyrgyz people in the territory of Tuva.

An increasing amount of archaeological research on the monuments of Modern time in Siberia, along with publication of the received materials promoted the study of cult copper molding as a category of finds. On the basis of materials from the Ilim fortress V.I. Molodin has created a typology of crosses attributing them to the Old Belief or Catholic types. In regard to the Old Belief types of crosses it is stated that they can’t be identity marks of confessional appurtenance of their owners because the same crosses were used also by the followers of official Orthodoxy. The purpose of this article is to reveal signs of confessional distinctions on the basis of archaeological materials from the Russian complexes of Modern time. The author used materials of an archaeological monument of Izyuk-I (Omsk region). According to the written sources in the XVII-XIX centuries the majority of villagers in the settlement of Izyuk were Old Believers. The materials from a funeral complex showed that more than a quarter of collected crosses which were worn on the neck belong to the Old Belief types. They were classified by researchers as belonging to this type on the basis of analysis of their morphology and texts of prayers. It is possible that Old Believers also used other types of crosses as the texts of prayers could be missing or difficult to read because of low-quality molding. Another criterion could be position of hands of the buried, because according to the ethnographic data the arms of the Old Believers were folded in a certain way. The author comes to conclusion that certain groups of population can be attributed to various religious confessions only on the basis of a set of signs while the cult copper molding of the XVII-XVIII centuries can not be used as the defining feature. For this purpose it is necessary to analyze more profoundly an archaeological context, to correlate it with the available stavrografic materials and written sources. The pectoral cross found in one of burials is of special interest. The paper introduces for the first time into scientific circulation the copper Old Belief icon found in an occupation layer of the settlement with the image of Saint martyrs Quiricus and Julitta.

The article reports about identifying ways to preserve stability as well as to change the Russian location in Siberia during the XVII - early XXI centuries in the worldview aspect of the culture of life support. An important objective in this area is to study the structure of the location and to establish the laws underlying the choice of location and layout of settlements as one of the important elements of the culture of life support. This article discusses some of the principles underlying the selection of methods and programming ethnographic survey of Russian location in Siberia. Modeling method is used to organize the available data on location. To this end, one selects essential characteristics describing with a certain degree of approximation a settlement pattern. They include principles and features of a settlement, communications of the population, location and plan structure of settlements. Modeling allows to consider both the diachronic and synchronous transformations; to reveal worldview attitudes. Working with the model requires the collection of specific data in order to form the source base. Materials are collected and studied on the basis of various sources which include the principles and structure of the location, system of communications; settlements directly described and studied on the spot, informants’ tales about location and settlements, geographic and topographic maps etc. Much attention is paid to the specific ethnographic research methods: method of direct observation, polling method, interviewing.

The purpose of the article is not only to revive interest in a controversial issue of prevalence of exogamy or endogamy practices in the selection of marriage partners in Siberian villages, but also to substantiate the author’s position on this subject on the basis of new ethnographic materials of the early XX century. Of interest is mapping the circles of marital relations of the members of the Russian ethnos, especially Siberians, due to the fact that neither pre-revolutionary, nor Soviet ethnographers produced any comprehensive studies on this topic. Mapping the marital relationships allows to confirm or deny the data on the territory of settlement of ethnic groups (especially groups of Old Believers) obtained from the oral reports of the informants; to complement the whole wedding ritual complex with necessary materials. While historians on the basis of historical data concluded that exogamy was typical of the XVIII century, ethnographers based on field materials of the late XIX century wrote about the wide-spread endogamy, which contributed to isolation of certain ethnic groups (such as the Cossacks, peasants). Expeditions organized by the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences obtained field data that proves, regardless of the work of predecessors, that in the late XIX - early XX century representatives of specific ethnic and cultural (ethnographic) groups created local groups, whose members avoided intermarriages. Endogamous marriages were supported by the older generations of villagers. Hence, the tradition of matchmaking brides from neighboring and even remote villages reflected the commitment of the villagers to the custom of exogamy, while commitment to “our” brides from the culturally similar group points to endogamy. Persistence of these practices contributed to the preservation of ethnic and cultural groups in the southern part of Western Siberia through to the early 1930s when in line with the state’s policy of the “new life” the youth was oriented to take advantage of the right to choose their own destiny.

The development of a new approach to a distributed information system for bio-diversity appraisal in mining regions, with the use of data storage technologies, cloud computing services and mental processing and analysis of multivariable data is in process. It is suggested to adhere to a cardinally new solution in such system engineering and to add the architecture of such system with NoSQL MongoDB and GeoNetwork components that essentially offload the geoinformation system when retrying special calculations and user requests.

The three-component polyurethane composition is developed to create impervious screens in rock mass by hydraulic fracturing technique. Formulas for working fluids and their injection charts are given. The article describes a lab test and the test data on polymer setting time versus activator concentration and on effect of the fluid composition on the permeability of a porous medium at the limited flow rate of reagent per unit area of the screen.