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The task of reconstructing some Scythian epic storylines is difficult but not hopeless. As an object for reconstruction the author has sel ected a famous story by Herodotus about Scythian Ares honored as an ancient iron sword put on the top of the pile of brushwood (Herodotus, IV, 62). According to the author, using such unusual material in construction of sanctuaries could be justified only by an exceptionally important functional requirement that during the ceremony the altar was to be burnt down. The Ossetian Tales of the Nart Batradz, who was considered inseparable fr om his sword, demonstrate the utmost similarity with the Herodotus story. The researchers convincingly trace the origin of the name of Batradz to the name of the Iranian God of Storms Verethragna-Bahram and then to the Vedic Indra. Assuming that the worship of the patron deity of warriors dates back to the steppe Bronze Age, it is concluded that there is 99 percent probability that the sword was made of bronze. As bronze has lower melting point (930-1140ЪC) than iron (1539ЪC), the bronze sword would disappear in the flaming fire, what was perceived as its ascension to heaven with a column of smoke and flame. In this case, the thunder-bearer of Late Bronze Age, honored by the Scythians ancestors, appears as a dying (disappearing) and resurrecting (returning) God. The seasonal ritual of his dying-ascension should have been necessarily paralleled by a symmetric seasonal holiday of revival-returning. An attempt to use iron weapons in the ancient ritual, undertaken by the Scythians approximately in the VIII-VII centuries B.C. led to a catastrophe - the God sharply changed his behavior. Obviously, the image of a red-hot blade was perceived as a manifestation of the deity’s violent rage. The author suggests that Herodotus retold in a generalized form an etiological myth explaining the established cult practice of honoring iron sword with bloody propitiations in the early Iron Age.

In 2012 a big dwelling (№ 3) belonging to the early Medieval period (the Troitsk group of Mohe culture) was excavated in the Amur Province, Russian Far East. The remains of its construction comply with the building concepts of the VIII-IX centuries and have a number of interesting features. The article’s objective is to introduce to scientific use the new original data on its construction. The dwelling’s specific features include its dimensions exceeding 7 m in length in comparison with 5-6 m typically observed by archaeologists. Another specific feature is the carcass composed of 7-meter logs based only on 4 angle posts. The central supporting posts for sloping beams were absent. Such types of big Mohe dwellings have never been found before. Angle poles used to be dug into the ground right after preparing the surface area or after removing the humus layer. Afterward the foundation pit would be dug out bypassing angles with poles, which resulted in forming triangle bases around poles. In the Amur Region such building method also has never been discovered before. Another specific feature previously unobserved in Medieval dwellings is lining the foundation pit walls with vertical rows of wooden slabs. So, the dwelling № 3 at Osinovoe Ozero (Lake) Site was of a frame-pillar type placed down to the foundation pit at 1.5-1.8 m. The base of the construction was composed of four logs, each over 7 m in length and 22-30 cm in diameter. Four rafters were put into the base corners, joined at the top making a rectangular chimney. The pitched roof was covered with wooden planks, filled with ground, or trimmed by divot. The entrance was located at the southern roof slope on a comfortable level for inhabitants from the surface with stairs. Such dwelling looked like a pyramid covered with grass. Its key elements are similar to the dwelling № 2 at Osinovoe Ozero (Lake) Site dated (14C) to the late IX century.

Moscovia tsarist government began to develop a huge trans-Ural territory populated by various Siberian ethnoses who were pagans from the Orthodox Russian viewpoint in the XVI century. Indigenous population of Siberia was at different stages of social development and had a mixed reaction to the advent of Russian Cossack detachments. The tsarist government faced some challenging tasks: to make the peoples of Siberia subjects of the Russian tsar, to make them pay taxes; to stop internecine clashes among different tribes, and to begin missionary work. Only efficient solution to these problems could lead to a successful colonization of the region. However, that vast area was in need of human resources, which were clearly inadequate and not sufficient. Therefore, the central government would give favorable consideration to employing those aboriginals who had been baptized into Orthodoxy. Baptized aborigines were automatically placed on the same level with the Russians regardless of their ethnic origin. In the contemporary texts such people were called “newly-baptized” (“novokreshcheny”). Newly-baptized aboriginals often achieved high positions in the military and administrative services. Most of them served as ordinary Cossacks or were engaged in economic activities while being employed in the public service. Many baptized aboriginals due to the capture or sale of their children fell into servile dependence on the Russian military or commercial population. Children constituted a majority of those who were placed in a dependent position due to the fact that they were easier to adapt and to adopt new cultural traditions in the future. The Siberian authorities did not hinder these processes. Incorporation of aboriginal Christians in the state structures had a positive effect on the relationship with indigenous people, and contributed to stabilization and interpenetration of different cultures. An active penetration of the newly-baptized aboriginals into the social structures of Siberia continued up to the first third of the XVIII century, and then began to decline primarily due to the natural growth of the Russian Siberian population and migrations from different regions of Russia. The absence of serfdom and relative legal freedom made Siberia an attractive place. In general the Imperial policy towards the indigenous peoples of Siberia was that of maneuvering and searching for compromises.

The revival of church architecture made the researchers to readdress the task of searching for features and patterns of shaping, proportioning, and symbolics of church buildings. In such studies much attention is paid to the ethnic-cultural context, as it allows moving away from a descriptive approach to analyzing the stylistic characteristics of the building. The article deals with the results of reconstructing the appearance of the Church of Our Lady of Vladimir, which existed in the XVII-XVIII centuries in Bratsk, one of the first Russian cities in the Middle Angara region. In order to make such reconstruction scientifically valid the authors used special techniques and methods based on the sources analysis, searching for analogues, as well as on the assumption that the specific type and style of church architecture stood in close interdependence with the ethnic-cultural context of Siberia in the XVII-XVIII centuries. The church reconstruction faced serious difficulties, including the lack of historical sources that could shed light on the architectural image of the church. S. Remezov’s drawing is the only evidence, which allows reconstructing the architectural forms of the church in 1701. Its analysis shows the relative sizes and architectural appearance of the church. Search for analogues led to the conclusion that the most common church type in the Russian North in the XVII-XVIII centuries was a cellular church whose central part had a bochka-like cover. In the same region there were churches of a similar type - the Church of the Presentation in the Temple (1673) and that of the Kazan Icon of Our Lady (1679). The church is defined as a warm cellular one with a bochka-like cover of a catholicon and altar part. A refectory and a porch were covered with a two-sided roof. The church had a ternary structure. The church was designed with the ‘Trinity scheme’ in mind, which was typical of the wooden churches in the early and late Middle Ages, including the XVII century, so it determined the size of the church, forms of its parts, location and size of a porch, domes, windows, and doorways.

The article considers the Kudarin Buryat food system of South-Eastern Pribaikalia in the late XIX - early XX centuries. It defines the dependence of their food system on the economy structure: the diversified nature of the economy allowed Buryats to provide themselves with food. The author specifies the role of a natural-geographical factor in the food system and agriculture development of this Buryat group. The negative effects of the earthquake of 1862 and epidemic of 1870 caused a lengthy decline of Kudarin Buryat herding economy and modification of the diet structure. All this resulted in the domestic herd structure changed: before the earthquake it was of classical type shared by most of semi-settled pastoralists. However, by the 1890s it had transformed into a herd structure typical of a settled population. As a result the cattle as a source of livestock products began playing an increasingly greater role in the Kudarin Buryat diet, and other livestock types became less significant for food ensuring. Wild game meat was not included in the diet of the majority of the Kudarin Buryats. The share of agricultural products (crops, potatoes) in the diet was subject to annual adjustments, so bread was bought and bartered for fish. Their needs for vegetables were satisfied by gathering wild plants, however their yields were negligible. Fishing played a special role in Kudarin Buryats food system, providing the population with Arctic cisco, the main food fish of Baikal. It is noteworthy that the amount of consumed fish remained unchanged compared to the first half of the XIX century. Thus, the Kudarin Buryat food system of the second half of the XIX century belonged to a “livestock and grain” class: the share of livestock products prevailed over all other food groups. While preserving traditional ethnic features it also included certain borrowings from Russian cuisine and home ware.

The paper aims at studying a phenomenon of fetishism - so-called “tös” in Khakass. In order to achieve the stated goal the author traced the etymological origins of the term ‘tös’; defined the role played by fetishes in these people’s world-view and ritual practices, clarified to what extent these religious subjects were perceived by the Russian population; identified the results of Russian and Khakass cross-cultural interaction in the religious and mythological spheres. Chronological framework encompasses the late XIX - middle XX centuries. The choice of these time limits is determined, first of all, by the state of historical sources relevant to the subject being explored. Archival historical, linguistic and ethnographic materials have been used as the main sources. The work is based on an integrated systemic-historical approach to studying the past. The research technique is underlain by the following historical and ethnographic methods: scientific description, specific-historical method and method of relics. The linguistic method of etymology was used to study the word origins. Fetishism has a special place in the Khakass culture. The sacred religious subjects were called tös. This term possesses a wide semantic field in these people’s world-view and language. Among its meanings one can find such concepts as “basis”, “essence”, “root”, “beginning”, and others. The semantic content of this word is closely connected with a cult of ancestors. The term “tös” has an ancient Turkic origin and can be found in many languages. “Töses” were used as family and patrimonial guardians in the traditional ceremonial practices of Khakass people. In Russian culture these products, sacral for aboriginals, were designated by the word ‘shaitans’ and associated with ‘evil spirits’. During the Russian and Khakass ethnic-cultural interaction the term ‘shaitan’ entered the Khakass vocabulary. Thus, the way aboriginal people used this term was very selective and peculiar.

Forest spirits ( Leshy and others) belong to the set of ancient beliefs of Russian people. Folklore and ethnographic sources, including modern materials, characterize Leshy as a master of Forest, who protects his lands making people ramble in the woods, loves jokes and can change his appearance. Images of Leshy are almost identical in Siberia and European part of Russia. According to present knowledge it is more correct to speak about transformation of Leshy’s image due to changing cultural environment and mentality. However, a recent survey (317 questionnaires) conducted among urban citizens of different age and professional groups revealed that modern citizens not only easily answered the question “Who is Leshy?”, but were able to list many of its “traditional features”. The authors note that although modern dictionaries of Linguoculture should explain semantics of such lexical unit as “ Leshy ” (as it plays a significant role in the Russian culture) such entries are lacking in them. The authors propose their lexicographical interpretation as a new method of linguo-cultural fixation of ethnographical information. The same method is used in the dictionary of linguo-cultural literacy dictionary that is being constructed. The dictionary entry reflects everyday values, most relevant to native speakers, as well as a set of ideas associated with these linguistic units. The integrated use of ethnographic, folklore and linguistic materials helps to determine the degree of variation of mythological images typical of traditional culture and to identify their role in the Russian people’s worldview. Based on the survey results and field ethnographic materials, the authors have formed the dictionary entry “ Leshy ” reflecting the modern vision of this mythological creature shared by the native Russian speakers in the context of contemporary linguoculture.

The paper analyzes various approaches to the problem of typology of ethnographical (cultural), local and religious groups of Slavic settlers in Siberia taking into account studies of historians, ethnographers and anthropologists of the XX - early XXI centuries. The author offers her own approach to identifying and providing justification for the Old-Believer and immigrant groups in Western Siberia in terms of their origin, mechanism of development, cultural specifics. The results of research on small ethnic units of Russian (Belarusian, Ukrainian) ethnographical (cultural) groups conducted by historians, anthropologists, and philosophers, were compared with the data obtained by the physical anthropologists who greatly contributed to justification of the ethnic groups typology. According to the author’s view the ethno-cultural situation in Western Siberia is best suited for studying the nature and properties of low taxonomic units, while the future research may reveal changes in surviving ethnographical groups, as well as discover new local and confessional communities of Old-Believers and settlers. The typology of ethnographic groups in Western Siberia must be of “essential” character based on their origins, patterns of formation, resettlement, taking into account the existing mythologem of community consciousness. Each specific ethnographic, confessional or local group has its historical context, as well as a cultural “core”, which it was formed around, such as traditional cultural features for ethnographic groups, religions for religious groups (Old Believers), territorial solidarity (places of origin) for local groups (settlers of European Russia). Ethnographic groups may also differ geographically depending on cultural traits variation (Suzun chaldony, Kolyvan chaldony, Altai Kerzhaks and so on). Studies have shown that the majority of ethnographical groups in Western Siberia more or less possesses elements of self-consciousness. As a rule, original external and internal names of these groups are related with their origin, historical homeland, or reflect historical events (real or imagined) in the past.

This objective of the article is to reconstruct the early period of development of ethnographic knowledge in Russia in order to demonstrate the origin of interdisciplinary approach to studying the ancient and traditional Eurasian cultures. The article’s problem field is shaped by the history of the Russian academic ethnography discourse in the late XIX - early XX centuries. Based on methodology and methods of historical scientific studies the authors analyze the scientific heritage of V.N. Haruzina, a leading figure in the Russian ethnography at the turn of the XX century. This research focuses on V.N. Haruzina’s articles on veneration of fire among various ethnic groups in Russia. The authors emphasize fundamental characteristics of V.N. Haruzina’s program, titled “For data collection about fire veneration among Russian peasants and outlanders” (1906), by analyzing its methodology and content. The research results lead to a conclusion that the structure and content of the Program provide in-depth description of different cultural elements related to fire. Methodology of such descriptions is determined by a complex approach based on ethnography, anthropology and archaeology as well as anthropogeography, which studies peoples and cultures in an inextricable relation to their environment. Such academic approach extended beyond the evolutional paradigm, which dominated the world ethnology at the turn of the XX century. In general V.N. Haruzina’s statements formed the concept close to a modern interpretation of the fire phenomenon in culture. These statements predetermined the establishment of an interdisciplinary approach, which remains of vital importance for modern research of Eurasian archaic and traditional cultures. Studying the fire phenomenon in culture is one of the most important problems of modern humanitarian sciences. The further investigations in this field should include the experience of interdisciplinary approach brilliantly implemented by V.N. Haruzina.

The article considers global and national tendencies in understanding the “cultural heritage” concept and phenomenon. It is revealed that “cultural heritage” is a multi-component and constantly evolving category. The authors define basic directions of the cultural heritage preservation such as museumification and the concept of cultural landscapes. Museumification is transformation of heritage objects into the objects of museum exhibition. The second direction is based on methodology of cultural landscape viewed as a holistic cultural and natural complex. This methodology synthesizes various categories of heritage. According to the most common interpretation, the “cultural landscape” is both a specific heritage category and landscape conservative practice of cultural and natural heritage. In practice, objects created within these directions may have similar features. These theoretical and practical approaches have been applied to analyze activities of 12 Siberian museum-preserves specializing in archaeology, architecture, ethnography, ethno-ecology as well as memorial museums. The authors conclude that, as a rule, such profilisation of museums existed only at the initial stages of their formation. They underline that the heritage in Siberia, a multi-ethnic social macro-region of Asian Russia, contains a distinct ethno-cultural component and is developed in almost all Siberian museum-preserves; prove that their essential role in the heritage development of the Siberian region is determined by positioning these regional objects as prestigious brands included in the tourism industry; by active integration of science, culture, education; by representing subsistence culture of the Siberian population; and by using an intangible heritage for social and cultural adaptation of population; allocation and museumification of specially protected historical and cultural sites.