A bright page in the history of Altai, as well as the whole of Central Asia, is the Scythian culture, which received its name from the place of its first discovery - the Pazyryk tract in the Ulagansky region of the Altai Republic - Pazyryk. L.N. Gumilyov, relying on the works of the historian of the 1st century. BC. Sima Qian, believed that the Pazyryk people should be called Yueji.
“Scythology is one of the most ancient sections of history. It was founded by Herodotus. His nine-volume History contains many evidence about the Scythians, especially in the fourth book. In it, in particular, there are the following lines: “behind the Issedons live the Arimaspians - one-eyed people; behind the Arimaspians are vultures guarding gold, and even higher behind them are Hyperboreans on the border with the sea." N.V. Polosmak discovers that at the time when Europeans became aware of vultures guarding gold, a fantastic creature, most reminiscent of a vulture, firmly occupied one of the dominant places in the pantheon and art of the Pazyryk people.
Researchers have established that the Pazyryk people were not only nomads who raised horses, cattle, sheep and goats; they were also engaged in agriculture. Social stratification is evidenced by burials that differ in size and richness of accompanying grave goods. The burial chambers, well built from logs, allowed S.V. Kiselev to conclude that “not only the tent, but also a permanent wooden dwelling, perhaps in the form of a chopped yurt, were quite common.”
Excavations at Ukok showed that the Pazyryk people, being at the junction of three large cultural regions - Central Asian, Altai-Sayan and Central Asian - experienced the cultural influence of these most important Eurasian centers of ethnogenesis, and themselves actively participated in the formation of the culture of Central Asia.
The results of recent research show that the core of the area of the Pazyryk culture was located in the Altai Mountains, and the peripheral zones captured the adjacent regions of Kazakhstan, the Xinjiang Uyghur National District of the People's Republic of China, penetrating into the regions of Tuva and Western Mongolia.
The Pazaryk people, judging by anthropological reconstructions, were tall people, with powerful necks, large heads, not wide, but very high noses. The Caucasoid type predominated, although it is believed that the Pazyryk people most likely represented a confederation of various ethnic clans. Men wore medium-length hair cut into a bowl cut; women wore braids. Thanks to the discovery, called the Princess of Ukok, it was established that women during the heyday of the Pazyryk culture wore wigs and used cosmetics.
The bodies of both men and women from the Akalakha and Pazyryk burial mounds were covered with tattoos, the subjects of which strictly obeyed the general ideas about the three-level structure of the world. There were fish depicted on the legs, marking underworld, on the arms and body there are animals and scenes of confrontation between a predator and an ungulate - symbolism of the “earthly” world, and in the upper part of the arms there were images of birds or other solar symbols.
Ancient Turkic period of Altai history
After the Huns pushed the Pazyryk Yuedzhi to the southwest, the territory of Altai entered the sphere of political influence of the first centralized empire of the nomads of Central Asia. This time is usually called the Hunno-Sarmatian, it occupies a period in the history of the steppe cultures of Eurasia of the 2nd-5th centuries AD. The Huns played a big role in the cultural genesis of Eurasia. The Huns maintained small garrisons in Tuva and Altai and, mainly with the help of local ore miners, smelters and blacksmiths, procured metals.
The Hunnic invasion was interrupted historical development local tribes Southern Siberia, modified ethnic composition local tribes, the monogoloid type began to displace the ethnic groups of the Pazyryk people of Altai and the “Tagar people”, the state of Dinlin in the territory of present-day Khakassia, which are close to the Caucasoid type.
At this time, the separation of crafts from agriculture and cattle breeding took place. In the southern Altai in the environment local peoples There is a process of accumulation of ironworking and blacksmithing production, which in many ways prepared the rise of the culture called ancient Turkic. In relation to the territory of Altai, and especially in Ukok, direct continuity can be traced from the culture of the Hunno-Sarmatian times to the Turkic culture in the funeral cult and in the writings.
Ancient Turkic time - important stage in the history of the Eurasian steppes. Once again, the center of cultural genesis and ethnogenesis moves to Altai. Chronologically, this period covers the VI-X centuries. And it is connected with the existence of large state associations of Turkic-speaking ethnic groups. The First Khaganate is an early feudal state of the Turks, formed in 552 as a result of the defeat of the Juran Khaganate by the Tuku and Tele tribal associations. The influence of the Turks at this time extended over a vast area from the Yellow River to the Volga. In 604, as a result of civil strife, it splits into the Eastern and Western Kaganate. The territory of Altai was part of the Eastern Kaganate, which in 630 subjugated China.
Uyghur and ancient Khakass periods of Altai history
After the death of the famous statesman and military figure Kül-tegin (731) and his brother, the ruler of the Eastern Kaganate Bilge Kagan (734), power in the Kaganate passed to his sons, and internecine struggle broke out between them. In 741, centripetal forces among the Turkic tribes began to tear apart the once powerful steppe empire, and the final blow was dealt to it by the Uighurs, who formed their own confederation of tribes to the east of the Turks.
As a result of hostilities between the Turks and Uyghurs in 744-745, the last Eastern Turkic Khagan, Ozmish, died, and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate ceased to exist. Begins new period in the history of the peoples of Central Asia, called the Uyghur Khaganate (745-840)
The Uyghurs belonged to one of the oldest Turkic-speaking peoples. They are believed to come from a group of Tele tribes who lived in the steppes north of the Gobi. They were known as brave warriors, skilled in horse-mounted archery, and rode carts with high wheels. Having defeated their former oppressors, the Turks, they created an early feudal state centered on the Orkhon River.
The eastern border of the Uyghur state reached the upper reaches of the Amur and modern Manchuria, the western border passed through the Mongolian Altai, reached Lake Baikal in the north and Tang China in the south. The Uighurs stationed garrisons and built fortresses in troubled provinces, such as Tuva, as part of the imperial Chinese army participated in the suppression of the anti-feudal uprising in the border Chinese provinces, defended their borders and entered into fighting with the remnants of the Turkic union in the “Altun mob,” as Altai was then called. V.D. Kubarev believes that the population of Altai at that time “experienced significant cultural and political influence Uyghur Khaganate." Restoring the course of events in the Altai-Sayan region, it should be noted that in the 8th century the Uyghur monarchy, torn apart by internecine struggles, as well as clashes on religious grounds (the leading role in society at this time was taken by the religious elite professing Manichaeism, in general alien to most Uyghurs), began to decline.
The Khakassian state enters the historical arena. From 820 to 840, when the capital of the Uyghur Kaganate, Ordu-Balyk, fell, the main military operations took place on the territory of modern Tuva. The peoples of Altai also took part in the fight against the Uyghurs along with the Khakass. Pursuing the Uighurs, the Khakass troops reached Kashgar and Turfan. As a result conquests In the 9th century, the new steppe empire included Altai, Tuva, Northwestern Mongolia and Central Asia. The western border of the Kyrgyz Kaganate ran along the Irtysh River.
By the beginning of the 10th century, the ancient Khakass, under the pressure of eastern tribes, left Eastern part Central Asia, leaving behind Altai, Tyva, and Northwestern Mongolia. But already at the beginning of the 12th century, the onslaught of Mongol-speaking tribes and, first of all, the Khitan state, which was formed in the 10th century in northern China, intensified. In a number of major battles, the Khakass managed to defend their possessions in Northwestern Mongolia, but in the middle of the 12th century, the ancient Khakass state was subjected to aggression from a powerful tribal union - the Naimans, whose state was located in the upper reaches of the Irtysh and Orkhon rivers.
Having been defeated in the wars with the Naiman, the Khakass lost their lands in Northwestern Mongolia, and the principality in Altai became isolated. In fact, by the time of the Mongol conquest, four large principalities had formed within the Altai-Sayan region: Altai, Northwestern Mongolia, Tuva and Khakassia. At this time, a carefully designed network of irrigation canals was being built in Altai and Tuva, indicating the development of agriculture.
From the 9th to the 12th centuries in the Altai principality, in addition to the ruling Khakass elite of feudal lords and small garrisons, lived local descendants of the Eastern Turkic tribes (Teles), Western Turkic (Turgesh and Aza), Karluk tribes (Chygat), tribes of the Tele group (Teleuts and Telenguts) and groups northern Altaians. Since the ruling elite belonged to the Kyrgyz clan, this name was preserved in the self-name of the Altaians, and it was also found by Russian settlers who called all the indigenous inhabitants Kyrgyz.
The next period of Central Asian history falls on the XII-XIII centuries - time Mongol invasion and the death of the ancient Khakasian state. Mongol-speaking tribes, formed on the eastern and north-eastern outskirts of modern Mongolia in the 10th century, began to actively move west and push out the Turkic-speaking tribes. The Khakass principalities opposed them most actively. They managed to defeat and throw back the Khitan troops to Dzungaria, but in the middle of the 12th century, the strengthened Naimans defeated the Khakass tribe and captured the Great Lakes basin, the adjacent regions of Tuva and Mongolia.
Invasion of the Altai Mongols
At the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th century, the group of Mongol tribes led by Temujin strengthened. Events in the region neighboring Altai are developing rapidly. In fact, in two years, from 1204 to 1205, Temujin completed the conquest of the disunited Mongol tribes, defeated and subjugated the Naimans, and conquered all of Northwestern Mongolia and Dzungaria. Here he leaves his friend Khorchi as governor, punishing: “Be a temnik and rule this western country to the Golden Mountains (Altai).”
In 1206, Temujin convenes a general kurultai - a people's assembly, where he is proclaimed Kaan Chinggis; Thus, the beginning of the formation of the steppe empire of the Mongols, unprecedented in scale, was laid.
A stubborn struggle unfolded between the peoples of the Altai-Sayan region and the Mongols. The son of Genghis Khan, Jochi, conquered the “forest peoples” - as the Mongols called the tribes living in this region. The Mongols were interested in this region as a raw material and food base that supplied their troops with high-quality weapons, meat and bread.
Having lost their independence, the Altai principalities, nevertheless, during the period of initial aggression from the Mongols, still retained their original culture; they were ruled by princes from the Kirghiz clan. From Arab and Chinese sources it is known, for example, that among the three princes from this family who were part of the embassy, confirming the loyalty of the Khakass to Genghis Khan, was Olebek-tegin ("Prince" Olebek), who reigned in Altai.
Researchers note that the persistent bloody struggle of the peoples of the Altai-Sayan region actually delayed the Mongol advance to the west, including to Rus', for several decades, and not a single military detachment from the peoples living in Southern Siberia participated in the Mongol troops.
After the death of Jochi and Genghis Khan, the Khakassian principalities came into possession younger brother the famous Mongol emperor Kublai Kublai, whose capital was located on the site of present-day Beijing. His name was Arig-Buka and he, relying on the support of the Naimans and Oirats, laid claim to the throne of the great Kaan, but could not withstand the single combat with Kublai, and was forced to confess to northern China, where he died. From this time on, the Western Mongolian lands remained nominally in the possession of his sons.
The final act of the tragedy of the Khakassian state occurred in 1293. The country was occupied, the freedom-loving peoples of the Altai-Sayans moved to other regions, and ancient Mughal military settlers were planted in their place.
“The conquest of the ancient Mongol feudal lords undermined the natural progressive development of the historical process among the tribes inhabiting Altai and Sayan. They destroyed their original state organization and productive forces, interrupted the process of consolidation of individual tribes into a single nation.”
This short review medieval history of Central Asia shows that Altai and its southern regions, including Ukok, were directly at the epicenter of all events, which, of course, left its mark on the culture of the peoples. This period, rich in bright pages, is only just being revealed to archaeologists. In general, it is characterized by two trends: on the one hand, regression in the development of peoples, in connection with the noted Mongol expansion, on the other hand, the connection of the peoples of Altai to other cultural regions of Eurasia.
The beginning of Russian colonization of Altai
Since the 17th century, a new period of history begins, associated with the Russian colonization of Altai.
Russian peasants, mostly Old Believers, actively settled the lands adjacent to Ukok - the Bukhtarma River valley and the Uimon valley. The process of colonization intensified in the 18th century due to industrial development ore deposits in Gorny Altai, as well as the desire Russian Empire expand its borders in the east and south of Siberia.
To take active action in this region Russian government was also prompted by the bloody war between the Dzungar Khanate and Qing China. The Qing dynasty was founded by the descendants of the Manchu Khan Nurhaci. Having created a strong state, he began the conquest of China and in 1644 took Beijing, and by the 80s of the 17th century the entire country was completely conquered and the Manchus rushed to conquer the Mongols.
They captured the lands of southern and northern Mongolia and came close to the Dzungar Khanate. Taking advantage of the civil strife that arose after the death of Khan Tsevan-Rabdan (1727) and his son Galdan-Tseren (1745), during which Dzungaria reached its greatest power, the Manchus attacked Western Mongolia. In the summer of 1754, Qing punitive detachments, destroying and enslaving everything in their path, invaded the territory of the Altai Mountains. The Chuya Basin was the first to be captured. Despite the resistance of the Altai zaisans, Southern Altai was occupied. In the Chuya Basin there was a detachment of three thousand people, on the Berel River there was a detachment of two thousand, and in the area of the Kan Valley there was a detachment of 300 people.
All these events accelerated the process of the Altai tribes joining the Russian Empire. In 1756, 12 Altai zaisans, the main one of which was zaisan Ombo, turned to the tsarist government with a request to recognize them as subjects of the Russian state. Among those who applied was the zaisan Kulchugai, who roamed with his ulus, judging by the descriptions, in close proximity to Ukok. As L.P. Potapov wrote, “the entry of the Altaians into the Russian state was a historically promising event for them, a way out of the extremely difficult situation in which they found themselves as a result of the centuries-old domination of the Mongols.”
Although most of Altai was inhabited by Russian subjects; some Telengits retained their independence from the Qing and Russian empires. They were led by hereditary zaisans from the Teles clan and the Kebek clan. In Russian sources, their territories were referred to as the first and second Teles volosts, and they covered areas of southern Altai.
Since the end of the 18th century, Russian and Chinese authorities have taken steps to secure the disputed territories. The issue was finally resolved at negotiations that took place in 1861-1864 in Chuguchak. The text of the agreement on the delimitation of lands under the Chuguchak Treaty was signed on September 25, 1864.
Since, according to this agreement, the lands of the Quebec and Tele clans went to Russia, this became decisive in the choice of citizenship. At the end of 1864 and the beginning of 1865, these clans became part of the Russian Empire, and it can be considered that it was from this time that Ukok became part of our state. Legally, this was finally consolidated by the installation of border markers in 1869 on the Russian-Chinese border.
The appearance of Kazakhs in the Altai Mountains
At the moment, the Kosh-Agach region of the Altai Republic, on the territory of which the Ukok plateau is located, in addition to the Altai Telengits, is also inhabited by Kazakhs. Let us briefly describe their appearance in these places. During the establishment of borders between China and Russia, the Tuvan, Kazakh and partially Altai ethnic areas were fragmented. For example, it is known that a small group of Telengits lives in the area of Lake Kanas in China.
The Kazakhs of the Middle Zhuz - clan associations of Kara-Kereys, Abaks and Asheymails - were subjected to especially severe fragmentation. They roamed in the Kobdo basin to the peaks of Bulgun and Saksay, and maintained close ties with the Kazakh clans who lived on the territory of modern Kazakhstan, and the Altai clans in the Chui steppe region. At this time, the Ukok Plateau became a contact zone, a migration corridor, a place of migration from Northwestern Mongolia to the Chui steppe and the Irtysh region. Along main river On the Ak-Alakha plateau there was a path along which merchant caravans went to Kobdo and Bukhtarma.
The first mentions of Kazakhs in the Chui steppe date back to the 70s of the 19th century. At the end of the 19th century, lands on Ukok and Kolguty were allocated to the Kazakh family of Sarykaldyks. The topographical expedition of E. Shmurlo in 1898 recorded on the Ukok plateau about 140 tents of Kazakhs belonging to the clans of Chingistai, Devlets (Deulet), Sarykaldyks, who moved in winter to the Kolgutin Valley.
The southern borders of Altai have never been considered calm in terms of ethnic migration processes. So, in 1913, a thousand Kazakh villages at once, hiding from persecution in Mongolia, moved to the Chui steppe. In the 20s of our century, Altai clans from the Uimon Basin moved to the area of Dzhazator and Ukok.
The dynamics of demographic processes, reflecting the increase in the number of Kazakhs in the Kosh-Agach region, is as follows: in 1927 there were 2,175 Kazakhs; in 1939 - about 3000; and according to data for 1989 - 9,000 people. Currently, the Kazakh population makes up over 50% of the total population of the Kosh-Agach region. The second largest, over 40%, is the Altai and Telengit ethnic group.
Slavic peoples, mainly Russians, Mongols and other nationalities are poorly represented in the southern regions of Altai. However, they, carrying the culture of large ethnic groups, also have a noticeable impact on the general cultural situation in the area.
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The article uses materials from the website www.ukok-tour.ru
A brief overview of the history of Gorny Altai.
Primitive era.
People lived on the territory of Siberia back in the ancient Stone Age at the time ice age more than 40 thousand years ago. This is evidenced by archaeological finds of crude stone tools in the Altai Mountains. By the end of the Ice Age, hunting tribes had formed with the establishment of matriarchy.
After the retreat of the glacier, a warmer and more humid climate, close to the modern one, developed in Siberia. The earth was covered with taiga. Large animals either became extinct or moved north. To hunt small animals, it was necessary to invent new tools. This is how bows and arrows with stone tips appeared. A new one has arrived stone Age. At the sites of primitive people of the Neolithic era, discovered in the Ob valley near the village of Kiprino, as well as near Biysk and in areas of Gorny Altai Polished stone axes, knives, arrowheads, and fragments of pottery were found. People began to master cattle breeding and build dugouts. During this period, beliefs and the beginnings of art were born. The sites date back to the 6th - 4th millennia BC.
The emergence of native metals on the surface led to changes in the life of ancient people in Siberian lands. Needles, awls, and knives were made from pieces of copper. Jewelry was made from silver and gold. Along with native metals, metals smelted from ore and their alloys are used. More hard metals Stone tools begin to replace them - the Bronze Age has begun. In the XVI - XIV centuries BC e. New tribes are flocking to the territory of Siberia from what is now Kazakhstan. The role of hunting fades into the background; people are mainly engaged in cattle breeding, fishing, and farming. Sites and burial grounds from this period of history were discovered near the villages of Kytmanovo, Nizhnyaya Suetka, and Chauzovo.
The development of cattle breeding strengthened the role of men in the tribe. A gradual transition began to patriarchy, a patrilineal clan consisting of several large families. Tribes begin to change their habitats. In the spring, having planted crops near winter camps, cattle breeders moved to summer pastures. In the fall they returned, harvested crops and grazed the winter pastures. Growing herds required more food, so people began to change camp sites not twice a year, but more often. The period of early nomads, also called Scythian, began; it lasted from the 7th century BC. e. until the 1st century AD e.
Feudal era.
At the dawn of classes and the state in the 3rd century BC. e. A huge state of the Huns was formed on the territory of Transbaikalia and Mongolia. After its collapse in the 1st century AD. e. the Hun tribes moved west towards Europe, partially settling along the entire route. The Huns who remained on the territory of Central Asia (Tele and Tyukyu tribes - ancient Turks) became the ancestors of many modern nationalities, including the Altaians. In the middle of the 6th century, the Turkic tribes, which had long been under the yoke of the Rourans (nomadic Mongol-speaking tribes), freed themselves and formed the Turkic Khaganate with its center in Altai.
During nomadic migrations, internecine wars and mixing of tribal unions on the territory of Altai in the X - XII centuries formed Altai tribes(currently the Altaians are divided into small nationalities: Teleuts, Kumandins, Telengits, Chelkans, Tubalars).
The Golden Horde yoke subjugated the Altai tribes in 1206-1207. It was difficult for the Altai people. The Mongol-Tatar conquerors took all the grain and livestock for their army, weakening the strength of the Altai people. Subsequently, the principalities located east of the Urals separated from the Golden Horde, forming the White Horde, which in the 15th century broke up into the Nogai Horde and the Siberian Khanate. Until the 16th century, the Altai tribes were under the rule of successive Mongol khans.
Annexation of the Altai tribes to Russia
The defeat of the Siberian Khanate during the conquest of Siberia by Ermak marked the beginning of the annexation of the Siberian tribes, including the Altai, to Russia. However, the Western Mongolian tribes, taking advantage of the lack of proper fortifications in the Siberian lands conquered by Russia, continued to raid the Altai tribes. Feeling the growing superiority of Russian forces, the Mongol troops decided to retreat, but at the same time forcibly took the Altaians with them. There were a few left who managed to hide in the mountains and taiga. In 1756, Altai slaves managed to break free, they returned to Altai and voluntarily became part of Russia.
Today, among the indigenous peoples in Altai, the Altaians themselves live, who are divided into southern Altaians (Telengits, Teleuts) and northern Altaians (Kumandins, Chelkans, Tubalars).
Telengits live in Ulagansky district near Lake Teletskoye, along the Chulyshman River flowing into it and its tributary Bashkaus. According to the 2002 census, their number in the Altai Republic is 2,368 people. Beliefs: shamanism, Orthodoxy, Burkhanism.
Teleuts live mainly in the Kemerovo region in the Belovsky and Guryevsky districts. These are the so-called “Bachat Teleuts” after the name of the Big and Small Bachat rivers of the Ob basin. According to the 2002 census, the number of Teleuts is 2,534 people in the Kemerovo region and 32 people in the Altai Mountains. Beliefs: Orthodoxy, shamanism.
Kumandins live in the Altai Territory along the Biya River in the Biysk, Krasnogorsk, Solton regions, population - 1663 people; in the Turochaksky district of the Altai Republic - 931 people; in the Kemerovo region - 294 people and in other regions of Russia. Beliefs: shamanism, Burkhanism, Orthodoxy.
Chelkans live in the Turochaksky district of the Altai Republic, population - 834 people. Beliefs: shamanism, Burkhanism, Orthodoxy.
Tubalars live in the Choysky district of the Altai Republic, population - 1533 people. Beliefs: shamanism, Burkhanism, Orthodoxy.
Altai is called the “Cradle of the World”, believing that it was from here that humanity began its journey. This sacred land still holds many mysteries.
The meaning of the Turochak writings
In 1975 at steep cliffs On the left bank of the Biya River, seven kilometers from the village of Turochak, amazing two-meter rock paintings were discovered: more than two dozen rapidly “walking” elk.
Stylistic analysis of the images made it possible to attribute them to the Bronze Age and, with a high degree of probability, associate them with the Karakol culture, which existed in the 2nd century BC. But how these rock carvings, unique to Altai, appeared is still not completely clear. Distinctive Features Turochak's writings were not only the material with which the drawings were created - red ocher, atypical for Altai petroglyphs, but also the choice of characters.
The researchers were also amazed by the dynamics and expressiveness of the images that distant ancestors were able to create on a steep and inaccessible surface. But the main mystery remains the meaning. What did the ancient “artists” try to tell their descendants?
Woman with tattoo
The sacred Ukok plateau in the south of Altai is a place that attracts both daredevils who decide to “test themselves” and numerous researchers. The world scientific community began to discuss its main mystery relatively recently, in 1993, when archaeologists under the leadership of Doctor of Historical Sciences Natalya Polosmak, during excavations of the Ak-Alakh burial ground, discovered a mummified body, the estimated age of which is 2.5 thousand years.
The perfectly preserved find allowed scientists to conduct a DNA examination and restore the appearance of the 25-year-old girl. Her facial features were not Mongoloid; the appearance rather resembled a European one. The waist of the “Princess of Ukok” was decorated with a red belt - a symbol of a warrior; in her hands she clutched a larch wand - an instrument of “creation of the world”, and her head was crowned with a high headdress with golden braids - an attribute of a woman possessing magical powers and keeping the “secret of immortality”.
On the body were found tattoos made in the Scythian “animal” style in the form of a capricorn deer with a griffin’s beak, a ram with its head thrown back, and a spotted leopard. All this, as well as a leafy deck similar to a shaman’s boat “rotyk”, and six “heavenly” horses buried here, indicated that no ordinary person was found in the mound. Altai shamans are sure that this is the body of the legendary ancestor of their people - Kydyn, with the “desecration” of whose burial all the troubles of Altai began.
Academician Vyacheslav Molodin, under whose leadership a large-scale study of the Altai highlands was carried out, is convinced that “this is not a princess, but a representative of the middle stratum of Pazyryk society” of the 6th-3rd centuries BC. Perhaps she was a sorceress or a healer, however, who the “Altai Princess” really was and what her name was will remain a mystery.
The eighth wonder of the world
The Ukok Plateau has other secrets. For example, mysterious geoglyphs were discovered here - huge images that can only be viewed from considerable distances, usually from a bird's eye view. It is unclear for what purpose they were created.
The age of creation of geoglyphs is another controversial issue. For a long time assumed that they appeared one and a half to two thousand years ago, but latest research allowed us to assume that the time of their creation was the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. Scientists are also trying to understand why, over such a long period of time geological processes didn't destroy the geoglyphs?
Finally, they have yet to understand the meaning of the “messages.” Although the outlines of many of them are easy to “read”, the “idea” of the ancient artists still remains a mystery. Scientists rightly call geoglyphs the eighth wonder of the world and continue their search, while ufologists are trying to support their theory about the location of alien airfields in these places.
Altai stonehenge
Thousands of tourists visit the Chui steppe to see the Altai Stonehenge. Five huge boulders up to seven meters high are decorated with petroglyphs - drawings from the time of the Pazyryk culture. One of the blocks differs from the others by the crossbar placed on it, the other is made in the form of a throne chair.
Researchers are sure that ancient shamans used this place for rituals. At the same time, the stones were probably specially delivered from other places - a comparison of their structure showed that the material is not found in the nearby mountains. According to legend, the boulders were brought by the ancient Scythians from an area 500 kilometers away.
The age of the Altai Stonehenge presumably dates back to the 8th-6th centuries BC. The stones are installed in the direction of the cardinal points and, according to observations, have differently charged electromagnetic fields. Tourists who ventured into the center of the “stone fence” said that they “seemed to be pulled into a funnel.” About the true purpose of the Altai stonehenge and its “ magical power"They are still guessing.
"Denisovan" or "Altai man"
Denisovskaya Cave is located in the valley of the Anuy River, which the keepers of Altai traditions call “the path to the mysterious Belovodye”. Many cultural and historical monuments were discovered in this world-famous archaeological site. In 2009, among other finds, a phalanx of a little girl’s finger was found, and a little earlier, a molar tooth of an 18-year-old boy.
The artifacts were sent to the M. Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. The analysis showed that their owners were representatives of a new ancient human population. So far, Russian, American and Canadian scientists are finding it difficult to give an exact answer: whether we are talking about a new species or subspecies, so they use the neutral one - “Denisovan” or “Altai man”.
Supposedly a million years ago, it “deviated from the branch general development human” and evolved in an independent, as it turned out, dead-end way.
Denisovan genes were not found in any representative modern civilization, with the exception of the Melanesians, whose ancestors, according to scientists, could have had contact with the “Denisovans” in East Asia.
The find completely destroyed the stereotypical idea of the ancient inhabitants of the planet and suggested that 50 thousand years ago Neanderthals lived in the western part of Eurasia, and “Denisovans” lived in the eastern part. Could they interact, and what caused the disappearance of the “Altai Man” - questions for which answers have not yet been found.
Center of the Universe
Many researchers correlate the highest Altai mountain Belukha with the sacred Mount Meru. In particular, the Russian philosopher Nikolai Fedorov tried to confirm this theory. Based on a map depicting the sacred Mount Meru, dated to the 2nd century BC, Turkologist Murat Adji supplemented the popular hypothesis.
One of the arguments was the similarity of the location of ancient Meru and modern Belukha. At equal distances from Meru were the four then known oceans, and Belukha is equally distant from the Indian, Pacific and Northern Arctic Ocean. Where did the fourth ocean go? It may have existed west of Belukha during Atlantean times, but subsequently disappeared. Other “evidence” includes the possibility all year round watch over Altai Ursa Major and consonance ancient name Beluga whales "Uch Sumer" with the toponym "Meru".
In search of freedom
In the Russian consciousness, Altai is inseparable from the legendary and mystical country of Belovodye, the abode of freedom and immortality. The popularization of the legend is usually associated with the Old Believers-runners, who flocked to Altai in search of a better life and showed the way to everyone who was thirsty with the help of “guidebooks”, which described the path to Belovodye in an allegorical form. Russian scientist and philosopher Nicholas Roerich associated the Slavic idea with Buddhist legends about Shambhala. He announced the inextricable connection between Altai, India and Tibet and was confident that they were components of a single energy system, which has been preserved since the times of Atlantis. Is it possible today to find a way to the Land of Justice and Virtue? – the search for an answer to this question lies, rather, in the field of spiritual knowledge.
Altai is a beautiful, amazing and unique geographical region located at the junction of Northern and Central Asia. A phenomenal combination of diverse landscape and climatic zones, the richest flora and animal world, huge reserves of mineral and natural resources. This is a place of interpenetration of great cultures: Indian, Scythian, Turkic, Chinese, Russian. The crossroads of ancient trade, cultural, migration routes, a place of migration of peoples.
This region was called the most beautiful region of Asia (the pearl) by the outstanding artist, poet, traveler and thinker N.K. Roerich. He compared Altai to a huge cauldron in which dozens of civilizations and peoples were born and died, replacing each other. His conclusions are confirmed by L.N. Gumilyov, arguing that here, at the crossroads of the most ancient migration and trade routes, powerful tribal alliances, kingdoms and entire empires arose, influencing historical destinies throughout Eurasia. Scattered throughout the Steppe and Mountain Altai are dozens of places sacred to local ancient peoples. Ukok plateau and Pazyryk, Sentelek tracts and many others. Even the ancient Turks called such areas “the navels of Altai,” since it was here that the sacred meaning of the inextricability of existence, the meaning of their connection with the past and present world lay hidden. Located in the very heart of Eurasia, Altai truly lies “at the crossroads” of the geography and history of the continent’s most ancient civilizations, at the intersection of directions of global migration processes. That is why for modern research scientists, Russian and foreign archaeologists, ethnographers, Altai is a real promised land, where many world-class professionals strive to spend the field season, exploring caves, rock paintings, Scythian mounds, settlements, sites and other types of archaeological sites.
Altai was located at the crossroads of migration routes between Europe and Asia, which affected its history. On the territory of Altai you can find monuments of many different archaeological cultures from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. Recently, the number of scientifically significant discoveries made in the vicinity of Altai has exceeded a dozen. This is the now world-famous “ice princess” - the mummy of a young Scythian woman, discovered on the Ukok plateau in a permafrost mound with rich burial goods perfectly preserved in a natural ice refrigerator. A complex of hundreds of rock paintings-petroglyphs, the oldest of which date back to the 8th millennium BC, located in the Kalbak-Tash tract, the cult and burial complex of Sentelek, impressive with its mysterious stone steles, dating back to the 10th-8th centuries BC, the Ulalinskaya site with unique finds from the Stone Age. The oldest in North Asia burial of a shaman in the Tytkesken cave on Katun, dating back to the mid-5th millennium BC. All this is far from full list sensational finds that aroused interest and even excitement in the world's archaeological centers.
However, the most fundamental and fundamentally significant were the results of research that has been conducted in Northwestern Altai for twenty years by employees of the Paleolithic sector of the Novosibirsk Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The epicenter of this truly information explosion, many phenomenal discoveries in the field of the ancient history of mankind in Eurasia, became Denisova Cave, where since the mid-80s. last century, the Altai Paleolithic detachment of the institute is based. During excavations of the Denisova Cave, which is located 4 km. from the village of Cherny Anui on the very border of the Altai Territory and the Altai Republic, archaeologists have identified several dozen cultural layers in which as many bone products dating back to about 40 thousand years ago were discovered as at all Paleolithic sites in Europe of that time combined , says academician A.P. Derevianko. Moreover, a fragment of a stone bracelet was also found, during the manufacture of which ancient master used grinding, polishing, drilling, that is, all those technological techniques that, as previously believed, began to be used only 10-15 thousand years ago. In 2008, among the shards and fragments of stone tools, archaeologists found the remains of ancient man- one phalanx of the finger. For analysis, a fragment of the phalanx was transferred for research to the Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology. Max Planck in Leipzig. And the academic world shuddered: as it turned out, this finger belonged to a girl aged five to seven years, who, in turn, belonged to a previously unknown human species. Unofficially, this species has already been called Homo altaiensis, that is, “Altai man.” Research has shown that the girl’s DNA structure has 385 differences from ours, while only 202 “points” in our DNA separate us from Neanderthals. That is, at that time, three species of primitive man simultaneously lived on our planet: Neanderthals, Cro-Magnons and “Altaians”. Until recently, anthropologists and archaeologists were confident that the immediate, direct ancestor modern people- Cro-Magnon, first appears in Europe during the Late Paleolithic era no earlier than 40-35 thousand years BC. and only later migrates eastward. Denisova Cave bursts into that postulate again, where the skeletal remains of this early Homo sapiens sapiens, dating back to at least 50-45 thousand BC, were recently discovered. Moreover, in the same layers, many bone tools and decorations, the oldest in Northern Asia, were discovered.
Thus, all these archaeological facts indicate the serious role of Altai as a center of intersection of ancient migration routes. It was here that the Hunnic power was born, and the advancement of this people gave impetus to the beginning of the era of the “Great Migration of Nations.” The Altai Mountains are the birthplace of the Ancient Turkic and then Mongolian powers. The Altai region is at the same time the most important historical center of the nomadic cultures of the Great Steppe between Turan and Mongolia, a meeting place for the forest cultures of Siberian peoples, a meeting point of desert, steppe, forest and mountain natural conditions, as well as a place historically associated with ancient agricultural and spiritual centers Central Asia, Tibet and Northern China. All this speaks of the serious role of Altai as a region in the formation of global culture. Altai, a place where “yesterday” and “tomorrow” coexist, and life of the third millennium flows two steps away from pristine nature.
We invite everyone to join forces and conduct joint research expeditions!
Altai region in ancient times
People first appeared on the territory of Altai about one and a half million years ago. The glacial shell then covered vast expanses of Western Siberia, so all the sites of ancient people were located south of the glaciers, in the adjacent swampy plains, cold steppes and forest-steppes of that era - the Stone Age.
At the end of the 6th - beginning of the 3rd century BC. e. groups of newcomers appear on the territory of Altai. The culture of the newcomer population was called “Afanasyevskaya” - after the name of the mountain in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, near which the first burial ground dating back to this period was excavated. The Afanasyev tribes settled throughout the Altai along the Biya and Katun rivers in the south and along the Ob in the north. These were early pastoral tribes of proto-Europeans, whose basis of life was transhumance.
In the 1st century BC. e in Altai there was a culture of the Scythian type, which left great amount unique monuments. The main occupation of the population of Altai at that time was cattle breeding. People roamed the plains and foothills in the summer, and with the beginning of winter they drove their cattle to the mountain valleys. The settled tribes of Altai in the Scythian era lived from modern Kulunda in the west, to Kuznetsk Alatau in the east and to Altai mountains on South.
WITH late III century - early 2nd centuries BC. e. and until the end of the 1st century BC. e. Altai was in the sphere of influence of the Xiongnu tribal union - the ancestors of the Huns, who later conquered many European peoples during the “Great Migration” process. The Xiongnu created the first early class state in Central Asia. The massive movement of nomadic tribes to the west greatly changed the appearance of the population of Altai. In the forest zone, the culture of the Samoyed population, West Siberian Ugrians and early Turkic elements began to take shape.
Altai region in the XVII-XIX centuries.
The settlement of the Upper Ob region and the Altai foothills by Russians began in the second half of the 17th century. The development of Altai went faster after the Beloyarsk (1717) and Bikatun (1718) fortresses were built to protect against the warlike Dzungar nomads.
The long Northern War with Sweden posed a number of problems for Russia, one of which was obtaining its own metals and especially copper, necessary for the manufacture of cannons, minting coins, and casting bells. Before the war, Russia imported over 17 thousand pounds of copper annually from Sweden. Now the government of Peter I had to turn to its own natural resources. For this purpose, search parties were equipped, and private initiative was encouraged.
Altai has long been known as a metal mining region, as evidenced by the so-called “Chud mines”. The father and son Kostylevs are rightfully considered the discoverers of ore deposits in Altai. The largest Ural breeder Akinfiy Demidov took advantage of these discoveries.
For reconnaissance, Demidov sends his clerks and artisans from the Urals to Altai, who confirmed the rich content of the local ores. In addition to rich ores, Altai had dense pine forests and numerous rivers. Thus, there were all conditions for the creation of a mining industry. On September 21, 1729, the Kolyvano-Voskresensky plant began operating.
In parallel with copper production, silver smelting also began. The result of the activities of Akinfiy Demidov and his clerks in Altai was the creation here of a feudal mining industry based on the serf labor of assigned peasants and artisans.
Rumors about Demidov's smelting of silver reached St. Petersburg, and Empress Elizaveta Petrovna issued a decree on May 1, 1747, which transferred Altai to the personal property of the Russian tsars.
In the first five years (from 1747 to 1752), over 750 pounds of silver and more than 20 pounds of gold were smelted in Altai, which was estimated at 150 thousand rubles. The tomb of Alexander Nevsky weighing 90 pounds, which is now in the Hermitage, was made from Altai silver.
Formed by the 2nd half of the 18th century, the Altai Mountain District is a territory that included the current Altai Territory, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo regions, part of the Tomsk and East Kazakhstan regions, with total area over 500 thousand sq. km and a population of more than 130 thousand souls of both sexes. The Emperor was the owner of Altai factories, mines, lands and forests; their main management was carried out by the Cabinet, located in St. Petersburg. The backbone of the local administration consisted of mountain officers. But the main role in production was played by non-commissioned officers and technicians, from whose ranks came talented craftsmen and inventors I. I. Polzunov, K. D. Frolov, P. M. Zalesov, M. S. Laulin.
In the first half of the 19th century, Altai ranked first in Russia in the production of silver, second in copper, and third in gold. It has turned into the second industrial region in the east of the country after the Urals. In 1806, Barnaul, along with Yekaterinburg, was officially recognized as a mountain city.
The famous statesman and reformer M.M., appointed by the Siberian governor. Speransky visited Altai in the 20s of the 19th century and came to the conclusion: “Nature itself destined this region for a strong population and for the richest products of agriculture, trade and industry. But these last ones under the present structure
It’s impossible to expect.” He considered it expedient to replace mining workers and assigned peasants with hired workers and attract settlers to the lands of Altai. But for many decades the Tsar’s Cabinet did not agree to even small concessions that could undermine its monopoly position.
And after the reforms of the 60–70s of the 19th century, feudal remnants remained in Altai to a greater extent than in the center of the country and other regions of Siberia. The ownership of the mountain district by the tsars remained intact, and this determined many features of the development of Altai in the post-reform period.
The mining industry, which was the main branch of the district's economy, entered a period of crisis after 1861. From the beginning of the 1870s, the unprofitability of factories began to increase uncontrollably, and by the end of the century almost all of them were closed.
In the private industry of post-reform Altai, gold mining was most developed. Most large companies in gold mining were “Altai gold mining business” and “South Altai gold mining business.” By the end of the 19th century, 70 mines were in operation and up to 100 pounds of gold were mined annually.
Altai region in the first half of the 20th century.
Gradually, agriculture becomes the basis of the Altai economy. Along with the cultivation of grain crops (wheat, oats, rye), potato plantings expanded, and beekeeping received significant development. At the beginning of the twentieth century, dairy farming and butter production came to the fore.
Altai oil was exported to Western European countries.
At the end of the 19th century, a section of the Siberian railway, by 1915 the Altai Railway was built, connecting Novonikolaevsk, Barnaul and Semipalatinsk. Water transport also improved.
The Stolypin land reform gave impetus to the resettlement movement to Altai, which generally contributed to the economic recovery of the region.
The events of 1917–1919 led to the establishment of Soviet power in Altai. In June 1917, the Altai province was formed with its center in Barnaul. It existed until 1925.
From 1925 to 1937, the territory of Altai was part of the Siberian Territory, from 1930 to 1937 - into the West Siberian Territory. On September 28, 1937, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR decided to divide the West Siberian Territory into Novosibirsk region and the Altai Territory with its center in Barnaul.
Throughout the 1920s, Altai remained an agricultural region and
Therefore, the main political and socio-economic processes were associated with the development of the village. By the early 1930s, the collectivization of peasant farms was largely completed.
On economic development The Altai province at the end of the 1920s was affected by the completion of the construction of the Turkestan-Siberian railway. To process Central Asian cotton, the Barnaul melange plant is being built - the first large textile enterprise in Siberia. Its construction began in June 1932, and the first stage of the plant came into operation in November 1934. In 1940, the enterprise reached its designed capacity.
Elevators were built in Barnaul, Biysk, Kamen-na-Obi, sugar factories in Biysk and Aleysk, and meat processing plants in Biysk, Rubtsovsk and Pospelikha. Metalworking and the production of building materials grew rapidly, and the transport network improved. By the end of the 1930s, Altai
has become one of the largest agrarian-industrial regions of Siberia.
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