Skeletal microstructures of hyoliths from the Early Cambrian of Siberia

Phosphatised conchs and opercula of various hyoliths, 1–2 mm in size, retaining original skeletal microstructures have been extracted with dilute acetic acid from Lower Cambrian carbonates of northern Siberia. The conchs grew by deposition of new lamellae on the inner side of the aperture. Two microstructural types are recognised among the conchs assigned to the Allathecidae, namely with a simple or composite inner layers. The conchs are built of inner and outer layers of mineralised fibre bundles. In the outer layer the bundles are longitudinally oriented. Their external ends are inclined toward the apex of conch. Each bundle contains a channel. Transverse bundles of the inner layer commonly run around the conch but may branch toward the aperture and produce an orthogonal network. The inner layer in this case is composite and consists of two sublayers. In the outer sublayer the bundles are situated transversely around the conch, and in the inner sublayer the bundles are directed longitudinally. Channels between the bundles of the inner layer were possibly connected to those of the outer layer and reflect a system of tubules. The latter possibly participated in biomineralisation and provided a framework, which reinforced the skeleton. The tubules do not penetrate the outermost portion of the outer layer. Septa display radially arranged fibrous microfabric with the evidence of a centripetal growth from the inner surface of conch. The opercula consisted of series of growth lamellae each containing fibres, oriented radially, and tubules. The tubules were almost normal to the growth surfaces and concentrated in the opercular limb. The hyolith skeleton probably contained organic fibres mineralised by aragonite and commonly fused into bundles. The affinity of the Hyolitha to a separate phylum may be supported by this microstructural investigation.     

The Regional Dimension of Russian Oil Production: Is a Sustained Recovery in Prospect?

An American geographer and prominent authority on oil and natural gas industries and resources of Russia and other former republics of the Soviet Union presents a region-byregion account of Russia's oil production, tracing in considerable detail developments up to September 2006. The account, based on systematic and frequent field investigations since the early 1990s as well as interviews with key industry executives, covers reserves, output trends, ownership, investments, pipelines, and a variety of economic factors including exports to China. Addressing the question of whether sustained production recovery is possible, the author presents American and Russian scenarios projecting oil output through the year 2020. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: L71, O13, Q40, Q48. 8 figures, 7 tables, 64 references.     

隋唐长安城东北角夹城及十王宅遗址2020年度发掘简报

隋唐长安城东北角夹城及十王宅遗址位于隋唐长安城遗址东北部。2020年,西安市文物保护考古研究院对该遗址东城墙与夹城墙之间的道路南段进行了主动发掘,清理道路、车辙等遗迹,并解剖了东城墙墙基。本文即是对2020年度发掘工作主要收获的简报。     

Missing Links. Indigenous Life and Evolutionary Thought in the History of Russian Ethnography

The history of Russian social anthropology has long been best known for the work of three, late nineteenth-century “exile ethnographers,” each sent to the Russian Far East for their anti-tsarist activities as students. All three men—Vladimir Bogoraz, Vladimir Iokhel'son, and Lev Shternberg—produced voluminous and celebrated works on Russian far eastern indigenous life, but it was the young Shternberg who had perhaps the most profound effect on setting the agenda for the canonic evolutionist line soon to take hold in late Russian imperial and early Soviet ethnography. This essay draws on archival, library, and field research to revisit the life and work of Shternberg in order to tell the story of “group marriage” that he documented for the life of one Sakhalin Island indigenous people, Gilyaks (or Nivkhgu, Nivkhi). Documented in this way by Shternberg, the Nivkh kinship system proved a crucial “missing link” for Friedrich Engels, who had long been eager to provide evidence of primitive communism as man's natural state. For Gilyaks, the die was cast. Their role as the quintessential savages of Engels’ favor made them famous in Russian and Soviet ethnographic literature, and significantly enhanced their importance to Soviet government planners. This essay tracks that episode and its aftermaths as a pivotal moment in the history of Russian social anthropology and of evolutionist thought more broadly.     

论清代东北封禁与流人文化

文章从清入关后东北的文化状况、封禁政策的提出及实施、流人文化的形成及内涵三个方面对东北的流人文化进行探讨,认为清的入关使东北文化发展处于停滞状态,但封禁政策的制定和实施却为流人文化的形成创造了条件,流人文化成为封禁时期东北文化的主要内容。     

晚清东北商埠格局变迁研究

晚清东北商埠格局历经萌芽、雏形、形成、发展四个阶段的变迁进程。此格局在变迁过程中呈现出商埠地域分布以沿交通线为主、类型的多样性及发展的不平衡性等特点。晚清东北商埠格局的变迁,对区域社会经济产生了深远影响：从晚清东北开埠进程看,东北开放区域是伴随着列强侵略的步步深入而渐次增大的;随着东北对外开放空间的拓延,近代化因素透过商埠窗口逐渐渗入东北社会,商埠发展客观上推动了东北区域的近代化路程。     

Review of the Cambrian acrotretid brachiopod Neotreta

The Cambrian acrotretid brachiopod Neotreta Sobolev 1976 is reviewed and re-illustrated, based on new material of the type species, N. tumida Sobolev 1976, from the lower Upper Cambrian of Siberia; Neotreta orbiculata Koneva 1990, originally described from the Middle Cambrian of Kazakhstan, has been obtained from roughly coeval beds in Shropshire, England; Neotreta pusilla Koneva 1986 was unavailable for study. Two new species, N. davidi and N. karagailensis, are described from Queensland, Australia, and Kirgizia, Central Asia respectively.     

Wooly mammoth mass accumulation next to the Paleolithic Yana RHS site,Arctic Siberia: its geology,age, and relation to past human activity

In 2001, the Yana RHS archaeological site was discovered in the lower Yana river valley, Arctic Siberia. Its radiocarbon age is about 28 000 BP. While enormous amount of Pleistocene mammal bones was excavated from the site, the mammoth bones occurred at an unexpectedly low frequency. That was interpreted as an indication of the limited role of mammoths in the subsistence economy of the Pleistocene Yana people. In 2008, next to the excavation local ivory miners opened a mass accumulation of mammoth accompanied by the artifacts. About one thousand mammoth bones from at least 26 individuals, and few wooly rhinoceros, bison, horse, reindeer, and bear bones have been unearthed there. Stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating provide evidence for cultural layer of Yana RHS and the mass accumulation of mammoth to be coeval. The geology and taphonomy of Yana mass accumulation of mammoth indicate its anthropogenic nature. Discovery of the anthropogenic mass accumulation of mammoth next to the Yana site suggests a greater role of mammoth in the subsistence practices of the Pleistocene Yana people than previously thought.     

Environmental Conditions During the Early Human Settlement of Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai)

The article presents the results of a palynological study conducted at the Middle Paleolithic site of Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai). Sediments containing the technocomplex of the Sibiryachikha facies of the Altai Middle Paleolithic accumulated at the end of MIS 4 which corresponds with the final stage of the Ermakovo glaciation. The results of the palynological analysis indicate that during the period in question, predominantly steppe landscapes existed in dry, cold climate conditions.