The Late Paleolithic of the Yenisei: A new outline

The area of the Middle and Upper Yenisei is one of the most important concentrations of Paleolithic sites in Northern Asia. More than 200 localities, belonging to various stages of the Paleolithic, are now known. The initial phase of the Late Paleolithic is represented by Malaya Syiya, which is dated to approximately 34,000–33,000 B.P. The middle phase of the Late Paleolithic is marked by the blade industries of Early Sartan age (24,000–18,000 B.P.), as at Shlenka, Tarachikha, Ui I, and elsewhere. At 18,000–16,000 B.P., these were replaced by the Final Paleolithic Afontova and Kokorevo cultures, although some of the earlier blade industries continued into this period (Golubaya I).     

Prehistory of the Upper Yenisei area (southern Siberia)

Our understanding of the prehistory of the Upper Yenisei area is based on several key multilayered sites, which provide an excellent opportunity for the investigation of long-term culture change and the reconstruction of culture history. The earliest traces of prehistoric people in the region date to the Sartan glacial. Ui I is dated to ca. 22,000–17,000 B.P. and belongs to the middle phase of the Yenisei Upper Paleolithic, predating the period of the Final Paleolithic Afontova culture (16,000–10,000 B.P.). The Early Holocene period remains little known; there is only one assemblage (the lower cultural layer of Sosnovka Golovan'skaya) which may be attributed to the Epipaleolithic. In the seventh and sixth millennia B.P., the aceramic Early Neolithic (the uppermost cultural horizons of Maina and Ui II, Ust'Khemchik 3, etc.) was widespread and was replaced by the Late Neolithic Verkhneeniseisk culture in the fifth millennium B.P. This was succeeded by the Eneolithic Afanas'eva culture at the end of the fifth millennium B.P. and, later, by the Bronze Age Okunev culture (until the twelfth century B.C.). From the eighth to the second centuries B.C., Scythian cultures flourished in the area, until the invasion of the Huns. All of these stages of the Holocene culture sequence are represented in the stratified site of Toora-Dash.     

俄罗斯外国劳务移民与中国移民研究

论文利用俄罗斯联邦移民局和联邦统计局的数据,采用统计分析法,探讨近年来俄罗斯移民尤其是劳务移民的数量、结构、地区分布、从事行业以及中国移民在俄罗斯的发展状况,指出了俄罗斯在制定移民政策存在的弊端,并从"现有移民政策的局限"和"有效管理外国劳务移民"等方面提出了对策建议。认为一国移民政策的制定和调整应符合该国经济和人口发展的大局,而且要认识到移民是在经济全球化大背景下,促进区域经济一体化的重要力量。     

Miliacin in palaeosols from an Early Iron Age in Ukraine reveal in situ cultivation of broomcorn millet

During the archaeobotanical investigation of Scythian–Sarmatian period (Early Iron Age), pits with crop processing waste, discovered in the floodplain of Donets River, eastern Ukraine, and charred remains of cereal grains, dominated by broomcorn millet, were recorded. The grains from the pits were radiocarbon dated to the fifth to first century BC. Those pits are distant from any known contemporaneous settlement. The apparent disconnection of these pits from any local settlement suggests that (1) millet was brought from other locations by mobile groups, or (2) millet was cultivated locally by populations whose settlements have left no discernible archaeological trace. The analysis of molecular biomarkers preserved in palaeosols that are stratigraphically connected to the pits revealed high levels of miliacin, a molecule that can be preserved in ancient soils and sediments, and that is consistent with broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum). High levels in miliacin in soils stratigraphically connected to the pits are interpreted as the result of a large biomass of P. miliaceum produced at time of soil formation. Our biogeochemical results applied to a palaeosol thus attest to the in situ cultivation of crops dominated by the broomcorn millet during the early Iron Age in the floodplain of Donets River. Biochemical examination of soils and palaeosols can thus provide useful information on past dynamics of land-use by ancient population, especially when settlements or macrobotanical remains are absent.     

Intra-Oblast Regionalization

The author develops a system of indices to measure the level and economic effectiveness of regional specialization of major economic regions of the USSR. These indices express the degree of intensity of the specialization of a given region in a certain type of product and the relative cost advantage of such a region over other regions or the country as a whole.     

至正钱考

一、引言蒙古帝国在中国的最后的统治者元顺帝铸造的钱币是元代钱币学中最多最有趣的钱币之一。对于至正钱有很多众所周知的描述,然而对于其中一些钱币的铸造发行的时间以及铸局,钱币收藏家到现在没有得到一个公认的结论。主要原因是那段时间的史料非常有限,《元史》在明早期很短的时间内完成。我们开始寻找问题的答案。很遗憾报告的时间有限,不允许讨论细节问题,但我们将尽力把一些问题阐述清楚。《元史》中注释关于公元1350年的货币改革,中国建立专门的机构(提举司)后开始铸造至正通宝铜钱和印刷纸钞。①“十一年,置宝泉提举司,掌鼓铸至正…     

Geochronology of vegetation stages of south-east Baltic coast (Kaliningrad region) during the middle and Late Holocene

The raised bog sediments that have been continuously accumulated over time represent the most suitable natural object which enables us to reconstruct Late Glacial and Holocene vegetation and palaeoclimates. Bog peat consists of organic carbon formed in situ. It contains moss, plant fragments and microfossils that are necessary for the study of palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate. However, a successful study of palaeoenvironment can be carried out on the basis of investigation of a great quantity of samples along the whole peatbog thickness. In the present paper, the authors present the results of palynological, botanical investigations and radiocarbon dating of 31 peat samples taken from the raised bog Velikoye, located in the eastern part of Kaliningrad Region. The data obtained have enabled us to reconstruct the palaeovegetation, reveal the evolution of the bog and determine rate of peat formation at different evolutional stages over the last 7500 cal BP.