Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 39 (2) 2011

Annotation:  Three Scenarios of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition. Scenario 3: The Middle to Upper Paleo Use of Ulan-Khada Bay at Lake Baikal in the Holocene (Based on Fauna Remains) Mollusk Shells from Burials of Tuzovskiye Bugry-1 as Indicators of Ethno-Cultural Processes in Sout Silver Horse Harness Adornments from Suzukteh Burial Mound 20 (Noin Ula, Mongolia) Bystry Kulyogan-38 – Bronze Age Fortifi ed Dwelling in the Surgut Ob Area The Early Neolithic Pottery of the Volga-Ural Region (Based on the Materials of the Elshanka Culture The Technology of the Yamnaya (Pit Grave) Ceramic Production and its Relevance to the Population His Bakal Culture Dwelling at Settlement Ust-Tersyuk-1 Middle East Architectural Traditions in Golden Horde Mansion Construction ETHNOLOGY Brightness and Asceticism in the Clothing of the Uimon Kerzhak Women (20th and Early 21st Century) Who Are the Yakut Khorolors? (A Contribution to the Issue of Ethnic Identifi cation) Ethnic Demography of Western Siberia at the End of the 20th Century   

Who Are the Yakut Khorolors? (A Contribution to the Issue of Ethnic Identifi cation)

B.R. Zoriktuev.

The origins of the Khoro ethnic group which represents a major component in the ethnic structure of the Yakut people is an ongoing issue in the context of Yakut ethnography. Buryat scholars believe that prior to the 13th century, the ancestors of the Khorolors (pl. of “the Khoro”) lived on the western side of Lake Baikal. Here they are said to have formed a single community with the Khori people whose descendants now make up part of the Buryat people and inhabit the Trans-Baikal region. The basis for the identifi cation of both groups was limited only to the similarity between the selfidentifying names “Khoro” and “Khori,” which is hardly suffi cient. In the meantime, the analysis of specifi c folklore and ethnographic materials, in particular, the themes of “Raven” and “Eagle” leave no doubt of the Paleo-Asiatic origins of the Yakut Khorolors.

Keywords: Middle Lena, Khorolors, Raven, Eagle, Paleo-Asiatic peoples.