Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 43 (1) 2015

Annotation:  The Lower Paleolithic of Iran: Probing New Finds from Mar Gwergalan Cave (Holeylan, Central Zagros) The Mesolithic of the Forest-Steppe Don Area: Retrospective and Prospective Reviews Morphology and Decoration of Ceramics from Novoilyinka III—A Chalcolithic Settlement in Northern Kul Two New Finds of the Chalcolithic–Bronze Age from the Fars River in the Northwestern Caucasus Late Bronze Age Burial Complexes of the Pakhomovskaya Culture, Eastern Variant (Site of Grishkina Za Weaponry, Adornments, and Garment Accessories from the Krasnyi Stroitel Site in the Chuy Valley of K Pendant Cross from Fort Albazin: Problems of Attribution Kholyato-1 Ritual Complex on the Yamal Peninsula The Medieval Metal Face from Novosibirsk Region as an Item of the Transcultural Material Complex in Johann Georg Gmelin and Tomskaya Pisanitsa (to the Three Hundred and Fifth Anniversary of the Resear Vegetation Reconstruction in the Ufa II Fortifi ed Settlement and in Adjacent Landscapes According t Stable-Isotope Analysis as a Method of Taxonomical Identifi cation of Archaeozoological Material Siberian Folklore and the Na-Dené Origins “As the Measure and Beauty Suggest”: Traditional Principles of Geometry in Russian Orthodox Churches The Burial at Ak-Alakha-3 Mound 1, Gorny Altai: New Findings   

Siberian Folklore and the Na-Dené Origins

Y.E. Berezkin.

Six folklore motifs shared by the native Na-Dene speakers in North America and in Southern Siberia are revealed. In such combination, these motifs are known nowhere else. The spread of the Na-Dene languages to North America was related to the migration of the bearers of the Dyuktai culture. The lack of parallels for the Na-Dene folklore in Yakutia, Kolyma, Chukotka, and Kamchatka is understandable: the Dyuktai people had gone to Alaska and their heritage was erased by the waves of newcomers. The folklore motifs that are shared both by Na-Dene and Siberian peoples go back to the traditions of the southern neighbors of the Dyuktai people. The population density across the area between Altai and Trans-Baikal region was higher than in northward territories; therefore, the remains of the “Paleolithic” folklore could survive, notwithstanding the multiple language changes.

Keywords: America peopling, Siberian folklore, American Indian folklore, Dene-Yeniseian hypothesis, Sino-Caucasian hypothesis, Athabaskan people, Dyuktai culture.