Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 46 (1) 2018   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2018.46.1.051-058

Annotation:  Personal Ornament Production Technology in the Early Holocene Complexes of Western Central Asia: Ins Hadjoh-2: A Middle Paleolithic Workshop-Camp in Northwestern Caucasus The Late Chalcolithic Ceramics of the Volga Forest-Steppe On the Origin of Natural Bitumen at Yasnoye-8 (Sakhalin Island) Inskoy Dol: A New Early Bronze Age Site in Western Altai Decorated Birch-Bark Artifacts from the Ust-Polui Sanctuary (100 BC to 100 AD) An Old Turkic Statue from Borili, Ulytau Hills, Central Kazakhstan: Issues in Interpretation On Ancient Agriculture in Arid Regions of Central Asia: The Case of the Uvs Nuur Basin Geophysical Studies at the Kushmanskoye (Uchkakar) Fortifi ed Settlement, Kama Basin Pit-Grave (Yamnaya) and Pit-Grave-Maikop Burials at Levoyegorlyksky-3, Stavropol A Periodization of the Timber-Grave Culture in the Western Orenburg Region: Archaeological and Natur The Russian Pioneers’ Winter Camp on Karachinsky Island, the Lower Tobol River, Western Siberia An Experimental Assessment of the Cause of Mummification in the Joseon Period Burials, Republic of K Celestial Bodies on the Ob Ugrian Ritual Artifacts (Based on Archaeological and Ethnographic Sources Craniotomy as a Prehistoric Medical Practice: A Case of Antemortem Cranial Trepanation in Southern Secular and Age-Related Dynamics of Biological Characteristics in the Rural Population of Mongolia:   

Decorated Birch-Bark Artifacts from the Ust-Polui Sanctuary
(100 BC to 100 AD)

V.Y. Mogritskaya

I.S. Shemanovsky Yamal-Nenets District Museum and Exhibition Complex, Chubynina 38, Salekhard, 629008, Russia

Birch-bark items from the Ust-Polui sanctuary are unusually well preserved, thanks to permafrost, and are richly decorated. We list the archaeological sites with birch-bark artifacts, decorated and otherwise, in the Lower Ob basin, spanning the period from the Chalcolithic to the Late Middle Ages. At Ust -Polui, the vast majority of such artifacts were found during the latest excavations, conducted by A.V. Gusev. Most were found in a ditch dug across the site. Special reference is made to their cut and decoration technique. Some high-quality specimens are intentionally damaged, possibly by way of sacrifice. The evolution of the northwestern Siberian decorative tradition is discussed.

Keywords: Lower Ob, Yamal, Ust-Polui, birch-bark artifacts, permafrost