Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 52 (1) 2024   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.1.080-088

Annotation:  Origin of Neanderthals. Neanderthals of the Altai: Myth or Reality? The Origin of Biogenic Horizons in the Pleistocene Strata of Denisova Cave: Mineralogical and Geoche Newly Discovered Remains of a Late Upper Paleolithic Dwelling in the Northern Baikal Area: Cultural Sanctuary with “Kalguty” Style Images in Northwestern Mongolia (Preliminary Data) Pottery Traditions Among the Carriers of the Novosibirsk Variant of the Kulaika Culture: A Multidis Origin and Date of Cast-Iron Moldboards from Southern Siberia The Wanyan Digunai (Wanyan Zhong, Esikui) Funerary Complex in Primorye Cultural Horizons at the Uyelgi Cemetery Mound 11, Southeastern Urals Types of Construction Nails from Markul, Abkhazia (Based on Metallographic Analysis) A Log Structure in the Northern Palisade of Fort Umrevinsky An Archaeobotanical Study of the Bukhta Nakhodka Fort, the Yamal Peninsula (13th to Early 14th Centu Archaeological and Anthropological Study on the Grave of Eunuch-Offi cial Couple Serving for a Royal Traditional Bow of the Selenga Buryats (Based on a 2019 Field Study)   

Origin and Date of Cast-Iron Moldboards from Southern Siberia

M.A. Kudinova

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

The study addresses the dating and provenance of cast-iron moldboards found in Southern Siberia (the Altai Mountains, Khakassia, and Tuva). For the first time, a similar artifact from the Katanda valley, Ust-Koksinsky District, Republic of Altai, is described. The traditional idea that such artifacts date to the Tang epoch (618-907) is unwarranted. New interpretations of inscriptions on moldboards are proposed, indicating ties with the metallurgic center in Qiyang, Shahe County, Hebei Province, China. Certain specimens could have been manufactured in Qiyang, while others may be local replicas of Chinese prototypes. The closest parallels are those from Northern China, dating to 900-1400 (Song, Liao, Western Xia, Jin, and Yuan states). Those from Southern Siberia likely date to th e 13th-mid-14th century, when that territory was part of the Mongol and Yuan empires. The appearance of Chinese moldboards and their replicas in Southern Siberia was caused by the establishment of military-agricultural settlements, and progress in agriculture and metallurgy under the auspices of Yuan governors, who needed food to supply the army.

Keywords: Southern Siberia, China, Middle Ages, moldboards, agricultural development, cast-iron production