On the cultural genesis of the Nurinsko-Fyodorovo complexes of Central Kazakhstan

Research Article

Abstract

The vast area of distribution of the Fedorov culture, covering almost the entire eastern part of the steppe Eurasia, contributed to the advancement of numerous hypotheses related to the issues of the formation of this powerful ethnocultural formation. However, the solution to this problem, based on the involvement of autochthonous cultures of the Eneolithic or Early Bronze Age, has not been confirmed and is subject to fair criticism. At present, the most preferable assumption of the migratory nature of the origin of the Fedorov antiquities, the sources of which lie in the territory of Central Asia and Southern Kazakhstan. It is noted that on the territory of the Central Asian interfluve, as a result of close contacts between the sedentary agricultural population and the pit cattle-breeding tribes, polycomponent complexes are formed that combine the features of both groups of the population. It is assumed that their interaction led to the development of an innovative cattle-breeding and agricultural model of management with a dominant cattle-breeding direction. Perhaps the role of the trigger was also played by significant climatic changes associated with the onset of the xerothermic period at the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennia BC. A significant part of the population with the forming proto-Fedorovo features leaves the inhabited places and moves to Southern Kazakhstan and Semirechye, from where it penetrates Eastern Kazakhstan, and then moves along one vector to Southern Siberia and further to the Yenisei, and the other - through Northern Kazakhstan to the Southern Trans-Urals. The advance into Central Kazakhstan should apparently be associated with a separate migration impulse, which led to the formation of the Nura-Fedorovo complexes, which have some regional features and occupy a slightly later chronological position compared to the main array of Fedorovo monuments. The Yamnaya heritage is particularly evident in the construction of huge elite earthen mounds by the standards of the Bronze Age, characteristic of the Fedorov culture. Burials on the back, with legs bent at the knees, are occasionally noted, and the use of red (yellow) ochre or paint in the ritual is recorded, which is generally consistent with the typical ritualism of the Yamnaya culture, as well as the anthropological proximity to the yamno-catacomb populations. The agricultural side is represented by the construction of cysts, as well as the widespread use of agricultural tools such as stone hoes, grain grinders, chimes, and pestles. It is possible that the construction of ancient hydraulic structures, well-known in Central Kazakhstan, is connected with the activities of the Nurin-Fedorov population. It is assumed that their purpose was necessary for watering grain or garden crops.