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ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES OF A.P. UMANSKY IN ALTAI IN THE 1980S– EARLY 2000S // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2019. Issue 2 (24). P. 137-148

The article deals with the archaeological activities of the famous Siberian historian and archaeologist A.P. Umansky in the 1980s – early 2000s. His long-standing cooperation with the researcher of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences V.A. Mogilnikov was of great importance. The most large-scale result of archaeological research of scientists were the excavations of the Novotroitsk necropolis, conducted in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986-1991. In all, 314 burials were excavated in Novotroitsk, 296 of which belong to the Scythian time, 16 – to the Late Bronze Age, 1– to the Middle Ages and 1– due to total destruction, remained undefined. One of the important joint scientific developments of A.P. Umansky and V.A. Mogilnikov became the selection of the Kamensk archaeological culture of the second half of the 1st millennium BC. In contrast to the traditional point of view, they linked the origin of Kamensk complexes not only with the development of the autochthonous Bolsherechensk culture, but in many respects with the penetration of the new population from the west or south-west. In 1985, A.P. Umansky took part in the excavations of the Rogozikha-1 mound group, during which a unique oriental-mirror rattle with images of religious-symbolic scenes was found. The definition of image semantics required intensive work to find analogies in archaeological and written sources, including ancient Indian epic works. The scientist interpreted the plot on the Rogozikha mirror as a multi-valued symbolic image of the solemn descent into the underworld. In the 1989–1990th he participated in the research of archaeological sites in the natural boundary of Karban, on the left bank of the Katun-river. As a result of the excavations material that characterizes the different stages of the history of the population of the Altai Mountains in the era of early iron was obtained and which has great historical and artistic value. During the period under review, A.P. Umansky was fruitfully engaged in publishing and understanding the accumulated archaeological sources, he strove to introduce his numerous materials of previous years into scientific circulation.

Keywords: archeology, Umansky, Mogilnikov, Novotroitsk, Rogozikha, Karban, Kamensk culture