Pages: 397-410 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp265397410
The article describes the archaeozoological assemblage recovered during the 2007—2014 excavations at the Bukhta Nakhodka settlement. More than 16,000 specimens from the settlement’s upper layers were examined. The species composition and relative proportions of the principal groups of wild animals — mammals, birds, and fish — were analyzed. Three main areas of subsistence activity were identified: hunting for food, commercial hunting, and fishing. The settlement’s principal food-procuring activity was large-scale drive hunting of wild reindeer, while ringed seal hunting played a lesser role. These animals provided meat, hides, and raw materials for tools and everyday objects. Large-scale arctic fox hunting formed the basis of commercial hunting, with pelts serving as the principal trade goods. Fishing also played a significant role in the economy, particularly the capture of large Siberian sturgeon. Sturgeon provided food, fish skin, and fish glue. Burbot, pike, nelma, and freshwater whitefish were caught in smaller quantities. The small number of remains of animals present in the tundra during summer, including arctic hare, migratory birds, and ptarmigan, suggests that the settlement was used primarily in winter. The economy of the Indigenous population of the Yamal tundra in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries can therefore be characterized as that of reindeer and arctic fox hunters, based on large-scale drive hunting along seasonal migration routes.
Keywords: Yamal, aboriginal population, animal bones, reindeer, arctic fox, sturgeon
Information about authors:
Tatyana Lobanova (Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation). Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 8th March St., 202, Yekaterinburg, 620144, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Oleg Kardash (Surgut, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Surgut State University. Lenin Ave., 1, Surgut, 628412, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-3331-7333