Ymyyakhtakh culture
Neolithic culture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ymyyakhtakh culture (ɯ-mɯ-yakh-takh, Russian: Ымыяхтахская культура, romanized: Ymyyakhtakhskaya kul'tura) was a Late Neolithic culture of Siberia, with a very large archaeological horizon, dating to c. 2200–1300 BC. Its origins seem to be in the Lena River basin of Yakutia, and also along the Yenisei River. From there it spread to the east and west.[1] Individual sites were also found in Taymyr.
| Geographical range | Yakutia |
|---|---|
| Period | Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age |
| Dates | c. 2200 BC – 1300 BC |
| Preceded by | Belkachi culture |
| Followed by | Ust-Mil culture |
It is named after Ymyyakhtakh, a settlement in the Sakha Republic, Russia.
Description
A. Golovnev discusses Ymyyakhtakh culture in the context of a “circumpolar syndrome”:
- "... some features of the East Siberian Ymyyakhtakh culture spread amazingly quickly as far as Scandinavia. Ceramics with wafer prints are found at the Late Bronze Age monuments of the Taimyr Peninsula, Yamal Peninsula, Bolshezemelskaya and Malozemelskaya tundra, the Kola Peninsula, and Finland (not to mention East Siberia and North-East Asia)."[2]
The Ymyyakhtakh made round-bottomed ceramics with waffle and ridge prints on the outer surface. Stone and bone arrowheads, spears and harpoons are richly represented. Armour plates were also used in warfare. Finds of bronze ware are frequent in the burial grounds.
The culture was formed by the tribes migrating from the shores of Lake Baikal to the north, contacting and merging with the local substrate of the Bel'kachi culture.
Migrations
After 1,700 BC, the Ymyyakhtakh culture is believed to have spread to the east as far as the Chukotka Peninsula, where it was in cultural contact with the Eskimo–Aleut language speakers, and the Paleo-Eskimos.[3]
A ceramic complex comparable to the Ymyyakhtakh culture (typified by pottery with an admixture of wool) is also found in northern Fennoscandia near the end of the second millennium BC.[4]
Anthropological legacy
Ymyyakhtakh culture was later replaced by the Ust-Mil culture.[citation needed] One study has identified cultural parallels between Ymyyakhtakh culture and the Yukaghirs ethnic group,[5] or perhaps with the Chukchi and Koryaks.[citation needed]
