Arkaim (Аркаим)

Image of Arkaim

Location: 8 km (5 mi) Northwest of Amurskiy, Chelyabinsk oblast    Map

 

Description of Arkaim

Arkaim is a fortified settlement of the Middle Bronze Age at the turn of the XX / XVIII-XVIII / XVI centuries BC., relating to the so-called "Country of cities".

It is located on an elevated promontory formed by the confluence of the Bolshaya Karaganka and Utyaganka rivers, 8 km north of the village of Amursky, Bredinsky district and 2 km southeast of the village of Aleksandrovsky, Kizilsky district, Chelyabinsk region. The settlement and the adjacent territory with a whole complex of archeological monuments of different times is a natural landscape and historical-archaeological reserve - a branch of the Ilmensky State Reserve named after V.I.Lenin of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The monument is distinguished by the unique preservation of defensive structures, the presence of synchronous burial grounds and the integrity of the historical landscape.

 

Etymology of Arkaim

Arkaim gets its name from the dominant terrain feature in the area. The Turkic word "arka" means "ridge" or "foundation". It is a reference to a high hill that is situated 4 km (2.5 miles) South of the ancient settlement. However, many followers of pseudoscientific and national pagan mysticism in modern Russia give false explanations that have base in reality.

 

History of Arkaim discovery

Arkaim was discovered in June 1987 by a detachment of the Ural-Kazakhstan archaeological expedition, which consisted of two archaeologists (S. G. Botalov and V. S. Mosin), several students of an archaeological orientation and several schoolchildren from the respective circles. The reason for the beginning of the archaeological survey of the territory was the need to build the Bolshe-Karagan reservoir for the needs of the Bolshe-Karagan inter-farm irrigation system, to provide water to the agricultural areas of the region. At that time, there was already a mandatory rule for archaeological surveys in the places of future construction, therefore, security excavations were carried out in the construction zone. Experts did not attach any importance to research in this area - the expedition was set off as if it were unpromising work - they had to explore a vast steppe region that was uninteresting from the point of view of finds. Two schoolchildren from the archaeological team, Alexander Yezril and Alexander Voronkov, discovered an unusual relief of the area. The leadership of the expedition already had experience working on the monuments of the Bronze Age, including the Sintashta settlement, and this circumstance made it possible to appreciate the importance of the discovery.

In accordance with the construction plan, all archaeological objects located in the construction zone were to be flooded, but thanks to the active position of the Director of the Hermitage, Academician B. B. Piotrovsky, Chairman of the Presidium of the Ural Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician G. A. Mesyats, and a number of archaeological specialists, it was possible to postpone flooding for two years, which had no precedents in Soviet history.

The struggle of scientists with the department "Giprovodkhoz" ended in April 1992, when the construction of the dam was closed and the territory (3300 hectares) with the settlement located on it was allocated by the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation for the organization of an experimental natural landscape and historical-archaeological reserve - a branch of the Ilmensky State Reserve named after V.I.Lenin. The main reason that determined this outcome of events was the collapse of the Soviet Union, the weakening of departments, the revitalization of society, the search for new paradigms.

 

Research

Image of Arkaim Reconstruction

In 1991, large-scale excavations of Arkaim began under the leadership of GB Zdanovich. Research of the site is carried out using natural scientific methods (paleosoil, geological and mineralogical, geological and morphological, radio-carbon dating, etc.). In the course of the work, about 8000 m² of the area of ​​the settlement (about half) was uncovered, the second part was investigated using archeomagnetic methods. Thus, the layout of the monument was fully established. Here, for the first time in the Trans-Urals, the method of reconstruction was applied, and L. L. Gurevich made drawings of a possible type of settlement.

In 2016, G.B. Zdanovich returned to Arkaim with a new archaeological expedition. For the excavation of the Bronze Age burial complex "Sintashta IV" belonging to the archaeological culture "Country of cities" (Arkaim-Sintashta type), an archaeological camp "Sintashta 2016" was organized. The Sintashta IV complex was discovered in the summer of 2015 during archaeological exploration in the immediate vicinity of the Bolshoi Sintashta Kurgan.

Description of the complex
The monument consists of a fortified settlement, two necropolises and the remains of ancient pastures (corrals). A radial settlement with a diameter of about 170 meters consists of two circular walls, one of which is surrounded by the other. Rooms in the shape of a circular sector are attached to both circular walls. In fact, the settlement was a fortress consisting of two "apartment buildings". People lived and worked in this settlement, and animals grazed outside the settlement, including in special pens.

The ring walls and walls of the dwellings are made of clay logs and dried (unfired) clay bricks. There are different premises for personal and public use, residential and workshops. In some rooms, not only pottery workshops were found, but also metallurgical production.

There was a square in the center of the settlement. There was a ring road between the walls; straight streets lead from this road to the central square. The settlement had a storm sewer with water diversion outside the settlement.

The skulls found in burial grounds were used to restore the appearance of the inhabitants of Arkaim, who turned out to be Caucasians. Anthropological reconstructions of a man and a woman are exhibited in the Chelyabinsk Regional Museum of Local Lore and the Museum of Nature and Man of the Arkaim Reserve. The finds from the excavations of the monument can be seen only in the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of ChelSU and in the "Arkaim" reserve, as well as in the framework of traveling exhibitions.

The monument dates back to the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e., or the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. It is not known how long the settlement existed. There was a fire in it and the settlement burned out. There are three versions of a fire:
the settlement was set on fire by local residents;
the settlement was burnt by an external enemy;
there was an accidental fire

General characteristics of the monument
Settlements and fortified settlements of the Arkaim type are currently found on a large area covering the south of the Chelyabinsk region, the southeast of Bashkortostan, the east of the Orenburg region and the north of Kazakhstan. Chronologically, they belong to the Middle Bronze Age, that is, their age is approximately 3800-4000 years. These settlements form a complex called the "Country of Cities".

The research began with the excavation of the Sintashta settlement. To date, research is carried out by the Institute of Archeology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Historical and Cultural Reserve "Arkaim", institutes and universities of Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Orenburg regions, as well as specialists from the USA, Holland and Germany.

Settlements of the Arkaim type, unlike other settlements of the Bronze Age of the Southern Trans-Urals, have their own specific feature: conjugate walls of dwellings, located in the form of a circle, oval or rectangle, a rather large size of settlement monuments, which, accordingly, could not exist for a long time on a localized territory due to depletion of natural resources. Therefore, it is traditionally believed that the culture of Sintashta arose during the round of Indo-European migration, passing through the lands of the Southern Trans-Urals. The carriers of this culture did not live in these territories for so long. Soon they left their settlements and went to other steppes.

Until now, among scientists there are disputes about the ownership of monuments of this type. There are three main versions of the origin of these:
local substrate theory;
theory of the Middle Eastern origin of Sintashta (S. A. Grigoriev)

the theory of migrations from the west, which was caused by the collapse of the circumpontine metallurgical province - this theory is supported by the bulk of researchers. According to research in the field of paleogenetics, people from the Sintashta culture have significant genetic similarities with representatives of the Corded Ware culture. The migration of populations from the Corded Ware culture to the east probably led to the formation of the Sintashta culture. In the study of fossil DNA in representatives of the Sintashta culture, the Y-chromosomal haplogroup R1a and mitochondrial haplogroups J1, J2, N1 and U2 were found. At present, there is insufficient data to say unequivocally whether the "Sintashtins" were Indo-Iranians or already Iranians.
On May 17, 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Arkaim, during whose visit Aryan versions of the origin of the settlement were actively exaggerated by officials and the press.