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