Sungir
Sungir is an Upper Paleolithic site on the outskirts of Vladimir, where people lived more than 30 thousand years ago. Sungir was not permanently inhabited. It was a basic parking lot, where people lived for a while a year, and then returned again, for example, after a year or several years. A large number of deer bones and horn products were found in the parking lot: in all likelihood, hunters of large animals, mainly reindeer, periodically came here.
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Main article: Paleolithic in Russia
Discovery and Study
The Upper Paleolithic site of Sungir was found accidentally during the construction of a brick factory. In 1955, on the outskirts of Vladimir, at the confluence of the Sungir stream into the Klyazma River, a clay quarry was developed.
One day, an excavator noticed unusual bones in the ground. Archaeologists quickly determined that the bones belonged to the mammoth. The development of the career was stopped, and students of the Department of Archeology of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University began to work under the guidance of Professor Otto Bader, who revealed traces of an ancient site.
Field work in different years, along with Bader, was led by other archaeologists, graduates of Moscow State University. In the mid-2010s, Konstantin Gavrilov and Sergey Lev excavated at the Sungir parking lot. So accidentally found during the construction of the plant, the bone led to the discovery of the most famous monument of the Upper Paleolithic culture, the study of which is still being conducted[1].
Finds
At first, the site was of little interest, but almost ten years later, six skeletons, one skull and two poorly preserved femurs were found here.
The very first skeleton found belongs to a tall man in his 40s and 50s. The skeletons of two children 10-14 years old were found nearby. They were buried with their heads to each other. Skeletons numbered:
- man - Sungir-1,
- children - Sungir-2 and Sungir-3,
- the male femur lying next to them is Sungir-4.
All finds are actively studied at Moscow State University by specialists from various fields of science.
The discovery of skeletons raised a lot of questions from scientists. On the costumes of buried people - a huge number of jewelry, only about 80 thousand. We can say with confidence that as of April 2018, among all Eurasian burials of the Upper Paleolithic, the largest number of decorations comes from Sungir. Now these amazing finds can be seen in the state Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve.
Why is there so much jewellery in this parking lot? Who are each other's children and a man buried nearby? How did these people live, what did they eat and why did they die? What is the age of children, did they live at the same time as a man or are they separated for hundreds of years? To answer all these questions, scientists comprehensively approached the study of the finds: they determined the age, gender, degree of kinship of the Sungirs, analyzed toys and jewelry.
When did the Sungirans live?
The age of the site is still unknown, although it was determined many times by the radiocarbon method from the bones of humans and large fauna. The radiocarbon method is based on the analysis of the ratio of stable isotopes of carbon and its unstable isotope S14. The fact is that in the atmosphere a certain amount of an unstable carbon isotope is constantly formed, which decays over time. Living organisms derive carbon from the atmosphere or from other living organisms. Therefore, the ratios of stable and unstable isotopes in the atmosphere and in living organisms are approximately equal. But after the death of the body, the S14 begins to disintegrate, and the new one does not arrive, since the body ceases to interact with the world around it. The amount of radioactive isotope halves every 5730 ± 40 years - this period is called the half-life. For this reason, it is almost impossible to date samples older than 40 thousand years using the radiocarbon method.
Previously, the lifetime of the site was often determined by dating on mammoth bones. The radiocarbon method usually requires a large piece of the sample, and it is just very easy to get from a large mammoth bone.
However, ancient people could take mammoth bones for economic use from mammoth cemeteries, where the bones had been lying for some time. Thus, it was possible to determine the time of death of the mammoth, but not the time of life of the people who used its bone.
It would seem that if dating on the bones of other animals is carried out, it will be accurate. However, there are some caveats. Radiocarbon estimates are based on the assumption that the ratio of isotopes in the atmosphere is constant, but this is not the case. Fluctuations in the heavy carbon isotope are associated with solar activity and are quite natural in nature. To avoid errors obtained by the radiocarbon method, the data are aligned according to dendrochronology data. Dendrochronology implies the calculation of age from the annual rings of trees. Its chain is brought to about 8000 BC. If you determine the age of the same sample by radiocarbon and dendrochronological methods, the discrepancy will become obvious. Therefore, radiocarbon estimates are calibrated according to dendrochronology.
Due to such difficulties, it is not possible to date the Sungir burial with an accuracy of at least a millennium. According to various estimates, it was made from 25 to 35 thousand years ago. Comparison of archaeological materials and radiocarbon dating results makes it possible to narrow the lifetime of the site to 30/32 - 35 thousand years ago.
The cultural affiliation of Sungir's products is difficult to determine, they were influenced by different cultures, for example, the Aurignacian, as well as the oldest Upper Paleolithic cultures of the Russian Plain (sites in Kostenki) and the early stages of the Gravettian cultures of Moravia (Dolni Vestonice and Pavlov). The collection also has its own features. For example, anthropomorphic figures of the "Paleolithic Venus" were not found here, but there are images of a horse or saiga, bison and mammoth.
Some of the stone products are generally made using Neanderthal technology. That is, if no organic matter had been preserved, there would have been an assumption of a mixture of materials from two cultural layers - traces of the life of Neanderthals and a person of a modern species. At the same time, people living in the parking lot did not hybridize with Neanderthals. And the Neanderthals themselves by 30 thousand years ago had almost died out - either because they lived in small groups, which led to closely related marriages, or because of their mainly meat diet, or for some other reason. Where did the Neanderthal technology of making stone products come from in Sungir? For 2018, it remains a mystery.
What did they look like?
Scientists have been trying to restore the appearance of the Sungirs for a long time. With the help of a huge number of jewelry, the costumes were almost completely restored. Sculptural reconstructions of children and men are stored in the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve.
Later, 3D VR animations of Sungir children were also created.
What did the Sungirans eat?
In addition to the cause of death, Sungir residents managed to determine the type of nutrition using a detailed study of the isotope composition of proteins. The ratio of stable light to heavy isotopes of some elements, such as nitrogen, is largely determined by the food absorbed. According to the results of a comprehensive analysis, it was found that an adult man and the youngest of the children (Sungir-3) ate well: they had a lot of meat food in their diet, there were no long periods of hunger. But the diet of the eldest child (Sungir-2) was closer to vegetarian - it was mostly invertebrates, fish and plant food.
Scientists analyzed and found a male bone near the burial to determine what its owner ate. This bone was used as a red paint container. It looks so atypical that at the beginning it was almost mistaken for Neanderthal; however, then it turned out that this is the same Homo sapiens as everyone else, just with some developmental disabilities. It could belong to the "great-great-grandfather" of one of the teenagers. According to the results of the analyzes, it was found that its owner also hardly consumed meat.
How could children living at the same time eat so differently?
There is a hypothesis that the eldest of the adolescents (Sungir-2) and the male host of the femur (Sungir-4) belonged to a special social group, whose representatives had strict restrictions on the type of food consumed.
Who are the Sungirans?
Children Sungir-2 and Sungir-3 were originally considered a boy and a girl. Then the determination of sex was carried out on the skulls of children, and, unlike the skulls of adults, it is inaccurate, so the possibility of error is very high. However, an article published in Science refutes this conclusion. In the isolated DNA of all Sungir individuals, there were fragments of the Y chromosome - which means that both children were male.
How close were the children to each other? They are buried at the same time and were previously considered close relatives, as they have the same rare mutation in mitochondrial DNA.
However, according to the results of a more accurate analysis, it turned out that all Sungirans are not close relatives to each other, although both children actually belong to the same line on mitochondrial DNA.
By whom Sungir teenagers were a man and in what time intervals they lived, they had to be established by indirect methods. From DNA analysis, one can only say that they were clearly not close relatives. They lived at the same time or at different times, it is also not clear, since the radiocarbon method gives a spread of several thousand years. Archaeologist Vladislav Zhitenev carefully studied the decorations and figurines found in the burials. Studies have shown that the manufacturing style of all jewelry is the same. Therefore, it can be assumed that no more than a few generations separate them from each other. Most likely, jewelry for the grave of men and children was made by members of the same family.
Why did the Sungirans die?
First of all, it was possible to establish the cause of death of a man (Sungir-1). The skeletons of the Sungirs were carefully studied by Alexandra Buzhilova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Director of the Research Institute of Anthropology and the Museum of Anthropology of Moscow State University. In the man, she noticed strange damage to the first thoracic vertebra. It most likely was the result of a strong blow that damaged the cervical artery. Such a blow would cause immediate death even in a young healthy man, and the Sungirean was almost an old man for his time. Perhaps his death was the result of an accident or he was killed in an intra-group conflict.
To determine the death of the eldest child (Sungir-2), it was necessary to carefully consider his pelvic bone. It turned out that there is a trace on its inner surface, as if from a blow. This place was studied in detail using microfocus radiography and microtomography, which made it possible to confirm the guess. Apparently, the eldest child died from a severe blow to the stomach of a sharp object (for example, a spear).
The death of the youngest child (Sungir-3) remains a mystery. All that can be said from his bones is that the child clearly had developmental defects. His femurs are too short and curved, which, quite possibly, was the result of a developmental disorder even before birth. Judging by the dental defects, the youngest child (Sungir-3) experienced developmental delays, unlike the eldest, which developed normally. It is unclear whether developmental delays in the younger child are associated with abnormally curved femurs. Maybe both have to do with the same condition the child was suffering from. However, judging by the skeleton, he could walk normally, actively used his right hand, as evidenced by asymmetrically developed humerus, and in general was a full-fledged member of the group of hunter-gatherers of the early Upper Paleolithic.
Where do so many decorations come from in the burial?
More than 10 thousand beads and other tusk jewelry were found in the burial of children, and several hundred in the grave of a man. Pendants made of arctic fox fangs also served as decorations.
In addition to jewelry, there are other objects in the burial, for example, darts and spears made of mammoth tusks. To make copies, the tusks were straightened using special technology. And not just straightened, but left straight for centuries. As the experiments conducted in our time proved, in order to achieve straightening of the mammoth tusk, it is necessary to first separate a relatively thin rod from it, then soak it in water for a long time (at least a week), gradually straightening it, and then dry it straight.
In addition to copies, bracelets, "wands" with holes, round carved discs were also made from mammoth tusks. The purpose of the "wands" remains unclear. Previously, their symbolic use was assumed, but most likely these are devices for making ropes.
As the studies of Vladislav Zhitenev show, many decorations were made specifically for burial - they remained traces of carving, roughness, unevenness. Moreover, not only experienced masters participated in their manufacture. For example, one of the tusk discs, which was found in the burial of children, was clearly made carelessly and ineptly. This is all the more clear if you compare it with the rest of the disks. Most likely, it was made by a child who did not have bone cutting skills. But he still took part in the burial and left his touching gift to the dead.
Jewelry was made in the immediate vicinity of the burial - this is evidenced by the large number of jewelry found near the burials. But some have been found elsewhere. Almost all the sewing (pointed objects used to sew costumes) found in the parking lot are also concentrated around the graves. Probably, before burial near the grave for a short time, but various jewelry and sewing a suit were made in large numbers, and then this territory was not used for household purposes for a long time.
The found jewelry was either made specifically for burial or has traces of severe wear. That is, some part of these jewelry people simply removed from themselves. What made them do it? And why are there so many jewelry in the grave of children? There is a version that the burial of children is a kind of sacrifice designed to save from some kind of trouble (for example, pestilence or hunger).
Notes
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