The Samus culture (russian: Самусьская культура, lit=Samus culture, translit=Samus'skaya kul'tura, label=ru ) is an Early Bronze Age archaeological culture , around 2000 BC. It was widespread in Tomsk-Narym Basin Southern Western
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
, on the middle
Irtysh
The Irtysh ( otk, 𐰼𐱅𐰾:𐰇𐰏𐰕𐰏, Ertis ügüzüg, mn, Эрчис мөрөн, ''Erchis mörön'', "erchleh", "twirl"; russian: Иртыш; kk, Ертіс, Ertis, ; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: ''É'ěrqísī hé'', Xiao'e ...
and in the upper reaches of the
Ob and showed close ties to the neighboring
Krotov culture .
History
In
Tomsk Oblast
Tomsk Oblast (russian: То́мская о́бласть, ''Tomskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It lies in the southeastern West Siberian Plain, in the southwest of the Siberian Federal District. Its administrative ...
, Russia about 10 archaeological sites were discovered within the boundaries of the village
Samus and nearby area. The most famous of them is the settlement of Samus IV, which gave its name to the Samus culture of the Bronze Age. The excavations were carried out by Matyushchenko V. I. in 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1969, 1970-1972 and by Vasiliev E. A. in 1995 and 1996.
In 1974 Kosarev M.F. considered, that the Samus culture developed, when
Yeniseian
The Yeniseian languages (sometimes known as Yeniseic or Yenisei-Ostyak;"Ostyak" is a concept of areal rather than genetic linguistics. In addition to the Yeniseian languages it also includes the Uralic languages Khanty and Selkup. occasionally ...
speakers assimilated a
Paleosibirian group and it was subsequently Samoyedicized and gave rise to cultures ancestral to modern
Selkups
The Selkup (russian: селькупы), until the 1930s called Ostyak-Samoyeds (''остяко-самоеды''), are a Samoyedic speaking Uralic ethnic group native to Siberia. They live in the northern parts of Tomsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai a ...
, consequently, the Selkups are in part Samoyedicized
Kets
Kets (russian: Кеты; Ket: Ostygan) are a tribe of Yeniseian speaking people in Siberia. During the Russian Empire, they were known as Ostyaks, without differentiating them from several other Siberian people. Later, they became known as ''Ye ...
.
In 2010 according to Chernykh and Kuzmineh, Samus - Kizhirovo culture was believed to be succession of Seima - Turbino culture.
Geographic extent
On the territory of the Irtysh region the monuments of the Samus community are Chernoozerye VI, Okunevo XI, Rostovkinsky burial ground.
The Rostovkinsky burial ground near
Omsk is located on the border of the
Krotov culture, Samus'sky culture and steppe areas and more characterizes the Samus'sky - Seima chronological layer in these territories as a whole than any individual culture of this time.
Economy
The main role in the economy was the breeding of sheep, goats and cattle, the breeding of horses and dogs played a lesser role. Hunting played only a marginal role. Farming cannot be proven, apart from the alleged imprints of grains on the inner walls of the vessels.
Settlements
The settlements of the Samus culture were partly fortified with a ditch, partly unfortified. In their interior there were slightly deepened pit houses.
Metallurgy
The largest settlement Samus IV in the area of the Samus culture was main bronze casting center. Although bronze was already processed by the bearers of the Samus culture, as evidenced by molds and bronze fragments, flint and bone continued to be important materials.
Pottery
Various vessels can be found in finds from the Samus culture, but in almost all cases they have a flat bottom. The decoration consists of either horizontal lines arranged in waves, or chevrons, meander hooks and hatched triangles. Motifs on Samus pottery find analog with Selkup and Ket ornament.
A particular group is decorated with incised anthropomorphic and zoomorphic motifs (bears
), particularly human faces. Associated with them are some figural stone sculptures depicting human and animal heads and phalli.
The Samus crossed sun motif resembles the design on Ket shaman's tamburin.
Art
Representative art: small amulets, tall stone steles and petroglyphs.
Bear small figurines amulets presumably had an apotropaic function, they were worm as Bronze pedants or in the form of clay statuettes.
Beliefs
Samus worshiped the sun, moon, eagle and swan
Burials
The dead were buried in shallow graves; mostly burials, more rarely cremations. An upper class of warriors with weapon accessories are noticeable.
Related cultures
Contact existed between the Samus and
Okunev culture
Okunev culture (russian: Окуневская культура , lit=Okunev culture, translit=Okunevskaya kul'tura, label=ru) was south Siberian archaeological culture of pastoralists of the early Bronze Age dated from the end of the 3rd millen ...
s in the
Achinsk
Achinsk (russian: А́чинск) is a city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the right bank of the Chulym River near its intersection with the Trans-Siberian Railway, west of Krasnoyarsk. It has a population of 109,155 as of the 2010 C ...
-
Mariinsk
Mariinsk (russian: link=no, Мариинск) is a town in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, where the Trans-Siberian Railway crosses the Kiya River ( Ob's basin), northeast of Kemerovo, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 39,700 (1 ...
forest-steppe
A forest steppe is a temperate-climate ecotone and habitat type composed of grassland interspersed with areas of woodland or forest.
Locations
Forest steppe primarily occurs in a belt of forest steppes across northern Eurasia from the eastern ...
area.
Connections with neighboring southwestern cultures such as the
Petrovka culture.
References
{{Bronze Age footer
Archaeological cultures of Siberia
Archaeological cultures in Russia
Bronze Age cultures