The country of the great steppe. The history that the earth has preserved. Steppes in the history of mankind Ancient people in the steppe

Research materials of the Quaternary period and numerous archaeological finds indicate that people lived in the steppe regions of Eurasia in distant prehistoric times - much earlier than in the forest zone.

Opportunities for life here for prehistoric man developed at the border of the Neogene and the Quaternary period, that is, about 1 million years ago, when the southern steppes were freed from the sea. Since then and up to the present time, land has been spreading on the site of the Ukrainian steppes (Berg, 1952).

In the Lower Volga region, in the layers of the middle part of the so-called Khazar stage of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene, the remains of the trogontherium elephant, the immediate predecessor of the mammoth, horse, modern type, donkey, bison, camel, wolf, fox, saiga, were found and carefully studied. The presence of these animals testifies to the predominantly steppe nature of the fauna related to the Dnieper-Valdai interglacial. At least, it has been proven that at that time the steppe fauna occupied the south of Eastern Europe and part of Western Siberia up to 57 ° N lat. sh., where landscapes with rich grassy vegetation prevailed.

The joint existence of prehistoric man and steppe animals in this zone led to the emergence of cattle breeding, which, in the words of F. Engels, became the "main branch of labor" of the steppe tribes. Due to the fact that the pastoral tribes produced more livestock products than others, they "stand out from the rest of the mass of barbarians - this was the first major social division of labor" (Marx K., Engels F. Soch. Ed. 2. Vol. 21, p. 160).

In the history of the economic development of the steppes, two periods are distinguished - nomadic pastoral and agricultural. A reliable monument of the early emergence and development of cattle breeding and agriculture is the well-known Trypillia culture in the Dnieper region. Archaeological excavations of the Tripoli family settlements dating back to the end of the 5th millennium BC. e., it was found that the Trypillians grew wheat, rye, barley, bred pigs, cows, sheep, were engaged in hunting and fishing.

Among the natural conditions favorable for the emergence of animal husbandry and agriculture among the Trypillians, the famous archaeologist A. Ya. Bryusov (3952) names the climate and black earth soils. According to the research of A. Ya. Bryusov, the tribes of the Yamno-Catacomb culture, who lived in the steppes between the Volga and the Dnieper, already in the 3rd millennium BC. h. master cattle breeding and agriculture. The bones of sheep, cows, horses, and millet seeds are widespread in the burials of this time.

In the studies of A.P. Kruglov and G.E. Podgaetsky (1935), as in other works on the Bronze Age, three cultures are distinguished - pit, catacomb and log. The Yamnaya culture, the most ancient, was characterized by hunting, fishing and gathering. The catacomb culture that followed it, which was most developed in the eastern part of the steppe Black Sea region, was cattle-breeding and agricultural; during the period of the Srubna culture - the last centuries of the 2nd millennium BC. e. - pastoral cattle breeding is even more intensified.

Thus, in search of new sources of life in the steppe, man came to domesticate valuable species of animals. The steppe landscapes provided a solid base for the development of cattle breeding, which is the main branch of labor for the local peoples.

Nomadic pastoralism, developed in a primitive communal tribal system, existed in the steppes from the end of the Bronze Age. This period lasted as long as improved tools made it possible to prepare food for the winter and engage mainly in cattle breeding. But already in the V century. BC e. the southern Ukrainian steppes become the main source of supply for Athens with bread and raw materials. Cattle breeding is giving way to agriculture. Fruit growing and viticulture are emerging. However, agriculture with the creation of settled settlements in the Black Sea steppes in ancient times was of a local nature and did not determine the general picture of nature management in the steppes of Eurasia.

The most ancient inhabitants of the Northern Black Sea region were the Scythian peoples. In the VII-II centuries. BC e. they occupied the territory between the mouths of the Don and Danube. Among the Scythians, several large tribes stood out. Nomadic Scythians lived along the right bank of the lower Dnieper and in the steppe Crimea. Between the Ingul and the Dnieper, Scythian farmers lived interspersed with nomads. Scythians-plowmen lived in the basin of the Southern Bug.

Some of the very first information about the nature of the steppes of Eurasia belongs to the geographers of ancient Greece and Rome. The ancient Greeks in the VI century. BC e. came into close contact with the Scythians - the inhabitants of the Black Sea and Azov steppes. As the earliest geographical source, it is customary to refer to the well-known "History of Herodotus" (about 485-425 BC). In the fourth book of the History, the ancient scholar describes Scythia. The land of the Scythians is “flat, replete with grass and well irrigated; the number of rivers flowing through Scythia is only slightly less than the number of canals in Egypt” (Herodotus, 1988, p. 324). Repeatedly Herodotus emphasized the treelessness of the Black Sea steppes. There were so few forests that the Scythians used animal bones instead of firewood. “This whole country, with the exception of the Gilei, is treeless,” Herodotus claimed (p. 312). By Gilea, apparently, they meant the richest in those days floodplain forests along the Dnieper and other steppe rivers.

Interesting information about Scythia is available in the writings of a contemporary of Herodotus - Hippocrates (460-377 BC), who wrote: "The so-called Scythian desert is a plain abounding in grass, but devoid of trees and moderately irrigated" (quoted from : Latyshev, 1947, p. 296). Hippocrates also noted that the Scythian nomads remained in one place for as long as there was enough grass for herds of horses, sheep and cows, and then moved to another part of the steppe. With this method of using the steppe vegetation, it was not subjected to detrimental slaughter.

In addition to grazing, the nomadic Scythians influenced the nature of the steppes with fires, especially on a large scale during wars. It is known, for example, that when the army of the Persian king Darius (512 BC) moved against the Scythians, they used the tactics of devastated land: they stole cattle, covered wells and springs, and burned grass.

From the 3rd century BC e. according to the IV century. n. e. in the steppes from the river. Tobol in the east to the Danube in the west settled Iranian-speaking Sarmatian tribes related to the Scythians. The early history of the Sarmatians was connected with the Sauromatians, with whom they formed large tribal alliances headed by the Roxolans and Alans.

The nature of the economy of the Sarmatians was determined by nomadic cattle breeding. In the III century. n. e. the power of the Sarmatians in the Black Sea region was undermined by the East German tribes of the Goths. In the IV century. Scythian-Sarmatians and Goths were defeated by the Huns. Part of the Sarmatians, along with the Goths and Huns, participated in the subsequent so-called "great migrations of peoples." The first of them - the Hun invasion - hit Eastern Europe in the 70s. 4th century The Huns are a nomadic people that formed from Turkic-speaking tribes, Ugrians and Sarmatians in the Urals. The steppes of Eurasia began to serve as a corridor for the Hunnic and subsequent invasions of nomads. The well-known historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that the Huns constantly “wander to different places, as if eternal fugitives... Arriving at a place rich in grass, they arrange their wagons in the form of a circle... having destroyed all the fodder for livestock, they again carry, so to speak, their cities, located on carts ... They crush everything that comes in their way ”(1906-1908, pp. 236-243). For about 100 years, the Huns made their military campaigns in southern Europe. But having suffered a series of failures in the fight against the Germanic and Balkan tribes, they gradually disappear as a people.

In the middle of the 5th century in the steppes of Central Asia arises (a large tribal union of the Avars (Russian chronicles call them images). The Avars were the vanguard of a new wave of invasions of the Turkic-speaking peoples to the west, which led to the formation in 552 of the Turkic Khaganate, an early feudal state of steppe nomads, which soon broke up into hostile each other, eastern (in Central Asia) and western (in Central Asia and Kazakhstan) parts.

In the first half of the 7th c. in the Sea of ​​Azov and the Lower Volga region, an alliance of Turkic-speaking Proto-Bulgarian tribes was formed, which led to the emergence in 632 of the state of Great Bulgaria. But already in the third quarter of the 7th c. the Union of Proto-Bulgarians broke up under the onslaught of the Khazars - the Khazar Khaganate arose after the collapse of the Western Turkic Khaganate in 650.

By the beginning of the 8th century The Khazars owned the North Caucasus, the entire Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, the Caspian Sea, the western Black Sea region, as well as the steppe and forest-steppe territories from the Urals to the Dnieper. The main form of farming in the Khazar Khaganate for a long time continued to be nomadic cattle breeding. The combination of rich steppe expanses (on the Lower Volga, the Don and the Black Sea region) and mountain pastures contributed to the fact that nomadic pastoralism acquired a transhumance character. Along with cattle breeding, the Khazars, especially in the lower reaches of the Volga, began to develop agriculture and horticulture.

The Khazar Khaganate existed for more than three centuries. During his reign in the trans-Volga steppes, as a result of the mixing of the nomadic Turks with the Sarmatian and Ugro-Finnish tribes, an alliance of tribes called the Pechenegs was formed. Initially, they roamed between the Volga and the Urals, but then, under the pressure of the Oguzes and Kipchaks, they went to the Black Sea steppes, defeating the Hungarians roaming there. Soon, the Pecheneg nomads occupied the territory from the Volga to the Danube. Pechenegs as a single people ceased to exist in XIII-XIV. b., merging partly with the Cumans, Turks, Hungarians, Russians, Byzantines and Mongols.

In the XI century. from the Trans-Volga region to the southern Russian steppes come the Polovtsy, or Kipchaks - a Mongoloid Turkic-speaking people. The main occupation of the Polovtsy, like their predecessors, was nomadic cattle breeding. Various crafts were widely developed among them. The Polovtsians lived in yurts, and in winter they camped on the banks of rivers. As a result of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, part of the Polovtsy became part of the Golden Horde, the other part migrated to Hungary.

For many centuries, the steppe has been a receptacle for nomadic Iranian-speaking, Turkic, and in some places - Mongolian and East Germanic peoples. Only the Slavs were not here. This is evidenced by the fact that in the common Slavic language there are very few words associated with the steppe landscape. The very word "steppe" appeared in the Russian and Ukrainian languages ​​only in the 17th century. Prior to this, the Slavs called the steppe a field (Wild Field, Zapolnaya River Yaik - Ural), but the word "field" had many other meanings. Such common now steppe Russian names as “feather grass”, “tipchak”, “tyrsa”, “yar”, “beam”, “yaruga”, “korsak”, “jerboa” are relatively late borrowings from the Turkic languages.

During the "great migration of peoples" the steppes of Eastern Europe were largely devastated. The blows inflicted by the Huns and their followers led to a significant decrease in the number of the settled population, in some places it completely disappeared for a long time.

With the formation of the Old Russian state with its capital in Kyiv (882), the Slavs firmly settled in the forest-steppe and steppe landscapes of Eastern Europe. Separate groups of Eastern Slavs, not constituting compact masses of the population, appeared in the steppe even before the formation of the Old Russian state (for example, in Khazaria, in the lower reaches of the Volga). During the reign of Svyatoslav Igorevich (964-972), the Russians dealt a crushing blow to the hostile Khazar Khaganate. Kiev possessions spread to the lower reaches of the Don, the North Caucasus, Taman and the Eastern Crimea (Korchev-Kerch), where the ancient Russian Tmutarakan principality arose. The composition of Russia included the lands of Yases, Kasogs, Obezes - the ancestors of modern Ossetians, Balkars, Circassians, Kabardians, etc. On the Don, near the former village of Tsimlyanskaya, the Russians settled the Khazar fortress Sarkel - the Russian White Tower.

Populating the steppe regions of Eastern Europe, the Slavs brought their specific culture here, in places assimilating the remnants of the ancient Iranian population, the descendants of the Scythians and Sarmatians, by this time already strongly Turkicized. The presence of the remains of the ancient Iranian population here is evidenced by the preserved Iranian names of the rivers, a kind of Iranian hydronymy, which is visible through the younger Turkic and Slavic layers (Samara, Usmanka, Osmon, Ropshcha, etc.).

In the first half of the 13th century, the Tatar-Mongol hordes attacked the steppes of Eurasia right up to the Danubian plains of Hungary. Their dominion lasted more than two and a half centuries. Constantly making military campaigns against Russia, the Tatars remained typical steppe nomads. So, the chronicler Pimen in 1388 met them across the river. Medveditsa (left tributary of the Don): “the Tatar herds are so many, as if the mind is superior, sheep, goats, oxen, camels, horses ...” (Nikon Chronicle, p. IV, p. 162).

For several millennia, the steppe served as an arena for great migrations of peoples, nomadic nomads, and military battles. The appearance of the steppe landscapes was formed under the strong pressure of human activities: grazing of cattle, unstable in time and space, burning of vegetation for military purposes, development of mineral deposits, especially cuprous sandstones, construction of numerous burial mounds, etc.

Nomadic peoples contributed to the advance of the steppe vegetation to the north. On the plains of Europe, Kazakhstan, Siberia, for many centuries pastoral nomads not only came close to the strip of small-leaved and broad-leaved forests, but also had their summer camps in the southern part, exterminated forests and contributed to the advancement of steppe vegetation far to the north. So, it is known that the Polovtsian camps were near Kharkov and Voronezh, and even along the river. Prone in the Ryazan region. Tatar herds grazed up to the southern forest-steppe.

In dry years, the southern outposts of forest vegetation were filled with hundreds of thousands of cattle, which weakened the biological position of the forest. Cattle, trampling meadow vegetation, brought with them the seeds of steppe grasses, adapted to trampling. Meadow vegetation gave way to steppe vegetation - there was a process of steppe stepping of meadows, their "ottypchakovaniya". A typical grass of the southern steppes, resistant to trampling, - fescue - moved further and further north.

The annual spring and autumn fires, arranged by nomadic and sedentary peoples, had a great impact on the life of the steppe. We find evidence of the widespread occurrence of steppe fires in the past in the writings of P. S. Pallas. “Now the entire steppe from Orenburg almost to the Iletsk fortress has not only dried up, but the Kirghists burned it naked,” he wrote in his diary in 1769. And in subsequent travels, P.S. the entire horizon on the north side of the river. Miass from the fire that has been going on for three days in the steppe is glowing ... Such steppe fires are often seen in these countries throughout the last half of April ”(Pallas, 1786, p. 19).

The significance of the fires in the life of the steppe was noted by the eyewitness of these phenomena, E. A. Eversmann (1840). He wrote: “In the spring, in May, steppe fires, or actually fell, are a wonderful sight, in which there is good, there is bad, and harm and benefit. In the evening, when it gets dark, the whole vast horizon, on even, flat steppes, is illuminated from all sides by fiery bands, which are lost in the shimmering distance and rise even, raised by the refraction of rays, from under the horizon ”(p. 44).

With the help of fires, the steppe nomadic peoples destroyed the thick dry grass and stems left over from autumn. In their opinion, the old rags did not allow young grass to break through and prevented the cattle from getting greenery. “For this reason,” Z. A. Eversmann noted, “not only nomadic peoples, but also arable peoples set fire to the steppes in early spring, as soon as the snow melts and the weather begins to warm up. Last year's grass, or rags, quickly catches fire, and the flame flows with the wind until it finds food for itself” (1840, p. 45). Observing the consequences of the fires, E. A. Eversmann noted that places not affected by fire hardly sprout grass, while scorched spaces quickly become covered with luxurious and dense greenery.

E. A. Eversmann was echoed by A. N. Sedelnikov and N. A. Borodin, speaking about the significance of spring fires in the Kazakh steppe: “The steppe after the fires presents a gloomy picture. Everywhere you can see a black, scorched surface, devoid of any life. But in less than a week (if the weather is good), it will become unrecognizable: windmills, starodubki and other early plants first turn green in islands, and then cover the steppe everywhere ... Meanwhile, unburnt places cannot overcome last year's cover until the very summer and stand deserted, devoid of green vegetation” (1903, p. 117).

The benefits of burning were also seen in the fact that the ash formed during this served as an excellent fertilizer for the soil; burning arable land and fallows, the peasant struggled with weeds; finally, the fires destroyed harmful insects.

But the harm of the fires for forest and shrub vegetation was also obvious, since the young shoots burned out to the very root. In reducing the forest cover of our steppes, it was the steppe burns that played an important role. In addition, entire villages, grain reserves, haystacks, etc., often suffered from them. Animals, and primarily birds nesting in the open steppe, also suffered some damage. Nevertheless, this ancient custom of the steppe nomads, consecrated for centuries, was in the conditions of extensive cattle breeding a kind of method for improving wormwood and wormwood-cereal pastures.

The steppe, with its unstable crops, was the source of new military incursions. At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. in the steppes of Eurasia they learned to use horses in military affairs. Major military operations were carried out in the open steppe expanse: Numerous hordes of steppe nomads, who were well versed in the art of equestrian combat, enriched with the military experience of the conquered countries and peoples of Eurasia, actively participated in shaping the political situation and culture of China, Hindustan, Iran, Western and Central Asia, East and Southern Europe.

On the border of the forest and the steppe, hostilities constantly arose between the forest and steppe peoples. In the minds of the Russian people, the word "field" ("steppe") was invariably associated with the word "war". Russians and nomads had different attitudes towards the forest and the steppe. The Russian state tried in every possible way to preserve the forests on its southern and southeastern borders, even creating original forest barriers - "notches". For military purposes, "fields" were burned to deprive the enemy of rich grasslands for horses. In turn, the nomads exterminated forests in every possible way, made treeless passages to Russian cities. Fires both in the forests and in the steppe were a constant attribute of hostilities on the border of the forest and the steppe. The conflagrations were again covered with meadow vegetation, and a significant part with forest.

Steppes occupy an important place in the history of the Russian people. In the struggle against the steppe nomads in the first centuries of our era, the consolidation of the Slavic tribes took place. Campaigns in the steppe contributed to the creation in the VI-VII centuries. ancient Russian tribal unions. Even M. V. Lomonosov admitted that “among the ancient ancestors of the current Russian people ... the Scythians are not the last part.” Kievan Rus arose at the junction of forest and steppe. Later, the center of the Russian state moved to the forest zone, and the steppe with its indigenous Turkic population was, according to the figurative expression of the historian V. O. Klyuchevsky, “the historical scourge of Russia” until the 17th century. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the steppes became the place of formation of the Cossacks, which settled in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Don, Volga, Ural, in the North Caucasus. Somewhat later, Cossack settlements appear in the steppes of Southern Siberia and the Far East.

Steppe landscapes have played an exceptionally important role in the history of human civilizations. In the interglacial and postglacial periods, the steppe served as a universal source of food resources. The wealth of the steppe nature - fruits, berries, roots, game, fish - saved the ancient man from starvation. The domestication of ungulates became possible in the steppe. Fertile chernozem soils gave rise to agriculture. The Scythians were the first farmers in the steppes of Eurasia. They grew wheat, rye, barley, and millet. Engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding, the inhabitants of the steppes not only fully provided for their own needs, but also created reserves of plant and livestock products.

The steppe in many ways contributed to the solution of the transport problems of mankind. According to most researchers, the wheel and the cart are the invention of the steppe peoples. The expanse of the steppe awakened the need for rapid movement; domestication of the horse became possible only in the steppe, and the idea of ​​the wheel, apparently, was a gift from the steppe plants "tumbleweed".

For many centuries, people migrated along the steppe corridor stretching from Central Asia to the south of Central Europe, there was a global cultural exchange between different civilizations. In the cemeteries of nomadic peoples, examples of everyday life and art of Egypt, Greece, Assyria, Iran, Byzantium, Urartu, China, and India are found.

Powerful flows of matter and energy are moving along the steppe corridor even today. Grain and livestock products, coal, oil, gas, ferrous and non-ferrous metals are mined in the steppe landscapes and transported both in latitudinal and longitudinal directions. The world's longest railways and roads, powerful pipelines have been built in an open and accessible landscape. Human migration along the steppe roads does not stop either. Only in the current century, two powerful waves of migrations have engulfed the steppe zone.

In 1906-1914. 3.3 million people moved from the central regions of Russia and Ukraine to the steppes of the Trans-Urals, Northern Kazakhstan and Southern Siberia. This movement of the rural population to permanent residence in the sparsely populated free lands was caused by agrarian overpopulation and an agrarian crisis.

In 1954-1960. in the steppe zone of the Urals, Siberia, the Far East and Northern Kazakhstan, 41.8 million hectares of virgin and fallow lands were plowed up. At least 3 million people moved to the steppes from densely populated regions of the country to develop them. Today, the natural resources of the steppe landscapes play a decisive role in the economy of Ukraine, the North Caucasus, the Central Black Earth Region, the Volga region, the South Urals, Kazakhstan, and South Siberia.

Having played an exceptional role in the history of mankind, the steppe, the first of all other types of landscape, was on the verge of a complete loss of its original appearance and anthropogenization - a radical economic restructuring and replacement with agricultural landscapes.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Mongolia is a country with one of the lowest population densities in the world. Less than three million people live in an area the size of two France, a million of whom live in the capital.

So it turns out that you can travel around Mongolia for a very long time in any direction, and only occasionally meet small clusters of whitening yurts on the way. Two-thirds of the population live in the steppe and lead a nomadic lifestyle, regularly moving to a new place in search of pastures for livestock.

Cattle breeding, whatever one may say, is a key activity for the steppe inhabitants - it gives them meat, milk (from which, by the way, they just didn’t learn how to cook here), wool, skins. Usually in one family there are different types of animals - it can be a herd of sheep and goats, a paddock with cows and calves, several horses.

The first time we were visiting a Mongolian family, in a yurt at the beginning of our journey, thanks to the people who drove us to their friends. At that time, we had little idea of ​​how nomadic people live, what their life is like, what a real yurt looks like from the inside.

No matter how trite it may sound, their way of life has not changed much since ancient times, and even more so since the reign of Genghis Khan. But nevertheless, civilization has reached here too - an energy-saving light bulb, a TV with a satellite dish, a motorcycle or a truck are in almost every yurt.

Horses as transport are still very relevant, because in many places there is nothing else to drive on, and it is convenient to graze the herd. The horsemen we met did not use saddles. And here it is somehow famously

We were lucky to see the process of assembling a yurt for moving to a new place literally in the very first family in which we found ourselves. In the evening, everything was still in its place, no fuss and fees. But in the morning, a well-coordinated family team in two hours completely dismantled the yurt and folded it into the back of a truck along with all the things.

There are different sizes of yurts - they are divided according to the number of component parts of the walls (we saw from 4 to 6). You can collect more if you wish.

The main furnishings in all yurts are the same - in the center there is a stove with a chimney and a table, along the walls there are beds, most often two. There are additional beds on the floor, because often a large family lives in one yurt, and everyone needs to fit.

Many cabinets are the same, probably - the traditional design.

The floor is partially or completely covered with pieces of linoleum or carpet, sometimes parts are simply earthen. In yurts they do not take off their shoes, they walk in street shoes.

Be sure to have a locker or wall with photographs of all relatives, children, grandchildren. Images of the Dalai Lama are also quite common :)

The doors are low, the head was banged several times. There are no locks, not even latches, only if the yurt stands near a city or village.

A yurt is either made by oneself or bought. Translated into rubles, its value is about 40,000.

They live, as mentioned above, by animal husbandry, selling meat and dairy products. Men tend herds of sheep, cows, yaks, goats or horses. Often the animals graze themselves, in the evening they are herded to the yurts, where they sleep.

There are small pens where calves or foals are kept, and mothers are brought to them in the morning and in the evening to feed the cubs. After the child has eaten, the remaining milk is removed.

Women also have something to do :) They make cheese, kefir, sour cream, butter from milk.

In each yurt, we saw several basins full of milk at one stage or another of its preparation.

Meat is not harvested in large quantities, more than one carcass is not kept in a yurt.

Smoked over the stove:

Men in the steppe often wear national clothes - over jeans and a T-shirt. It is convenient - it does not blow through, you can put everything you need in your bosom, and you are probably used to it. We saw men of different ages in such clothes, so these are not relics of the older generation :)

Women also wear it, but less often. Although a woman's dress has at least one important practical plus - you can go to the toilet in the steppe anywhere. There are no bushes!

Each family keeps several dogs, which are supposed to protect from strangers (this is unlikely, given the lack of castles), and from wolves (a very real threat, sheep are periodically dragged). All the dogs we met barked very loudly, but when we met, they turned out to be very cute creatures :)

They don’t like cats, even in the city they practically don’t start. We saw once, in a yurt, a cute well-fed cat with a very smooth coat. Still, so much milk!

People are very hospitable, you can safely enter any yurt if something happens, or you just need to ask something. They will help you in any way they can and give you tea.

By the way, their tea is completely different - milk, some kind of shavings and salt. Drink hot.

Since I still have not fallen in love with milk, Roma gets two servings. They also drink koumiss, which tastes like milk kvass. As a bite - bread and butter, sprinkled with sugar! As in childhood

Each yurt has arts - dried salted cottage cheese. It whitens teeth very well! They also make sweet - arold. In the first yurt, we were presented with a bag of arts and a large jar of homemade butter - we ate it for two weeks :)

There is also such a thing - they remove the top from the basin, in which they make sour cream, and fold it in half. They eat with bread.

From what we had a chance to try - sweet milk rice (my portion went to Roma), soup from horns with meat (horns - for me, meat - not for me :), homemade noodles with meat (similarly).

We heard that the Mongols drink a lot. With us, moonshine vodka was drunk only once - in the evening in a yurt, in a family circle in very moderate quantities. They cook themselves from milk, drink it warm.

Plates in our understanding are also not noticed, they eat from tall saucers, they also drink tea from them.

Many products from Russia and Ukraine - familiar labels are found everywhere - Yanta, Alenka, Zolotaya Smechka.

Little is known about the Russian language, even by the older generation. That is, meeting a person who speaks Russian is quite realistic, but most likely it will not be the first person you meet, and not even the second.

In general, at first Roma was very psyched that no one understood him. It was the first time he was abroad, he had not yet learned sign language, and sincerely tried to speak Russian with them, slowing down the pace of speech and clearly pronouncing the words (well, to make it clearer)

Apparently, this desire was so great that we suddenly, quite by chance, began to meet people who understood our language and spoke it. Almost everyone who gave us a ride, with whom we stayed, whom we met - the Mongols, Poles, French, Americans - everyone could more or less clearly express themselves in the great and powerful

Separately, I want to say about the children. Firstly, they give birth at least two or three, often more. It's good to be a kid in Mongolia!

He has his own steppe, his own horse, his own animals. They don’t force him to wash his hands before eating, they don’t scold him for torn pants or spilled sugar, no “Don’t go there, you will fall, Don’t go there - they will crush you.” He can do whatever he wants. He runs around the steppe all day long, rides a bicycle, drives sheep back and forth.

No stress, hassle and sores (good immunity, not spoiled by drugs).

Simple, happy people who do not bother with conventions and do not worry about trifles. They do not need roads and the Internet, they have everything they need.

Traveling across the Mongolian steppe is a great place and an original way to reassess your values ​​and dispel the stereotypes imposed by society. We got it, we recommend it to everyone!

How do they live in the steppes? Why do people live in the steppes? Can pastoralists live settled? What nomadic peoples do you know? What kind of house does a nomad need? What is its functionality? From what material is it easy to build a house for a cattle breeder? Do you need furniture in such a house? The inhabitants of the steppes create their home from the wool of sheep. Felt is made from it and carpets are made to turn them into warm walls. Such a house is called a yurt. A felt blanket is wrapped around a light frame of connected wooden lattices stretched like an accordion and long thin poles forming a vault. Wooden parts are precious, they are protected and packed in elegant felt cases during transportation. A yurt can be assembled in just one hour and transported by one camel. The yurt is decorated with ornaments… In the center of the yurt there is a hearth, at the top there is a chimney, you can see the sky through it. The door faces south. Why decorate a yurt? What do the ornaments decorating the yurt mean? The entire nomadic settlement was a strictly organized space. This is a circle divided by beams of roads-streets, with the main large yurt in the center. The main entrance to the settlement is from the south. Kyrgyz yurt. N. Roerich. Mongolia. Yurts.

slide 13 from the presentation "Peoples of mountains and steppes". The size of the archive with the presentation is 11898 KB.

World around 4th grade

summary of other presentations

"Conflicts in our lives" - Piggy bank of good advice. Types of conflicts. Last call. Which leads to conflict. Lena came over. Conflict. How conflicts are resolved. The harm of conflict. Dispute. Collision. Speech etiquette. Telephone. Survey results. Boys. There are no uninteresting people in the world. conflicts in our lives. You like to listen to loud music.

"House for starlings" - Starling. Journalists. Designer. Stages of the project. Project summary. What have we done to improve the situation. Theorists. Constructor. Mathematics. Attention of students. Methodical tasks. Cozy house for starlings. Sociologists. Research presentation results. Birdhouses in the school garden. Birds are our friends. Main question. Birdsong.

"Plants in human life" - Results of the survey. Flowers and perfumery. Flowers as medicine. The role of flowers in human life. Fashion designers create wedding dresses from flowers. Plan. Flower plants are a source of inspiration. Flowers as part of the interior, garden or clothing. Flowers play an important role in our life. The role of flowering plants in the production of oxygen.

Dinosaurs - Dinosaurs had five fingers. The smallest dinosaurs. Dinosaurs. The first real dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are extinct animals. Dinosaur predators were smaller and moved on their hind limbs. Dominant lizards. Ornithomimids. The size of tyrannosaurs was a problem. Stegosaurus, which lived in the Cretaceous period, had a body length of about 9 m.

"Gems" - Jasper. Jade. Emerald beads. Aventurine. Emerald. Malachite watch. Onyx. Onyx products. Cups and castle. Corridor of the Winter Palace. Amethyst. Hematin egg. The Amber Room. Agate butterfly. Jasper frog. Chess board. Coil. Moon rock. Opal necklace. Products. Flower. Amazonite. Ring. Topaz. Hematite. Aventurine kitties. Opal. Agate. Moonstone earrings. Bulls-eye. Topaz ring.

"History of mankind" - Occupations of man. The earliest man looked like a large ape. Beginning of human history. Archeology is the science of antiquity. The life of primitive man. Community life. What is history? "Father of History". Hunting. Ancient man. Primitive Artists. Sciences that help to know history. History in translation from Greek means "research, a story about the events of the past." The foreheads were low and sloping.

The inhabitants of the steppes revere the earth as a shrine. Land is grass for livestock, grain for bread, wood for yurt and dombra. "We came out of the earth - to the earth and we will return," the nomads believed. According to ancient Kazakh beliefs, the sky god created people from clay. The same myth exists in Islam, which began to spread in Kazakhstan in the first millennium of our era. The Kazakhs also believed that the spirits of their ancestors follow them and protect them from the underworld.

It is the land that connects the Kazakhs with their roots, with their past. And not only in the mystical, but also in the literal sense. Many archaeological expeditions have passed on the territory of modern Kazakhstan. Their results helped to find out how people lived in the Great Steppe many centuries ago.

For example, in the second half of the 20th century, a burial place of the steppe astrologer, zhuldyzshy, was found in Central Kazakhstan.

Stargazers were highly respected among the nomads. They not only predicted the weather, but also made astronomical forecasts. These prophecies were used both in everyday life and in resolving military and political conflicts. The found grave of Zhuldyzshy emphasizes his high position. Along the perimeter of the burial, cobblestones in the form of the sun are laid out. The grave is crowned with a statue of the stargazer himself made of red granite. And along with the remains of the seer, they buried a piece of a meteorite.

The ancient nomads believed that things left in the crypt would accompany the deceased in the afterlife. And in gratitude, his spirit will protect his descendants in earthly life. Therefore, archaeologists often find valuables, weapons and mystical artifacts in steppe burials.

One of the largest collections of such posthumous gifts was found on the territory of modern Western Mongolia on the Maikhan-uul upland. A joint expedition of Mongolian and Kazakh archaeologists unearthed a huge mausoleum of the kagan, the supreme ruler of one of the states that were part of the Turkic khanate. Our ear is more accustomed to another sound of this title: "khan".

Mausoleum Maikhan-uul, according to research, was created in the 7th century AD. The corridor of the tomb, more than 40 meters long, faces the southeast, towards the sunrise. The walls of the crypt are painted with scenes from the life and mythology of the ancient nomads. In the tomb itself, archaeologists found more than 350 artifacts: coins and jewelry, outfits and jewelry, the remains of battle banners, a golden throne and a broken crown.

But the scientists were most interested in dozens of clay statues - people, horses and even two minotaurs. Like the famous terracotta army in China, clay soldiers and servants were supposed to escort the ruler to the afterlife. However, the statues in Maikhan-uul, in contrast to the funeral sculptures from the Celestial Empire, are made on an iron frame, and during firing they were not sprinkled with water.

A different production technology from China, according to scientists, proves that the ancient nomads invented terracotta statues independently and independently of the masters of the Far East. Perhaps even earlier in time. The importance of this discovery was emphasized by Krym Altynbekov, artist-restorer, founder and head of the Scientific and Restoration Laboratory "Island of Crimea".

Crimea Altynbekov: The fact is that it is the center of these modernizations of civilization, discoveries - the center is precisely Central Kazakhstan. This is what we see in these monuments. Nomads are a perpetual movement, they were engaged in trade, controlled trade routes, they spread, they took income from there. And, of course, communicating, they spread this culture of taming horses, building chariots. They were the center, it's proven.

The firing of clay and the creation of ceramics are not the only crafts that, according to scientists, the ancient nomads were the first to master the planet.

Among the treasures of the tomb of the kagan, elements of horse harness were found: bridles, stirrups, harnesses. Horses were sculpted in the form of statues and depicted in wall paintings. Ammunition and images, and sometimes the remains of horses, are often found in ancient Turkic burials. After all, a horse is so important for a nomad that one cannot go to the afterlife without it. For a steppe dweller, a horse is a sign of status and wealth, a convenient vehicle, a source of warm skins, delicious meat, milk and koumiss.

A lot of interesting things about the joint life of people and horses were told by an ancient settlement near the village of Botai in northern Kazakhstan. It was discovered in 1980 by archaeologist Viktor Fedorovich Seibert. In a town of one and a half hundred houses, scientists discovered more than 130 thousand horse bones. As it turned out, the locals used horses not only for eating and riding: the bones of horses were turned into tools and their clay was kneaded for strength during construction.

These skeletons gave archaeologists other interesting information. The remains of horses found in Botai are about 6 thousand years old - and they do not belong to any of the hitherto known species. This discovery led scientists to an unexpected conclusion: most likely, the ancestors of the Kazakhs domesticated horses earlier than all other peoples of the world.

KrymAltynbekov:Of course, the entire Botai settlement proves that horses were first tamed here. It was here that the masters knew how to tame them. The fact is that horses were found throughout Eurasia, but it was the nomads who tamed them. They tamed them, and they brought a lot of income. Horses were actively, willingly taken, bought by both the Chinese emperors and the southern, western and Mediterranean ones. It cost a lot of money. Horses are like a car in modern times.

The Botai settlement revealed to archaeologists a lot of interesting things about the life of the ancient inhabitants of the steppe. The building of the village in ancient times was very dense. On streets up to 50 meters long, sometimes 15-16 dwellings were built on each side. Houses were erected without a single nail: logs were laid on the walls of clay and stone, forming a dome. In the center of the roof, a shanyrak was left - a hole for smoke and sunlight. In the center of the house they dug a hole for the hearth, and under the walls there were recesses for storing food.

The discovery near Botai shows the peaceful life of the Kazakh nomads of the past. Altyn Adam - "Golden Man" told the archaeologists about the military side of their life. This is the name given to the complex of artifacts that Kazakh archaeologists found 50 years ago, 50 kilometers from Alma-Ata, on the banks of the Issyk River.

Many centuries ago, the Issyk mound was plundered. But the marauders did not notice one hidden burial. But it was found by archaeologists. Inside the crypt, they found more than four thousand gold items. Among them are the remains of gilded armor with a ceremonial sword and dagger. The painstaking reconstruction, which was later carried out by the employees of the scientific-restoration "Island of Crimea", provided science with the very first image of a warrior from the ancient nomadic Saks tribe.

Later, archaeologists found four more "golden men" in Kazakhstan. Altyn Adam riding a winged leopard has become one of the most recognizable symbols of Kazakhstan. Its copies are installed in many cities of the country, including on the Independence Statue on the main square of Alma-Ata.

And quite recently, in 2012, in the west of Kazakhstan, a kind of pair of "golden man" was unearthed. Archaeologists have discovered the burial of a noble woman around the 4th - 3rd century BC. This is the oldest of the "golden" burials of Kazakhstan. Because of the rich decoration, the found remains were called the "Golden Princess".

Crimea Altynbekov: We found it in a stone sarcophagus, all the cracks were filled with clay. Almost nothing got there, it was well preserved. But everything was eaten over time, since this is a monument of the 4th-3rd centuries BC. All organic matter was eaten by microbes. And when we used block extraction, we took a digital X-ray, a tomography. And thanks to new technologies, we saw an ornament on the hem with the image of a fern snail, leather appliqués. The skin, like a greasy object, absorbed moisture, compacted the earth. The skin itself, of course, disappeared. And by compaction, she showed all the features, all the ornaments that are made of leather. This revealed to us new information that no archaeologist could ever see in the field before, and still cannot see. Thanks to this technology, we study the history of this monument closer and more deeply.

"We came out of the earth - to the earth and we will return," nomads believed in antiquity. The earth carefully preserves what people returned to it: the remains of people and animals, works of art and tools... The history of the peoples of Kazakhstan, the roots of their identity. And archeology exposes these roots, allowing you to learn more about how the ancestors of modern Kazakhs lived and died in the Great Steppe.

The heyday of the Kushan Khanate in the 2nd century seems to have awakened Altai, or rather stirred it up. And there were reasons for that.

In Altai, the climate is more severe than in Central Asia. Therefore, the crops here were poorer. Mountains, it should be noted, are everywhere stingy for land, for prosperity ... And the Altai khans looked at the steppe. There is a lot of fertile land there, but few people could live on it.

The steppe has frightened people since ancient times. There are no trees there, which means there is no fuel for the hearth, no logs for huts and huts ... There are few rivers, which means there is no water for livestock, for gardens, and sometimes just for drinking. “The steppe is a country of darkness,” the old people whispered.

And they were right. There are not even landmarks, only flat land around and the sun in the sky. Where to go? How to find the way? And the winds sometimes blow for weeks. Terrible winds. The blizzard will instantly cover the village with snow to the very roofs ...

Inhospitable steppe climate. Even primitive people never settled here. Avoided. In the mountains, along the shores of the seas, in the forests they settled, but not in the steppe. An unprepared person cannot survive there. He, for example, will not pass on foot - shoes cannot stand a long walk, tough grass erases them to holes. And there is no need to talk about bare feet.

But the Altai Turks had no other way. Only through the steppe - the road of life led the people into the future. To rich pastures, generous arable land. Finally, space.

How the Altaians looked at their fate on two scales - which bowl will outweigh it? It is well known that hope and fear are two wings of a person. Hope took over.

The first families were cautiously resettled for a new residence ... And in Altai, the word “Kypchak” came into use again, the settlers were always called Kypchaks there. It's been like that since India, from the first Turks there. What was the meaning of this nickname? It is explained in different ways. For example, "the one who is cramped."

However, something else is not excluded. "Kipchak" is the name of one of the most ancient Turkic families. Perhaps he was once the first to move out of Altai, and other settlers began to be called by his name.

One way or another, but only a strong family could go one on one with the harsh steppe. Only strong people could settle there. The Turks decided their fate themselves, no one drove them out of Altai, they left on their own. But they did not leave empty-handed. The people at that time had the best tools in the world - iron! Behind him was a huge experience of life in India, Central Asia and, of course, in the Urals and Ancient Altai ... Unfortunately, historians seem to have forgotten about all this.

Is it any wonder that cities and villages were quickly built in the steppe? .. Roads were laid, river crossings were built, canals were dug ... This is how the deeds of a strong people look concretely, their traces remain for centuries! Today they are the lot of archaeologists.

Over the years, Semirechie, the new Turkic khanate, has become a flourishing land. His cities sparkled in the steppe like stars in the sky… Although, of course, they hardly amazed with their architecture and sophistication. Their purpose was different.

In our time, these cities were studied by the remarkable Kazakh archaeologist, academician Alkey Khakenovich Margulan. He first saw the ancient ruins by chance, from the window of an airplane. An experienced scientist saw in the endless steppe the ruins of buildings, overgrown with grass, sprinkled with sand. Then Alkey Khakenovich traveled to the steppe, to the places of abandoned cities ... Academician Margulan did what he could, he wrote a book about it.

But much is still unknown. The object of study is too big! Too complex... That was an extremely important time in the history of mankind: people began to settle in the steppes - a natural zone in which they had not lived before... (Of course, we are not talking about single settlements, but about the settlement of an uninhabited part of the planet.)

A lot of questions left that time to science. For example, how and on what did people move? This is very important to know. The question is only seemingly simple. You can’t walk across the steppe, you won’t bring much on yourself. So, it was necessary to come up with something that was nowhere to be found. But what?

Yes, the Turks were considered riders, they saddled a horse. But the rider carries only himself. And how can I bring him luggage? For construction, for a hearth, for living? .. Everything had to be stored for future use, taken with you, brought everything.

The Arabs then transported goods on camels, the Indians on elephants, the Chinese on buffaloes, the Iranians on donkeys... The Turks had a horse, and he rescued the people.

Now we know this about carts, about carts. The ancient people of Altai did not know about them, they did not invent wheels: for life in the mountains, these are not the most suitable household items. Just unnecessary. The Altaians had to adapt them specifically for the steppe! Wheeled transport - this is how the settlement of the steppe began. An outstanding piece of mind.

Who invented the cart, the chaise? Of course, the Turks. Because that's what they needed. This means that vehicles are also a distinctive sign of Turkic culture. Another one, like a brick, a hut or felt.

The names of the inventors are forgotten, but the cart still serves people. "Telegan" in the ancient Turkic language means "wheel". In other words, "wheeled transport".

The chaise appeared later. It looks like a cart, but better. She had no equal in the steppe. The cart, harnessed by two (or three) horses, became a high-speed transport. And there were also kadarka, tarantass. The troikas rushed across the steppe like the wind, leaving behind clouds of dust.

Roads were built for them, “pits” (as the Turks called mail) got along between the cities. No one in the world at that time drove faster. Coachmen-postmen delivered dispatches at an incredible speed - two hundred and even three hundred kilometers a day were covered by a coachman's troika.

It's not just a lot. This is very, very much. For comparison: then people moved along the roads at a speed of twenty to thirty kilometers a day. Only the Turks, not knowing the distances, rushed to the distillation with the wind. They conquered space and time.

The steppe of Semirechye was the first to accept coachmen then.