Еvgenij N. Chernykh Nomadic Cultures in the Mega-Structure of the Eurasian World Translated by Irina Savinetskaya and Peter N. Hommel Translated by Irina Savinetskaya and Peter N. Hommel S TUDIE S IN R U SS IAN AND S LAVIC L ITE R AT U R E S , C U LT U R E S , AND H I S TO RY Nomadic Cultures Series Editor in the Mega-StructureLazar F LEISHMAN (Stanford University, Palo Alto, California) of the Eurasian World Еvgenij N.Chernykh LRC Publishing House Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: A catalog record for this book as available from the Library of Congress. Copyright © 2017 Academic Studies Press, LRC Publishing House All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-61811-552-2 (hardback) ISBN 978-1-61811-553-9 (electronic) Book design by Irina Bogatyreva On the cover: sculptures by Dashi Namdakov (see pp. 692–693 for details). Published by Academic Studies Press and LRC Publishing House in 2017 Academic Studies Press 28 Montfern Avenue Brighton, MA 02135, USA [email protected] www.academicstudiespress.com LRC Publishing House 13/16 B. Lubyanka Moscow, 107031, Russia [email protected] http://www.lrc-press.ru Table of Сontents Author's Preface to the English Edition ................................................................................................ Translator's Preface to the English Edition ......................................................................................... Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................ 15 17 Introduction 18 A Tragic Century… ............................................................................................................................. “Every Earth Zone...”......................................................................................................................... “Earth…the Progenitor of all Things” ....................................................................................... 20 20 Part I. 21 The Steppe Belt in the Mega-Structure of the Eurasian World Chapter 1. The Formation of the Eurasian World ...................................................................... Structure and Mega-Structure in Eurasian Geoecology.................................................... 27 Culture and Subsistence Strategy............................................................................................... The Long Road to a Continental Mega-Structure ............................................................... 27 Four Continental “Enclaves” ......................................................................................................... 27 29 Chapter 2. Transitions from North to South: Geoecology, Subsistence 30 and the Eurasian Steppe Belt .......................................................................................... ........................................................................................................... 32 ........................................................................................ DifferencesNorth—South, between East—West the Domains ............................................................................................. 32 The GeoecologicalGeoecology of “Cake”the Eurasian of Eurasia Steppe Belt ......................................................................... 33 The West Eurasian Steppe and its Borders ............................................................................ 35 The Dzungarian Gate and Mongolian Mountain Steppe ................................................... 36 Arabian Desert Plateaus ................................................................................................................. 37 The Domain of Nomadic Culture ................................................................................................ 39 45 Chapter 3. Transitions from East to West: Across the Layers of the Eurasian 46 Geoecology ................................................................................................................................. The East in Eurocentric Perspective ......................................................................................... 49 Dividing Lines and Defining Borders: The Mountains between East and West .................................................................... 49 The Line between Asia and Europe ........................................................................................... West and East Beyond the Geoecological Framework ...................................................... 50 Anthropology ...................................................................................................................................... 51 Linguistics ............................................................................................................................................ 55 Ideological Systems .......................................................................................................................... 55 56 58 ● 5 ● Table of Contents Part II. The Archaeology of Nomadic Cultures Chapter 4. Archaeology and History: Sources of Difference ................................................ Archaeology and History: Pre-Literate and Literate .......................................................... 67 Understanding Differences in Method and Approach ...................................................... Interpreting Archaeological Sources ........................................................................................ 67 The Complexity of Burial Structures ........................................................................................ 68 Archaeologists as the Denizens of the Afterworld .............................................................. 70 The “Mongolian Syndrome” of Nomadic Cultures .............................................................. 72 75 Chapter 5. “Gifts” from the Nomads: Pastoral Contributions to World History ........ 77 Self-Perception and the Perception of Others: Archetype of Narcissism .................. 79 Perception of the Steppe Nomads .............................................................................................. Horse Riding ........................................................................................................................................ 79 Monotheism ......................................................................................................................................... 80 Mounds and Mausoleums ............................................................................................................. 82 The “Bridge” between East and West ....................................................................................... 84 The Tides of Cultural Influence ................................................................................................... 85 88 Chapter 6. Nomadic Cultures in the Early Metal Age: Archaeological Time, 88 Technology and Territory ................................................................................................. The Duration of Archaeological Time ...................................................................................... 90 Riders and Metal ............................................................................................................................... Metal and the “Ages” of Prehistory ............................................................................................ 90 At the Origins of Metallurgy ......................................................................................................... 91 Other Innovations of the Early Metal Age .............................................................................. 91 Accepted Norms and Acceptable Industries ........................................................................ 92 Early Metal Age as a Eurasian Phenomenon ......................................................................... 94 Territorial “Leaps” of Early Metal Age Cultures ................................................................... 95 The Problem of Spatial Stagnation ............................................................................................ 96 96 Chapter 7. The “Proto-Metal” Age in Eurasia ............................................................................ 98 The Roots of the Early Metal Age ............................................................................................ 100 Eastern Anatolia (Çayönü Tepesi, Tell Halula, Nevali Çori and Göbekli Tepe, Körtik Tepe .......................................................................................................................... 100 ................................................................... The Levant (Jericho and Tell Aswad) ..................................................................................... 101 TheCentral End Anatolia of the “Proto-Metal” (Aşikli Höyük, Age Çatal-Höyük) ........................................................................................... 108 110 Chapter 8. Metallurgical Revolution in the Carpatho-Balkan Region ......................... 112 Beginning of the Metal Age: Chalcolithic/Eneolithic ...................................................... 114 The Balkan Neolithic..................................................................................................................... The Structure of the Carpatho-Balkan Metallurgical Province .................................. 114 The Central