Food of the Siberian Tatars in the ethno-cultural processes of the 17th–18th centuries (by the materials of the culture of the Tomsk group of Tatars)

Abstract

In the paper, the food of the Tomsk group of the Siberian Tatars of the 17th–18th centuries, settled in the Tomsk Ob River basin (Western Siberia), is analysed. The aim of the research is to determine and characterise ethno-cultural processes in the food of the Siberian Tatars of the 17th–18th centuries and to identify the role of these processes in the increase of the proportion of common phenomena in the material culture of the Tomsk Tatars as a result of their interaction, first of all, with the Russians. The research sources are represented by the materials and information about food complexes and composition of food dishes of the Tomsk Tatars from the works of travellers and scientists of the 17th–18th centuries, as well as by the results of archaeological and ethnographic studies on the economy and material culture of the Siberian Tatars, and materials on ethnography of the Russians of Siberia in the 17th–18th centuries. The method of socio-historical analysis, historical-comparative method, and, in some cases, the method of quantitative analysis have been employed in the paper. The work contains descriptions of the food products consumed by the Tomsk Tatars in the 17th–18th centuries: fish, meat, vegetables, and imported products (salt, spices, cereals and others), as well as the methods of stockpiling and processing of foodstuff, preparing food dishes and consuming them, and also a description of household utensils intended for the food preparation and consumption. In addition to the results of the comprehensive characterisation of the food culture of the Tomsk group of the Siberian Tatars, conclusions have been drawn on the changes in this area of the material culture and on the ethno-cultural processes in the food of the Tomsk Tatars.

Keywords

• ethnic processes
• siberian tatars
• material culture
• food culture
• ethnocultural interaction.