Yarkovskoe 1 hillfort – monument of the XII–XIV centuries in the Tobolsk Irtysh River region

Abstract

Known archaeological sources indicate migration the groups of the Urals population into Western Siberia during the XII–XIV centuries. However, this process continues to be poorly studied, which can be partially corrected by referring to the archaeological materials of the Yarkovskoe 1 hillfort. Pre-revolutionary researchers knew this monument of Tobolsk Irtysh River region, but its excavations began relatively recently. The 2015 excavation revealed a significant number of individual finds from copper, bronze, silver and iron. Quite often fragments of ceramic dishes, bone and stone products were found. The closest analogies to the implement complex of the Yarkovskoe hillfort were found in the cis-Urals sites of the Rodanovo archaeological culture. The authors' assumption is confirmed by the findings of ornamented ceramics, crucible, bronze pendants, a silver ring, padlocks and a needle bar and other items. However, not all features of the material culture of the local population have direct analogies among the Rodanovo antiquities, which indicate that a synthesis of a number of cultures took place in the Tobolsk Irtysh region. Among the finds, one can distinguish both things of clearly Siberian origin and those brought from the territory of the Volga and Central Asia. The authors distinguish that the main component of the population of the Yarkovskoe 1 hillfort were the Rodanovo culture population who came from beyond the Urals. The Rodanovo people who arrived from the trans-Urals, as they moved to the lower reaches of the Tobol could include foreign cultures, including the Yudino culture, as well as the local Kintusovskoye culture components.

Keywords

• archaeology
• middle ages
• cis-urals
• yarkovskoe hillfort
• the ugric peoples
• relocation
• ceramics
• adornments
• yudino culture
• kintusovskoye culture