Articles:
Stone adzes and axes found by A. A. Inostrantsev on the southern coast of Lake Ladoga in the context of the stone industry of some other Neolithic sites in the neighborhood of Saint Petersburg
Alexander Akulov
Visiting the location where the New Syas and New Svir canals were being dug A. A. Inostrantsev found many stone axes and adzes. The present text is aimed to summarize information about stone axes and adzes found by Inostrantsev; and also to consider stone axes and adzes from some other Neolithic sites of the neighborhood of Petersburg, such as Ust-Rybezhna, Okhta 1, Tarkhovka, and Hepojarvi. Most of axes and adzes from these sites have been made of shale as well as axes and adzes from the collection of Inostrantsev. Thus, it is possible to state that the adzes and axes collected by Inostrantsev correlate well with axes and adzes of other Neolithic sites of the region.
Keywords: stone adzes; stone axes; Neolithic stone industry; Russian Northwest; Lake Ladoga
A regularity of change of the error that takes place when randomly selected sets of potsherds are compared by the Monte Carlo method
Tresi Nonno
The Monte Carlo method estimates the correlation index of two random sets of potsherds. For estimating the potential error of the method set A (20 potsherds) is compared with set B (15 potsherds). The number of elements of B is gradually decreased by one element and variants of each new B are compared with A. Results are the following: if the ratio of the numbers of elements of two compared sets is 1 – 0.7 then the potential error is 1% or less; if the ratio of numbers of elements is 0.65 – 0.6 then the potential error is 4 – 5%; if the ratio of numbers of elements is 0.55 – 0.5 then the potential error is 7 – 8%; if the ratio of numbers of elements is 0.45 then the potential error is 14%; if the ratio of numbers of elements is 0.4 and less then the potential error is about 19%.
Keywords: mathematical semiotics; ornaments of pottery; semiotics; Monte Carlo method; measurement error
Think pieces:
Hydronymy of Yeniseian origin in the basin of Oka river
Alexander Akulov, Nadya Efimova
In the basin of Oka river there are some rivers which names end with –ul/-ur: Chistur, Dandur, Mokshur, Nasmur, Ninur, Pynsur, Shersul. These hydronyms look much alike hydronyms of Yeniseian origin which exist in Siberia (for instance: Agul, Langur and so on). The ending of -ur/-ul looks much alike Yeniseian root “water” that has the following forms in different Yeniseian idioms: ul/ūl/ūr/kul. In Uralic and Indo-European languages there is no such root. Thus, it looks like the territory of the East European plain was inhabited by a western branch of Yeniseian people in the Neolithic period. Also the fact of good preservation of hydronyms of Yeniseian origin in the basin of Oka correlates well with the fact that the traditions of Neolithic pottery (Pit-Comb Ware) were maintained much longer in the basin of Oka than in other territories of East European plain.
Keywords: Yeniseian languages; substrate hydronymy; Neolithic period
Akulov_Efimova_Yeniseian hydronymy
Inaw
Alexander Akulov, Tresi Nonno
Inaw is an inseparable item of any Ainu ritual. Usually inaw is a little stick with shavings. Usually inaw are made of willow. Inaw has been rather well described in ethnographic literature; however, its meaning/functions and the etymology of the word inaw still remain to a certain extent unclear. According to our data the word inaw originally is a compound of two morphemes: i “something” and naw “to curl, and thus i-naw” means simply “shaved”, “curled”. Inaw is a universal ‘pure’ item that can hold and transmit ramat. In the system of Ainu religion inaw is a universal sacrifice, i.e.: a bridge between the world of people and the world of kamuy, a bridge through which ramat can flow from the world of kamuy to the world of people.
Keywords: Ainu; Ainu religion; inaw; Ainu folklore; ethnosemiotics
Some preliminary notes on the Neolithic textile of the territories of Saint Petersburg and Leningrad oblast
Nadya Efimova
The question of reconstruction of clothing is one of the most important parts of reconstruction of everyday life of Neolithic people of the territories of Petersburg and Leningrad oblast, but we have no evidence of textile manufacturing in these territories. And therefore it is possible to turn to the material of Narva culture that had regular contacts with people who lived in the territories of Petersburg and Leningrad oblast in Neolithic epoch (for instance, in the site of Okhta 1 have been found amber adornments originated from Narva culture). In Narva culture existed textile manufacturing: upon the sites of Šventoji and Sarnate have been tools which can be interpreted as textile tools and a fragment of textile made of linden. Thus, it is possible to state that Neolithic people who lived upon the territories of Petersburg and Leningrad oblast could regularly see textiles and very likely could manufacture it.
Keywords: Neolithic textile; Neolithic period of Northwest of Russia; Narva culture
Cultural Anthropology and Ethnosemiotics 