Tribes «which became wind»: autochthonous substrate in ethnocultural genesis of the Yakuts revisited

• Published in: VESTNIK ARHEOLOGII, ANTROPOLOGII I ETNOGRAFII
• Main Authors: Bravina R.I., Petrov D.M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian
• Published: Tyumen Scientific Centre SB RA 2018
• Subjects: Yakutia; Yakuts; ethnocultural genesis; autochthonous tribes; Samoyeds; Paleo-Asiatics; archaeological cultures; the Neolithic; the Paleometal Age; the Middle Ages; Archaeology; CC1-960; Sakha; Khara; Tokarev; samoyed*; Tungusic peoples; Yakut; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.20874/2071-0437-2018-41-2-119-127; https://doaj.org/article/2cc9344f2c394e218dc2d15c484cbd3d

The study of the origin of the Yakuts focuses on the ethnic history of their alien Turkic-Mongolian ancestors. Issues of mutual ethnocultural influence of local and alien ethnic groups and identification of autochthonous tribes who took part in formation of the Yakut people are not fully researched. Yakut legends mention the tribes «which became wind», Khara-Sagyly, the mysterious «long-headed» Sakha, the bellicose Tumats/Jirikinei, etc. The question of their ethnic identification is one of the most complex and not fully developed within the issue of ethnocultural genesis of the Yakuts. Some researchers (A.P. Okladnikov, S.I. Tokarev, I.V. Konstantinov, I.E. Zykov and A.I. Gogolev) consider these autochthonous tribes as the Tungusic peoples. According to a hypothesis by A.N. Alekseev and S.I. Nikolaev-Somogotto, an aboriginal layer in the Yakut culture was probably represented by paleo-Siberian and pre-Samoyedic tribes. A successful study of this issue was largely impeded by the lack of informative and sufficiently reliable sources. This problem has been partly solved due to new archaeological discoveries in the last decade, especially to that of a multi-layered man site in Ulakhan Segelenneekh on the Olekma river and thanks to the data of modern molecular-genetic researches. An attempt of a paleoethnic reconstruction of the original culture of the autochthonous tribes of Yakutia and of a comparative historical analysis of ancient traditions and cultures of indigenous peoples of Northern Asia was made in the article combining the data on folklore, toponymics, ethnography, archaeology and ethnic genetics. Integrated research data tell about the presence of ancient ethnocultural links between ancestors of the Yakuts and modern Ural peoples of Western Siberia. The tribes from historical lore and Yakutian legends are said to be aboriginal population of the north-western border of Yakutia, successors of the local archaeological cultures of the Late Neolithic and the Paleometal Age. The material given describes ...