Obsidian provenance studies in the far eastern and northeastern regions of Russia and exchange networks in the prehistory of Northeast Asia: A review

• Published in: Documenta Praehistorica
• Main Author: Kuzmin, Yaroslav V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakulte / Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts 2019
• Subjects: provenance study; prehistoric exchange; far eastern Russia; Northeastern Siberia; obsidian; provenienca; prazgodovinska menjava; ruski Daljni Vzhod; severovzhodna Sibirija; Arctic; Kamchatka Peninsula; Kolyma; Chukotka; Kamčatka; Kamchatka; kolyma river; Sakhalin; Siberia
• Online Access: https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/DocumentaPraehistorica/article/view/46.18; https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.46.18

This overview is based on the results of 25+ years of provenance studies to identify the sources of high-quality volcanic glass (obsidian) in prehistoric cultural complexes of the far eastern and northeastern regions of Russia (Maritime Province, the Amur River basin, Sakhalin Island, the Kurile Islands, Kamchatka Peninsula, Chukotka region, the Kolyma River basin, and the High Arctic), as well as in adjacent parts of Northeast Asia (Hokkaido Island, the Korean Peninsula, and Manchuria). The extended networks of obsidian exchange in antiquity are reconstructed for the southern Russian Far East and Northeastern Siberia. A possible mechanism of long-distance obsidian exchange/trade in Northeastern Siberia is suggested. Pričujoča presoja je osnovana na rezultatih več kot 25 let študij provenience pri iskanju izvorov visoko kakovostnega vulkanskega stekla (obsidiana) v prazgodovinskih kulturnih kompleksih na ruskem Daljnem Vzhodu in v regijah severovzhodne Rusije (obmorske province, območje reke Amur, otok Sahalin, Kurilsko otočje, polotok Kamčatka, območje Čukotka, območje reke Kolime in Arktično višavje) kot tudi v sosednjih delih severovzhodne Azije (otok Hokkaido, Korejski polotok in Mančurija). Za območji južnega dela ruskega Daljnega Vzhoda in severovzhodno Sibirijo smo že rekonstruirali razširjeno mrežo menjave obsidiana v preteklosti. Predlagamo pa možne mehanizme menjav/trgovine z obsidianom na daljše razdalje na območju severovzhodne Sibirije.