Search

Animal Husbandry and Hunting in the Population of the Chiyalik Culture Of Southern Ural // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2025. Issue 1 (47). P. 118-128

This article presents preliminary generalized results of a study of osteological material from the villages of the Chiyalik culture of the Golden Horde period. The study of late medieval settlements will make it possible to determine the biodiversity of this region’s fauna and correctly assess the role of agriculture, animal husbandry, and hunting in the economy of the medieval population. The study of animal remains from monuments of the XIIIXVIII centuries is one of the most promising areas of archaeozoology. One of the most frequent finds in settlements is animal bones. However, the obligatory detailed archaeozoological analysis of bone remains has been carried out only recently, which has already made it possible to obtain initial but important and diverse information that complements the general understanding of the economic activities of the Golden Horde of the VolgaKama population. The proposed work summarizes materials from 12 villages of the Chiyalik culture, which are used: Gornovo, Yabalakly-1, 2 and 3, Podymalovo-1, New Yabalakly 1 and 2, Nizhnekhozyatovo-2 and 3, Mellyatamak VI, Chiyalik, Igimskaya site. The monuments are located in the forest-steppe zone of the Southern Urals, in the river basin. Belaya and its large tributaries Dema, Ik, etc. The article contains features of animal bone remains, an analysis of the ratio of age groups within the domestic species, and features of the dismemberment of carcasses. It is shown that the herd of the Chiyalik culture population is dominated by bone remains of domestic animals, among which cattle and horses predominate. The ratio of age groups of domestic ungulates indicates the use of cattle and horses for meat and milk production. Small cattle were kept for their meat and wool. A camel was found in the village of Yabalakly-1, which could indicate caravan trade. The presence of domestic chicken remains in the materials of the Yabalakly-1 settlement could indicate a fairly dense sedentarization of the population of the Chiyalic cultural traditions, which calls into question the thesis of their semi-nomadic way of life. The role of game and fish in the diet of the settlement’s population was insignificant.

Keywords: Southern Urals, Late Middle Ages, Chiyalik culture, The Golden Horde, village, archaeozoology, herd structure