Vadim Mikhailovich Masson(1929-2010) - Soviet and Russian archaeologist, doctor of historical sciences, professor, leader (1982-1998).
Scientific works [ | ]
Author and co-author of more than 32 monographs and 500 articles (published in Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy, etc.).
Main works- Ancient agricultural culture of Margiana / USSR Academy of Sciences. IIMK. M.; Leningrad: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1959-216 p.: ill. - (MIA. No. 73).
- History of Afghanistan: In 2 vols. T. 1. From ancient times to the beginning of the 16th century. / Academy of Sciences of the USSR. INA. - M.: Nauka, 1964-464 p.: ill., maps. - Bibliography: p. 383-406. (Together with V. A. Romodin)
- Central Asia and the Ancient East. / Academy of Sciences of the USSR. LOIA. - L .: Nauka, 1964-467 p.: ill., maps.
- History of Afghanistan: In 2 vols. T. 2. Afghanistan in modern times / USSR Academy of Sciences. INA. - M.: Nauka, 1965-552 p.: ill., maps. - Bibliography: p. 479-498.
- Country of a thousand cities. - M.: Nauka, 1966.
- Central Asia in the Age of Stone and Bronze / Academy of Sciences of the USSR IA. - M.; Leningrad: Nauka, 1966-290 p.: ill., maps. (Together with M. P. Gryaznov, Yu. A. Zadneprovsky, A. M. Mandelstam, A. P. Okladnikov, I. N. Khlopin)
- The emergence and development of agriculture / USSR Academy of Sciences. IA. - M.: Nauka, 1967-232 p.: silt, maps. - Bibliography: p. 228-231. (Together with A. V. Kiryanov, I. T. Kruglikova).
- Excavations at Altyn-Depe in 1969 / USSR Academy of Sciences. LOIA; Academy of Sciences of the Turkmen SSR. - Ashgabat: Ylym, 1970 - 24 p: ill. - (Materials of YUTAKE; Issue 3). - Res. English - Bibliography: p. 22.
- Settlement Jeytun: (The problem of the formation of a producing economy) / USSR Academy of Sciences. IA. - L.: Nauka, 1971-208 p.: ill. - (MIA; No. 180)
- Karakum: the dawn of civilization / USSR Academy of Sciences. - M.: Nauka, 1972-166 p.: ill., maps. - (Ser. "From the history of world culture"). (Together with V. I Sarianidi)
- Central Asian Terracotta of the Bronze Age: An Experience of Classification and Interpretation / USSR Academy of Sciences. Department of ist. IV. - M.: Nauka, 1973-209 p., 22 sheets. ill.: ill. - (Culture of the peoples of the East; Materials and research.). - Bibliography: p. 196-202. (Together with V. I Sarianidi)
- Economy and social structure of ancient societies: (In the light of archeological data) / USSR Academy of Sciences. IA.-L.: Nauka, 1976-192 p.: ill.
- Altyn-depe / Academy of Sciences of the Turkmen SSR. - L .: Nauka, 1981-176 p., 2 p. ill.: ill. - (CHUTAKE; T. 18). - Res. English - Bibliography: p. 166-172.
- Eneolithic of the USSR / Academy of Sciences of the USSR. IA. - M.: Nauka, 1982-360 p.: ill., maps. - (Archaeology of the USSR. [T. 4]). - Bibliography: p. 334-347. (Together with N. Ya Merpert, R. M. Munchaev. E. K. Chernysh)
- Old Nisa - the residence of the Parthian kings / USSR Academy of Sciences. IA; OOPIK Turkm. - L: Nauka, 1985 - 12 p.: ill.
- The first civilizations / USSR Academy of Sciences. LOIA. - L .: Nauka, 1989-276 s: ill., maps. - Res. English - Bibliography: p. 259-271.
- Historical reconstructions in archeology / AN KirgSSR. AI. - Frunze: Ilim, 1990 - 94 p.: ill., maps. - Bibliography: p. 90-93.
- Merv is the capital of Margiana. - Mary, 1991 - 73 p.
- Antiquities of Sayanogorsk / RAS. IIMK. - St. Petersburg, 1994 - 23 p., 2 sheets. ill. - Res. English (Together with M. N. Pshenitsyna).
- Bukhara in the history of Uzbekistan. - Bukhara, 1995 - 52 p. - Rus., Uzbek. - (B-ka from the series "Bukhara and world culture").
- Historical reconstructions in archeology: Ed. 2nd, add. / RAN. IIMK; SamarGPU. - Samara, 1996-101 p.: ill. - Bibliography: p. 98-101.
- Paleolithic society of Eastern Europe: (Issues of paleoeconomics, cultural genesis and sociogenesis) / RAS. IIMK. - St. Petersburg, 1996 - 72 p.: ill. - (Archeological research; Issue 35). - Bibliography: p. 64-68.
- Institute of the History of Material Culture: ( Short story institutions, scientific achievements) / RAS. IIMK. - St. Petersburg, 1997 - 40 p.: 4 p. silt
- Cultural genesis of ancient Central Asia. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house of St. Petersburg State University, 2006. - ISBN 978-5-8465-0104-1
n1.doc
USSR ACADEMY OF SCIENCES INSTITUTE OF ARCHEOLOGY Leningrad BranchV.M.Masson
FIRST CIVILIZATIONS
LENINGRAD
LENINGRAD BRANCH
The book is dedicated to the ancient civilizations of the Old and New Worlds and is based on the results of new archaeological research in the Middle East, Central Asia, India and China. The formation of the first civilizations is regarded as a qualitative milestone in the cultural development of mankind, associated with the era of the formation of a class society and state. Special attention given to the original layer of early agricultural cultures, on the basis of which the development of socio-cultural complexes of civilizations took place. Along with the characteristic general patterns historical development individual ancient civilizations are considered as (specific phenomena with their inherent features of local specificity. The publication is intended for archaeologists and historians.
Managing editor I. N. Khlopin
Reviewers: V.I. KUZISCHIN, K. X. KUSHNAREVA
© Nauka Publishing House, 1989
ISBN 5-02-02724344
INTRODUCTION . 4
PART ONE. FIRST CIVILIZATIONS AND WORLD HISTORY .. 5
.. 6
Chapter 2 .. 10
Rice. 1. Types of cultures of the ancient era in Central Asia and the Middle East. 12
Rice. 2. The procedure of scientific analysis in archeology. 13
Rice. 3. Formation of innovations in the process of cultural genesis. 18
Rice. 4. The addition of a new type of traditional elements in an unconventional combination. On the example of materials from Southern Turkmenistan of the Eneolithic and Bronze Ages. 19
Rice. 5. Cultural traditions on the example of seals bronze age Margiana. 20
Table 1. Traditions and innovations in the Anau complexIA.. 21
Figure 6. Types of cultural transformation in Central Asia in antiquity. 22
Chapter 3. EARLY AGRICULTURAL AGE - THE ORIGINS OF CIVILIZATION .. 28
Rice. 7. Chatal Huyuk complex. 31
A rock. 31
painting. 33
Bone. 33
Ceramics. 33
figurines. 33
Sanctuary. 34
Wood. 34
Rice. 8. Complex Jarmo. 36
Terracotta. 36
Bone. 36
Flint. 37
A rock. 37
Ceramics. 38
House.. 38
Rice. 9. Jeytun complex. 40
Table 2. Economic types in the Ancient East inX- VIthousand BC e. 42
Table 3. House-building canon in the Ancient East inVIII- VIthousand BC e. 47
Chapter 4. THE AGE OF THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS .. 49
Rice. 10. Southern Mesopotamia. Pictographic inscriptions. 50
Rice. 11. Uruk. White Temple. Reconstruction. 54
Rice. 12. Pampa Grande, Peru Pyramid of Huaca Fortales. 55
Rice. 13. Prisoners of war of the era of the first civilizations. 57
PART 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL COMPLEXES OF THE AGE OF FORMATION OF THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS .. 61
Chapter 1. ANCIENT CULTURES OF MESOPOTAMIA .. 61
Rice. 14. Hassun complex. 63
Rice. 15. Complex Samarra. 67
Rice. 16. Tell es-Sawvan. Settlement plan. 68
Rice. 17. Khalaf complex, 73
Ceramics. 73
painting. 73
Decorations. 74
House.. 74
Terracotta. 75
Rice. 18. Ubeid complex. 78
Rice. 19. Complex Uruk. 81
Rice. 20. Uruk style cylinder seal. 83
Rice. 21. Plan of Uruk. 83
Rice. 22. Southern Mesopotamia. Stone head.IIIthousand BC e. 85
Rice. 23. Uruk. Stone vase. 86
Chapter 2. ANCIENT CULTURES OF THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN AND ASIA MINOR .. 89
Rice. 24. Amuk. complexesA- F. 91
Rice. 25. Gassul complex. 95
Rice. 26. Hadjilar complex. 99
Rice. 27. Troy II. Settlement plan. 102
Rice. 28. Aladzha Huyuk. Complex of rich tombs. 105
Rice. 29. Aladzha Huyuk. Wand head. Bronze. 107
Rice. 30. Aladzha Huyuk. Wand head. Bronze. 107
Chapter 3. ANCIENT CULTURES OF IRAN .. 108
Rice. 31. Complex SialkI. 111
Ceramics. 111
A rock. 112
Flint. 112
Copper. 112
Clay. 113
Bone. 113
Rice. 32. Complex SialkIII. 115
Ceramics. 115
Metal. 116
Prints. 117
Rice. 33. Susa. 121
Impressions of cylinder seals. 121
Rice. 34. Gissar ComplexIII. 125
Chapter 4. ANCIENT CULTURES OF CENTRAL ASIA .. 133
Rice. 35. Ilgynly-depe. Statuette. 137
Rice. 36. Altyn-depe. Late Neolithic complex. EndIV-StartIIIthousand BC e. 140
Rice. 37. Altyn-depe. Complex of the Early Bronze Age (NamazgaIV). 147
Rice. 38. Altyn-depe. Complex of the developed Bronze Age (NamazgaV). 149
Rice. 39. Altyn-depe. Settlement plan.Numbers - excavation numbers. 151
Rice. 40. Altyn-depe. Prints. Silver, bronze(1-9). 153
Rice. 41. Altyn-depe. Female figurine. Terracotta. 154
Rice. 42. Altyn-depe. Cultural complex. Plan and reconstruction. 159
Rice. 43. Altyn-depe. bull head(1) and wolf(2). Gold. 160
Rice. 44. Northern Afghanistan. The figure of a seated woman. A rock. 162
Rice. 45. Types of Bronze Age cultures in Central Asia and the Middle East. 164
Chapter 5. ANCIENT CULTURES OF HINDOSTAN .. 165
Rice. 46. Neolithic complex Mergar. 166
Rice. 47. Mergar. Painted vessel. 171
Rice. 48. Harappan complex. 175
Rice. 49. Mohenjo-daro. City block planning. 177
Rice. 50. Mohenjo-daro. Citadel plan. 179
Rice. 51. Mohenjo-daro. Vessel print(a, b). A rock. 183
Rice. 52. Mohenjo-daro. Male torso. A rock. 185
Rice. 53. Mohenjo-daro. Priest statue. A rock. 185
Chapter 6. ANCIENT CULTURES OF CHINA .. 190
Rice. 54. Yangshao complex. 192
Rice. 55. Zhengzhou. Town plan. 198
Rice. 56. Complex of Yin civilization. 203
Rice. 57. Shan-Yin. Elephant vessel. 205
Rice. 58. Anyang. hieroglyphic text. Turtle shell. 205
Chapter 7. ANCIENT CULTURES OF PERU AND MESOAMERICA .. 209
Rice. 59. Huaca Prieta complex. 212
Rice. 60. Urine. Anthropomorphic vessel. Ceramics. 217
Rice. 61. Urine. Warrior head. Cultural vessel. Ceramics. 217
Rice. 62. Urine. Cultural vessel. Ceramics. 218
Rice. 63. Urine. Vessel in the form of a corn deity. Ceramics. 218
Rice. 64. Mochika Civilization Complex. 219
Rice. 65. Olmek complex. 226
Rice. 66. Olmecs. Stone head. 229
CONCLUSION. 234
SUMMARY.. 235
LITERATURE .. 236
Foreign publications. 242
ABBREVIATION LIST.. 249
INTRODUCTION
Two circumstances are increasingly persistently returning historical science to the sources of social progress, primarily to qualitative milestones in the history of society. The first is more and more new archaeological discoveries in an environment where the romantic knife and shovel are increasingly supported by a variety of technical and natural sciences. As a result, new facets of the creation of the human genius in the legacy of past generations are revealed, previously unknown cultures and entire civilizations are discovered. The second is the search for general patterns in the history of society as the most complex form of the movement of matter. At the same time, naturally, when groping for general trends, the starting point becomes extremely important, be it the first manifestations of urbanism that radically change the material and psychological orientation of human groups, or the first environmental stresses of an anthropogenic nature.
One of such important milestones of socio-economic, cultural and intellectual progress is the era of the first civilizations, naturally associated with the first state formations and societies of a complex social structure. For all the uniqueness of the individual, a number of general trends can be traced here, allowing us to speak of a special phenomenon - the type of the first civilizations as a diachronic phenomenon that stands at the origins of antagonistic socio-economic formations. This position determined the subject of the present book.
Among the difficulties that stand in the way of research, first of all, is the specific nature of the archaeological materials characterizing these distant times. Questions of historical reconstructions based on archeological data invariably excite the scientific world of the second half of the 20th century. Work in this regard is being carried out in different directions. In the past two decades, archaeologists in the United States have focused on the formulation of general sociocultural concepts that are more likely to be superimposed on the material than directly flowing from it, which is only slightly camouflaged by the use, sometimes somewhat hasty, of computing technology. 1 In the French school, hopes are pinned on a refined development of the conceptual grid, streamlining the relationship between the main categories of the conceptual apparatus (Gardin, 1983; Galley, 1986), although, as practical experience in applying this approach shows, we are also still at the very beginning of the path here. Meanwhile, the practice of archaeological science leads to the emergence of works that widely address the issues of historical reconstructions in various aspects and taking into account
1 See, for example, the reports of many American scientists at the 2nd Soviet-American Symposium in Samarkand in 1983 (DTSV). When exchanging views with American colleagues at a round table in Leningrad, V.S. Bochkarev noted that “American scientists pay great attention to putting forward ideas as such. In Soviet archaeological science, great importance is attached to the argumentation of put forward ideas” (Alekshin, Buryakov, 1986, p. 222 ).
Volume to varying degrees of proposals developed by different areas of theoretical archeology. Sufficiently effective are the sociological reconstructions that have become noticeably widespread in practice, including paleoeconomic and paleodemographic developments using both traditional systems of analysis and the hypothetical-deductive approach (Masson, 1976b; Renfrew, 1984). In the USSR, a culturological direction of interpretation of archaeological data has recently been developed, proceeding from the specifics of the very nature of archaeological materials, representing a selection of ancient cultural complexes that once existed (Masson, 1981a, 1985, 1987). The theoretical studies of Soviet and foreign culturologists here can be widely used as a methodological analogue.
This work is largely written from these positions, in which general outlines of specific archaeological materials are built on the basis of their cultural interpretation, starting with the characterization of the archaeological complexes themselves as stable combinations of cultural components, expressed in types of objects, to an analysis of the fate of socio-cultural complexes of bygone eras. At the same time, it is precisely archaeological materials that make it possible to realistically reproduce, in a certain approximation, the diversity of a concrete historical process. The recurring stereotype of reproaches directed at Soviet historical science, including archeology, usually contains accusations of deterministic fatalism or straight-line evolutionism. 2 This outdated arsenal can hardly be justified by the language barrier, which cannot be a serious scientific argument. The concrete historical approach, developed by Soviet historical science at the present stage, implies an organic study of the dialectical unity of the general and the special, general laws-trends and the diversity of their specific form manifestations, the complexity of the real destinies of individual peoples and civilizations with backward movements, decline and disintegration while ascending the spiral world progress. Using concrete materials, the author tried to demonstrate these phenomena in this book as well. With a significant concentration of material on the chosen topic, this work is by no means a compendium-reference book on all civilizations of the Old and New Worlds. The original path of development of the ancient Egyptian civilization was left aside, where, however, the formative era is poorly studied at the level of modern developments, in particular, due to a certain depletion of specific materials, especially from settlements. The Crete-Mycenaean civilization is not affected either, the originality of which allows us to raise the question of the existence of a special, specific path of development within the framework of the general laws inherent in the era of the first civilizations (Masson, 1974; 1981a, pp. 127-128). For the main territory of Europe, with significant success of the agricultural and pastoral societies of the Paleometal period, which in some cases reached a significant concentration of power and the creation of prestigious buildings from Stonehenge to the Maltese temples, civilization as a stable multicomponent socio-cultural complex is formed almost at the time of the Iron Age with the widespread use of the cultural standards of the Greek the Roman world as the standards of the era of that time. Of course, the use of these and other data will make it possible to expand the limits of the specific uniqueness of the historical process, the general laws of which, it seems, stand out quite clearly already on the material used.
2 Thus, in one of the American summaries on the theory and methodology of archeology, it is precisely the reproach for adherence to unilinear evolution that contains the only two phrases devoted to Soviet archaeological science (Sharer, Ashmore, 1980, p. 509-510).
PART ONE.FIRST CIVILIZATIONS AND WORLD HISTORY
Chapter 1. THE CONCEPT OF "CIVILIZATION". ITS DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
The concept of "civilization", which has recently been increasingly used, is connected in one of its aspects with the designation of a qualitative milestone in the history of mankind. To the realization of the existence of such a frontier, not to mention its designation, humanity itself also gradually approached. For mythological thinking, especially in the period lying at the crossroads of various socio-economic systems, when the laws of primitive democracy dear to the heart of the community member were collapsing, the desire to present the development of mankind as a kind of descent from better to worse was characteristic. The most striking in this regard is the construction of Hesiod, according to which the entire history of mankind is divided into five centuries - the most ancient, golden, then successively replaced by silver, copper, heroic and iron centuries. According to Hesiod, it was a kind of evolution with the opposite sign, when people gradually morally decomposed, corrupted and became worse and worse. With the development of the scientistic thinking of Hellas, this pessimistic retrospection is replaced by systems built on the principle of direct evolution. A similar view of the natural development of mankind was already set forth by Aeschylus in Chained Prometheus, although his concept was given a poetic and, to a certain extent, mythological form. In this case, the traditional concept of historical and cultural development is saturated with philosophical content, and at the same time, the cultural hero, divine in origin, is the creator of decisive changes. Here the path of development is traced from primitive primitivism to the crafts and sciences that Prometheus taught the human race (Witz, 1979, pp. 112 - 113). The same causal complex of human evolution is presented by Plato
The term "civilization" became widespread in the 60s and 70s. and was already included in the first edition of Dahl's dictionary (Budagov, 1971, p. 130). In general, in the XIX century. the concept of "civilization" was used to refer to the human community, in many respects interlocking with the term "culture". All human global culture was perceived as a single civilization. But with the success of historical science, it became more and more clear that civilization was formed only on certain stage development of mankind, representing a qualitative milestone on the evolutionary path, reconstructed in general terms by the thinkers of the ancient era. A particularly important role was played by the study of the numerous tribes of America, Australia and Africa, who preserved archaic cultural complexes. As a result, the term "civilization" was used to divide the cultural-historical process, and in L. Morgan's scheme, civilization closes a long chain of stages in the development of primitive society (Morgan, 1877; Morgan, 1935). The deep socio-economic prerequisites for the formation of civilization were revealed by F. Engels in his work “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State”, where he emphasizes that “civilization is a period of mastering the further processing of natural products, a period of industry in the proper sense of the word and art” (Marx, Engels, vol. 21, p. 33). F. Engels also noted such an important sign of civilization as writing. At the same time, in the course of analyzing the very process of the emergence of civilization, F. Engels reveals its close connection with the development of antagonistic classes, the formation of the state, the emergence of cities and merchants. These ideas of creative Marxism have had a profound effect on historical science, although many Western scholars who have experienced their beneficial influence directly or indirectly often do not think about the source of this theoretical impulse. Soviet scientists paid considerable attention to the analysis of the concept of "civilization" (Khalipov, 1972; Mchedlov, 1978; Markaryan, 1962). At the same time, civilization is understood as a certain stage of social history, a long period in the development of individual peoples and the world as a whole (Davidovich, Zhdanov, 1979, p. 53). In Soviet science, the prevailing point of view is that civilization should be understood as a socio-cultural complex or socio-cultural communities that are formed at a certain stage in the development of society and take specific forms in different historical epochs. The latter circumstance is of fundamental importance for a correct understanding of the general patterns of development of world history, which goes through a series of successive formational stages. The classics of Marxism-Leninism used the concepts of "ancient civilization", "bourgeois civilization", a number of works Soviet authors devoted to the problem of communist civilization (Mchedlov, 1976). Such a historical approach, singling out epochal types of civilizations (the slave-owning type of civilizations, etc.) is the fundamental position of Soviet researchers and is fundamentally different from the relativistic constructions of many Western scientists. The extreme manifestation of such constructions are the views of A. Toynbee, who considers civilizations as a special, supra-epochal phenomenon, developing according to its own internal laws and epistemologically based on this case on the hypertrophy of real phenomena and the denial of general patterns (Mylnikov, 1979, p. 65). As a result, world history is characterized as a mosaic panel composed by the multi-linear development of sovereign cultures, located side by side and coexisting, and not perceived as a division of the world socio-cultural continuum (Davidovich, Zhdanov, 1979, p. 168).
At the same time, for the current state of historical science, the presence of a tendency towards an objective assessment of the nuclear essence is very indicative.
Civilizations in relation to the era of their occurrence. Thus, R. Adams in his works consistently connects civilization with a class society, with a system of political and social hierarchy, supplemented by administration and territorial division, with the organization of the state, as well as with the division of labor, leading to the allocation of crafts (Adams, 1966). In the book devoted to the Aegean civilization, K. Renfrew, while characterizing the very concept of "civilization", also emphasizes social stratification and division of labor (Renfrew, 1972, p. 7). K. Flannery, according to which civilization is a complex of cultural phenomena associated with such a form of socio-political organization as the state (Flannery, 1972, p. 400), speaks even more definitely on this score. True, at the same time there is a tendency to use the concept of "civilization" for a number of diverse and diverse phenomena. As a result, “shepherd civilizations” appear in the literature, researchers of ancient Africa write about the “civilization of the bow”, about the “civilization of the forest”, about the “civilization of the spear”, and along with this about the “civilization of the cities” (Make, 1974). As D. A. Olderogge rightly noted, in this case the concept of “civilization” is almost unambiguous to the concept of “cultural and economic type” used by Soviet ethnography (Olderogge, 1974, p. 152). Often, common usage turns out to be a tribute to fashion, representing a more journalistic than scientific desire to use a bright and catchy term.
In this paper, civilization will be considered at the very first stage of its development, when its components were born in an archaic environment and, gradually crystallizing, gave a qualitatively new character to the entire system as a whole. Studied, especially at the formative stage, largely on the basis of archeological materials, the external appearance of civilizations is clearly characterized by the objective world of culture. Essentially, the main parameters of civilization as a socio-economic system are characterized in the aforementioned study by F. Engels. As Yu. V. Kachanovsky noted, from the description of F. Engels it is clear that for ancient civilizations we can talk about a number of indicators (Kachanovsky, 1971, p. 249). In the field of economics, this is the improvement of food production, the development of industry, the strengthening of the social division of labor up to the opposite of town and country, the emergence of professional merchants and money. In the socio-political sphere we are talking about the existence of antagonistic classes, the state, the inheritance of land ownership and, finally, in the sphere of culture - about writing and art. In essence, these signs were developed and supplemented by H. Child, who made extensive use of new archaeological discoveries unknown to the founders of Marxism-Leninism. This list is well known and is repeatedly repeated in the works of many researchers (Childe, 1950; Vasiliev, 1976, p. 3). The ten signs of civilization proposed by G. Child included cities, monumental public buildings, taxes or tribute, an intensive economy, including trade, the allocation of specialist artisans, writing and the beginnings of science, developed art, privileged classes and the state. It is easy to see that in this list the primary signs of a socio-economic nature go back directly to Engels' concept. At the same time, G. Child, on the basis of archaeological discoveries, correctly noted that the constant companions of the first civilizations were monumental structures - religious, secular or funerary. During a discussion on ancient cities that took place in Chicago in 1958, one of the speakers, K. Kluckholm, proposed reducing G. Child's list to three features - monumental architecture, cities and writing (City invisible, 1960, p. 397; Daniel, 1968, p. 25). These three features are combined
A whole system of cause-and-effect relationships with the social and political processes that took place in society form the visible tip of the huge iceberg of the culture of the first civilizations. This triad expressively characterizes civilization primarily as a cultural complex, while the socio-economic essence of this phenomenon is the emergence of a class society and the state.
Let us dwell briefly on the general characteristics of the triad. Monuments of monumental architecture are not only very impressive in appearance, but also very indicative from the point of view of the production potential of the societies that created them. They seem to realize the surplus product obtained by this economic system, reflecting the organized level of society, skillfully using simple cooperation. It is the amount of labor invested that separates the first temples from ordinary communal sanctuaries, for the construction of which the efforts of several, or even one small family, were enough. Researchers have made tentative estimates of the labor expended on the construction of monumental buildings of the first civilizations. Thus, the Olmec temple center of La Venta in Mesoamerica is located on an island, the territory of which could feed only 30 families under the then existing system of slash-and-burn agriculture. However, the labor costs for the construction of the entire complex are estimated by American researchers at 18,000 man-days. It is quite clear that La Venta is the cult center of a whole union of communities located on the surrounding, rather large territory (Drucker, Heizer, 1960, p. 36-45). At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the Olmec culture is still an early, formative period of the Mesoamerican civilization (see below, p. 247). Then the labor costs for monumental structures increase many times over. The construction of the White Temple in Sumerian Uruk, according to one estimate, required the continuous labor of 1,500 people for five years (Child, 1956, p. 206). According to Chinese researchers, the construction of a powerful fortress wall in Zhengzhou required the labor of at least 10,000 people for 18 years (Chang Kwang-Chin, 1971, p. 205). And Zhengzhou, like the Olmec complexes, is just a formative period of civilization, in this case, ancient Chinese (see below, p. 217). Such were the enormous production possibilities of the first civilizations, and it is not surprising that monumental structures are one of the bright, marking signs of their very existence.
The emergence of writing was of exceptional importance. Its creation was by no means the result of abstract speculative combinations, but an urgent need of a society entering a new phase of its development. For a hunting or even early agricultural community, the amount of information that had to be transmitted to maintain the stability of the economy and culture was relatively small. This amount of knowledge could be communicated by priests or shamans orally when getting acquainted with the spiritual heritage of their ancestors or when teaching young people during initiations. The complex social and economic system that the first civilizations represented led to an abrupt increase in the most diverse information. Accounting for production and the organization of systematic agricultural work already required clear regulation. The creation of a semblance of a unified system of religious beliefs, replacing and including local cults of various tribal centers, also needed codification and firm fixation. These factors are directly reflected in the content of the first written documents. The oldest proto-Sumerian tablets from Uruk are detailed registration cards, where literally everything is recorded: the size of land plots, the tools issued, the composition of the herds, and much more. Close in content
Zhaniya the tablets of Knossos and Pylos palaces, where from year to year accounting records were kept on the number of people in the work teams, on the volume of products made by artisans. Yin divinatory inscriptions reflect the moment of cult actions, but in the end they are often aimed at real economic, political and social events. So, in one of the inscriptions we read: "To involve three thousand people in field work?" (History of the Ancient World, 1982, p. 158). It should be borne in mind that ritual actions, including requests to celestials, in full accordance with the traditions coming from the depths of the primitive era, were considered as an integral and necessary part of the labor process itself. Not without reason, among the same ancient Chinese texts, we also find this one: “Wang ordered many qiangs (community members) to perform a fertility rite in the fields” (History of the Ancient World, 1982, p. 159). Finally, Mayan steles with calendar inscriptions, along with cult and prestigious great importance in planning cycles of agricultural works.
In social terms, the introduction of writing was an important phenomenon, leading to another specific feature of the first civilizations of the era - the separation of mental labor from physical labor. This was the logical conclusion of industrial specialization, the growth of which marked the final stages of the primitive era. It was this separation that allowed society, taken as a whole, to focus the efforts of individual groups on the development of art and various forms of positive knowledge. Even Aristotle noted that mathematical knowledge developed primarily in the area of Egypt, because there the class of priests was given time for leisure.
The appearance of writing, which in its first manifestations was a very complex system, led to the emergence of a new profession - scribes, whose training in special schools also gave the beginnings of positive knowledge. In the course of their upbringing, the worldview and social psychology of this group were formed, in particular, by praising the chosen profession in every possible way. So, in one of the Sumerian texts, the following teaching is addressed to a negligent student:
The work of scribes, my brothers, you do not like!
But they bring nine gurs of grain!
Young people! Each of them brings ten gurs of grain to his father,
Grain, wool, oil, sheep brings him!
How we respect such a person!
Next to him you are not a man!
Poetry and prose. . ., 1973, with. 140.
In this case, both the form and the argument are very indicative of the pragmatic psychology of the Sumerian civilization - the emphasis is on the mercantile side of the matter, even on direct material benefits. From other positions, the importance of the profession of a scribe in ancient Egypt is affirmed:
Doors and houses were built, but they were destroyed,
The priests of the funeral services have disappeared,
Their monuments covered with mud,
Their tombs are forgotten.
But their names are pronounced while reading these books,
Written while they lived
And the memory of who wrote them,
Become a scribe, enclose it in your heart
So that your name becomes the same.
A book is better than a painted headstone
And stronger than walls.
Poetry and prose. . ., 1973, p. 103.
Here, to substantiate the importance of the profession of a scribe, an ethical and philosophical imperative is proposed, the conviction comes from the standpoint of spiritual values.
Both monumental architecture and writing did not exist in a vacuum. Temples and palaces usually decorated urban centers, and the educated cadres of the first civilizations were also concentrated in the cities. Almost the entire huge number of monuments of Yin writing, for example, comes from the capital Anyang, while in other, ordinary settlements, such finds are rare. Here we come to the third important sign of the first civilizations - the development of urban-type settlements. Not without reason, as we have seen, the very etymology of the concept of "civilization" goes back to the civil, urban community. It is in the cities that the process of accumulation of wealth and social differentiation proceeds especially intensively, centers of economic and ideological leadership are located here, specialized handicraft production is concentrated in cities, the role of exchange and trade increases, while small villages of rural communities, as a rule, remain closed in the system of self-sufficiency by forces. its members, which has developed in the depths of the primitive era. Recently, much attention has been paid to the study of ancient cities and urbanization processes in ancient societies (Adams and Nissen, 1972; MSU; Dyakonov, 1973; Ancient cities, 1977; Gulyaev, 1979). Repeatedly it was necessary to address this question and the author of these lines (Masson, 1979c, 1981a; Masson, 1981b).
The city was an institution that was born in the depths of primitive society and symbolized the advent of a new era. It was precisely this circumstance that F. Engels emphasized when he wrote: “It is not for nothing that formidable walls rise around new fortified cities: in their ditches the grave of the tribal system gapes, and their towers already reach civilization” (Marx, Engels, vol. 21, p. 164). Cities were large population centers that performed specific functions in the social system. The question of the quantitative parameters of urban-type settlements is closely related to the demographic indicators prevailing in various economic systems. In the conditions of irrigated agriculture of the Ancient East, the concentration of the population was very high, and here the criterion proposed by G. Child is quite applicable, according to which settlements with more than 5000 inhabitants can be considered cities. In other regions, these parameters look different. To a certain extent, this applies to such a feature of urban centers as building density. In particular, in the Novy Svet, along with urban centers with continuous development, there are dispersed settlements (Gulyaev, 1979, p. 108 et seq.). The significance of ancient cities was determined by their functions. First of all, they served as the center of the agricultural district, the center of crafts and trade, as well as the role of a kind of ideological leader. It was in the cities that the main temples of the country were located, and often the presence of a cultural center was one of the important incentives for the formation of an urban-type settlement in a given place. This function is associated with another feature of the external appearance of ancient cities - the presence of high-rise buildings. Monumental temple complexes determined the architectural silhouette of the ancient cities of Mesopotamia. Functionally similar to the ancient Eastern cities and palace centers of the Cretan-Mycenaean society. The dispersed development of many ancient centers of Mesoamerica cannot hide their purely urban functions.
The cultural complex of the first civilizations was a complex organism in which all the main elements actively interacted, including ideological ones. The significance of the ideology and social psychology of ancient societies is often underestimated both in general developments and in concrete analysis sometimes voluntarily or involuntarily leading to socio-economic determinism. Learning the real role
And the significance of such a powerful force as ideology is paid unjustifiably little attention. Meanwhile, ideology, being formed under the influence of economic and social factors, has a certain independence in relation to the basis that created it. As F. Engels noted, “. . We see that, once it has arisen, religion always retains a certain stock of ideas inherited from former times, since in all areas of ideology in general, tradition is a great conservative force” (Marx, Engels, vol. 21, p. 315). The transition to civilization was also associated with significant changes in the field of ideology, when new ideological canons were formed, clothed, as a rule, in religious forms. It was at the time of the first civilizations that the ideological sphere, systematized and centralized, became a truly enormous force. The means of ideological influence were aimed at substantiating and maintaining the new legal orders established on earth. So, magnificent funeral rites, grandiose royal burials were objectively a way of ideological influence on ordinary community members, affirmed in the minds and feelings the idea of the greatness of the power of the ruler, towering over his subjects. Corresponding changes are also taking place in traditional mythological schemes. Creation stories emphatically emphasize that humans, who owe their existence to the creator gods, must work diligently in the name of these gods who have brought order to the world.
The significance of ancient civilizations as cultural systems, an important feature of which is the above-mentioned triad, forces us to specifically address the issues of studying the process of cultural genesis on the basis of archeological materials, which form the main array of sources for studying this era.
Masson V.M.
Prospects for Methodological Developments in Historical Science: Formations, Civilizations, Cultural Heritage
Decay Soviet Union, socio-economic and political changes give rise to numerous imbalances in society, including in the ideological sphere. Confusion and confusion also manifested itself in the field of methodology of historical science. The practice of research and teaching work prompted the author to turn to this topic to varying degrees, and this lecture is, as it were, a systematization of observations and proposals in this area.
Here naturally the first question arises about the legacy left by the Soviet era: about the methodology of historical science in the conditions of ideological pressure and adaptation. In an environment of politicization, accompanied by powerful organizational pressure, a number of methodological stereotypes were formed, ascending, at least terminologically, to the basic provisions of the general concept of K. Marx and F. Engels on the nature of historical development and ways of its implementation. All this, as a rule, took a simplified dogmatic form, where primitivism could discredit any, even the most reasonable theoretical positions. One result of this process was a kind of formational evolutionism. Socio-economic formations, themselves understood in an extremely primitive way, were fixed in a rigid list consisting of five formations - primitive, slave-owning, feudal, capitalist and socialist, turning into utopian communism.
Terminologically, this system was not quite adequate, especially in relation to the so-called. slave-owning formation, since, as specific studies have shown, the very structure of the population groups subjected to exploitation was very complex and diverse. At the same time, the division of the historical process into successive periods fully corresponded to the existing realities. The only negative thing was the desire to give this periodization a rigid character of mandatory evolution. Researchers were prescribed a strict sequence, which all societies had to go through without exception. So, efforts were made to discover the slave-owning formation among the Scythians. V.Ya. Vladimirov, having prepared an excellent work on Mongolian society, was forced to crown it with a stereotyped formulation of Mongolian nomadic feudalism. With the development of science, new discoveries, methodological developments, thinking scientists became more and more aware of how unpromising the approach of formational evolutionism with its limited conceptual grid became. Attempts were made (quite in the spirit of the times) to find in the works, and even in individual notes and private letters of scientists ranked among the “classics of Marxism-Leninism”, some possibilities for coordinating new aspects and theoretical approaches that were becoming increasingly narrow. Such was, in particular, the desire to single out a special formation - the so-called. Asian mode of production as an attempt to reconcile the concept of uniformity and diversity of life. In practice, the camouflage of formational evolutionism became more and more transparent under the pressure of the stated and generalized real facts and historical processes. In this regard, the book on theories of the historical process, which was published in 1983 in the conditions of the beginning collapse of politicized dogmatism, was successful in its own way.
The primitivism of the dogmatic formational approach to the historical process goes back to a simplified understanding of Darwinian evolutionism as some kind of absolute imperative. In the new Darwinian biology, the doctrine of punctualism was developed as a movement, reflecting the gradual nature of development with stops, slowdowns and return movements. In this respect, the antithesis of formational evolutionism is the concept rhythms of cultural genesis. Concrete history is replete with real examples of a slowdown in the historical process, stagnation of evolutions with the opposite sign, pushing back this or that society for a whole historical epoch. Classic example to that - the Cretan-Mycenaean society, clearly demonstrating the high socio-economic status of a society that already fully owns such an important indicator of an established civilization as writing. With its collapse, history, as it were, takes a step back, writing is forgotten and reinvented. Homeric Greece is carrying out a new round of socio-political progress with the addition of early forms royal power. We see the same pulsating rhythm in India, where, after the decline of the Harappan civilization, an outwardly archaic non-literate period begins. A new cycle of movement towards the state and civilization will begin almost a millennium later, when the Vedic society develops, moreover, in a different spatial locus - in the Ganges valley. At the level of macrochanges, the historical process as a whole moves mainly along an ascending line. At the level of micro changes, there are various fluctuations, up to stagnation and degradation.
The reasons for these phenomena may be different. These are both natural factors of ecological stresses and military-political components. In a number of cases, a particular social system has probably exhausted its potentialities and has not been able to find a way to a productive restructuring. There could also be such a phenomenon when a people without population renewal did not overcome the cycle of homeostasis.
A fairly striking example of such cyclical stagnation is provided by the history of the Balkan societies of the 6th-4th millennium BC. e. The early agricultural economy made it possible to develop vast areas and achieve first-class results in culture, especially in artistic production. The extreme eastern component in this historical and cultural area is the Trypillia cultural community. At the same time, in all societies of this cycle, urbanistic principles are poorly represented, which made it possible for Mesopotamia to make an abrupt transition from an early agricultural society to the first civilization with developed crafts and monumental architecture. This did not happen in the Balkans. Local societies degrade and wither. A new cycle of development begins in the Balkans and Central Europe from the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e., when the military factor and the military-aristocratic path of politogenesis are clearly represented, which, by the way, was absent in Balkan-type societies. Along with the temporal rhythms of historical development, there are also spatial rhythms, when the centers of active progress, due to a number of circumstances, move in spatial loci. For example, A. Toynbee vainly characterized the steppe path of development as unpromising, since capitalism was not formed on a local basis in the steppe zone. The steppe zone, with the achievement of the structure of nomadic empires, the peak of which was the super-empire of Genghis Khan, exhausted the possibilities inherent in the local society, just as it happened with Mesopotamia, which retained the palm of historical progress for almost three millennia.
The most important milestone in the history of society was the formation of civilization. In everyday usage, a society is usually considered civilized. high degree development. The initial characteristic of the most ancient or first civilizations can be considered basic for the definition. They can be characterized as a socio-cultural complex with such important components as urban settlements, developed crafts, monumental architecture and writing. The complex nature of such a society requires the presence of governing structures that have reached a high level of politogenesis, usually referred to as the state.
Cities are defined as large population centers with specific functions, the set of which could be different, but, as a rule, quite complete. Basic and essentially universal was the function of the center of the agricultural district. The functions of the center of handicraft production, the trade center, the function of ideological leadership and the military center, represented by a complex fortification and a set of weapons among the inhabitants, are also quite expressive. In essence, the formation of the first cities meant the formation of civilization. Therefore, the most general definition of civilization is its characterization as a culture of literate citizens.
The formation of complex structures, including civilizations, was not a one-time, but a long and complex process. At the final stages of archaic societies, quite complex structures are often formed that provide outstanding achievements in culture and social life, but are not yet civilizations proper with a corresponding complex socio-political status. These organisms are commonly referred to as early complex societies. Their characteristic feature is the formation of a factor of leadership or central authority, which ensured the organization of large-scale work in various areas of life support systems from household to ideological. Vivid examples of the results of such activities are the monumental complexes of Stonehenge, huge supercenters tripolye community or majestic burial structures with rich tombs, represented by the Maikop culture North Caucasus. New system the organization of society functioned for a certain time, then the factors and prerequisites for its appearance devalued, and the society returned, according to the laws of development rhythms, to a more archaic state.
This was due to the internal weakness of the structure of early complex societies, which did not provide advancement to the next level of development, which was to be an urban civilization. Among the weaknesses of the social structure is the absence of a clearly defined system of social structures, fixed by the corresponding material situation - what can be called a class structure. Equally, apparently, there was no bureaucratic system of leadership, when the serving nobility ensured continuity and stability, as we know from the example of ancient states that maintained organizational continuity during complex political upheavals. Early complex societies were formed at the managerial level, monumental structures ceased to be erected, and everything returned “to normal”. It was a kind of trial and error in the course of the movement of society to the first civilizations and states. At the level of cultural characteristics, the civilizations themselves were also very different. Their first type can be characterized as epochal, combining macro features and macro manifestations. This epochal type of the first civilizations, represented by Egypt, China, Mesoamerican civilizations, characterizes the diachronic nature of development. The ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica, structurally similar to the first civilizations of the Ancient East, are in absolute chronology synchronous with the time of the developed Middle Ages of the European continent.
In this regard, an important question arises about the periodization of history and the allocation great epochs of historical development.
With all the diversity and variety of forms of historical development, for the early time it is most realistic to talk about three epochs of development - archaic, ancient and medieval. They are quite clearly separated from one another in many respects - culture, organization of society, features of intellectual development. Geographically, this is manifested in the most developed zones of Eurasia and Mediterranean Africa. This generally recognized and, in any case, commonly used division in the terminology of the formational approach was called three epochs - the time of the primitive communal system, slave-owning and feudal formations. Perhaps the greatest difficulty here was caused by the term “slave-owning”, in whose Procrustean bed the diversity and dynamism of real social structures that fell into this formational unity did not fit. The terminological approach of I.M. Dyakonov, under whose editorship the three-volume "History of the Ancient World" was published, which went through several editions. Here we are talking about an era designated as antiquity with a triple division: early antiquity, the heyday of ancient societies and the time of the decline of ancient societies. This approach seems to be the most appropriate at this stage. The first civilizations discussed above lie completely in the period of early antiquity, forming its initial initial phase.
Civilization, starting from the early stages of its manifestation, is a complex socio-cultural complex. Its social component also includes the development of administrative structures that organize the functioning of society in all areas that require large-scale regulation: from agriculture and primitive trade to public religious activities and relations with neighbors, which often acquired a conflict character. Urban society, with all its complex components, created a vast amount of information that needed to be stored and transmitted. This was one of the most important incentives for the development of writing, since the traditional ways of storing information - oral and pictorial - turned out to be insufficient.
Two main types of development of the process of politogenesis are outlined: organizational-administrative and military-aristocratic. Already among a number of pre-Columbian tribes North America there was a practice of allocating two leaders in parallel with different functions - a military katsik and a peaceful katsik. The need for organization and reliable functioning of economic activity stimulated the development of organizational and managerial functions. In this regard, the role of the temples of ancient Sumer as organizational centers of agricultural labor, from tilling the land to harvesting and storing products, is especially indicative. Tensive inter-tribal displacement situation material assets and the labor force contributed to the development of an external function - from the production of weapons and the creation of fortifications to the selection of a group of people who are constantly engaged in military affairs, becoming almost professionals in this area. The leaders of such groups contributed to the development of the military-aristocratic path of politogenesis, as it was in Homeric Greece and vividly characterized by F. Engels. AT real history various managerial functions, as a rule, intersected, but their certain dominant often appears quite clearly.
In the specific developments of Russian scientists, in the first place. THEM. Dyakonov and his school, it is clearly shown that social structure, to the terminology of which the very word “slavery” was attached, played a huge role. According to the research of I.M. Dyakonov, the term “slave-type forced laborers” is proposed for the initial social stratum. The popular image in literature of the slave as a "completely disenfranchised speaking instrument" was only extreme in this complex social structure.
The development of societies in the epoch of antiquity, like many historical phenomena, had a diachronic character. Thus, the lag in the pace of development of American societies in comparison with the Eurasian ones according to the system of absolute chronology falls on the era of the European Middle Ages. A certain lag in the pace of development of America could go back to the time of the initial development of man in the expanses of the New World. The first hunters and gatherers spent almost twenty thousand years extensively developing new spaces before the crisis manifestations of the economy of appropriation of food did not push the society to the Neolithic revolution.
The desire for exclusively socio-economic priorities with the asserted formational evolutionism weakened attention to the huge role of other aspects of the historical process, primarily to cultural and intellectual development. Yes, it is very important to develop processes of cultural genesis for the study of historical development as such. This aspect is of exceptional importance for the era of antiquity, primarily at the informational level. The limited nature of written sources and their predominant focus on the coverage of events in political history are well known, given the extreme poverty of data on the socio-economic sphere. At the same time, many historical phenomena, including those of a socio-economic nature, are reflected and embodied in culture and can be adequately used for an appropriate interpretation. Yes, and the development of culture is the clearest embodiment of the historical process as a whole, which can be interpreted on the basis of these fairly reliable and massive forms.
The categories of culture quite clearly reflect the phenomena associated with social processes. For example, in modern Russian historiography, according to the principle “I burned everything that I worshiped,” the concept of classes is avoided, although such structures are presented in everyday reality up to the present day. Thus, the concept of "life support system" is known, covering primarily such manifestations as settlements, dwellings, food and clothing. If we take the last three components, especially combining men's and women's attire, then a social grouping stands out clearly in our society, shamefully called "new Russians" and in fact forms a whole class, property-leading in society. Without touching upon the complex problem of determining the level of income, it must be said frankly that this class stands out distinctly and unconditionally in the materials of culture.
It is culture that is a living layer of historical reality, the realities of which, with their bright individuality, make it possible to destroy the stencils of one-time formational evolutionism. For example, we read in the volumes " world history»Standard identical formulations that in Germany, and in France, and in other countries exploited, oppressed the peasants. With this wretched trivial formulation began the presentation of the history of these and other countries.
It should be borne in mind that culture by no means automatically performed the so-called. social order, but followed its own internal features and patterns, although lying in the general flow of historical development. The processes and phenomena revealed on the materials of culture naturally fit into the general historical interpretation, supplementing and deepening its analysis.
In this regard, it is very important to identify two types of cultural transformation - spontaneous and stimulated. Spontaneous transformation proceeds on the basis of local characteristics, which naturally pass through the stages of changes, usually on an evolutionary basis. With stimulated transformation, changes can occur as a result of the influence of neighboring cultural traditions, but not in a mechanical way, which would mean direct borrowing, but on the basis of selection and adaptation to the local environment and traditions. Without such manifestations, this would be direct borrowing, which, of course, also took place in the process of cultural genesis.
The processes of cultural mutation are important. Many phenomena that, given the chronological and other lag behind already established manifestations, are tempting to perceive as borrowings, in reality they are not. Numerous important discoveries in different centers were made anew. This applies, for example, to the foundations of the writings of the great first civilizations, so independent that, for example, the writing of Harappa still cannot be convincingly read, despite various attempts and tricks. In this case, the invention of writing is a phenomenon of a clearly mutational nature.
For broad historical generalizations, it is essential to use the concept of zones of absolute and relative isolation, developed on a natural-geographical basis. It is quite clear that there can be zones of partial and absolute cultural isolation, a vivid example of which is medieval Japan. There is evidence of partial linguistic isolation or a desire for it, which, like the natural isolation of the Australian mainland, is by no means conducive to development and progress. For a broad analysis of the features of the historical process, such a cultural concept as a way of life, for example, urban or steppe, is also important. So, starting with the mass spread of cattle breeding in the steppe Eurasia, we can talk about the formation of a special steppe way of life, to which local ethnic characteristics could give a certain flavor without changing the basic forms. It should be borne in mind that the steppe way of life, especially with the spread of nomadic pastoralism, could stimulate the development of passionarity, which became more and more in demand and necessary even for everyday life. The passionarity inherent in nomadic societies played a significant role in the political history of the ancient and medieval era, for example, in the development of Parthia and the Kushan state as world-class empires, along with Rome and Han China.
For effective historical developments, the phenomenon of cultural heritage, which in last years historians and politicians began to pay increasing attention. The broad concept of cultural heritage includes many phenomena from material culture to artistic creativity, song mode and behavioral guidelines. In a number of cases, the cultural heritage also includes religious systems that have long and firmly been included in the life of the people, which have become integral part public consciousness and stereotypes of behavior. At the same time, it is precisely the specific forms of the cultural heritage of a particular people that also characterize the special specific features of religious institutions, especially at the ritual and behavioral level. Moreover, the so-called world religions, and other religious systems as well, incorporated and adapted many folk customs and holidays to their ideological bloc. For example, such a form as the folk model of Islam is quite widespread. In Central Asia, the cult of the horse was traditional, as evidenced by such finds as sacred feeders or hoof prints on the surface of stone slabs. With the spread of Islam, the horse was declared the horse of Caliph Ali and, in this sense, is revered to this day. In Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, local traditions blocked the widespread use of Arabic proper names, giving unconditional preference to proper names of the Turkic-speaking linguistic group with a fairly transparent household etymology. Even the almost universal name of Abdallah was replaced by Khudaikuli, also meaning "God's slave", but in the Turkic language.
In general, cultural heritage is a factor of stability and, using the example of the tradition of the steppe or urban way of life, even the Genghis Khan invasion with its strategies of intimidation and total terror introduced into military doctrine could not be interrupted.
Cultural heritage, along with language and anthropological type, plays a major role in the study of the history of individual peoples, their traditions and continuity. The poor conceptual primitivism inherent in the approach of formational evolutionism gave rise to a kind of linguistic monopoly in the study of ethnogenesis. At the same time, the language often changed among the same population depending on the political situation, which is partially manifested today. Enough to remember political history Mesopotamia, where many languages have changed while the main population retains the traditions of cultural heritage developed by the urban lifestyle. A typical example of the corresponding processes is Egypt, which is justly proud of its first-class cultural heritage, which has not been devalued by linguistic changes, up to the Arabic language that dominates today. The desire for the primacy of linguistic monopolism leads to an unpromising search for, say, the Kazakh language among the population of the Andronovo cultural community of the Bronze Age, which rightfully forms one of the main layers of the cultural heritage of the Kazakh people.
The change of language did not always or, more precisely, the region often led to ethnic changes. In this regard, the history of Central Asia is quite characteristic. There, in the 9th century, not only did the Eastern Iranian Sogdian language change to Western Iranian, which is called Tajik-Persian by domestic specialists, but the self-name of the people also changed, which began to call themselves not Sogdians, but Tajiks. Meanwhile, anthropologically, this is the former population, as well as the main indicators of cultural heritage, including the famous epic, set out instead of Sogdian or Bactrian in the Tajik-Persian language in the immortal poem "Shahnameh". An interesting process of changing the self-name of the population can be observed in the nomadic world. For example, the Mongols were the initiators and pioneers of grandiose historical changes. However, the name "Mongols" was changed to "Tatars". The latter term has been firmly established in the historical tradition since the European Middle Ages. It is necessary to point to the process of mutual assimilation, when, during the formation of political domination, the newcomers assimilated the local population linguistically, but themselves perceived the highly organized culture of the conquered population, as was the case during the Turkic-Sogdian synthesis in Semirechye and Xinjiang.
The study of the historical fate of cultural heritage different peoples represents a very promising creative direction modern science. Two cycles of such developments can be outlined here. First of all, this is the concept of layers of cultural heritage as the sum of stable manifestations, taken in a temporal characteristic. So, for example, for Turkmenistan we can talk about three large layers of cultural heritage. This is a layer of the early agricultural era and urban civilizations of the ancient Eastern type, Parthian and Seljuk. In addition to the continuity in the field of cultural heritage, here for all three layers there is a clear anthropological continuity. For Eastern Europe, perhaps we should talk about the layer of the Trypillia heritage with its pronounced stable specifics of the settled agricultural way of life, to the traditions of which modern villagers also gravitate.
Another cycle can be associated with the concept of "cultural heritage blocks" as cultural complexes that are similar in basic parameters, although they differ in detailed consideration. This is the indisputable block of the steppe cultural heritage. It will not be surprising if the relevant developments show that there is an East Slavic block of cultural heritage as a genetic forerunner of the Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian cultural heritage.
It is quite probable that, to a certain extent, we can also talk about the Samanid block of cultural heritage, which, on a genetic basis, merged into the cultural heritage of a number of Central Asian peoples, primarily the Tajiks, but not only them alone. The factor of cultural heritage is diverse and has numerous manifestations. For example, in geopolitical priorities, the desire for Islamic unity is only to a small extent connected with geographical prerequisites.
All this once again testifies that culture and its manifestations are of no small importance for the knowledge of historical processes. This, as well as many other things, is one of the ways leading science away from the simplified approach of formational evolutionism.
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Vadim Mikhailovich Masson (May 3, 1929 - February 19, 2010) - Soviet and Russian archaeologist, doctor of historical sciences, professor, head of the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1982-1998).
Specialist in the archeology of Central Asia (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan), the Middle and Near East of the Neolithic, Eneolithic, Bronze, Early Iron Age and Antique period.
In 1950 he graduated from the archaeological department of the historical faculty of the Central Asian state university majoring in Central Asian Archeology. The head of the department of Central Asian archeology at that time was his father, Academician Mikhail Evgenievich Masson.
In 1954 he defended at the Leningrad Institute of the History of Material Culture of the USSR Academy of Sciences (IIMK) PhD thesis « ancient culture Dakhistan. (Historical and archaeological essays). After defending his dissertation, he was hired in the sector of Central Asia and the Caucasus of the IIMC.
In 1962 he defended his doctoral dissertation "The most ancient past of Central Asia (from the emergence of agriculture to the campaign of Alexander the Great)".
In 1968 he was appointed head of the sector of Central Asia and the Caucasus of IIMC, in 1982 - head of IIMC and chairman of the Academic Council.
Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute (Germany), Institute of the Middle and Far East (Italy), honorary member of the Royal Society of Antiquities (Great Britain), member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Literature. Cultural Advisor to the President of Turkmenistan, Chairman of the Scientific Council International Institute cultural heritage of the peoples of Turkmenistan, laureate of the Makhtumkuli Prize (Turkmenistan). In April 1999, he was awarded the Sharaf Order by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Books (5)
Eight thousand years ago, on the outskirts of the Karakum desert, the first light of civilization dawned - settlements of settled farmers appeared.
In ancient times, the cheerful art of Greece and Eastern traditions met on the territory of Central Asia, illuminating the cultures of Bactria and Parthians with the brilliance of Hellenism. The civilization of the Central Asian peoples left to their descendants the manuscripts of great scientists and poets, the exquisite monuments of Samarkand and Bukhara.
In a book written by the doctor of historical science V.M. Masson and the candidate of historical science V. I. Sarianidi, tells about the events that took place in Central Asia over several centuries. Peru of these well-known specialists in history and archeology owns such books as "Central Asia and the Ancient East" (V.M. Masson. M.-L., 1964), "The Land of a Thousand Cities" (V.M. Masson. M. , 1966), "Secrets of the disappeared art of the Karakum" (V.I. Sarianidi. M., 1967), "Behind the dunes - the past" (V.I. Sarianidi, G.A. Koshelenko. M., 1966).