In search of Sayan settlements
https://doi.org/10.21285/2415-8739-2023-1-64-81
Abstract
Artificial defensive structures – “settlements” – are widely represented in the archeology of the Baikal region. Since the XIX century, finds of similar structures in the southwestern part of the Baikal region, including in the Tunka and Oka valleys, have been mentioned in the literature. The discovery of the “ancient city” in the foothills of the Tunka Alps dates back to 1809. As a result of the special attention shown by the Irkutsk governor Treskin to the find, a study of this site was organized. As a result, the presence of “ancient ruins” was confirmed, but their origin and purpose remained unclear. Later, the area where the ruins were discovered attracted the attention of geologists as unusual limestones were discovered there. Comparison of these messages showed that we are talking about the same objects. The famous geographer P.A. Kropotkin reported about an unusual hill in the valley of the Oka River similar to an artificial embankment in 1875. The expeditions conducted by the Children's Center “Lazurit” showed that these objects are not artificial structures, but are geological sites formed under the influence of a number of geological factors. The “ancient Mongolian city” actually turned out to be calcareous deposits (travertines) formed during the deposition of calcium carbonate from the water of the mineral spring Suburgyn-Arshan. The complex forms of travertines – terraces, barriers, walls – have created a landscape resembling ancient structures. The “Chinese embankment” in the valley of the Oka River turned out to be a fragment of the terminal moraine (glacial deposits) of one of the mountain glaciers of the Belsky chars of the Eastern Sayans. As a result of the erosive activity of the Oka and Gargan Rivers, one of the moraine hills acquired a shape similar to an artificial embankment.
About the Author
S. V. Snopkov
Irkutsk State University;
Irkutsk National Research Technical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Sergey V. Snopkov, Cand. Sci. (Geological and mineralogical), Associate Professor of the Department of Oil and Gas Geology of the Geological Faculty; Leading Researcher of the Siberian School of Geosciences
1, Karl Marx St., Irkutsk 664003;
89, Lermontov St., Irkutsk 664074
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