The new materials of the Mohe culture on the Eastern coast of Primorye

   This article presents an analysis of the data of “Olga. 87 km”, the new site of the Mohe archeological culture, located on the eastern coast of Primorsky Krai. This region is archaeologically underexplored and the addition of the source base for the reconstruction of its ancient history is a crucial task. As a result of a scrupulous approach to the analysis of a small collection of artifacts, the main characteristics of the ceramic complex were revealed, plant seed imprints on the surface of vessels were identified, the type of iron armor plates and the method of production of ancient textiles preserved on several fragments of the armor were determined. As a result, not only the site’s chronology and cultural background was determined, but it has also been suggested that this object of cultural heritage is a cemetery. The site’s cultural background is determined by ceramics, which have analogies in the residential and burial complexes of the Mohe archaeological culture located in the eastern and northeastern Primorye. Broomcorn millet seeds imprints found on the vessel walls does not contradict this either, since this grain played a significant role in the economy of some groups of the Mohe population. The site’s chronology is indicated both by the defining characteristics of vessels peculiar to the ceramics of sites of the VII-VIII centuries AD, and the type of armor plates that became widespread no earlier than the VII century. A limited set of finds specific to burials (ceramics and armor plates) and a small volume of vessels, which is a defining characteristic of the funerary complexes’ ceramics, allow us to quite convincingly characterize the new site as a cemetery. Thus, “Olga.87 km” archaeological site is a new cemetery of the Mohe culture, which functioned at the beginning of the Bohai period (VII-VIII centuries AD).

1. Andreeva Zh.V., Piskareva Ya.E. (2018) Some results of research on the southern slope of the Blue Rocks settlement (excavation No. 1 of 1962 and excavation No. 3 of 1965). Trudy` Instituta istorii, arxeologii DVO RAN = Proceedings of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Vol. 20. P. 24-39. (In Russ.). EDN: ZDFRPV.

2. Artem`eva N.G. (2012) Andreanov Klyuch - a new site of the Mohe period in Primorye. Tihookeanskaya arheologiya = Pacific Archeology. Iss. 23. P. 223-235. (In Russ.).

3. Yujbin` Sun, Ivliev A.L., Gel`man E.I. (2013) Bohai antiquities from the Primorsky Krai of Russia. Beijing: Ve`n`u. 278 p. (In Russ.). EDN: YSJOVV.

4. Vostreczov Yu.E., Piskareva Ya.E., Rakov V.A. (2003) Evidence of the use of marine resources by the Mohe population of Kievka Bay. Problemy` arxeologii i paleoe`kologii Severnoj, Vostochnoj i Central`noj Azii : materialy Mezhdunar. konf. «Iz veka v vek», posvyashch. 95-letiyu so dnya rozhd. akad. A.P. Okladnikova i 50-letiyu Dal'nevost. arkheol. eksped. RAN = Problems of Archeology and Paleoecology of Northern, Eastern and Central Asia. Proceedings of the International Conference «From century to century», dedicated to 95^th anniversary from the day of the Birth of Acad. A.P. Okladnikov and 50^th anniversary Far Eastern Archaeological Expedition of Russian Academy of Sciences. Novosibirsk : Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography SB RAS. P. 368–372. (In Russ.).

5. Gorbunov V.V. (2015) Heavily armed cavalry of Xianbi-Muyun. Vojna i oruzhie. Novy`e issledovaniya i materialy`. Trudy` VI Mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii, 13–15 maya 2015 goda, g. Sankt-Peterburg = War and Weapons. New research and materials. Proceedings of the VI International Scientific and Practical Conference, May, 13–15, 2015. Sankt-Peterburg. St. Petersburg: VIMAIViVS. Pt. II. P. 3-20. (In Russ.).

6. Derevyanko E.I. (1977) Troiczkij burial ground. Novosibirsk : Nauka. 224 p. (In Russ.).

7. Derevyanko A.P., Bogdanov E.S., Nesterov S.P. (1999) Naifeld burial ground. Novosibirsk: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS. 96 p. (In Russ.).

8. D`yakova O.V. (1998) Mohe sites of Primorye. Vladivostok: Dal`nauka. 318 p. (In Russ.).

9. Klyuev N.A., Dzhi Byon Mok, Li Sandzhun, Boldin, V.I., Gel`man, E.I., Yu Y`n Sik, Chxve Inxa, et al. (2018) Results of research on the ancient settlement of Sinelnikovo-1 in the Russian Primorye. Tedzhon: Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; State Research Institute of the Cultural Heritage of Republic Korea. 394 p. (In Russian and Korean). EDN: YXMHHF.

10. Kuz`min Ya.V., Boldin V.I., Nikitin Yu.G. (2005) Chronology of cultures of the early Iron Age and the mediaeval period of Primorye. Rossiya i ATR = Russia and the Asia-Pacific Region. No. 4. P. 44-55. (In Russ.). EDN: WCZZRZ.

11. Lebedeva E.Yu. (2016) Archeobotany: research methods and integration of results. Mezhdistsiplinarnaya integratsiya v

12. arkheologii (po materialam lektsii dlya aspirantov i molodykh sotrudnikov) = Interdisciplinary Integration in Archeology (based on lectures for graduate students and young employees). Moscow: IA RAN. P. 118-146. (In Russ.).

13. Nesterov S.P., Alkin S.V. (1999) Early medieval burial ground Chaliba on the river. 2^nd Sungari. Tradicionnaya kul`tura Vostoka Azii = Traditional Culture of East Asia. Blagoveshchensk: Amur State University. Iss. 2. P. 153-176. (In Russ.).

14. Piskareva Ya.E. (2021)) Ceramics in the ritual and everyday life of the early medieval population of Primorye (based on materials from archaeological sites in the middle reaches of the Razdolnaya River). Arkheologiya evraziiskikh stepei = Archeology of the Eurasian steppes. No. 4. P. 31-44. (In Russ.). doi: 10.24852/2587-6112.2021.4.31.44. EDN: UPPPSY

15. Sayapina I.V (2022) Ornamental compositions of ceramics from the Mohe layer of the Krasnoe Ozero settlement. Rossiya i ATR = Russia and the Asia-Pacific Region. No. 3. P. 170-181. (In Russ.). doi: 10.24412/1026-8804-2022-3-170-181. EDN: WWFVJL.

16. Semin P.L. (1986) The Mohe’s complex of the Ust-Zerkalnaya IV site. Istoriya i kul'tura Vostochnoi i Yugo-Vostochnoi Azii = History and Culture Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. Moscow. Pt. 2. P. 219-225. (In Russ.).

17. Semin P.L., Kolomietc S.A. (1990) Ceramic complex of the burial ground Monastyrka-III. Materialy po srednevekovoi arkheologii i istorii Dal'nego Vostoka SSSR = Materials on Medieval archeology and History of the Far East of the USSR. Vladivostok: DVO AN SSSR. P. 116-132. (In Russ.).

18. Sergusheva E.A. (2018a) Agriculture of the urban population. Goroda srednevekovykh imperii Dal'nego Vostoka = Cities of medieval empires of the Far East. Moscow: Oriental Literature. P. 251-280. (In Russ.).

19. Sergusheva E.A. (2018b) Agriculture in the South of the Russian Far East in the early Middle Age: archaeobotanical study on the fortified settlement Sinel’nikovo 1. Izvestiya Laboratorii drevnikh tekhnologii = Reports of the Laboratory of Ancient Technologies. Irkutsk. Vol. 14. No. 3. P. 83-97. (In Russ.). URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/zemledelie-na-yuge-dalnego-vostoka-rossii-v-rannem-srednevekovie-arheobotanicheskie-issledovaniya-na-gorodische-sinelnikovo-1. EDN: VJYTPW.

20. Slepczov I.Yu., Klyuev N.A. (2016) Archaeological sites of the island part of the Lazovsky State Reserve. Rossiya i ATR = Russia and Asia-Pacific Region. No. 4. P. 19-33. (In Russ.). EDN: XXYRMP.

21. Slepczov I.Yu., Piskareva Ya.E., Gridasova I.E. (2013) The site Kordon-Drovyanik in Lazovsky district of the Primorsky Region: the results of excavating the Mohe habitation. Rossiya i ATR = Russia and Asia-Pacific Region. No. 3. P. 173-186. (In Russ.). EDN: RLELNX.

22. Chzhao Xunguan. (2021) Shichanggou Burial Site in Hualin-Zhen village of Mudanjiang city district, Heilongjiang province. Mul`tidisciplinarny`e issledovaniya v arxeologii = Multidisciplinary Research in Archeology. No. 1. P. 22-47. (In Russ.). doi: 10.24412/2658-3550-2021-1-22-47. EDN: WWWXLH.

23. Chzhun Suk-Be. (2018) On the weaponry finds from Chernyatino 5 burial ground site. Mul'tidistsiplinarnye issledovaniya v arkheologii = Multidisciplinary Research in Archeology. No. 2. P. 126-136. (In Russ.). EDN: VFAGHA.

24. Andersson S.E. (2012) The textile chaîne opératoire: Using a multidisciplinary approach to textile archaeology with a focus on the Ancient Near East. Paléorient. Vol. 38. No. 1-2. P. 21-40. doi: 10.3406/paleo.2012.5456.

25. Gleba M., Harris S. (2019) The first plant bast fibre technology: identifying splicing in archaeological textiles. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. Iss. 11. P. 2329–2346. (In English). doi: 10.1007/s12520-018-0677-8.

26. Bokcheon Museum. (2010) Ancient Korean armor. Bokcheon Museum Academic Research Series. No. 31. Busan: Bokcheon Museum. 464 p. (In Korean).