Subsistence system and annual cycle of economic activity of the population of the Kraskino walled-town

This paper proposes to reconstruct the life support system and the annual cycle of economic activity of the Kraskinskoye walled town. The site is located in the Khasansky District of Primorsky Krai and dates back to the period of the Bohai State (698-926). Research on it has been conducted since 1980 and over 40 years a significant collection of artifacts and ecofacts has been collected, allowing us to reconstruct the life support system. The work uses a methodology based on the analysis of the species composition of animals and plants found on the monument, as well as an analysis of the potential economic zone around the settlement and the construction of the seasonality of life support. Food resources were obtained in the vicinity of the site - zones with a radius of 2 km are conventionally allocated for agriculture and 10 km for hunting, gathering, and fishing, respectively. The floodplain terrace of the Tsukanovka River was used to cultivate crops. The forests surrounding the site could have been a place of hunting and gathering, and the site is rich in marine resources, which could be collected from Expedicii Bay. Life support was cyclical and depended on the change of seasons. In the spring, the agricultural cycle, gathering and catching of some types of fish began. In the summer, agricultural work was carried out (weeding and harvesting of early-ripening crops) and the role of marine resources increased significantly due to their diversity. In the fall, the harvesting of the remaining crops and the collection of fruits of wild plants took place. In winter, the importance of hunting increased, as well as catching of some types of fish. Throughout the cycle, based on necessity, pigs and dogs kept on the settlement were slaughtered. In general, the life support system covered the needs of the population for food resources, as evidenced by the duration of settlement of the site.

1. Anosov S.D. (1928) Koreans in the Ussuri region. Khabarovsk; Vladivostok: Knizhnoye delo, 86 p. (In Russ.).

2. Arsen’ev V.K. (1914) Chinese in Ussuri region. Historical and ethnographic essay. Notes of the Amur Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. Khabarovsk: Tip. kancelyarii Priamurskogo general-gubernatora. Vol. X. Iss. 1. [6]. II. 203. 4 p. (In Russ.).

3. Artem'eva N.G., Boldin V.I., Gel'man E.I., D'yakova O.V., Ivliev A.L., Kon'kova L.V. et al. Bohai state (698-926) and tribes of Russian Far East (1994). Moscow: Nauka. 217. [2] p. (In Russ.). EDN: YQOPBQ.

4. Verkhovskaya N.B. (2014) The results of a palynological study of Holocene deposits in the area of excavations of the Kraskinsky mounds at the mouth of the river Tsukanovka. Archaeological research on Kraskino walled town in Russian Primorye in 2013. Seoul: Norheast Asian History Foundation; Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. P. 184-188 p. (In Russ.).

5. Vostrecov Yu.E., Korotkii A.M., Epifanova A.V., Besednov L.N., Rakov V.A., Sergusheva E.A. (2015) Subsistence system at the settlement of Zaisanovka-7: a model of adaptation of early farmers to living conditions on the Primorye coast. Lev Nikolaevich Besednov – researcher of ancient fishing: collection of scientific articles. Vladivostok: Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. P. 200-212. (In Russ.). EDN: VQKGHT.

6. Gelman E.I. (2018) Bohai walled town in Russia history: from archimandrite Palladius to present days. Ecumene. Regional Studies. No. 1 (44). P. 60-72. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24866/1998-6785/2018-1/60-72. EDN: YUJYVA.

7. Gel’man E.I. (2019) Internal and external trade in Bohai state. 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. 25. P. 151-166. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24411/2658-5960-2019-10040. EDN: ZJPZHC.

8. Gel’man E.I. (2020) Bohai crafts according to archaeological data from the Kraskino fortress site. Humanities Studies in Eastern Siberia and Far East. No. 3 (53). P. 75-92. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24866/1997-2857/2020-3/75-92. EDN: VDMMMV.

9. Gel’man E.I. (2021) Lower construction horizon of Kraskino hillfort. Archaeology of the Eurasian Steppe. No. 4. P. 17-30. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24852/2587-6112.2021.4.17.30. EDN: POEVLC.

10. Gel’man E.I. et al. (2019) The role of plants and animals in the livelihood of Kraskino fortress population. Humanities Studies in Eastern Siberia and Far East. No. 3 (49). P. 31-38. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24866/1997-2857/2019-3/31-38. EDN: UBRTHQ.

11. Grinev A.V. (1988) The annual economic cycle of the Tlingit. Ecology of American Indians and Eskimos. Problems of Indian Studies. Collection of articles. Moscow: Nauka. P. 117-124. (In Russ.).

12. Ivliev A.L. (2005) Essay of the history of Bohai. The Russian Far East in prehistory and the middle ages: discoveries, problems, hypotheses. Monograph. Vladivostok: Dal'nauka. P. 449-475 (In Russ.). EDN: YQEQNI.

13. Kaznacheev V.P. (1983) Essays on the theory and practice of human ecology. Мoscow: Nauka. 261 p. (In Russ.). EDN: RZYAXZ.

14. Kolyada A.S., Belov A.N., Berseneva S.A., Repsh N.V., Rozlomii N.G. (2022) Ways of using wild food plants in Primorye territory (Russian Federation). Electronic Scientific and Production Journal AgroEcoInfo. No. 5 (53). (In Russ.). DOI: 10.51419/202125511. EDN: HKPJWO.

15. Kradin N.N., Astashenkova E.V., Baksheeva S.E., Gel'man E.I., Gridasova I.V., Ivliev A.L., et al. (2018) Cities of medieval empires of Russian Far East. Moscow: Izdatelstvo vostochnoi literaturi. 367 p. (In Russ.). EDN: XXAHOH.

16. Lyashchevskaya M.S. (2015) Results of a palynological study of excavation deposits in a residential area of the Kraskinsky walled town. Archaeological research on Kraskino walled town in Russian Primorye in 2014 I. Seoul: Norheast Asian History Foundation; Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.Vol. 1. P. 351-354. (In Russ.).

17. Mikishin Yu.A., Petrenko T.I., Gvozdeva I.G. (2019) Late phase of Atlantic period of the Holocene in southern Primorye (Russian Far East). Advances in Modern Natural Science. No. 12. P. 96-107. (In Russ.). EDN: WPYKWA.

18. Mitrofanov Yu.I., Antsiferova O.N. (2020) Ridge method of sowing crops on drained lands. Agricultural science of Euro-North-East. Vol. 21. No. 3. P. 301-312. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.30766/2072-9081.2020.21.3.301-312. EDN: PABZIY.

19. Omel’ko V.E. et al. (2020) Wild and domestic animals in life support of the Yanzhou City of the Bohai State. Russia and the Asia-Pacific. No. 4 (110). P. 161-174. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24411/1026-8804-2020-10057. EDN: SHYYZH.

20. Vostretsov Yu.E. (1998) The first fishers in Peter the great bay. Environment and ancient man in Boisman bay. Vladivostok: Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 389 p. (In Russ.). EDN: YDXARP.

21. Prokopets S.D., Boldin V.I., Chon Sonmok et al. (2021) Archaeological research at the site of Nikolaevskoe I in Russian Primorye. Tedzhon : Gosudarstvennyi issledovatel'skii institut kul'turnogo naslediya respubliki Koreya. 375 p. (In Russ.).

22. Rakov V.A., Sharova O.A. (2011) Results of the analysis of the malacofauna of the Kraskino walled-town based on materials from excavations in 2009. Archaeological research on Kraskino walled town in Russian Primorye in 2009. Seoul: Norheast Asian History Foundation. P. 310-313. (In Russ.).

23. Ryabogina N.E., Ivanov S.N. (2011) Ancient agriculture in Western Siberia: problems of argumentation, paleoethnobotanic methods, and analysis of data. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. Iss. 4 (48). P. 96-106. (In Russ.). EDN: OJMKJZ.

24. Unterberger P.F. (1900) Primorsky region 1856-1898. St. Petersburg: Tip. V.F. Kirshbauma. [2]. VIII. 324, [2], XX p. (In Russ.).

25. Yashnov E.E. (1926) Chinese peasant economy in Northern Manchuria: economic essay Harbin: Tipografiya Kitaiskoi Vostochnoi zheleznoi dorogi. VIII. 525, [3] p. (In Russ.).

26. Binford L.R. (1982). The archaeology of place. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Vol. 1. Iss. 1. P. 5-31. DOI: 10.1016/0278-4165(82)90006-X.

27. Killion T.W. (1990). Cultivation Intensity and Residential Site Structure: An Ethnoarchaeological Examination of Peasant Agriculture in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity. Vol. 1. Iss. 3. P. 191–215. DOI: 10.2307/972161.

28. Renfrew C., Bahn P. (2016) Archaeology. Theories, Methods and Practice. 7th edition. London: Thames & Hudson. 672 p.

29. Vita-Finzi C., Higgs E.S., Sturdy D., Harriss J., Legge A.J., Tippett H. (1970). Prehistoric economy in the Mount Carmel area of Palestine: site catchment analysis. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. Vol. 36. P. 1-37. DOI: 10.1017/S0079497X00013074.