The article presents results of a study of the single-layer Early Upper Paleolithic site Stolbova 3 located in the lower reaches of the Kuda River valley 12 km northwest of Irkutsk in the vicinity of the village of Stolbova., Geoarchaeological studies were conducted at the location in 2012-2013 and 2019. As a result of which relative and absolute age determinations of the culture-containing deposits of the site were made. The data obtained as a result of paleopedological and paleontological studies, taken together with absolute C14 dating, determine the age of the site as the Late Karga (late MIS 3) time. The limited lithic industry of the complex is characterized by simple planar splitting of local pebble raw materials in order to produce chips of flake proportions. The stone tool set of the collection is presented here by three burins made on pebble chips, a fragment of a unifacial tool and a flat pebble bump. The strategies of using lithic resources and primary splitting technologies have analogies in the industries of the Late Karga assemblages of the Western Baikal region, namely in the level 2 of the Mamony 2 site, the level 2 of the Gerasimova 1 site and the Spartak 1 site. The materials of the Stolbova 3 site reveal the problems of the industries of the Late Karga period of the Kuda River Valley. The soliflucated culture-containing sediments of the site, reflecting natural events of the past and characteristic of synchronous locations of this time in the region, have sufficient information content at the site, which will allow it to be considered a reference for the Kuda valley in the future. The Stolbova 3 site under study quantitatively and qualitatively complements and territorially expands the range of the known Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological sites of the Western Baikal region, defining the Kuda River valley as a vast and promising territory for further investigations.

In the 2d part of the 1960s on the southern slopes of the Chita city (Transbaikalian Territory) there were three archaeological sites under investigations: Sukhotino-1, -2, -3. Sites were discovered on the terrace-like steps at the foot of the Titovskaya Sopka Mountain southern slopes, on the Ingoda River left bank. Materials of these new sites served the base for the relative chronology or periodization of the Stone Age sites situated on the Titovskaya Sopka Mountain. Further on, data obtained from these sites was engaged into the schemes of the development on the Siberian and Transbaikalian Stone Age. Sukhotino-1 materials were characterized as containing a large percent of Levallois elements and became the most ancient in the suggested periodization. Based on results of excavations conducted in 1960, Sukhotino-2 was referred to the late stage of the Upper Palaeolithic and Sukhotino-3 was dated back to the transitional period from Palaeolithic to Neolithic. In 1972 the investigations of a large multilayered archaeological site – Sukhotino-4 has begun; the site along with Sukhotino-2 was dated to the late stage of the Upper Palaeolithic. Comparative study of this research shows the stone industries of these two sites have significant differences. For example, the base of the Sukhotino-2 stone industry consists of large end-cores of yubetsu type and bipolar subprizmatic cores, which are absent in the Sukhotino-4 site or have significant differences. In 1988 Sukhotino-2 lower layers were excavated; these layers preliminary were dated back to the early stage of the Upper Palaeolithic. Materials of new excavations of 1988 for the most part were also dissimilar with materials of 1969 excavations. These facts raise a question about the place of Shuhotino-2 (excavations of 1969) in the periodization of Titovskaya Sopka Mountain sites as well as sites of Eastern Transbaikalia. According to the conducted study materials of the Sukhotino-2 (excavations of 1969) are suggested to be of the beginning of the middle stage of the Transnaikalian Upper Palaeolithic.

Sea adaptations of the population in East Asia are traced from the Pleistocene, about 40,000 years ago. It is unlikely that the widespread use of marine resources could occur without any technical and technological means. The main incentives for the development of technologies were most likely fishing and the need for communications of evidence of oceanic fishing in the Japanese islands about 9000 years ago. The extraction of some species of fish, such as cod, indicates the presence of gear allowing fish at depths of more than 20 meters. Approximately the same time, finds of dugout canoes date back. The technical and technological needs of the fisheries of the ancient population of the Peter the Great bay were determined by the landscape structure of the sea coast and its dynamics. The nature of the coastline of the sea coast was constantly changing as a result of sea transgression and regression of the Holocene. At the maximum of the Atlantic transgression around the world and on the coast of the Peter the Great Bay, the maximum number of lagoons is formed. As a result, fishing in the region becomes mainly specialized - lagoon (18 species of fish, pinnipedes, dolphins, whales). After 5000 BP as a result of regression, the lagoons disappear and the population is forced to switch to open sea fishing. The main trend of subsequent natural changes is the alignment of the coastline and the simplification of the landscape structure of the sea coast. After this line, the number of fish weaved and the complication of technical and technological capabilities occurs relatively gradually. About 3 ka BP. the appearance of large sinkers for the shifting networks took place as a reaction to an increase in the population on the coast and the need to intensify fishing. Already 2.4 ka BP the population of the Yankovsky culture of the Iron Age caught 49 species of fish and demonstrated a maximum of the diversity of the tools complex of operation of marine resources.

In August 2022, as part of the planned work of the Mongolian-Russian expedition organized by Ulaanbaatar and Altai State Universities, an archaeological survey was conducted in Arkhangai aimag to identify ‘deer' stones in Central Mongolia. The surveys monitored and re-examined the archaeological complex of Khushuutiin Denj, located near the center of Ulzyit Somon. There, in Soviet times, the famous scientist V.V. Volkov discovered and described archaeological sites in the center of Ulziyt Somon. Volkov discovered and described four “deer” stones, which were published in his famous monograph. But the presented graphic illustrations are given without scale and do not fully reflect all available petroglyphs. In the course of further inspection of the site, Mongolian specialists photographed ancient sculptures, including two new ones, the study of which was undertaken by Ts. Turbat. The first volume of the catalogue published in 2021 in Mongolia contains demonstration photos of only five “deer” stones and brief information about them, including references to publications. The main objective of the re-survey of the feature in the summer of 2022 was to further document the “deer” stones and to obtain graphic illustrations of all the sculptures, which were carried out taking into account the available information and using light shading at different times of the day. In the course of the work it turned out that there is no “deer” stone on the complex, which V.V. Volkov assigned number 4. During the inspection of the local history museum in the center of Ulziyt Somon it turned out that the “deer” stone, information about which had not been previously introduced into the scientific turnover, was kept there. The article presents the results of the conducted research and outlines the prospects for further work.

This article presents a review of trauma analysis in bioarchaeology. It starts with an introduction on what trauma is and what permanent markers it can leave on bones, even after recovery. Studies of trauma allow bioarchaeologists to evaluate the mechanism of injury and possibly reveal the cause of trauma, which may inform on individuals’ interactions with their environments and sociocultural contexts. Trauma also can be incidental or intentional in origin, often reflecting cultural practices. Furthermore, this article focuses on the classification and interpretation of injuries in past populations, such as fracture, dislocation, ossification of soft tissues, and abnormal shape or contour of the bone. It describes different types of force trauma and defines dislocation and hematomas that may occasionally lead to ossification of adjacent soft tissues and can manifest as bony projections. This is followed by a case study utilizing trauma data to elucidate past human experiences. Human remains from twelve individuals excavated from Lake Khuvsgul, Mongolia, and three individuals from the adjacent Tunka Valley, Russian Federation, were examined. All skeletons were dated between the mid-11th and 14th centuries CE. Fatigue injuries on the spine were the most frequent, suggestive of strenuous activities, such as habitual horseback riding. There was some evidence of upper limb trauma, but limited lower body and violent trauma. A potential explanation of this pattern is that people in this area were frequently engaged in pastoral activities, but conflict rarely impacted their daily lives.

The philosophical status of philosophy is considered, associated with the identification of the subject orientation of philosophy, the main structural elements of the worldview and those aspects which are accepted in philosophy as fundamental (basic) problems. The formation of a worldview depends on solving two basic problems: “what is the world?” and “how is the world given to man”? The article shows the difficulties of defining the “world” due to the fundamental nature and inclusiveness of this concept. Special attention is paid to the problem of the unity of the world. The orientation of philosophy towards the world appears as a man's search for universality in the world. The achievement of universality is the key moment in the formation of a holistic identity by the subject of the worldview. The formation of the worldview orientation of philosophy includes the complication of the vision of the world as a result of the constant change and development of the value-theoretical "prism" through which a person looks at the world, and the placement of himself in the newly discovered levels and horizons of the world. The considered question - is philosophy only a worldview or is there a reason to talk about philosophy as an ideology? To look at the world philosophically means to seek to see the hidden causes of the visually given. Ideology is also understood as a kind of “looking”, but associated with the “concealment, obscuration” of ideas and things, which prevents the fulfillment of such an important function of ideology as justification (absolutization) of a chosen idea. On the example statement by F. Engels of main question of philosophy shows how one philosophical fundamental problem - the problem of the relationship between thinking and being - has essentially lost its problemativeness and has moved to the level of a clearly formulated and clearly solved issue. It is concluded that the formation of the philosophical orientation of philo-sophia is a complex process, including: 1) who is looking, 2) what is looking at, 3) how (what) is looking at, and 4) where is looking. “Where” - that is, in what social, cultural and ideological space, in the composition (or, conversely, in the op position) of which collective entity.

The article is dedicated to gold miners of Transbaikalia, who were presented by people of different nationalities – Russians, Buryats, Chinese and various religions - Orthodox Christians, Old-Believers, Buddhists. The author provides features of every group of gold miners – hired workers, zolotnichniki (gold miners themselves), “rascals”. One more important group of gold miner foreigners were Chinese. For gold mine owners the work of Chinese was more profitable and less costly if compared with local population. Particular emphasis in the article is paid to Old-Believers, who being cereal growers and husbandry men during their free time were occupied with gold mining. Old-Believers are a group of the Russian long-time residents of Transbaikalia, that are ancestors of old-Believers who were departed from Poland to Siberia by Catherine II in the XVII century. Residents of the villages of Khasurta and Unegetei made the core of miners of goldmines at the Kurba River and its feeders. History of these villages has started from the early XIX century, when Baptized Buryats accepted Old Belief turned to settled way of life and did farming and gardening. The article provides analysis of reasons of peasants’ leave for industrial production, peasants’ adaptation to new life conditions is shown. The chronological framework is from establishment of Transbaikal gold mines in the middle of the XIX century till the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). The research work is based on the documents of the National Archive of the Republic of Buryatia and the National Archive of the Transbaikal Krai, periodicals and research monographs, recollections of old residents.

Within the framework of commenting on historical sources and analyzing the behavioral choice of foreigners between the extremes of distancing and involvement in the events of the Civil War, the authors turn to the testimonies of I.I. Serebrennikov on the topic of mutual perception of prisoners of war and the Siberian population. Their special value, in addition to the author's competence, is determined by the fact that the fixation of information was carried out “hot on the trail”, fragments of direct speech, inscribed in the context of Russian and World history. Modern researchers have made important generalizations about the role of prisoners of war in the Civil War, and historical sources are introduced into scientific circulation. This article consistently examines the memories of the internment of foreign citizens, mentions assessments of the “German dominance” in Russia, describes the first meetings of prisoners of war and the local population with characteristics of mutual perception, touches on the topic of awareness of the content of enemy propaganda. The main conclusion of I.I. Serebrennikov, made in December 1914: “Siberia has been especially lucky in all recent wars: during the Russian-Japanese war, many earthworms from European Russia got acquainted with our outskirts; now the foreign countries are intensively getting acquainted with it in the person of captured Germans, Austrians and Turks.” The parties that met perceived each other quite complacently - foreigners were delighted with Siberia until the appearance of plans to stay in it after the war, and the local population behaved friendly towards prisoners of war. Reports of a large number of surrendered enemies supported the optimism and confidence of the Russian population in the rear. The highest burden from the placement of prisoners of war on the urban and barracks infrastructure of Siberia and the Far East is emphasized. Since the end of 1916, prisoners of war have become a problem - “they do not want to work, they stop obeying.” In conclusion, a dramatic historical collision is mentioned, when the events of the Great Russian Revolution transferred the long-standing struggle of Czechoslovaks and Hungarians to the expanses of Siberia.

The article examines the problem of conflicts arising due to different visions of their place and the boundaries of their own political formation by representatives of the anti-Bolshevik authorities in 1918. The focus of consideration is primarily the so-called “customs wars” with the help of which a variety of political forces sought to put pressure on are subject to study. The first is disputes between representatives of the Siberian government and supporters of the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly. Based on published documents, as well as eyewitness accounts, it is shown how the authorities of political forces similar in their tasks saw the issue of resolving “customs wars”, and also tried to use supply issues as leverage. The conflict between the Ukrainian state of Hetman Pavel Skoropadsky and the pro-German government of Crimea of General Matvey Sulkevich is also considered. In this case, it is shown how absurd this confrontation between two entities similar in their position and prerequisites for the creation of new formations was. Finally, the activities of customs authorities in the Far East, including at the final stage of the Civil War, are analyzed. It was Vladivostok customs that remained an important window to the world for representatives of changing political regimes, many of whom adhered to anti-Bolshevik views. In addition, a brief assessment of the Japanese influence on this process is given. The material was written as part of the study of the history of “customs conflicts” on the territory of Russia during the collapse of the Russian Empire and the Civil War.

The years of the Civil War have significantly worsened the situation in Irkutsk in many areas of society. The issue of food and its prices, as well as the increase in the price of a number of other goods and services, which were considered equally important for Irkutsk residents, did not bypass the problems. Irkutsk began to suffer from a shortage of certain types of food during the First World War, and the Civil War only worsened the current state of affairs. People suffered from a shortage of goods or the most inflated prices for them, which led to the development of speculation in all its forms, which caused prices to increase even more. Since the beginning of the new economic policy (abbreviated NEP), in 1921, the situation has become more favorable: private trade has been allowed, which has increased the number of products offered on the local market. Contemporaries noted that store shelves began to be actively filled with all kinds of products from vegetables, fruits and meat to textiles and shoes. In addition to expanding the range, prices for these types of goods also begin to decrease, which was one of the results of the monetary reform of 1922-1924. In addition to the stabilization of prices for goods of various kinds, this trend is beginning to affect the service market, where the situation is also beginning to improve significantly: the range of offered services is expanding, their prices are becoming more acceptable to citizens. However, it is worth noting that there is still no talk of a complete restoration of the situation in the 1920s, up to the beginning of the industrialization policy. As before, there were certain difficulties with some types of products when purchasing them, some types of goods were completely absent, however, the situation became much more stable.

The shadow economy caused serious damage to the financial state structure of the USSR, which negatively affected budget replenishment, and also threatened the maintenance of public order and worsened the crime situation. The command-administrative system in the Soviet Union was finally established in the 30s of the last century, based on the distribution of material goods, which led to a shortage of goods and services. This contributed to the spread of shadow economic relations, due to the ban in the country on engaging in entrepreneurial activities, which was interpreted as a criminal offense - speculation. The restriction of financial activity was aggravated by the existing strict regulations for the regime of detention of prisoners in the Gulag units of the NKVD of the USSR. Engagement in illegal business activities was provoked by the desire to get rich at any cost, difficult sanitary and living conditions for prisoners, as well as poor-quality medical care. In places of deprivation of liberty, numerous cases of theft of public funds, registrations, sales of property, organization of gambling, etc. were recorded. In addition, illegal trafficking in places of deprivation of liberty was also recorded: alcohol, weapons, drugs and other prohibited things, which threatened the security system in prisons, forced labor colonies and forced labor camps, contributed to attacks on guards, escapes of convicts, and murders and causing bodily harm to both the supervisory staff and the convicts themselves. This was largely due to the activities of a criminal element concentrated in one place. A serious problem remained the insufficient, often formal, educational work among the personnel of the Gulag of the NKVD of the USSR. Law enforcement officials carried out measures to combat and prevent shadow economic relations in the Soviet penitentiary system in the West Siberian region, including with the involvement of intelligence agencies and conducting scheduled and unannounced inspections of the financial activities of correctional labor institutions.

The article provides an analytical review of the development of philosophy during the reign of J.V. Stalin in the USSR. The most significant works and ideas that made a significant contribution to the development of Soviet philosophical thought are considered. It is indicated that starting with the work of J.V. Stalin himself “On dialectical and historical materialism”, the development of philosophical science is carried out, focusing on the ideas of K. Marx and F. Engels. The concepts of German idealists and other philosophers, whose ideas became the basis for the development of dialectical materialism, are being criticized. The philosophy of dialectical materialism is being transformed into a special form of worldview and is spreading everywhere both in the scientific community and in the public consciousness. The article notes that the period of the reign of J.V. Stalin gives philosophy special functions - to become an instrument of ideology and propaganda. In this regard, all philosophical theories, as well as the views of philosophical scientists who do not fit into the established system of philosophical knowledge, are either persecuted or ideologically corrected. The article also emphasizes that the development and role of philosophy in Stalin's time, the experience that was used to promote and form a public worldview, can be used in modern conditions, when the Fatherland entered an active phase of protecting its national interests, territorial integrity and cultural diversity from attacks by the countries participating in the Western coalition. It is philosophy and the dissemination of philosophical ideas in the context of modernity that will allow us to form a form of public consciousness that will be aimed at strengthening statehood and consolidating the multinational interests of the country.

During the Great Patriotic War, the leadership of the USSR weakened the repressive regime and ideological pressure on believers and religious organizations in the country. Since the late 1940s, this policy has been changing to strengthen the control of religious communities by state and local authorities and the resumption of atheistic propaganda. Based on the analysis of materials from the National Archive of the Republic of Khakassia and local party bodies, the article examines the implementation of atheistic propaganda in Khakassia in the second half of the 1940s - the first half of the 1960s. At that time, in Khakassia, as in the whole of the Soviet Union, propaganda events played an important role in atheistic propaganda, and emphasis was placed on the dissemination of scientific knowledge. The main forms of atheistic propaganda were lectures, collective and individual conversations, film lectures, agitation in the media, etc. Public censure measures are applied to believers for performing religious rites. A significant part of the atheistic work in Khakassia was carried out by the propaganda and agitation departments of the regional executive committee, the regional, city and district executive committees of the CPSU and Komsomol, the Krasnoyarsk Regional and Khakass regional organizations of the All-Union Society “Znanie”, educational and cultural institutions. Despite carrying out atheistic work, local authorities in Khakassia noted constant shortcomings in anti-religious agitation, the nature and effectiveness of its conduct, which in turn did not lead to the disappearance of religious views and beliefs of members of religious organizations operating in the region.

The article is devoted to the problems of the relationship between Russian Sinology and Russian-Chinese relations. Despite the great interest of researchers in the problems of interregional cooperation between Russia and China, the issues of the importance and role of Chinese studies for establishing cooperation between the regions of Siberia and China have not been sufficiently studied. The problem is considered on the example of the regions of Siberia at the end of the twentieth century. The historical sources for the study were documents from the collections of the regional archives of Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk, as well as materials from the periodical press. Normalization of Soviet-Chinese relations took place in the 1980s. Its feature was the active development of cross-border and interregional relations. By the time of the establishment of direct ties and cooperation between the regions of Siberia and China, local history education existed here only in Chita and Novosibirsk. In addition to this, Irkutsk also had experience in university Chinese studies and teaching Chinese. The first Soviet-Chinese border-level agreement was signed in the Chita region, Novosibirsk already in the mid-1980s. It has become attractive to China in terms of cooperation in various fields, but primarily in the field of science and higher education. The peculiarities of culture and traditions in higher education in the Chita and Novosibirsk, and partly Irkutsk regions, where the experience of Chinese studies education was accumulated and Sinologists were available, made it possible to establish and begin to effectively develop international scientific and cultural contacts with China already at the stage of normalization of Soviet-Chinese relations, while other Siberian regions were able to achieve this after the end of the normalization process.

The review examines the monograph of the St. Petersburg historian Pavel Gennadyevich Rogozny “The Orthodox Church and the Russian Revolution. Essays on history. 1917-1920”, such a productive result of many years of research efforts to analyze historiography, archival, newspaper and memoir materials. The author notes the huge changes in the life of the Church . The huge human capital, the sincere asceticism of the church hierarchs and their deep awareness of their mission to Faith and country allowed a genuine miracle to happen: “In fact, the Church became the only official organization of old Russia that di d not institutionally collapse after the revolutions.” The monograph is evaluated as an extremely important, relevant and qualified study. The book will be useful to the scientific community and interesting to a wide range of readers.