Early stages of ethnogenesis and migration of the Tungus in the epic traditions of the Evenki

Abstract

The article is devoted to the topical problem of the history and ethnogenesis of the Tungus. Based on the analysis of the epic traditions of the Evenki and the results of research in related scientific disciplines, the author considers the early stages of cultural genesis of the ancient Tungus community, as well as the most important ethnogenetic connections that arose in the process of global migrations of ancient Siberian communities.

According to the hypothesis of G. M. Vasilevich, the most ancient basis of the Tungus ethnographic complex was formed starting from the Serov era of the Baikal Neolithic. As the most important cultural components, the researcher notes the basis of the language, as well as elements of the emerging nomadic culture of foot hunters for moose, preserved in the ethnographic complex of the Evenki and other Tungus-Manchu ethnic groups. Confirmation of this hypothesis is found in the epic traditions of the Evenki, in which a hunter-hero invents a bow, skis and begins to hunt moose. These stable traditions are reflected in other genres of folklore and in the Evenki worldview. The plot-forming motif of Evenki legends is a journey of the hero, who leaves the place of his birth towards the rising of the sun. The stable motif and direction of journey of the Nimngakan heroes are consistent with the most popular hypotheses about the ethnogenesis of the Tungus-Manchu peoples.

As a result of the research, the author assumes that the formation of the fundamental cultural traditions of the ancient Tungus took place in the process of dispersal of ancient populations from the Baikal-Transbaikalia to the lower reaches of the Amur. Based on the analysis of the folklore and ideological traditions of the Tungus-Manchu peoples and aborigines of the Amur, the author comes to the conclusion about the formation of the ethnogenetic basis of the ancient Tungus in interaction with the carriers of the Lower Amur cultures, first of all, the ancestors of the Nivkhs.

The work is of interest to specialists in a wide range of scientific disciplines, first of all, researchers of the history and ethnography of the Tungus-Manchu peoples, as well as folklorists interested in the topic of historicism of folklore.

References

1. Shirokogorov S. M. Sotsial'naya organizatsiya severnykh tungusov (s vvodnymi glavami o geografii rasseleniya i istorii etikh grupp) [Social organization of the northern Tungus (with introductory chapters on the geography of settlement and the history of these groups)]. Moscow, Nauka, Vostochnaya lit-ra, 2017, 710 p. (In Russ.).
2. Derevyanko A. P. Priamur'e (I tysyacheletie do nashei ery) [Priamurye (1^st millennium BC)]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1976, 383 p. (In Russ.).
3. Vasilevich G. M. K probleme etnogeneza tunguso-man'chzhurov (po materialam izucheniya kolybelei) [On the problem of the ethnogenesis of the Tungus-Manchus (based on the study of cradles)]. In: Izvestiya Sibirskogo otdeleniya akademii nauk [Proceedings of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences]. 1963, Otdel'nyi ottisk, pp. 57-61. (In Russ.).
4. Vasilevich G. M. Evenki (k probleme etnogeneza tungusov i etnicheskikh protsessov u evenkov [The Evenki (on the problem of the ethnogenesis of the Tungus and ethnic processes among the Evenki]. Dokl. na soisk. uch. step. d-ra ist. nauk. Leningrad, 1968, 67 p. (In Russ.).
5. Levin M. G. Drevnii cherep s r. Shilki [Ancient skull from river Shilka]. In: Kratkie soobshcheniya Instituta etnografii AN SSSR [Brief communications of the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences]. Moscow, Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1953, iss. 18, pp. 69-75. (In Russ.).
6. Okladnikov A. P. Neolit i bronzovyi vek Pribaikal'ya: Glazkovskoe vremya. Ch. 3 [Neolithic and Bronze Age of the Baikal Region: Glazkovsky time. Part 3]. Moscow, Leningrad, Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1955, 374 p. (In Russ.).
7. Debets G. F. Antropologicheskii sostav naseleniya Pribaikal'ya v epokhu pozdnego neolita [Anthropological composition of the population of the Baikal region in the late Neolithic]. In: Russkii antropologicheskii zhurnal [Russian anthropological journal]. 1930, vol. 19, No. 1-2, pp. 7-50. (In Russ.).
8. Rychkov S. Yu. Polimorfizm mitokhondrial'noi DNK v naselenii Pribaikal'ya epokhi neolita [Polymorphism of mitochondrial DNA in the population of the Baikal region of the Neolithic era]. Diss. k. biol. n. Moscow, 2004, 128 p. (In Russ.).
9. Movsesyan A. A. Feneticheskii analiz v paleoantropologii [Phenetic analysis in paleoanthropology]. Moscow, Universitetskaya kniga, 2005, 271 p. (In Russ.).
10. Putilov B. N. Tipologiya fol'klornogo istorizma [Typology of folk historicism]. In: Tipologiya narodnogo eposa [Typology of folk epic]. Moscow, Nauka, 1975, pp. 164-181. (In Russ.).
11. Putilov B. N. Fol'klornyi protsess i etnicheskaya istoriya narodov Sibiri i Dal'nego Vostoka [Folklore process and ethnic history of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East]. In: Fol'klornoe nasledie narodov Sibiri i Dal'nego Vostoka: [sbornik] [Folklore heritage of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East: collection]. Otv. red. V. M. Gatsak. Gornoaltaisk, Alt. kn. izd-vo, 1986, pp. 15-22. (In Russ.).
12. Propp V. Ya. Ob istorizme russkogo eposa [On the historicism of the Russian epic]. In: Russkaya literatura [Russian literature]. 1962, No. 2, pp. 87-91. (In Russ.).
13. Propp V. Ya. Fol'klor i deistvitel'nost' [Folklore and Reality]. In: Izbrannye stat'i [Selected Articles]. Moscow, Nauka, 1976, 326 p. (In Russ.).
14. Meletinskii E. M. Proiskhozhdenie geroicheskogo eposa. Rannie formy i arkhaicheskie pamyatniki [The origin of the heroic epic. Early forms and archaic monuments]. Moscow, Vostochnaya lit-ra, 1963, 464 p. (In Russ.).
15. Meletinskii E. M. Mif i istoricheskaya poetika fol'klora [Myth and Historical Poetics of Folklore]. In: Fol'klor: poeticheskaya sistema: sb. st. [ Poetic system: articles collection]. Otv. red. A. I. Balandin, V. M. Gatsak. Moscow, Nauka, 1977, pp. 23-41. (In Russ.).
16. Okladnikov A. P. Shishkinskie pisanitsy: Pamyatniki drevnei kul'tury Pribaikal'ya [Shishkinsky Pisanitsy: Monuments of the ancient culture of the Baikal region]. Irkutsk, Irkutskoe kn. izd-vo, 1959, 209 p. (In Russ.).
17. Okladnikov A. P., Mazin A. I. Pisanitsy basseina r. Aldan [Scribes of the river Aldan]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1979, 152 p. (In Russ.).
18. Mazin A. I. Pisanitsy Priamur'ya [Scriptures of the Amur region]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1986, 260 p. (In Russ.).
19. Istoricheskii fol'klor evenkov. Skazaniya i predaniya [Historical folklore of the Evenki. Legends and traditions]. Sost. G. M. Vasilevich. Leningrad, Nauka, 1966, 400 p. (In Russ.).
20. Varlamov A. N. Spetsifika istorizma v fol'klore evenkov [The specificity of historicism in Evenki folklore]. Saint Petersburg, Lan', 2018, 308 p. (In Russ.).
21. Okladnikov A. P. Neolit i bronzovyi vek Pribaikal'ya: Istoriko-arkheologicheskoe issledovanie. Ch. 1 i 2 [Neolithic and Bronze Age of the Baikal Region: Historical and Archaeological Research. Parts 1-2]. Moscow, Leningrad, Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1950, 412 p. (In Russ.).
22. Derenko M. V. Molekulyarnaya filogeografiya korennogo naseleniya Severnoi Azii po dannym ob izmenchivosti mitokhondrial'noi DNK [Molecular phylogeography of the indigenous population of North Asia according to data on the variability of mitochondrial DNA]. In: Vestnik Dal'nevostochnogo otdeleniya Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Vestnik of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. 2010, No. 4, pp. 3-11. (In Russ.).
23. Materialy po evenkiiskomu (tungusskomu) fol'kloru [Materials on Evenki (Tungus) folklore]. Sost. G. M. Vasilevich. Leningrad, Izd-vo in-ta narodov Severa TsIK SSSR im. P. G. Smidovicha, 1936, 290 p. (In Russ.).
24. Skazaniya vostochnykh evenkov [Legends of the Eastern Evenki]. Sost. G. I. Varlamova, A. N. Varlamov. Yakutsk, YaF GU izd-vo SO RAN, 2004, 235 p. (In Russ.).
25. Klement'ev A. M. Rannegolotsenovaya fauna severnoi Angary (materialy arkheologicheskikh obektov) [Early Holocene fauna of the northern Angara (materials of archaeological sites)]. In: Izvestiya Irkutskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya “Geoarkheologiya. Etnologiya. Antropologiya” [News of of the Irkutsk State University. Series “Geoarcheology. Ethnology. Anthropology”]. 2014, vol. 8, pp. 31-44. (In Russ.).
26. Evenkiiskie geroicheskie skazaniya [Evenki heroic legends]. Sost. A. N. Myreeva. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1990, 392 p. (Pamyatniki fol'klora narodov Sibiri i Dal'nego Vostoka [Monuments of folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East]). (In Evenki and Russ.).
27. Okladnikov A. P. Neoliticheskie pamyatniki kak istochnik po etnogonii Sibiri i Dal'nego Vostoka [Neolithic monuments as a source on the ethnogony of Siberia and the Far East]. In: Kratkie soobshcheniya IIMK [Brief communications of the Institute of the History of Material Culture]. 1941, iss. 9, pp. 5-13. (In Russ.).
28. Okladnikov A. P. Istoriya Yakutii. T. 1. Proshloe Yakutii do prisoedineniya k Russkomu gosudarstvu [History of Yakutia. Vol. 1. The past of Yakutia before joining the Russian state]. Yakutsk, Yakutgosizdat, 1949, 440 p. (In Russ.).
29. Okladnikov A. P., Derevyanko A. P. Dalekoe proshloe Primor'ya i Priamur'ya [The distant past of Primorye and Priamurye]. Vladivostok, Dal'nevost. kn. izd-vo, 1973, 439 p. (In Russ.).
30. Istoriya i kul'tura nanaitsev (istoriko-etnograficheskie ocherki) [History and culture of the Nanais (historical and ethnographic essays)]. S. V. Bereznitskii, E. A. Gaer, S. F. Karabanova i dr. Saint Petersburg, Nauka, 2003, 194 p. (In Russ.).
31. Istoriya Sibiri s drevneishikh vremen do nashikh dnei: v 5 t. T. 1. Drevnyaya Sibir' [History of Siberia from ancient times to the present day: in 5 vol. Vol. 1. Ancient Siberia]. Gl. red. A. P. Okladnikov. Leningrad, Nauka, 1968, 456 p. (In Russ.).
32. Bichurin N. Ya. Sobranie svedenii o narodakh, obitavshikh v Srednei Azii v drevnie vremena. T. 2 [Collection of information about the peoples who lived in Central Asia in ancient times. Vol. 2]. Moscow, Leningrad, Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1951, 335 p. (In Russ.).
33. Debets G. F. Antropologicheskie issledovaniya v Kamchatskoi oblasti [Anthropological research in the Kamchatka region]. Moscow, Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1951, 264 p. (In Russ.).
34. Levin M. G. Etnicheskaya antropologiya i problemy etnogeneza narodov Dal'nego Vostoka [Ethnic anthropology and problems of ethnogenesis of the peoples of the Far East]. Moscow, Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1958, 359 p. (In Russ.).
35. Taksami Ch. M. Nekotorye obshchie cherty letnikh sredstv peredvizheniya u narodov Nizhnego Amura i Sakhalina [Some common features of summer vehicles among the peoples of the Lower Amur and Sakhalin] In: Material'naya kul'tura narodov Sibiri i Severa [Material culture of the peoples of Siberia and the North]. Otv. red. I. S. Vdovin. Leningrad, Nauka, 1976, pp. 123-138. (In Russ.).
36. Taksami Ch. M. Osnovnye problemy etnografii i istorii nivkhov [The main problems of ethnography and history of the Nivkhs]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1975, 238 p. (In Russ.).
37. Avrorin V. A., Lebedeva E. P. Orochskie teksty i slovar' [Oroch Texts and Dictionary]. Leningrad, Nauka, 264 p. (In Russ.).
38. Startsev A. F. Etnicheskie predstavleniya tunguso-man'chzhurov o prirode i obshchestve [Ethnic views of the Tungus-Manchus about nature and society]. Vladivostok, Dal'nauka, 2017, 232 p. (In Russ.). (In Russ.).