On the issue of dating Olonkho

Abstract

The appearance of Olonkho has been of interest in the minds of researchers since the time of P.A. Oyunsky. For the first time in 1927, he suggested that Olonkho could appear in the form of separate narratives of wars during the Tatar and Mongol invasions of China. In this study, we attempted to find out the approximate time of the occurrence of Olonkho based on an interdisciplinary approach. The aim of the study is to determine the elements of the archaic, ancient and medieval elements of Olonkho and determine the approximate period of their appearance in various Olonkho plots. Research Methods. We reviewed the available literature on the Yakut epicology, on population genetics, history and ethnogenesis of the Sakha (Yakut). When dating the time of appearance of Olonkho, we used the method used by P.A. Oyunsky. We compiled a picture of the modern understanding of the ethnogenesis of the Sakha based on an analysis of modern historical, archaeological, genetic, humanitarian and our own research on this issue. Results. The heroic epic of Olonkho is an archaic genre of oral folk art, with its composition containing elements of the archaic, ancient and medieval periods, involved in the texts of Olonkho in different eras. It should be noted that at the same time, Olonkho as an oral genre evolved from myths about the creation of the world to a holistic work in the form of a heroic epic, the formation of which ended in the territory of the Middle Lena with the formation of the Kulun-Atakh culture. Over the past 35,000 years, several waves of large-scale migrations of the ancient population have changed in the territory of Northeastern Siberia, but the female population of the region has remained constant. As we believe, it preserved and introduced Olonkho to the most archaic motifs, as the most conservative and traditional element of the population. The general opening ceremonies of the heroic epics of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples about the creation of the world were probably included in the texts of Olonkho during the golden age of the Xiongnu (Hun) community. Starting from the XII century, there is an increase in Mongolian influence, which is evident from the presence of Mongolisms in the Olonkho language and the emergence of anthroponyms of Buryat-Mongolian origin of the XI-XVII centuries. Conclusions. The emergence of Olonkho is probably associated with the period of influence of the Xiongnu on the inhabitants of the Middle Lena, material traces of which are observed in the period from 190 BC to the III-IV centuries.