The Problem of the Origin, Localization and Chronology of the Tarya Late Neolithic Culture of Kamchatka

Abstract

Purpose. This article presents one of the most brilliant ancient culture of Kamchatka – Tarya culture of the late Neolithic period. The author discusses the culture’s localization and chronology, lists the most important sites, gives a description of dwellings, characterizes the economy of Tarya people, and presents the culture material complex.Results. Early complexes attributed to the Tarya culture and determined by the 3rd millennium BC are represented by three archeological sites. They are characterized by a combination of small and large stone tools, various leaf-shaped points, sharp-edged adzes and axes, the absence of bone artifacts, and above-ground dwellings. This period is poorly represented in articles and possibly heterogeneous. The most represented period of the Tarya culture, for which the largest number of dates has been established, dates back to the 2nd and even more so to the 1st millennium BC. The main occupation of the Tarya people was fishing, hunting for land animals and catching sea animals in the rookeries.Conclusion. The most ancient sites of this culture are located on the southeast coast. As a result of the contacts of the Tarya coastal population with the inhabitants of the Kamchatka River valley, a continental cultural community of hunters and fishermen arose, which combined the blade technique and tools polishing, as well as, although to a lesser extent, the tradition of using labrets. Dating the Tarya culture should probably be dated to 2nd – 1st millennium BC. The Old Itel’men culture, in which local variants are distinguished, develops on the basis of the Tarya culture from the 1st millennium AD. Northern Kamchatka was probably the place of active cultural contacts between the ancient popu[1]lation of Kamchatka, Priokhot’e and Chukotka, where the local communities having a certain originality were formed.