The Russian Pioneers’ Winter Camp on Karachinsky Island, the Lower Tobol River, Western Siberia

The Russian Pioneers’ Winter Camp on Karachinsky Island,
the Lower Tobol River, Western Siberia

DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2018.46.1.108-116

N.P. Matveeva¹, A.S. Yakimov^{1, 2}, N.S. Larina¹, and L.I. Agafonov^3
1Tyumen State University, Volodarskogo 6, Tyumen, 625003, Russia
²Earth Cryosphere Institute, Tyumen Scientific Center, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Malygina 86, Tyumen, 625026, Russia
³Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 8 Marta 202, Yekaterinburg, 620144, Russia

In 2014, an expedition from Tyumen State University excavated an underground dwelling on Karachinsky Island, in the floodplain of the Tobol, to check the chronicle data saying that Yermak and his Cossacks had spent a winter at that place during their Siberian campaign. The log structure, measuring 10 m by 5 m by 2 m, consisted of two rooms. Three or four bottom tiers of logs have been preserved. Remains of a cellar were found in the central part east of the oven. The building existed for a short time because the area around it was sterile. Lenses of calcination and charcoal, and traces of fire on the logs of the structure suggest that it had burnt down. Then it was repaired, but the amount of garbage and kitchen waste is small. All household effects were carried out before the dwellers left. Finds include pottery, a grindstone, a potter’s scraper, and pieces of slag and metal. An AMS date of the wood, generated at Arizona University, falls within the 17th century. The chemical analysis of background and old soils indicates intense use of the island for pasture and manufacture. In sum, our survey provides no evidence of Yermak’s stay on the island during his campaign. According to R.G. Skrynnikov, the Cossacks marched from the Stroganov forts to the Siberian Khanate capital without wintering, which was tactically correct, since the Tatar forces were weak and fragmented because of Mametkul’s foray into the Ural towns.

Keywords: Russian colonization, Siberia, winter camp, Tobol, log dugout, soil analysis, metalworking, buried soil, chemical elements