The article is the first publication devoted to the study of the technology of manufacturing a unique find-a carnelian cabochon (signet) with an Arabic inscription of the X century AD from the burial ground of the Basandai culture of the XI-XII centuries AD Tashara-Karyer-2. This is the first monument of medieval Arabic epigraphy discovered on the territory of the southern taiga Ob region. Based on the trasological analysis, we reconstruct the technological techniques and stages of creating this glyptic work. It is established that the cabochon is an imported product for the specified territory.

Keywords: South taiga Priobye, X-XII centuries AD, burial mound, burial rite, Basandai culture, glyptics, Arabic epigraphy, technology of stone-cutting art.

In the last centuries of the first millennium AD, and most intensively at the turn of the first and second millennium AD, there was a mass migration of the Turkic-speaking population to the forest-steppe and south taiga Ob regions. This area of contact between the taiga and the forest-steppe is " permeated "by the Ob River, a water artery that connected various landscape zones of Western Siberia and was a powerful natural" catalyst " for cultural and genetic processes [Pavlinskaya, 2007, p.38; Savinov, Novikov, Roslyakov, 2008, p. 4]. Since the fifth century AD, the Upper Ob culture has spread in the forest-steppe and southern Ob regions, where some elements of the Srostkin culture gradually penetrated, and then its carriers appeared in the region [Troitskaya and Novikov, 1998]. As a result, at the beginning of the second millennium AD, the region developed an eclectic ethno-cultural picture with "post-Verkhneob", "post-Srostkin" and Basandai cultural features.

One of the reference monuments for studying the Basandai culture is the Tashara-Quarry-2 burial mound, located on the right bank of the Ob River (South taiga zone) in the Moshkovsky district of the Novosibirsk region. It was studied in 1998-2000 by A.V. Novikov, and although the materials of the monument were introduced into scientific circulation [Novikov, 1998a, b; 2000; 2011a, b; Savinov, Novikov, Roslyakov, 2008; Novikov, Tishkin, 2010; Troitskaya, Novikov, 2004, pp. 114-117, 121, 47, 48], some finds require separate coverage. Of exceptional interest is a unique example of medieval glyptics - a carnelian cabochon from the burial in mound No. 2 of the Tashara-Karyer-2 burial ground [Savinov, Novikov, Roslyakov, 2008, pp. 277, 296, Fig. 14].

Archaeological context of the find and date of burial

A carnelian cabochon was found in the burial mound No. 2 of the Tashara-Karyer-2 burial ground. This mound has a unique set of funerary and memorial characteristics and is considered by us among the" atypical " objects of the necropolis (Novikov, 2011a, b). It is known that in the funeral and memorial rites

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In the Basandai culture, the horse played a significant role. Her scattered bones were found in the mounds of many burial mounds, but only in the mound of mound No. 2 was a set of horse harness items found. This feature of funerary and memorial rites is also infrequently recorded in other burial grounds of the southern taiga Ob region at the beginning of the second millennium AD (Zinchenko, 2010). It should be noted that the burial of a 35-40 - year-old woman [Pozdnyakov, 2008] in this mound differs from the rest in the set of accompanying equipment [Novikov, 2011a, b; Savinov, Novikov, Roslyakov, 2008, pp. 277-278, 294-296, Fig. 10-15]. The burial site was looted, but the maximum number of exclusive artifacts for this monument was found in it. Thus, according to the set of signs of funerary rituals and accompanying equipment, burial in mound No. 2 is distinguished in the series of female graves of the necropolis.

Burial in mound No. 2 is dated from a bronze mirror found in it. This finding has already been published several times [Novikov, 1998b; Savinov, Novikov, and Roslyakov, 2008, pp. 278, 295, fig. 13; Novikov and Tintkin, 2010], so we will not dwell on its description here. The object belongs to the type of so-called grape mirrors, widely known in China, Japan and Korea. Mirrors with a design in the form of grape leaves appeared in the Han period, but became popular in the Tang era (VII-X centuries AD). During this period, they were most widely used. There are several variants of "grape" mirrors. The find from the Tangara-Quarry-2 burial ground represents a variant with a vine in the outer field and two phoenixes in the central part, which in China dates back to the Song Dynasty (XI-XII centuries AD), in Korea-the Goryeo period (918-1392). Analogs of such a mirror were found in various regions of Siberia [Lubo-Lesnichenko, 1975, p. 66]. One of them is kept in the State Museum of Oriental Art. It is interesting that two similar mirrors were found at once in the Basandai burial mound (mound No. 25, border No. 2; mound No. 3). N 54, border N 2) [Pletneva, 1997, p. 90-97]. Such findings were first published by A.V. Marakuev [Basandaika, 1947, p. 167-174], but, as L. M. Pletneva rightly notes, they inaccurately described the ornament on mirrors and gave an earlier date [1997, p.91]. Thus, taking into account the mirror date, the burial in mound No. 2 of the Tashara-Quarry-2 burial ground should be attributed to the time not earlier than the X century AD.

Cabochon description and label date

The find, which will be discussed, is a simple, high, single (with a flat podovalny base and a convex top) cabochon designed for insertion into the frame (Fig. 1). The maximum dimensions of the flat podovalny base are 13.8 x 9 mm, the maximum height is 8.14 mm. According to the definition of Candidate of Geological and Mineral Sciences N. A. Kulik, the cabochon is made of carnelian. On the side surface of the cabochon, a section of an agate banded structure has been preserved. It should also be noted that some fracturing and the characteristic natural surface of the stone are difficult to process (Fig. 2). The name is engraved in Arabic script on the convex surface of the cabochon, and the inscription is made in a mirror image. According to Dr. East. According to O. G. Bolshakova, the Arabic inscription Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad was probably made in the IX century, but most likely in the X century. Thus, the date of the inscription on the cabochon does not contradict the date of the burial in which the object was discovered.

Cabochon manufacturing technology

The tracological study of the artifact was carried out on the basis of experimental and technological research data and using an MBS-10 binocular with side illumination of the observed object and a discrete magnification mode of 16-56 times. For detailed analysis, specialized microscopes MSPE-1 with a smooth magnification change mode of 19-95 times and powerful two - way shadowless illumination were additionally used. Microphotography was performed under special lighting conditions with a Pentax WR-43 camera.

Microscopic analysis was carried out according to the method of traceological research, based on the developments of S. A. Semenov and G. F. Korobkova [Semenov, 1957; Korobkowa, 1999], and taking into account the experience of experimental traceological and technological studies of archaeological collections in North Asia [Volkov, 1999, 2010]. Materials from the Siberian Reference Collection of Traceological Standards were used for a comparative analysis of signs of production and wear of the artifact.

During the tracological analysis of the artifact, a series of traces of stone processing was identified and the sequence of stages of work on creating jewelry was determined. The processing of the stone began, apparently, with the grinding of the cabochon base (Figure 3), which was probably done manually on a hard flat surface, and not on a rotating wheel. This method of forming the base of the cabochon is indicated by distinct parallel linear traces on its surface. Curvilinear bending of the microtrace trajectory-a consequence of working on the grinding wheel - was not noticed. The second stage of work,

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Fig. 1. Engraving on the surface of the product.

2. Internal crack (a) in the stone, its natural (b) and treated (c) surface.

Fig. 3. Traces of shaping grinding and the nature of polishing the cabochon base.

Fig. 4. Characteristic" irregularity of the oval " of the cabochon and the chamfer of the base.

Fig. 5. Traces of chamfering with coarse abrasive.

probably, there was a formation of the chamfer of the cabochon base. It is carefully designed around the entire perimeter of the product (Fig. 4), which indicates the intention of the master to insert the cabochon into the frame. Grinding was carried out on the same abrasive that was used to form the base of the artifact.

The stone was processed on a flat, stationary and relatively coarse-grained non-uniform abrasive and, obviously, manually, as indicated by the uneven depth and orientation of linear traces on the cabochon chamfer (Fig. 5).

The master changed the natural shape of the stone, because, probably, there was a defect on part of the surface of the workpiece or in this place the stone did not look too much like a cabochon. When processing this zone, the master practically cut the surface with a coarse-grained abrasive tool (Fig. 6). After relatively rough grinding, this section of stone was processed with a relatively fine-grained abrasive already on a soft, elastic base. Traces of this type of impact are found only in one area of the artifact's surface (Fig. 7).

At the next stage, probably the most important operation was performed - the inscription was engraved. When applying an engraving to the surface of a stone, the master always faces a very characteristic problem - it must be held securely and motionless. There are several ways to fix small-sized workpieces. Jewelers often use various kinds of adhesives that fix the product in sockets, temporary "frames", special "holders". Traces of organic resins or other viscous organic adhesives in the microrelief of the cabochon under study were not traced by special microscopic examination. Probably, during grinding and polishing, the cabochon was held by the master in relatively soft, probably wooden, clamps.

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Fig. 6. The result of processing the sidewall of the product and linear traces of exposure to coarse-grained abrasive.

Fig. 7. Traces of finishing the product surface on a soft abrasive.

Figure 8. Two variants of the working passage of the cutting tool on a curved section of the cut channel.

9. The channel turns (a) on a crack (b) in the stone.

Fig. 10. General view of the cabochon.

Tracological analysis allowed us to establish that the inscription on the artifact was made with a chisel [Volkov, 1999, p. 18]. This tool leaves specific traces that do not resemble the traces of a carver dissecting the processed material [Ibid.] or a rotating drill.

The engraving was obviously made with a diamond, which could have been sealed or minted in a metal frame-the sleeve of a cutting tool [Ibid., p. 19]. Traces of the use of the cutter represent distinct trajectories. Curved sections are worked out confidently. There are no signs of tension in the master's hand, which is typical for such operations. Two variants of the working passage of the cutting tool on the curved section of the cut channel are noted (Fig. 8). The cutter here moved both unidirectionally and reciprocatingly.

The probability of using a corundum cutter (which has a higher hardness than quartz-chalcedony) is extremely low. The stone was probably processed with a higher-quality tool.

Studying the details of the engraving allows us to say that with the help of a chisel, the jeweler was able to easily overcome very serious difficulties in processing the stone. During the working passage of the cutter and especially the cutter through a crack in a relatively fragile processed material, there is always a danger of noticeable discoloration and even destruction of the product. However, there are no traces of such undesirable deformation on the artifact under study (Fig. Only a diamond could be used as a chisel when engraving a cabochon. The stone carving is made at a very high quality level.

At the final stage of the work, the final polishing of the product was carried out on a wet, soft material such as felt or felt, in order to avoid excessive heating and cracking of the stone. Moreover, all areas of the cabochon were exposed to this kind of abrasive. As a result, the entire surface of the now truly precious stone acquired a characteristic "mirror shine" (Fig. 10).

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The traces found on the studied artifact during the technological analysis allow us to speak about a very characteristic processing. The listed signs of the techniques of working with stone used by the ancient master indicate a high level of development of jewelry mastery.

Conclusion

The carnelian cabochon discussed in this paper is the first monument of Arabic epigraphy of the beginning of the second millennium AD discovered in Western Siberia. The name Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad, engraved on the cabochon, is certainly directly related to Islam (religious studies and historical analysis of the find is the topic of a special work). We do not consider a cabochon with an engraved inscription as evidence of the presence of writing (especially Arabic) among the carriers of Basandai cultural traditions, and even more so as evidence of the penetration of Islam into the southern taiga zone of Western Siberia in the X-X centuries. It is also unreasonable to connect the appearance of an engraved cabochon in the southern taiga Ob region with the direct presence of its first owner in Siberia. It is most likely that this artifact ended up in this area as a result of an exchange (possibly multi-stage), although soon after its manufacture. Taking into account the dates of the inscription on the cabochon and the mirror, the time of moving the product from the place of manufacture to the southern taiga Ob region took no more than a century.

The question of what region the cabochon might have come from in Siberia requires special research. For now, let's make some preliminary considerations. In the IX-X centuries AD, Islam was actively spread in various regions of Eurasia. Among the Islamized regions were Central Asia and Volga Bulgaria (922). One of the places where the cabochon was made can be considered Volga Bulgaria, since it is, on the one hand, widely known for its highly developed jewelry production, and on the other hand, Western Siberia was also a zone of its cultural influence (numerous metal products made of metal were found here). Bulgarian masters). The age, relatively small size and high quality of the product allow us to characterize it as an outstanding result of the work of a jeweler of the Middle Ages.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 09.04.12.

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