The paper summarizes the trends of the decorative and applied arts development from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages in the Asian part ofRussia. The specificity and congruence of these trends reflect the pace of life which influenced the ethnopsycological state and social conscience of the ancient peoples inWestern Siberiaand the AmurPrimorye region. The pace of life is connected to the lifestyle. This interconnection is based on the paleoeconomics orientation in different regions ofNorthern Asia. The stable life inWestern Siberiaand the South of the Russian Far East was conditioned by fishing and different types of production. The pace of this lifestyle was reflected in the decorative art trends. In Primorye and Lower Amur regions, in forest-steppes ofWestern Siberia, the representational content of the ornament considerably changed during the Early Iron Age. The presented hypothesis proposes that militarization of the society was the driver of the social conscience and life pace transformation. Peculiarities of ceramic ware decoration development in the forest-steppe and taiga landscapes ofWestern Siberiain the Iron Age are outlined. The causes of this phenomenon are provided. The hunters ofEastern Siberiamountain-taiga regions had a fundamentally different life pace which specificated the decorative art on that territory.

Part I of the paper deals with the issues of governance institutions in nomadic societies of the Early and High Middle Ages inCentral Asia. The research of the sources and characterisations of Middle Ages nomads’ authorities demonstrates that the complex nomadic empires’s structures were unstable and dynamic, and integrative political processes were reversible. The author explains these peculiarities by specific governance mechanisms which were based on a traditional tribal system and the relevant means of political interaction. Modern politics genesis theories applied to the history of Central Asia nomads of the 6th – 13th centuries allowed to reveal some key components of nomadic governance in the Middle Ages, to demonstrate the complexity of nomadic governance institutions, governance transformation in nomadic chiefdoms and the role of innovations in the early state institutions formation. This proves the effectiveness of the applying system analysis principles in research of theCentral Asianomadic empires’ governance structures. The results of such analysis are presented in Part II of the paper.

Part II of the paper reveals the peculiarities of theCentral Asianomads’ governance system in the 6th – 13th centuries in relation to the nomadic communities’ complexity. The research compares the governance characteristics on the tribe level in nomadic chiefdoms and early nomads’ state formations during the period of their emergence. The paper demonstrates that the transformation of nomads’ governance system bases consisted not only in replacing one governance practice with another but in combining some more archaic and developed forms of political activity. The comparative and functional study showed that the traditional attitudes and acts related to the tribe governance experience remained significant and played the main role at times during the transition to more complicated organisation of political regimes in the Middle Ages nomads’ societites. The innovative tribal governance institutions in nomads’ imperial politities were not stable without a fiscal exploitation of the settled population, towns, trading and administrative apparatus hierarchy.

The paper introduces into scientific use 5 Early Iron Age statues with the only feature: hemispheric prominence (“clour”) on the top of the statues’ head. There are 8 statues of this kind, including the 5 being published, out of almost two dozens of Saka Period statues. Analytical comparison with the other Early Iron Age statues of Saryarka enabled us to determine both similarities of a few morphological and stylistic features and peculiarities of the statues of this kind: all of them depict human head crowned with a clour. The authors assume the function of the clour feature to be an incase for the lock on the top (aydar), the hairstyle represented in a number of Saka Period statues. By analogy with the earlier published statues, the ones with the clour feature being introduced here were dated by the 7th – 5th centuries BC. In this connection the authors suppose that such statues being located in proximity with barrows with “moustaches” may be an evidence of their synchronicity.

The concept of “archaeological culture” presents a substantive framework of historical-scientific and historiographical knowledge in archaeology. In the 1920s, S. A. Teploukhov, having created the first classification of archaeological cultures ofSiberia, established the basic criteria for determining those: typological similarity of an archaeological complex, unity of archaeological sites in time and space. Researchers who shared paleoethnological approach (B. E. Petri, S. A. Teploukhov, S. I. Rudenko, M. P. Griaznov, V. N. Chernetsov) understood archaeological culture primarily as material culture dominant in a particular territory in a particular period.

In the 1930s, the concept of ‘archaeological culture’ in the Soviet archaeology was replaced with the terms ‘epoch’, ‘period’, ‘time’, ‘stage’, ‘step’ for ideological reasons. Nevertheless, this fact did not prevent the researchers of Siberiain the 1930 – 1960s (S. V. Kiselev, M. P. Gryaznov, S. I. Rudenko) from developing S. A. Teploukhov’s ideas and filling archaeological cultures with historic content. A. P. Okladnikov and V. N. Chernetsov widely used ethnographic materials for historical reconstructions in archeology. M. P. Gryaznov considered ‘archaeological culture’ as a taxonomic category in which a horizontal layer consisted of a local version – culture – cultural similarity, while the vertical hierarchy was composed of feature – type – culture.

The paper focuses on Andronoid materials located at Ustje Kozhukha 1 site in the northern spurs of Kuznetskiy Alatau. Basing on the analysis of ceramics complexes, the authors prove a number of analogies that help define the lower date of Andronoid peoples inhabiting this area: middle – early 2nd millennium BC. The paper reconstructs the specific model of interaction between the peoples inhabiting the forest-steppe and taiga-mountain regions of Kuznetsk Alatau in the Late Andronovo period.

The paper considers both positive and negative trends in preservation of cultural heritage in present-dayRussia. Despite the changes in the legislation and public policies with regard to cultural heritage, generally a few changes have taken place in historic preservation as compared to the previous period.

The paper presents some results of recent field investigations of the rock art complex located in the Oglakhty mountains (RepublicofKhakasia, the left bank of theYeniseiRiver). In 2014, the authors had surveyed rocky outcrops along the coastline of the Yenisei (Krasnoyarskreservoir). A major part of the earlier known rock art is now flooded. However, using a boat, we managed to find a whole series of compositions and separate images on the rocks above the water level. All of them were not previously known. Probably, when the complex had been investigated before the flooding, these petroglyphs on the upper stages of the steep cliffs were inaccessible and hardly visible from below. Newly discovered images are related to the most ancient stratum in rock art of the Minusinsk basin; they are definitely earlier than the Bronze Age, although their absolute age is under discussion. The assemblage of animals depicted (elks, red deer, wild horses, aurochs, bighorn sheep, wild boars, bears, which do not inhabit the area now or even are extinct), as well as the state of panels’ preservation and their topography – all this argues for the very ancient age of this imagery.

The paper presents chronological and stylistic analysis of animal images on the knife handles of Tagar culture. The most numerous category of knives, whose handles are decorated with images of animals, includes knives decorated with stylized antlers. The author identifies stable combinations of certain images.

The paper specifies the function and meaning of a series of mobilliary art objects within the Neolithic-Eneolithic belief system inSiberia. A group of objects are determined as pendants which people had with them or fixed to their clothes as amulets or lucky hunting aid.

The paper analyzes the tamga images on themountainofBolshoy Ulaz, which is part of a larger complex of rock art in the northMinusinskBasin. Among tamgas on the mountain Bolshoy Ulaz special attention is paid to the so-called clusters of tamgas, providing additional opportunities for the analysis of the material.

The paper analyzes several polymorphic creatures found on the rocks ofMountTepsey(Krasnoturansky District of Krasnoyarsk Region), which combine the features of ungulates, carnivores, birds and other creatures. All of them are dated within the Scythian period. The main focus is on the character, dicovered on Tepsey II in 2014, which differs from the others as it represents two connected beings of similar origin: the croup of the the main character (deer) is where the head of another one (also a deer) ‘grows’. The paper presents numerous analogies and makes the principal conclusion that the region was inhabited by artists of ‘Pazyryk’ traditions, which seems to be very important not only for understanding the artistic component of the era, but mainly for historical reconstructions.

Tepsey archaeological complex provides different information about the people who lived inMinusinskBasin. The paper analyzes the tamga-petroglyphs on the rocks of Tagar mounds (kurgans) under Tepsey mountain. Some different peoples depicted tamgas inMinusinskBasin,Altay,Kazakhstanetc. Ancient tamga images were created on rocks and kurgans. The first tamgas in Tepsey (on plaques and astragalus) are dated by known in the Tashtyk culture. The tradition of painting the tamgas may have been continued by the Kyrgyzs and then passed to the Khakass people. 6 types of tamgas are found on the rocks of Tagar mounds, whose analogs were known not only whithin the petrogliphs ofMinusinskBasin, but in other territories (Altay,Kazakhstanetc.). Analysis of tamgas gives us new information about the people who lived in this territory.

The paper focuses on the key aspects of preservation of archaeological heritage sites inKemerovoregion. The measures aimed at preservation of archaeological heritage sites include systematic inventory and monitoring regularly carried out inKemerovoregion. The second point in the preservation of the sites is defining the boundaries of their territories and subsequent introducing the information about them in the State Real Estate Cadastre and Urban Development Support information Systems of municipalities. The preservation of archaeological heritage sites in the course of land-use, excavatory, construction, reclamative, and other kinds of economic activities is of no less importance. The authors do not only highlight the focal points of state policy in the sphere of preservation of archeological sites, give specific examples and statistic data of their implementation, but also substantiate the relevance and applicability of the above mentioned activities.

The paper deals with the issue of child burial grounds of the Bronze Age on theterritoryofWestern Siberia. It contains the results of quantitative and qualitative analyses of the burial mounds goods, a specific set of attributes and values associated with childhood which can be identified in the burial ritual. The research was based on the interconnection of adornments and anthropological criteria of the buried people's sex and age.

The paper deals with historiographical traditions of detecting and interpreting the ceramic complexes with ‘mixed’ characteristics within the periodization diagrams. The author analyses the validity and possible criteria of determining such facts and describes the main issues related to Comb-Pit and Artyn complexes in the Neolithic Middle Irtysh River region and Baraba.

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the Siblag’s production activity during the war. The author focuses on the reasons for the creation and the specifics of the camp, its organizational structure and production capacity are characterized. Prisoners are quoted to characterize the hungry and empty life, difficult working conditions and motivation. The paper shows prisoners’ contribution at the labour front.

The paper researches the reasons of stagnation that progressed Kuzbass coal industry in the 1980s. On the basis of archival materials and the local press, the authors study the complex of the problems which “contributed” to this process, connected with the organization of capital construction and its financing. The research reveals the imbalance of the volume of annual state tasks and the material opportunities of contractors available in the region and personnel potential. Positive and negative consequences of changes in structure of departmental construction trusts and administrations are noted. Discrepancy between the increasing capacity rates of ferroconcrete constructions plants and volumes of their production is established. Active participation of miners in mountain and capital works in the intra-contract and inhouse ways is shown. The effective measures directed on coordination of contract organizations’ actions are allocated. Activity of the party and economic staff aimed at timely commissioning of important starting objects is analysed.

The paper analyses the structure and rate of income and spending of people living inKemerovoregion after World War II An average family income depended a lot on the occupation. Different categories of population had different structures of income, in the same time structures of spending had a lot in common. During the period of 1946 – 1950 the income rate was rising, though the differences in the life rate with the Western regions of the country became more distinct.

The paper discusses the activities ofKemerovoregion militia departments in the sphere of overcoming children’s homelessness and neglect in 1943 – 1953. The author found the cause that created homelessness and neglect in the region during the war and the early postwar years. The interaction of the Party and Soviet bodies with militia agencies to seize the homeless from the streets ofKemerovoregion settlements is identified. The measures of social support for children and adolescents who were left without parents and relatives are revealed. The author shows some statistics about the state of juvenile delinquency, as well as the number of children and adolescents placed in special educational institutions and employed on a variety of industrial and agricultural enterprises ofKemerovoregion. Attention is paid to problems arising in orphanages and schools of professional education for the homing and education of children and adolescents. The paper provides examples of administrative penalties and other measures applied by the militia in relation to parents and other legal representatives for the improper performance of their duties for the care and supervision of minor children. The study used the documents of the several funds of the State archive ofKemerovoregion, a number of which is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.

The paper discusses the development of revisionist thoughts in the Russian historiography of the Holocaust. The author refers to the historical roots of the Holocaust denial in foreign historiography, as well as the reasons for active perception of revisionist ideas inRussia. The paper provides the analysis of the complex of anti-Zionist literature published in terms of anti-Israeli company during the severance of diplomatic relations between theUSSRandIsraelin the Six Day war. The analysis reveals the points of view of some researchers of the Soviet period, such as Yu. Ivanov, V. Semenyuk, L. A. Korneev. The author states the position of the contemporary Russian denier O. A. Plotkin and evaluates the influence of the West on the Russian historical science in the modern world. Finally, the author concludes that in the conditions of silencing the topic of the Holocaust, as well as the ideological orientation of Soviet literature, the Russian society was a fertile soil for the perception of revisionist concepts of the West.

The paper analyzes the characteristics of the Soviet customs policy towards trafficking cultural property. The paper bases on the legal acts in force in the 1920s – 1930-s. The most important aspects of the problem are marked. The author explans the relevance of the problem at the present stage, including relevance forKemerovoregion, due to the increasing incidence of trafficking cultural property in the region.

The paper presents the results of analysis of contemporary Russian historiography of the campaign against cosmopolitism inSiberia, developed over the past twenty years (1994 – 2014). To date, there is no complete characterization of the stated subject. The author has identified and examined the works devoted to this campaign, which constitute individual problem-clusters. These are general works of various thematic content, publications, reflecting the policy of the state in relation to the creative, scientific and educational, scientific, engineering and technical intelligentsia, doctors, and works clarifying relations between the state and Jewich communities. In this case, the researchers studied events of the campaign having taken place in the Kemerovo Region in more detail. The aspect that draws particular attention of the researchers is the policy of the state in respect to the scientific and educational intelligentsia ofSiberia. At present, there is a lack of general works on the history of the campaign in Siberian regions and the accompanying repression. The author considers creation of biographical works to be an essential and promising way of research.

The paperdiscusses the use of the periodical press, as one of the media for the coverage ofKemerovoregion’s social organizations policing activities in the 1960s – 1980s. In such a formulation of the problem, the topic is studied for the first time. The study is based on materials ofKemerovoregion’s periodical press and the state archive documents ofKemerovoregion. The author analyzed the objectivity of the print media, considering the methods of dealing with antisocial phenomena. The purpose of the press was to bring to the user the information about the socially dangerous abuse and combatting it them, the main task was to ‘reach’ every citizen. Print media became a sharp weapon of great power to influence the consciousness of people in the prevention of crime. Effectiveness of the fight against violators of public order depended, inter alia, on the mechanism of influencing it by means of periodicals. However, in the analyzed period, the media were an effective means of ideological influence on the population and were tightly controlled both by the country's leaders as well as by the local authorities.Kemerovoregion was no exception.

The paper analyzes the condition of agricultural industry, dynamics in the amount and composition of agricultural professionals. The evaluation of the state of knowledge in this problem is given.

The paper presents the milestones of the biography of Kaleria A. Zabolotskaya, a professor at the Department of Contemporary Russian History, Faculty of History and International Relations,KemerovoStateUniversity. The authors identify the fields of Professor Zabolotskaya’s research and teaching activities. Her major research interests lie in socioeconomic development ofSiberiaof the contemporary period and the sources studies of Russian history. Her educational activity was primarily connected with teaching courses on Contemporary Russian History and Source Studies of Russian History.

The paper considers the problems of formation and development of the system of mining personnel professional training in Kuzbass in the late 1920s – 1930s. The authors identify several schools of coal industry workers’ professional development. Among them are mining schools, workers’ training schools, remedial schools for workers, technical courses.

The paper discusses the concept of perestroika. It demonstrates the evolution of researchers’ views in considering the history of the Soviet period.

The paper characterizes the the main statistical sources on history of social and economic development of Kuzbass in the late 1850s – early 1890s, including both published and unpublished sources. The reasons and circumstances of emergence of those documents in connection with the change of the status of State statistics from the second half of the 1850s is traced are specified in the paper. Their analysis allowed to come to certain conclusions. The listed sources represent statistical documents whose information enables reconstructing the dynamics of the main indicators of population of Kuznetsk and Mariinsk districts ofTomskprovince in the second half of the 19th century. The specified works also reveal the issues of social and economic development of the region. The territory of the Kuznetsk area of the Kuznetsk district is chosen as the example fro characterising the settlements of a certain Russian subregion. The reconstructed characteristics are: settlements network, dynamics of the number of country households and population of the subregion, development of its social infrastructure. The paper staticizes the detailed studying of Kuzbass settlements, especially as many of them still exist today. The paper includes fragments of maps, tables and a diagram illustrating its basic provisions; they are based on the sources listed in references and represent a fragment of the database on settlements of Kuznetsk and Mariinsk districts ofTomskprovince.

The paper aims at identifying and analyzing the stages in the history of the “Khimik” (“Chemist”) stadium. Changes in the functioning of the stadium during different periods of its development are tracked; the main problems in its functioning are identified. To achieve the, different methods and principles of scientific knowledge were used. Application of the principle of historicism is disclosed in assessing the development of the “Khimik” stadium. The principle of scientific objectivity revealed objective regularities of the development process of the “Khimik” stadium as part of an integrated system of physical education. Application of special historical methods (historicalcomparative and problem-chronological) and scientific methods of induction and deduction allowed to reveal the general and the particular in the historical events associated with the development of “Khimik” stadium. The author concludes that the “Khimik” stadium passed a very long and fruitful way in its development to become the leading city stadium.

The paper describes the role of T. N. Troizkaya, one of the leading specialists in archaeology, ancient and medieval history ofWestern Siberia, in studying Irmen archaeological culture of the Late Bronze epoch. The sources of the paper are T. N. Troizkaya’s field reports of 1950 – 1980s and her published works. The information on 31 monuments explored by T. N. Troizkaya and her students was collected. The paper analyzed T. N. Troizkaya’s works that provided her conclusions about cultural belonging, chronology and periodization, households, social system, religion and destiny of Irmen people. The author clearly described the significant role of T. N. Troizkaya in studying Irmen culture and the evolution of her statements about this culture layer of the Late Bronze epoch.

The paper is devoted to generalization of types of passenger trains and cars as a factor of citizens’ welfare. Basic elements of material security of this phenomenon are formulated. The material reveals an option of the mechanism of improving the quality of service, shows its limitation that became a factor of decrease in viability of the Soviet system.

The paper addresses the questions of formation and development of teachers’ competition. The basic directions and forms of teachers’ competitions at the national and regional levels are examined.

The paper is devoted to the activities of creative unions ofKemerovoregion in the second half of the 1970s – late 1980s and based on the materials of theKemerovobranch of the Union of Artists andKemerovobranch of the Union of Writers. The author defines specifics of the local branches of the Union of Artists and theUnion of Writers, identifies the main stages of their activities and lists the positive and negative factors of the Unions’ development. Relations between public authorities and members of creative unions (including problems of social support of intelligentsia) have been studied. Local branches of the creative unions completed the period of formation and took the path of sustainable development in the second half of the 1970s. The period of the highest development of the local branches of the Union of Writers and the Union of Artists is the 1980s. Only the period of «perestroika» was contradictory for the local creative intelligentsia: the degree of state control decreased, but at the same time people’s attitude to the intelligentsia changed.