In 1955, on the outskirts of the city of Vladimir near the Sungir stream, the burial of a primitive man was first discovered. Since then, a number of remarkable discoveries have been made here, which made it possible to learn a lot about the first inhabitants of the territory of present-day Central Russia. In those days, it was the northernmost edge of the human ecumene in Europe.
According to the most recent radioisotope measurements, the Sungir settlement existed no later than 34 thousand years ago, and, possibly, even 39 thousand years ago. Thus, it arose only a little (on a retrospective scale) later than the time when Cro-Magnons are found in Western Europe - the first representatives of the modern human species in temperate latitudes. Judging by the remains of animal bones, the Sungir people hunted mammoths, reindeer (the main type of their prey), cave lions, woolly rhinos, wild horses, bears, wolves, polar foxes, hares, etc.
The main thing by which the life of primitive people is judged is their burial: the type of burial, the nature of the grave goods, etc. The Sungir people, as it was customary even among the ancestors of Homo sapiens, carefully buried their dead, supplied them with hunting tools, labor and ornaments that could be useful to them in the "afterlife", decorated their graves and, obviously, looked after them. They laid the dead in certain positions, undoubtedly with the observance of special rituals, sprinkled them with ocher, charcoal, and sometimes even limestone. Weapons were placed next to them - daggers and darts made of split and processed mammoth bones, as well as stone tools.
Particularly famous was the very first burial found in Sungir - a tall (180 cm) man of strong constitution. According to modern expert estimates, at the time of his death he was at least 45 years old, but given the nature of the development of the skeletal system, he "can be given" up to 65 years old. That is, he was not just a long-liver at that time. Even now, perhaps he would be considered a man who lived to a respectable old age. The ancients were "smarter" (and certainly not more stupid) than modern people, and the brain of this venerable representative (perhaps a leader or shaman) of his tribe had a volume of 1510 cubic centimeters (with an average volume of a modern person of 1300 cubic centimeters).
Examination of his bone remains revealed the cause of his death - a dart blow to the base of the cervical vertebra. Thus, we know that he was killed (I wonder how long he would have lived if not for this tragic incident?), And with full confidence we can now judge that relations in the collectives of people of the Stone Age were far from idyllic. They obviously fought for booty, for areas of the hunting territory, that is, they fought according to all modern concepts; and it is possible that from time to time they quarreled violently within the tribe itself. However, let's not go too far in such assumptions: perhaps it was a "bad shot" during the hunt.
The next burials found turned out to be children's - a boy of 12-14 years old and a girl of 7-9 years old, and, judging by the nature of the burial, they died simultaneously or one after another. Modern genetic analysis showed that they were brother and sister. They were laid head to head. It is surprising that the boy (in fact, the young man) also, perhaps, died tragically: a trail of a powerful blow with a sharp object was found on the pelvic bone, although it is possible that it was still not fatal. A few years later, a woman was buried just above the steamy children's grave - it is very possible that it was their mother.
Remnants of the Sungir clothing have been preserved. She somewhat resembled the clothes of the Indians of North America, that is, it was adapted to the cold climate, although, of course, it was more primitive. On the body of the Sun-gir people they wore a deaf leather shirt, trousers and fur raincoats, cut like American ponchos. On their feet they wore soft moccasin-type shoes (probably summer) or high, tied above the knee, fur boots like pims. Leather and fur hats (of the "ski" type) and hoods were also natural in such a climate. The clothes were held together with bone needles.
A striking feature of the Sunghir culture was their passion for jewelry. They not only wore bracelets made of twisted flakes of mammoth bones (up to 25 on the leg) and numerous rows of beads made of drilled pebbles and arctic fox tusks on the chest and around their heads on their arms and legs (3,500 beads were found on the corpse of the first Sunghir man). Beads also adorned their clothes in abundance. The girl mentioned above, judging by her muscle development, was busy in the household, apparently mainly making and patching beads.
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Another great feature was the making of children's toys. In the mentioned burial of the boy, figurines of a mammoth and a horse with a hole in the hind leg were found (probably for moving by a rope).
The life of the Sungir people, as expected, was rather harsh, as evidenced by the traces of heavy physical exertion that fell on their musculoskeletal system. It can be assumed that in the winter time they used some means of transportation, such as skis, although due to the woody material they could not survive.
Although the Sungir people hunted mammoths, they did not build dwellings of solid mammoth bones covered with skins (that technology was widespread among the earlier inhabitants of the south of the Russian Plain - apparently, still Neanderthals). The climate of the ancient Sungir was colder than the modern one, but not glacial. Forests with an abundance of firs and birches grew around. It can be assumed that the Sungir people built yurt-type dwellings for themselves from wooden poles covered with skins, and perhaps even the first real log houses, although their remains, undoubtedly due to the decomposition of the material, are very difficult to find. After all, the type of traditional dwelling is developed depending on the climate and the nature of the material even in ancient times and for a long time remains practically unchanged.
The anthropological type of the Sungir people dates back to the time when the modern races had not yet formed at all, and they bizarrely combine the features of the Caucasian and Mongoloid races with the elements of body proportions inherited by the first representatives of Homo sapiens who came out of Africa (elongated "tropical" limbs).
Yaroslav Butakov