The Russian Frontier in Western Siberia (XVI–XVIII centuries) — an archaeological rendition

Abstract

The Tara Irtysh region, including the city of Tara, as the main frontier outpost of the 17th–18th centuries, and its rural environs, is chosen as the pilot region in the study of the Russian frontier. Here, extensive archaeological material on the culture of urban and rural populations has been accumulated, and there is a representative body of written sources. The aim of this research is to study, on the basis of a complex analysis, the main deve-lopmental strategies of the Tarsky frontier: military, economic, and cultural. This will enable building a multicom-ponent model of the Russian frontier in the 16th–18th centuries for this region, identifying specifics of its forma-tion, characteristic features, markers, and dynamics of changes as prerequisites for the advancement of the state to the east and southeast. In the study of the military strategy, a special role is assigned to the analysis of defen-sive structures which, together with weapons, specifically firearms, allowed resisting the militant nomads and de-fending the bordering territories inhabited by both Russian and indigenous populations. The study of the eco-nomic strategy revealed that the Russians in a short time created their own food economy based on the develop-ment of agriculture, cattle breeding, and the use of the natural resources — forest foraging, fishing, and hunting. Military confrontations and the formation of a life sustenance system required the development of various crafts: blacksmithing, pottery making, there was a need for clothing and footwear, and for food production. Trade rela-tions were developing. The strategy of the cultural development was based on the paradigm of the Russian world — the spread of the Orthodoxy, into which the indigenous population was converted, including those serving in the Tarsky garrison. However, Muscovian authorities did not inhibit Islamization of the Tatars. Cohabitation of the Russians and Tatars facilitated the spread of the Russian language and Russian culture in the indigenous envi-ronment. This manifested in the change of the foundations of the traditional way of life of the native population, its restructuring according to the Russian model, and introduction of the advanced technologies. The Siberian Rus-sian identity was developing on this international foundation.