“Milk Vodka” and Distillersation Apparatuses in Tashtyk Culture?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2025.6.208.220Keywords:
archaeology, Tashtyk culture, Minusinsk Hollow, Late Iron Age, distillation apparatuses, distillation technologyAbstract
The paper analyzes archaeological materials of the 2nd–3rd centuries AD from Oglakhty burial ground, which indicate the existence of distillation apparatuses and “milk vodka” in the Tashtyk cultural environment. Absolutely identical sets of utensils associated with the production and storage of strong alcohol found in two Oglakhty graves for the first time suggest the existence of a stable tradition of providing the deceased with distillation apparatuses. On the basis of archaeological and ethnographic data, it is concluded that a distillation device with internal collection of alcohol condensate in a wooden bowl with a characteristic drainage trough was used in Sayan region. Reliable analogs of such distiller details in the Xiongnu complexes of Central Asia and their absence in the burials of the Scythian period imply that it was the Xiongnu period when “milk vodka” was widely spread among cattle-breeding cultures. The reconstructed type of the distillation apparatus survived in South Siberia until ethnographic modernity, which can be explained by its versatility and ease of use.
References
Adrianov, A. V. 1909. In Zapiski Imperatorskogo russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva po otdeleniyu etnografii (Notes of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society on the Department of Ethnography) XXXIV, 489–524 (in Russian).
Butanaev, V. Ya. 1996. Traditsionnaya kulʹtura i byt khakasov (Traditional culture and way of life of the Khakas). Abakan: “Khakass. Kn. Izd-vo” Publ. (in Russian).
Vadetskaya, E. B. 1999. Tashtykskaya epokha v drevnei istorii Sibiri (The Tashtyk Epoch in the ancient history of Siberia). Series: Archaeologica Petropolitana. VII. Saint Petersburg: “Peterburgskoe vostokovedeniya” Publ. (in Russain).
Vainshtein, S. I. 1991. Mir kochevnikov tsentra Azii (Nomads`s world of central Asia). Moscow: “Nauka” Publ. (in Russian).
Vodyasov, E. V., Pankova, S. V., Zaitseva, O. V., Vavulin, M. V. 2021. In Sibirskie istoricheskie issledovaniia (Siberian Historical Research) 3, 6–23 (in Russian).
Gurkin (Choros-Gurkin), G. I. 1930. Pribor dlya peregonki araka. Altaitsy. Rossiya, Altai respublika (Arak distillation device. The Altaians. Russia, The Altai Republic). MAE RAS Collection. И 122-107. Available at: https://collection.kunstkamera.ru/entity/OBJECT/267225?query=%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0&index=9 (accessed 20.03.2025) (in Russian).
Gurkin (Choros-Gurkin), G. I. 1930. Pribor dlya peregonki araka. Altaitsy. Rossiya, Altai respublika (Arak distillation device. The Altaians. Russia, The Altai Republic). MAE RAS Collection. И 122-107. Available at:
https://collection.kunstkamera.ru/entity/OBJECT/267224?query=%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0&index=2 (accessed 20.03.2025)
, 1917. Drevnosti Minusinskogo kraya. Otkrytka № 5. Minusinskie inorodtsy. V yurte kachintsa. Za prigotovleniem "araga" (vina) (Antiquities of Minusinsk region. Postcard No. 5. Minusinsk foreigners. In a Kachin’s yurt. Preparation of ‘arag’ (wine)). Minusinsk: “N. V. Fedorov” Publ. (in Russian).
Elikhina, Yu. I. 2018. Sokrovishcha kurganov Noin-Uly (Severnaya Mongoliya). Nakhodki ekspeditsii P.K. Kozlova 1923–1926 gg. iz kollektsii Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha (Treasures of Noin-Ula burial mounds (Northern Mongolia). Finds of P.K. Kozlov's expedition of 1923-1926 from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum). LAP Lambert, Academic Publishing (in Russian).
Esenova, T. S. 2012. Ocherki po lingvokul'ture kalmykov (Essays on the linguoculture of the Kalmyks). Elista: Kalmyk State University (in Russian).
Zaitseva, O. V. 2023. In Sibirskie istoricheskie issledovaniia (Siberian Historical Research) (3), 196–203 (in Russian).
Kimeev, V. M. 1989. Shortsy. Kto oni? (The Shorts. Who are they?). Kemerovo: “Kemerovskoe kn. izd-vo” Publ. (in Russian).
Kisel, V. A. 2007. In Kharvin, S. V. (ed.). Sbornik nauchnyh trudov v chest' 60-letiya A.V. Vinogradova (Collection of scientific papers in honor of the 60th anniversary of A.V. Vinogradov). Sant Petersburg: “Kult-Inform-Press” Publ., 110–114 (in Russian).
Kisel, V. A. 2014. In Davydov, V. N., Arzyutov, D. V. (eds.). Sibirskii sbornik − 4. Grani social'nogo: antropologicheskie perspektivy issledovaniya social'nyh otnoshenij i kul'tury (Siberian Collection – 4. Facets of the social: anthropological perspectives on the study of social relations and culture). Saint Petersburg.: Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of Russian Academy of Sciences, 506–522 (in Russian).
Ochir-Goryaeva, M. 2004. In Yablonsky, L. T. (ed.). Arkheologicheskie pamyatniki rannego zheleznogo yuga Rossii (Archaeological sites of the Early Iron Age in Southern Russia). Moscow: Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 166–178 (in Russian).
Pankova, S.V. 2020. In Khvoshchinskaya, N. V. (ed.). Arkheologicheskie vesti (Archaeological News) 26. Saint Petersburg: Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS, 202–215 (in Russian).
Pankova, S. V., Shirobokov, I. G. 2021. In Sibirskie istoricheskie issledovaniia (Siberian Historical Research) (3), 60–96 (in Russian).
Potapov, L. P. 1966. In Potapov, L. P. (ed.). Trudy Tuvinskoi kompleksnoi arkheologo-etnograficheskoi ekspeditsii AN SSSR (Proceedings of the Tuvan Complex Archaeological and Ethnographic Expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences). Moscow; Leningrad: “Nauka” Publ., 13–55 (in Russian).
Potapov, L. P. 1969. Ocherki narodnogo byta tuvintsev (Essays on the national life of Tuvinians). Moscow: “Nauka” Publ. (in Russian).
Rudenko, S. I. 1953. Kul’tura naseleniia Gornogo Altaya v skifskoe vremia (Culture of the Population of Mountain Altai in the Scythian Time). Moscow; Leningrad: “Nauka” Publ. (in Russian).
Slyusarenko, I. Yu., Garkusha, Yu. N. 2023. In Sibirskie istoricheskie issledovaniia (Siberian Historical Research) (3), 204–235 (in Russian).
Tuallagov, A. A. 2017. In Izvestiya Severo-Osetinskogo instituta gumanitarnykh i sotsial'nykh issledovanii im. V.I. Abaeva (Proceedings of the V.I. Abaev North Ossetian Institute for Humanitarian and Social Research) 62 (23), 5–11 (in Russian).
Chast' samogonnogo apparata. Tuvincy. Konec XIX - nachalo XX v. (Part of a moonshine distiller. The Tuvans. Late 19th - early 20th centuries). Collection of the Russian Ethnographic Museum. 5723-14. Available at: https://collection.ethnomuseum.ru/entity/OBJECT/152580?query=%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE&fund=929340&index=2 (accessed 20.03.2025) (in Russian).
Shneider, E. R. 1925. Risunok (tush'): apparat dlya vygonki araki. Hakasy (Drawing (ink): Arak distillation apparatus. The Khakas). Collection of the Russian Ethnographic Museum. 5723-14. Available at: https://collection.ethnomuseum.ru/entity/OBJECT/252155?query=%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0&fund=929340&index=2 (accessed 20.03.2025) (in Russian).
Shneider, E. R. 1925. Risunok (chernila): apparat dlya vygonki araki. Hakasy (Drawing (ink): Arak distillation apparatus. The Khakas). Collection of the Russian Ethnographic Museum. 5723-16. Available at: https://collection.ethnomuseum.ru/entity/OBJECT/742331?query=%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0&fund=929340&index=1 (accessed 20.03.2025) (in Russian).
Shojnuu, A.-M. V., Dongak, M. I. 2016. In Ondar, U. V. (ed.). Aktual'nye problemy issledovaniya etnoekologicheskih i etnokul'turnyh tradicij narodov Sayano-Altaya: Materialy IV mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii molodyh uchenyh, aspirantov i studentov, posvyashchennoj Godu gostepriimstva v Respublike Tyva (Actual problems of research of ethnoecological and ethnocultural traditions of the peoples of Sayano-Altai: Proceedings of the 4th International scientific and practical conference of young scientists, postgraduates and students dedicated to the Year of Hospitality in the Republic of Tyva). Kyzyl: Tuva State University, 192–193 (in Russian).
Allchin, F. R. 1979. In Man, New Series. Vol. 14. No. 1. 55–63.
Chinese researchers trace spirit distillation technology back to Western Han Dynasty. Available at: http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2024-10/22/content_117499362.htm (accessed 20.03.2025).
McHugh, J. 2020. In Drink of immortality: essays on distillation and alcohol use in ancient India. Manohar, New Delhi, First edition. 41-61.
Pankova, S.V. 2017. In Pankova, S. V., and StJohn, Simpson (eds.). Masters of the Steppe: the Impact of the Scythians and Later Nomad Societies of Eurasia. Oxford: Archaeopress Archaeology, 373–398.
Schottenhammer, A. 2016. In Crossroads: Studies on the History of Exchange Relations in the East Asian World. 14, 143–160.
Tarasov, P.E., Pankova, S.V., Long, T., Leipe, Ch., Kalinina, K.B., Panteleev, A.V., Ørsted, Brandt L., Kyzlasov, I.L., Wagner, M. 2022. In Quaternary International. (623), 169–183. DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2021.12.004
Valenzuela-Zapata, A.G., Buell, P.D., Solano-Pérez, M.P., Park, H. 2013. In ACM Crossroads Student Magazine. Vol. 8. 157–191.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Yu.V. Shirin, E.V. Vodyasov, O.V. Zaitseva, V.V. Nemykh
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
