Nomadic Cultures in the Mega-Structure of the Eurasian World / Evgenij N. Chernykh; Irina Savinetskaya, Peter N. Hommel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chernykh, E. N. (Evgeniĭ Nikolaevich), 1935- Author.

Contributor:

Hommel, Peter N., Editor.

Savinetskaya, Irina, Editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nomads--Eurasia--History--To 1500.

Nomads.

Social archaeology--Eurasia.

Social archaeology.

Mongols--History--To 1500.

Mongols.

Eurasia--Antiquities.

Eurasia.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (696 pages)

Place of Publication:

Boston, MA : Academic Studies Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Two major dividing lines have formed the megastructure of Eurasia, determining the historical epochs of the continent's peoples. The first, vertical (longitudinal) line has separated East and West since the Paleolithic Age. The East was dominated by Mongol peoples speaking Sino -Tibetan, Manchu-Tungus, and Altaic languages. The Caucasoid peoples of the West spoke mostly Indo-European, Semite, and Finno-Ugric languages. The second line divided the continent horizontally (by latitude) into North and South. This division was closely connected with the Eurasian Steppe Belt. To the north of it lay the world of hunter-gatherers and fishermen. To the south, settled agriculture was dominant. The Steppe Belt itself was the domain of pastoralists, the nomadic and semi-nomadic herders. These lines converged at the entrance to the Great Silk Road. With the swift development of horse domestication and horseback riding, the nomads moved-from the Early Metal Age (500-400 BCE) to Genghis Khan's and the Genghisid's Great Empire (1200-1400 CE)-to the forefront of Eurasian history as their world became increasingly involved in dramatic and sometimes tragic relationships with their southern neighbors. This book focuses on the tangle of problems in these nomadic peoples' history.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Сontents

Author's Preface to the English Edition

Translator's Preface to the English Edition

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I. The Steppe Belt in the Mega-Structure of the Eurasian World

Chapter 1. The Formation of the Eurasian World

Chapter 2. Transitions from North to South: Geoecology, Subsistence and the Eurasian Steppe Belt

Chapter 3. Transitions from East to West: Across the Layers of the Eurasian Geoecology

Part II. The Archaeology of Nomadic Cultures

Chapter 4. Archaeology and History: Sources of Difference

Chapter 5. "Gifts" from the Nomads: Pastoral Contributions to World History

Chapter 6. Nomadic Cultures in the Early Metal Age: Archaeological Time, Technology and Territory

Chapter 7. The "Proto-Metal" Age in Eurasia

Chapter 8. Metallurgical Revolution in the Carpatho-Balkan Region

Chapter 9. The Origins of the Circumpontic Metallurgical Province

Chapter 10. The Circumpontic Metallurgical Province and Caucasian "Corridor"

Chapter 11. The Circumpontic Province and the Nomads of the Steppe Belt

Chapter 12. Great Leap and Great Stagnation

Chapter 13. The Second Millennium: Revolutionary Changes in the Eurasian Steppe

Chapter 14. The Neighbours of the West-Asian Metallurgical Province

Chapter 15. From the Centre of Asia to the West: the Forerunners of Genghis Khan?

Chapter 16. East Asian Steppe and Ancient Chinese Metallurgical Provinces

Chapter 17. At the Roots of the Age of Iron

Chapter 18. The Scythian World through the Eyes of Herodotus

Chapter 19. The Scythian World through the eyes of Archaeologists

Part III. Nomadic Culture in Historical Context

Chapter 20. The Transformation of the Pastoralists of Arabia

Chapter 21. A Collision of Worlds: Islam and Catholicism

Chapter 22. The first Wave from the East: the Huns

Chapter 23. The "Huns" in the East

Chapter 24. A Second Wave from the East: the Turks

Chapter 25. The heirs of the Western Turkic khanate

Chapter 26. The Third Wave from the East: China and the Mongols

Chapter 27. Third Wave from the East: the Mongols and world of Islam

Chapter 28. A Third Wave from the East: the Mongols and the Christian World

Chapter 29. The Fall of the Great Mongol Empire

Chapter 30. An Eastern Millennium

Part IV. Rus', Russia and the Nomadic World

Chapter 31. Why only Rus'?

Chapter 32. From the Avars to the Time of Troubles

Chapter 33. The Early Modern Period: Rupturing of the borders of the Eurasian Nucleus

Chapter 34. Sarmatia Asiatica and Sarmatia Europeana

Chapter 35. Breaking Borders: colonization in Principle and Practice

Chapter 36. An Assault on the Steppe

Chapter 37. The Soviet Steppe

Part V. In place of an Epilogue: Difficult questions and complex problems

Chapter 38. Reflections on life among complex problems

Chapter 39. Ideology and Culture

Chapter 40. Self-sufficency and Historical Development

Appendix 1. Radiocarbon Chronology of the Early Metal Age Cultures in Western Eurasia

Appendix 2. In Thirst of Immortality: Genghis Khan and the Mission of Chang Chun the Monk

Appendix 3. Mariott Hotel and Batu Khan

Appendix 4. The Last Descendant of Genghis Khan?

Appendix 5. The Great Silk Road and the Secret Mission of Chokan Valikhanov

Historical Sources

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 21. Dez 2019)

ISBN:

1-61811-553-7

OCLC:

969973819