Note:
There is MORE material in the online version than in the print version.
Have you tried watching newspapers on your smartphone screen? We recommend it - very convenient!
"Dwellings of the Nations of the World"
(66 “residential real estate objects” selected by us from “abylaisha” to “yaranga”)
Wall newspapers of the charitable educational project “Briefly and clearly about the most interesting things” (site site) are intended for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg. They ship free to most educational institutions, as well as to a number of hospitals, orphanages and other institutions in the city. The project's publications do not contain any advertising (only founders' logos), are politically and religiously neutral, written in easy language, and well illustrated. They are intended as informational “inhibition” of students, awakening cognitive activity and the desire to read. Authors and publishers, without claiming to be academically complete in presenting the material, publish Interesting Facts, illustrations, interviews with famous figures of science and culture and thereby hope to increase the interest of schoolchildren in the educational process.
Dear friends! Our regular readers have noticed that this is not the first time we have presented an issue in one way or another related to the topic of real estate. We recently discussed the very first residential structures of the Stone Age, and also took a closer look at the “real estate” of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons (issue). We talked about the dwellings of the peoples who have long lived on the lands from Lake Onega to the shores of the Gulf of Finland (and these are the Vepsians, Vodians, Izhorians, Ingrian Finns, Tikhvin Karelians and Russians) in the series “Indigenous Peoples of the Leningrad Region” (, and issues). We looked at the most incredible and unique modern buildings in this issue. We have also written more than once about holidays related to the topic: Realtor Day in Russia (February 8); Builder's Day in Russia (second Sunday in August); World Architecture Day and World Housing Day (first Monday in October). This wall newspaper is a short “wall encyclopedia” of traditional dwellings of peoples from all over the world. The 66 “residential real estate objects” we selected are arranged alphabetically: from “abylaisha” to “yaranga”.
Abylaisha
Abylaisha is a camping yurt among the Kazakhs. Its frame consists of many poles, which are attached from above to a wooden ring - the chimney. The entire structure is covered with felt. In the past, similar dwellings were used in the military campaigns of the Kazakh Khan Abylai, hence the name.
Ail
Ail (“wooden yurt”) is the traditional dwelling of the Telengits, the people of Southern Altai. A log hexagonal structure with an earthen floor and a high roof covered with birch bark or larch bark. There is a fireplace in the middle of the earthen floor.
Arish
Arish is the summer home of the Arab population of the Persian Gulf coast, woven from the stems of palm leaves. A kind of fabric pipe is installed on the roof, which in extremely hot climates provides ventilation in the house.
Balagan
Balagan is the winter home of the Yakuts. Sloping walls made of thin poles coated with clay were strengthened on a log frame. The low, sloping roof was covered with bark and earth. Pieces of ice were inserted into small windows. The entrance is oriented to the east and covered with a canopy. On the western side, a cattle shed was attached to the booth.
Barasti
Barasti is a common name in the Arabian Peninsula for huts woven from date palm leaves. At night, the leaves absorb excess moisture, and during the day they gradually dry out, moistening the hot air.
Barabora
Barabora is a spacious semi-dugout of the Aleuts, the indigenous population of the Aleutian Islands. The frame was made from whale bones and driftwood washed ashore. The roof was insulated with grass, turf and skins. A hole was left in the roof for entry and lighting, from where they descended inside along a log with steps cut into it. Drums were built on hills near the coast to make it convenient to observe sea animals and the approach of enemies.
Bordey
Bordei is a traditional half-dugout in Romania and Moldova, covered with a thick layer of straw or reeds. Such a dwelling saved from significant temperature changes during the day, as well as from strong winds. There was a fireplace on the clay floor, but the stove was heated black: the smoke came out through a small door. This is one of ancient types housing in this part of Europe.
Bahareke
Bajareque is a Guatemalan Indian hut. The walls are made of poles and branches coated with clay. The roof is made of dry grass or straw, the floor is made of compacted soil. Bajareques are resistant to the strong earthquakes that occur in Central America.
Burama
Burama is the temporary home of the Bashkirs. The walls were made of logs and branches and had no windows. The gable roof was covered with bark. The earthen floor was covered with grass, branches and leaves. Inside, bunks were built from planks and a fireplace with a wide chimney.
Valkaran
Valkaran (“house of whale jaws” in Chukchi) is a dwelling among the peoples of the Bering Sea coast (Eskimos, Aleuts and Chukchi). A semi-dugout with a frame made of large whale bones, covered with earth and turf. It had two entrances: the summer one - through a hole in the roof, the winter one - through a long semi-underground corridor.
Vardo
Vardo is a gypsy tent, a real one-room house on wheels. It has a door and windows, a stove for cooking and heating, a bed, and drawers for things. At the back, under the folding side, there is a drawer for storing kitchen utensils. Below, between the wheels, there is luggage, removable steps and even a chicken coop! The entire cart is light enough that it could be pulled by one horse. Vardo was decorated with skillful carvings and painted with bright colors. Vardo flourished in late XIX– beginning of the 20th century.
Vezha
Vezha is an ancient winter home of the Sami, the indigenous Finno-Ugric people of Northern Europe. The vezha was made from logs in the shape of a pyramid with a smoke hole at the top. The frame of the vezha was covered with reindeer skins, and bark, brushwood and turf were laid on top and pressed down with birch poles for strength. A stone hearth was installed in the center of the dwelling. The floor was covered with deer skins. Nearby they placed a “nili” - a shed on poles. By the beginning of the 20th century, many Sami living in Russia were already building huts for themselves and calling them with the Russian word “house”.
Wigwam
Wigwam is the common name for the dwelling of the forest Indians of North America. Most often it is a dome-shaped hut with a hole for smoke to escape. The frame of the wigwam was made of curved thin trunks and covered with bark, reed mats, skins or pieces of fabric. From the outside, the covering was additionally pressed with poles. Wigwams can be either round in plan or elongated and have several smoke holes (such structures are called “long houses”). Wigwams are often mistakenly called the cone-shaped dwellings of the Indians of the Great Plains - “teepees” (remember, for example, the “folk art” of Sharik from the cartoon “Winter in Prostokvashino”).
Wikieap
Wikiap is the home of the Apaches and some other Indian tribes of the Southwestern United States and California. A small, rough hut covered with branches, brush, straw or mats, often with additional pieces of cloth and blankets thrown over the top. A type of wigwam.
Turf House
The turf house has been a traditional building in Iceland since the days of the Vikings. Its design was determined by the harsh climate and the shortage of wood. Large flat stones were laid out on the site of the future house. A wooden frame was placed on them, which was covered with turf in several layers. They lived in one half of such a house, and kept livestock in the other.
Diaolou
Diaolou is a fortified multi-story building in Guangdong Province in southern China. The first diaolou were built during the Ming Dynasty, when gangs of robbers operated in Southern China. In later and relatively safe times, such fortified houses were built simply by following tradition.
Dugout
The dugout is one of the oldest and most widespread types of insulated housing. In a number of countries, peasants lived primarily in dugouts until the late Middle Ages. A hole dug in the ground was covered with poles or logs, which were covered with earth. There was a fireplace inside and bunks along the walls.
Igloo
An igloo is a domed Eskimo hut built from blocks of dense snow. The floor and sometimes the walls were covered with skins. To enter, they dug a tunnel in the snow. If the snow is shallow, the entrance was made in the wall, to which an additional corridor of snow blocks was built. Light enters the room directly through the snowy walls, although windows were also made covered with seal guts or ice floes. Often several igloos were connected to each other by long snowy corridors.
Izba
Izba is a log house in the forest zone of Russia. Until the 10th century, the hut looked like a half-dugout, built with several rows of logs. There was no door; the entrance was covered with logs and a canopy. In the depths of the hut there was a hearth made of stones. The hut was heated in black. People slept on mats on an earthen floor in the same room as the livestock. Over the centuries, the hut acquired a stove, a hole in the roof for smoke to escape, and then a chimney. Holes appeared in the walls - windows that were covered with mica plates or a bull's bladder. Over time, they began to partition the hut into two parts: the upper room and the entryway. This is how the “five-walled” hut appeared.
North Russian hut
The hut in the Russian North was built on two floors. The upper floor is residential, the lower (“basement”) is utility. Servants, children, and yard workers lived in the basement; there were also rooms for livestock and storage of supplies. The basement was built with blank walls, without windows or doors. An external staircase led directly to the second floor. This saved us from being covered with snow: in the North there are snowdrifts several meters deep! A covered courtyard was attached to such a hut. Long cold winters forced residential and outbuildings to be combined into a single whole.
Ikukwane
Ikukwane is a large domed reed house of the Zulus (South Africa). They built it from long thin twigs, tall grass, and reeds. All this was intertwined and strengthened with ropes. The entrance to the hut was closed with a special shield. Travelers believe that Ikukwane fits perfectly into the surrounding landscape.
Kabáña
Cabáña is a small hut of the indigenous population of Ecuador (a state in the northwest South America). Its frame is woven from wicker, partially coated with clay and covered with straw. This name was also given to gazebos for recreation and technical needs, installed at resorts near beaches and pools.
Kava
Kava is a gable hut of the Orochi, an indigenous people. Khabarovsk Territory(Russian Far East). The roof and side walls were covered with spruce bark, and the smoke hole was covered with a special tire in bad weather. The entrance to the home always faced the river. The place for the hearth was covered with pebbles and fenced with wooden blocks, which were coated with clay from the inside. Wooden bunks were built along the walls.
Let's say
Kazhim is a large Eskimo communal house, designed for several dozen people and a long service life. At the site chosen for the house, they dug a rectangular hole, in the corners of which tall, thick logs were installed (the Eskimos do not have local wood, so they used trees thrown ashore by the surf). Next, walls and a roof were erected in the form of a pyramid - from logs or whale bones. A frame covered with a transparent bubble was inserted into the hole left in the middle. The entire structure was covered with earth. The roof was supported by pillars, as were the benches-beds installed along the walls in several tiers. The floor was covered with boards and mats. A narrow underground corridor was dug for the entrance.
Kazhun
Kazhun is a stone structure traditional for Istria (a peninsula in the Adriatic Sea, in the northern part of Croatia). The cajun is cylindrical in shape with a conical roof. No windows. The construction was carried out using the dry masonry method (without the use of a binding solution). Initially it served as a dwelling, but later began to play the role of an outbuilding.
Karamo
Karamo – dugout of the Selkups, hunters and fishermen of the north Western Siberia. They dug a hole near the steep bank of the river, placed four pillars in the corners and made log walls. The roof, also made of logs, was covered with earth. They dug an entrance from the water side and disguised it with coastal vegetation. To prevent the dugout from flooding, the floor was gradually raised from the entrance. It was possible to get into the dwelling only by boat, and the boat was also dragged inside. Because of such unique houses, the Selkups were called “earth people.”
Klochan
A clochan is a domed stone hut common in the southwest of Ireland. Very thick, up to one and a half meters, walls were laid out “dry”, without a binder mortar. Narrow slits-windows, an entrance and a chimney were left. Such simple huts were built for themselves by monks leading an ascetic lifestyle, so you can’t expect much comfort inside.
Kolyba
Kolyba is a summer home for shepherds and lumberjacks, common in the mountainous regions of the Carpathians. This is a log house without windows with a gable roof covered with shingles (flat chips). Along the walls there are wooden beds and shelves for things, the floor is earthen. There is a fireplace in the middle, the smoke comes out through a hole in the roof.
Konak
Konak is a two- or three-story stone house found in Turkey, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The structure, which resembles the letter “L” in plan, is covered by a massive tiled roof, creating deep shadow. Each bedroom has a covered overhanging balcony and steam room. A large number of variety of premises satisfies all the needs of the owners, so there is no need for buildings in the yard.
Kuvaxa
Kuvaksa is a portable dwelling for the Sami during the spring-summer migrations. It has a cone-shaped frame of several poles connected at the tops, onto which a cover made of reindeer skins, birch bark or canvas was pulled. A fireplace was set up in the center. Kuwaxa is a type of chum and also resembles the tipi of the North American Indians, but is somewhat squat.
Kula
Kula is a fortified stone tower of two or three floors with thick walls and small loophole windows. Kula can be found in the mountainous regions of Albania. The tradition of building such fortified houses is very ancient and also exists in the Caucasus, Sardinia, Corsica and Ireland.
Kuren
Kuren (from the word “to smoke,” which means “to smoke”) is the home of the Cossacks, the “free troops” of the Russian kingdom in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Don, Yaik, and Volga. The first Cossack settlements arose in plavny (river reed thickets). The houses stood on stilts, the walls were made of wicker, filled with earth and coated with clay, the roof was reed with a hole for smoke to escape. The features of these first Cossack dwellings can be traced in modern kurens.
Lepa-lepa
Lepa-lepa is the boat-house of the Badjao people of Southeast Asia. The Badjao, "sea gypsies" as they are called, spend their entire lives on boats in the Coral Triangle. Pacific Ocean– between Borneo, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. In one part of the boat they cook food and store gear, and in the other they sleep. They go to land only to sell fish, buy rice, water and fishing gear, and also to bury the dead.
Mazanka
Mazanka is a practical rural house in the steppe and forest-steppe Ukraine. The mud hut got its name from an ancient construction technology: a frame made of branches, insulated with a reed layer, generously coated with clay mixed with straw. The walls were regularly whitewashed inside and out, which gave the house an elegant look. The four-slope thatched roof had large overhangs so that the walls would not get wet in the rain.
Minka
Minka is the traditional home of Japanese peasants, artisans and merchants. The minka was built from readily available materials: bamboo, clay, grass and straw. Instead of internal walls, sliding partitions or screens were used. This allowed the inhabitants of the house to change the layout of the rooms at their discretion. The roofs were made very high so that snow and rain would roll off immediately and the straw would not have time to get wet.
Odag
Odag is the wedding hut of the Shors, a people living in the southeastern part of Western Siberia. Nine thin young birch trees with leaves were tied at the top and covered with birch bark. The groom lit a fire inside the hut using a flint. The young people stayed in the odag for three days, after which they moved to a permanent home.
Pallasso
Pallasso is a type of dwelling in Galicia (northwest of the Iberian Peninsula). A stone wall was laid out in a circle with a diameter of 10-20 meters, leaving openings for the front door and small windows. A cone-shaped straw roof was placed on top of a wooden frame. Sometimes large pallasos had two rooms: one for living, the other for livestock. Pallasos were used as housing in Galicia until the 1970s.
Palheiro
Palheiro is a traditional farmhouse in the village of Santana in the east of the island of Madeira. It is a small stone building with a sloping thatched roof all the way to the ground. The houses are painted white, red and blue colors. The first colonizers of the island began to build Paliera.
Cave
The cave is probably the most ancient natural shelter of man. In soft rocks (limestone, loess, tuff), people have long carved out artificial caves, where they built comfortable dwellings, sometimes entire cave cities. Thus, in the cave city of Eski-Kermen in Crimea (pictured), rooms carved into the rock have fireplaces, chimneys, “beds,” niches for dishes and other things, water containers, windows and doorways with traces of hinges.
Cook
The cookhouse is the summer home of the Kamchadals, the people of the Kamchatka Territory, Magadan Region and Chukotka. To protect themselves from changes in water level, housing (like a plague) was built on high stilts. Logs washed ashore by the sea were used. The hearth was placed on a pile of pebbles. The smoke came out of a hole in the middle of the sharp roof. Multi-tiered poles were made under the roof for drying fish. Cooks can still be seen on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Pueblo
Pueblo - ancient settlements of the Pueblo Indians, a group of Indian peoples of the Southwest of modern USA. An enclosed structure, built of sandstone or raw brick, in the form of a fortress. The living quarters were arranged on terraces of several floors, so that the roof of the lower floor was a courtyard for the upper one. They climbed to the upper floors using ladders through holes in the roofs. In some pueblos, for example, in Taos Pueblo (a settlement dating back thousands of years), Indians still live.
Pueblito
Pueblito is a small fortified house in the northwestern US state of New Mexico. 300 years ago they were allegedly built by the Navajo and Pueblo tribes, who defended themselves from the Spaniards, as well as from the Ute and Comanche tribes. The walls are made of boulders and cobblestones and held together with clay. The interior is also covered with clay coating. The ceilings are made of pine or juniper beams, on top of which rods are laid. Pueblitos were located on high places within sight of each other to allow long-distance communication.
Riga
Riga (“residential Riga”) is a log house of Estonian peasants with a high thatched or reed roof. In the central room, heated in black, they lived and dried hay. In the next room (it was called the “threshing floor”) grain was threshed and winnowed, tools and hay were stored, and livestock was kept in winter. There were also unheated rooms (“chambers”), which were used as storage rooms, and in warmer times as living quarters.
Rondavel
Rondavel is a round house of the Bantu peoples (southern Africa). The walls were made of stone. The cementing composition consisted of sand, earth and manure. The roof was made of poles made of branches, to which bundles of reeds were tied with grass ropes.
Saklya
Saklya – the home of the inhabitants mountainous areas Caucasus and Crimea. Usually this is a house made of stone, clay or raw brick with a flat roof and narrow windows similar to loopholes. If the sakli were located one below the other on the mountainside, the roof of the lower house could easily serve as a yard for the upper one. The frame beams were made to protrude to create cozy canopies. However, any small hut with a thatched roof can be called a sakley here.
Seneca
Senek is a “log yurt” of the Shors, a people of the south-eastern part of Western Siberia. The gable roof was covered with birch bark, which was secured on top with half-logs. The hearth was in the form of a clay pit opposite the front door. A wooden hook with a pot was suspended from a cross pole above the fireplace. The smoke was coming out of a hole in the roof.
Tipi
A tipi is a portable home for the nomadic Indians of the Great Plains of America. The tipi has a cone shape up to eight meters high. The frame is assembled from poles (pine - in the northern and central plains and juniper - in the southern). The tire is made from bison skins or canvas. A smoke hole is left on top. Two smoke valves regulate the draft of smoke from the hearth using special poles. In case of strong wind, the tipi is tied to a special peg with a belt. A teepee should not be confused with a wigwam.
Tokul
Tokul is a round thatched hut of the people of Sudan (East Africa). The load-bearing parts of the walls and conical roof are made from long mimosa trunks. Then hoops made of flexible branches are put on them and covered with straw.
Tulou
Tulou is a fortress house in the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong (China). The foundation was laid out of stones in a circle or square (which made it difficult for enemies to dig under during a siege) and the lower part of the wall, about two meters thick, was built. Higher up, the wall was built from a mixture of clay, sand and lime, which hardened in the sun. On the upper floors, narrow openings were left for loopholes. Inside the fortress there were living quarters, a well, and large containers for food. 500 people representing one clan could live in one tulou.
Trullo
Trullo is an original house with a conical roof in the Italian region of Puglia. The walls of the trullo are very thick, so hot weather It's cool there, but in winter it's not so cold. The trullo was two-tiered; the second floor was reached via a ladder. Often a trullo had several cone roofs, under each of which there was a separate room.
Tueji
Tueji is the summer home of the Udege, Orochi and Nanai - the indigenous peoples of the Far East. A gable roof covered with birch bark or cedar bark was installed over the dug hole. The sides were covered with earth. Inside, the tueji is divided into three parts: female, male and central, in which the hearth was located. A platform of thin poles was installed above the hearth for drying and smoking fish and meat, and a cauldron was also hung for cooking.
Urasá
Urasa is the summer home of the Yakuts, a cone-shaped hut made of poles, covered with birch bark. Long poles placed in a circle were fastened on top with a wooden hoop. The inside of the frame was painted reddish-brown with a decoction of alder bark. The door was made in the form of a birch bark curtain decorated with folk patterns. For strength, the birch bark was boiled in water, then the top layer was scraped off with a knife and sewn into strips with a thin hair cord. Inside, bunks were built along the walls. There was a fireplace in the middle on the earthen floor.
Fale
Fale is a hut of the inhabitants of the island state of Samoa (South Pacific Ocean). A gable roof made from coconut palm leaves is mounted on wooden poles arranged in a circle or oval. A distinctive feature of the fale is the absence of walls. If necessary, the openings between the pillars are covered with mats. The wooden structural elements are tied together with ropes woven from threads of coconut husks.
Fanza
Fanza is a type of rural dwelling in Northeast China and Far East Russia among indigenous peoples. A rectangular structure built on a frame of pillars supporting a gable thatched roof. The walls were made of straw mixed with clay. Fanza had an ingenious room heating system. A chimney ran from the clay hearth along the entire wall at floor level. The smoke, before exiting into a long chimney built outside the fanza, heated the wide bunks. Hot coals from the hearth were poured onto a special elevation and used to heat water and dry clothes.
Felij
Felij is a tent of Bedouins, Arab nomads. The frame of long poles intertwined with each other is covered with fabric woven from camel, goat or sheep wool. This fabric is so dense that it does not allow rain to pass through. During the day, the awning is raised to ventilate the home, and at night or during strong wind- lowered. The felij is divided into male and female halves by a curtain made of patterned fabric. Each half has its own hearth. The floor is covered with mats.
Hanok
Hanok is a traditional Korean house with mud walls and a thatched or tiled roof. Its peculiarity is the heating system: pipes are laid under the floor, through which hot air from the hearth is carried throughout the house. The ideal place for a hanok is considered to be this: behind the house there is a hill, and in front of the house there is a stream flowing.
Khata
Khata is a traditional home of Ukrainians, Belarusians, southern Russians and some Poles. The roof, unlike the Russian hut, was made of a hipped roof: straw or reed. The walls were erected from half-logs, coated with a mixture of clay, horse dung and straw, and whitewashed - both outside and inside. Shutters were certainly installed on the windows. Around the house there was a wall (a wide bench filled with clay), protecting the lower part of the wall from getting wet. The hut was divided into two parts: residential and utility, separated by a vestibule.
Hogan
Hogan is the ancient home of the Navajo Indians, one of the largest Indian peoples in North America. A frame of poles placed at an angle of 45° to the ground was intertwined with branches and thickly coated with clay. Often a “hallway” was added to this simple structure. The entrance was curtained with a blanket. After the first Railway, the design of the hogan changed: the Indians found it very convenient to build their houses from sleepers.
Chum
Chum is the general name for a conical hut made of poles covered with birch bark, felt or reindeer skins. This form of housing is common throughout Siberia - from the Ural Range to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, among the Finno-Ugric, Turkic and Mongolian peoples.
Shabono
Shabono is the collective dwelling of the Yanomamo Indians, lost in tropical forests Amazon on the border of Venezuela and Brazil. A large family (from 50 to 400 people) chooses a suitable clearing in the depths of the jungle and fences it off with pillars, to which a long roof made of leaves is attached. Inside this kind of hedge there remains open space for chores and rituals.
Shalash
Shalash is the general name for the simplest shelter from bad weather made from any available materials: sticks, branches, grass, etc. It was probably the first man-made shelter of ancient man. In any case, some animals, in particular great apes, create something similar.
Chalet
Chalet (“shepherd’s hut”) is a small rural house in the “Swiss style” in the Alps. One of the signs of a chalet is strongly protruding eaves overhangs. The walls are wooden, their lower part can be plastered or lined with stone.
Tent
A tent is the general name for a temporary light structure made of fabric, leather or skins, stretched on stakes and ropes. Since ancient times, tents have been used by eastern nomadic peoples. The tent (under different names) is often mentioned in the Bible.
Yurt
Yurt is the general name for a portable frame dwelling with a felt covering among Turkic and Mongolian nomads. A classic yurt can be easily assembled and disassembled by one family within a few hours. It is transported on a camel or horse, its felt covering protects well from temperature changes and does not allow rain or wind to pass through. Dwellings of this type are so ancient that they are recognized even in rock paintings. Yurts are still successfully used in a number of areas today.
Yaodong
Yaodong is a cave house of the Loess Plateau of the northern provinces of China. Loess is a soft, easy-to-work rock. Local residents discovered this long ago and from time immemorial have dug their homes right into the hillside. The inside of such a house is comfortable in any weather.
Yaranga
Yaranga is a portable dwelling of some peoples of northeastern Siberia: Chukchi, Koryaks, Evens, Yukaghirs. First, tripods made of poles are installed in a circle and secured with stones. The inclined poles of the side wall are tied to the tripods. The dome frame is attached to the top. The entire structure is covered with deer or walrus skins. Two or three poles are placed in the middle to support the ceiling. The yaranga is divided by canopies into several rooms. Sometimes a small “house” covered with skins is placed inside the yaranga.
We thank the Education Department of the Kirovsky District Administration of St. Petersburg and everyone who selflessly helps in distributing our wall newspapers. Our sincere gratitude to the wonderful photographers who kindly allowed us to use their photographs in this issue. These are Mikhail Krasikov, Evgeniy Golomolzin and Sergei Sharov. Thank you very much Lyudmila Semyonovna Grek - for prompt consultations. Please send your feedback and suggestions to: pangea@mail..
Dear friends, thank you for being with us!
The rise of the Kushan Khanate in the 2nd century seems to have awakened Altai, or rather stirred it up. And there were reasons for this.
In Altai the climate is harsher than in Central Asia. Therefore, the harvests here were poorer. The mountains, it should be noted, are everywhere stingy with land and wealth... And the Altai khans looked at the steppe. There is a lot of fertile land there, but few people could live on it.
The steppe has frightened people since ancient times. There are no trees there, which means there is no fuel for the hearth, no logs for huts and kurens... There are few rivers there, which means there is no water for livestock, for gardens, and sometimes just for drinking. “The steppe is a country of darkness,” the old people whispered.
And they were right. There are not even landmarks there, just flat land all around and the sun in the sky. Where to go? How to find your way? And the winds sometimes blow for weeks. Terrible winds. A snowstorm will instantly cover the village with snow up to the rooftops...
The steppe climate is inhospitable. Even primitive people never settled here. Avoided. They settled in the mountains, along the coasts of the seas, in forests, but not in the steppe. An unprepared person cannot survive there. For example, he will not be able to walk - his shoes cannot withstand a long walk, the hard grass wears them down to holes. And there’s no need to talk about bare feet.
But the Altai Turks had no other way. Only through the steppe did the people's road of life lead to the future. To rich pastures, generous arable land. To space, finally.
How the Altai people looked at their fate on two scales - which scale will win? It is known that hope and fear are two wings of a person. Hope took over.
The first families moved with caution to a new residence... And in Altai the word “Kypchak” came into use again, the settlers were always called Kipchaks there. This is how it happened in India, with the first Turks there. What was the meaning of this nickname? It is explained in different ways. For example, “one who is cramped.”
However, something else cannot be ruled out. “Kypchak” is the name of one of the oldest Turkic families. Perhaps he was once the first to move from Altai, and other settlers began to be called by his name.
One way or another, only a strong clan could face the harsh steppe face to face. Only strong people could settle there. The Turks decided their fate themselves, no one kicked them out of Altai, they left on their own. But they did not leave empty-handed. The people at that time had the best tools in the world - iron! Behind him was a huge experience of life in India, Central Asia and, of course, in the Urals and Ancient Altai... Unfortunately, historians seem to have forgotten about all this.
Is it any wonder that cities and villages were quickly built in the steppe?.. Roads were laid, river crossings were established, canals were dug... This is exactly what the deeds of a strong people look like, their traces remain for centuries! Today they are the lot of archaeologists.
Over the years, Semirechye, the new Turkic Khanate, has turned into a flourishing region. His cities sparkled in the steppe like stars in the sky... Although, of course, they were unlikely to amaze with their architecture and sophistication. Their purpose was different.
In our time, these cities were studied by the remarkable Kazakh archaeologist, academician Alkey Khakenovich Margulan. He first saw the ancient ruins by accident, from the window of an airplane. An experienced scientist spotted ruins of buildings in the endless steppe, overgrown with grass and sprinkled with sand. Then Alkey Khakenovich traveled to the steppe, to the sites of abandoned cities... Academician Margulan did what he could, he wrote a book about it.
But much still remains unknown. The research object is too large! Too complicated... It was an extremely important time in the history of mankind: people began to settle in the steppes - natural area, in which they had not lived before... (Of course, we are not talking about isolated settlements, but specifically about the settlement of an uninhabited part of the planet.)
That time left many questions for science. For example, how and what did people travel on? This is very important to know. The question is only seemingly simple. You can’t walk across the steppe, you won’t bring much on your person. This means that it was necessary to come up with something that was nowhere to be found. But what?
Yes, the Turks were considered horsemen; they saddled a horse. But the rider only transports himself. How can he carry his luggage? For construction, for a hearth, for living?.. Everything had to be stocked up for future use, taken with us, everything had to be brought.
The Arabs then transported goods on camels, the Indians on elephants, the Chinese on buffaloes, the Iranians on donkeys... The Turks had a horse, and it helped the people out.
Now we know about carts, chaises. The ancient people of Altai did not know about them, they did not invent wheels: these are not the most suitable household items for life in the mountains. Simply unnecessary. The Altaians had to adapt them specifically for the steppe! Wheeled transport is how the settlement of the steppe began. An outstanding work of the mind.
Who invented the cart, chaise? Of course, Turks. Because it was they who needed these items. This means that vehicles are also a distinctive sign of Turkic culture. Another one, like brick, hut or felt.
The names of the inventors are forgotten, but the cart still serves people today. “Telegan” means “wheel” in the ancient Turkic language. In other words, “wheeled transport”.
The chaise appeared later. It's like a cart, but better. She had no equal in the steppe. A chaise drawn by two (or three) horses became high-speed transport. And there were also kadarka and tarantas. The troikas rushed across the steppe like the wind, leaving behind clouds of dust.
Roads were built for them, “pits” (as the Turks called mail) got along between cities. No one in the world drove faster at that time. Postal drivers delivered dispatches at incredible speed - two hundred and even three hundred kilometers a day were covered by a troika of coachmen.
It's not just a lot. This is very, very much. For comparison: then people moved along the roads at a speed of twenty to thirty kilometers per day. Only the Turks, not knowing the distances, rushed to the races with the wind. They conquered space and time.
The Semirechye steppe was the first to receive coachmen.
How do they live in the steppes? Why do people live in the steppes? Can pastoralists live sedentary lives? What nomadic peoples do you know? What kind of home does a nomad need? What is its functionality? What material is easy for a cattle breeder to build a house from? Is furniture needed in such a house? The inhabitants of the steppes create their home from sheep's wool. It is felted into felt and made into carpets to turn them into warm walls. Such a house is called a yurt. A felt blanket is used to cover a light frame of knitted, accordion-stretched wooden bars and long thin poles forming a vault. Wooden parts are precious, they are protected and when transported they are packed in elegant felt cases. The yurt can be assembled in just one hour and transported on one camel. The yurt is decorated with ornaments... In the center of the yurt there is a fireplace, at the top there is a chimney, through which you can see the sky. The door faces south. Why is a yurt decorated? What do the ornaments decorating the yurt mean? The entire nomadic settlement was a strictly organized space. This is a circle divided by rays of roads and streets, with the main large yurt in the center. The main entrance to the settlement is from the south. Kyrgyz yurt. N. Roerich. Mongolia. Yurts.
Slide 13 from the presentation "Peoples of the mountains and steppes". The size of the archive with the presentation is 11898 KB.The world around us 4th grade
summary other presentations“Conflicts in our lives” - A collection of good advice. Types of conflicts. Last call. Which leads to conflict. Lena came up. Conflict. How conflicts are resolved. The harm of conflicts. Dispute. Collision. Speech etiquette. Telephone. Survey results. Boys. There are no uninteresting people in the world. Conflicts in our lives. You like to listen to loud music.
“House for Starlings” - Starling. Journalists. Designer. Stages of the project. Abstract of the project. What have we done to improve the situation? Theorists. Constructor. Mathematicians. Attention students. Methodological tasks. A cozy house for starlings. Sociologists. Results of research presentation. Birdhouses in the school garden. "Birds are our friends." The main question. Birdsong.
“Plants in human life” - Results of the survey. Flowers and perfumes. Flowers as medicine. The role of flowers in human life. Fashion designers create Wedding Dresses from flowers. Plan. Flower plants are a source of inspiration. Flowers as part of the interior, garden or clothing. Flowers play an important role in our life. The role of flowering plants in oxygen production.
"Dinosaurs" - Dinosaurs had five fingers. The smallest dinosaurs. Dinosaurs. The first real dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are extinct animals. Predatory dinosaurs were smaller and walked on their hind limbs. Dominant lizards. Ornithomimids. The size of tyrannosaurs was a problem. Stegosaurus, which lived during the Cretaceous period, had a body length of about 9 m.
“Gems” - Jasper. Jade. Emerald beads. Aventurine. Emerald. Malachite watch. Onyx. Onyx products. Cups and castle. Corridor of the Winter Palace. Amethyst. Hematin egg. The Amber Room. Agate butterfly. Jasper frog. Chess board. Coil. Moon rock. Opal necklace. Products. Flower. Amazonite. Ring. Topaz. Hematite. Aventurine cats. Opal. Agate. Sergi from moonstone. Bulls-eye. Topaz ring.
“History of Mankind” - Human Occupations. The earliest man looked like a large ape. The beginning of human history. Archeology is the science of antiquity. Life primitive man. Living in the community. What is history? "Father of History" Hunting. The oldest man. Primitive artists. Sciences that help us learn history. History translated from Greek means “research, a story about the events of the past.” The foreheads were low and sloping.
