Product Code Database
The Chemurchek culture (Ch:切木尔切克, Qièmùěrqièkè; Ru: Чемурчекская культура), also called Khemtseg, Hemtseg, Qiemu’erqieke, Shamirshak (2750–1900 BCE), is a Bronze Age archaeological culture of western Mongolia and the borders of neighbouring countries, such as the Dzungarian Basin of Xinjiang and eastern Kazakhstan. It immediately follows the Afanasievo culture, and is contemporary with the early Tarim Mummies to the south and the Okunev culture to the north. The Chemurchek burials are characterized by large rectangular stone fences, built around collective tombs. The mortuary position of the deceased (supine position with flexed legs) is similar to that of the Afanasievo culture, but the Chemurchek culture is considered distinct. The name "Chemurchek culture" is derived from the Chemurchek cemetery in Altay City, Xinjiang, China.Museum notice Chemurchek sites have been identified from western Mongolia to areas as far west as the Ili River in Kazakhstan and western China.
Artifacts such as stone bowls, bone tools, ceramics (grey wares with sophisticated patterns of incised decoration), and metal jewelry have been recovered from the tombs. Bronze artifacts have also been found. Bronze tools include knives, awls, spearheads and arrowheads. Bronze was cast in open or composite stone molds, and seems to have been a focus of economic production.
Dental analysis has shown that the Chemurchek culture consumed ruminant dairy products.
The people of the Chemurchek culture were apparently descendants of Afanasievo populations intermixed with local populations. Their genetic profile shows a contribution of about 50% from the Afanasievans, combined with about 30% of Ancient North Eurasian (an ancient Siberian substrate represented by the Tarim mummies of sample Tarim_EMBA1), and small proportions of Ancient Northeast Asian (Baikal_EBA) and BMAC (Geoksyur_EN).
In the Altai Mountains and to the southeast, Afanasievans seem to have coexisted with the early period of the Chemurchek culture for some time, as some of their burials are contemporary and some of the artifacts of the burials coincide.Kovalev, A. A., and Erdenebaatar, D. (2009). Discovery of new cultures of the Bronze Age in Mongolia according to the data obtained by the international Central Asian archaeological expedition. In Bemmann, J., Parzinger, H., Pohl, E., and Tseveendorzh, D. (eds.), Current Archaeological Research in Mongolia, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, p.158: "Two 14C-dates that have come from the charcoal found in the earliest (ritual) pit of Chemurchek barrow No. 2 appeared to be in the same period as the four radiocarbon dates from the charcoal in the fi lling of the burial pit of barrow No. 1 that belongs to the Afanasievo culture. It may indicate that during the earliest period of existence of the Chemurchek culture, its population in the Altai region maybe coexisted with population of the Afanasievo culture. A pillar, erected at the eastern side of an Afanasievo culture barrow (Fig. 1.1), as well as the finding of a bone arrowhead (Fig. 1.4), which is similar to arrowheads from Kulala Ula 1 and Kara Tumsik barrows (Fig. 2.10,12), also confirm this proposition." The Chemurchek culture had various characteristics of West European origin.
Another Chemurcheck burial site was discovered in Yagshiin khuduu in Bulgan soum, Khovd aimag, which contained "the oldest kurgan stelae" discovered in Mongolia, dated to .
The Chemurchek statues have a lot in common with southern France statues of the late 4th millennium such as " La Dame de Saint-Sernin" or the " Statue-menhir de Maison-Aube". p.17: "In this paper we attempt to present elements of Chemurchek sulture which have no other analogies except in the Neolithic of France (...) Evidently, the fact that all these elements of culture had been transferred over 6,500 kilometers to the Mongolian Altai can only be explained by migration" Kovalev further suggests that the Chemurchek culture may be associated with Proto-Tokharians, who must have migrated to the east around this period, and whose Western Indo-European language is closest to proto-Germanic and proto-Italian, corresponding to the broad geographical area encompassing southern France. The language of the Chemurchek/Proto-Tocharians may have originated from the same general location in Western Europe, as did their burial and statuary styles. According to Alexey Kovalev:
In particular, regarding the architecture of the tombs: "the unique architectural technique of constructing perimeter embankments lined with stone facades was used before the appearance of the Chemurchek monuments only during the construction of megalithic tombs of France and the British Isles". Three main types of Chemurchek tombs are recorded: the Alkabek, Bulgan and Kermuqi types.Chemurchek Funerary and Ritual Structures
|
|
.jpg/){kind=link}
