DOI: 10.25136/2409-8744.2023.6.69272

Abstract: The purpose of the article is to identify the main directions and reconstruct the practices of using cryogenic resources (cold, snow, ice, permafrost) and, in general, the "domestication" of cold by the Russian population of Yakutia during the mid XIX century and the twentieth century. The source base for writing the work was a set of disparate ethnographic information presented by published works and documents from the collections of the State Archive of the Irkutsk Region (Irkutsk), the Scientific Archive of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk), the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and its St. Petersburg branch. In addition, a number of information was obtained during the author's empirical research in a number of rural settlements of Yakutia during 2017-2023. The methodological basis for the preparation of the article is the principles laid down in cryosophy, which involve the study of the cold matter of the Earth through the prism of their role as an active element of the universe, as well as in the Cryoanthropology. Within the framework of the Cryoanthropology, the formation of the traditional culture of the indigenous ethnic groups of the Arctic and Subarctic is considered through the prism of the dominance of natural cold in the region, cryogenic processes and phenomena as fundamental, environmental factors. In this regard, the article shows the practices of the exploitation of cryogenic resources by the Russian population of Yakutia in cattle and horse breeding, agriculture, in ensuring the functioning of residential and outbuildings, organization of storage and preparation of food, etc. It is noted that they had certain specifics within various groups of Russian settlers caused by specific natural and geographical features of their areas of residence, as well as characteristics of interethnic ties. In this regard, differences between, for example, the Prilensky and Arctic groups of the Russian old-timers have been recorded. The key vectors of the "domestication" of cold by the Russian population of Yakutia are highlighted.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2023.3.40671

Abstract: The historical analysis of the research carried out during 1928-1934 within the framework of the Kola peninsula expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences is presented. The initial boundary is due to the creation of the expedition, the final one is due to its reformatting into a stationary structure – the Kola base of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The sources for the preparation of the article are archival materials identified by the authors from the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences, published expedition reports, as well as scientific literature prepared based on the results of the research under consideration. It is noted that the drivers of the Kola complex expedition were both purely cognitive interest and the needs of industrial development of high latitudes. The work carried out made it possible to show significant activity of researchers in studying the natural resources of the Kola Peninsula, identifying promising mineral deposits, determining various patterns of their distribution and searching for the optimal development methodology. Along with this, a certain place in the work of the expedition was given to other areas of research, both related to ensuring the possibility of developing the extractive industry (geocryological, partly ecological and biological), and having an indirect connection with this problem. In this regard, the importance of conducting research within the expedition aimed, among other things, at studying the traditional culture of the aboriginal ethnic groups of the Kola Peninsula is noted.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8744.2023.3.40757

Abstract: The purpose of the article is a historical and anthropological reconstruction of the traditional economic practices of the Yakuts, in which the most important place was occupied by the exploitation of cryogenic resources (cold, snow, ice, "permafrost"). The work is based mainly on the analysis of observations by researchers of the second half of the XIX – first half of the XX centuries, who recorded in the course of their expedition surveys a number of stories concerning the practices of the use of cryogenic resources by the Yakuts in economic activities. Methodologically, the article is based on the principles of cryosophy, involving the study of the cold matter of the Earth through the prism of their role as an active element of the universe, a source of benefits and opportunities for humanity, as well as a historical and anthropological approach. The article for the first time shows a number of examples of successful and active exploitation of cold, snow, ice and "permafrost" in the traditional economic activities of the Yakuts within the framework of such a plan: cattle breeding and horse breeding, fishing and hunting, as well as in the organization of salt production. Based on accumulated materials, including documents from the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences and its St. Petersburg branch, the State Archive of the Irkutsk Region, the Scientific Archive of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Scientific Archive of the Russian Geographical Society and the Manuscript Fund of the Archive of the Yakut Scientific Center SB RAS, the authors conclude that cryogenic resources were one of the important adaptation mechanisms Yakuts to the natural and geographical realities of Yakutia.