The migration routes of indigenous population in the North Sosva river basin from the end of the XVIth to the first half of the XVIIIth centuries (written and cartographic sources)

The article is devoted to the identification of the traditional ways of communication between localities in the North Sosva River basin, which existed from the late XVIth to the first half of the XVIIIth centuries. This territory is considered as a separate subregion within the north of Western Siberia, determined by the specificity of historical development. Numerous written and archaeological sources confirm the existence of various localities here, united in a spatial image of «Yugra». However, the linkage with these objects, which make up a unified system of connection are ignored during researches. Written and cartographic sources such as descriptions of maps in "Book of the Big Drawing", S.U. Remezov’s works and the materials collected by G.F. Miller during his expedition to Western Siberiaб, were chosen for analysis. "Book of the Big Drawing" led the author to an original interpretation of this source as a collection of roadmaps, where the territory was described on the basis of stable communications, but not a description of the single map. A study of the early stage routes (the end of the XVIth - the middle of the XVIIIth centuries), based on the materials of these roadmaps, made it possible to identify two main directions connected the territory under consideration with the Pre-Urals. A more detailed roadmap was reconstructed due to the synthesis of the cartographic works of S.U. Remezovand the notes of G.F. Miller. As a result, sustainable routes have been identified in the region, both attached to the stream bed and laid along the watersheds. These communications united localities and nearby regions. Analysis of the information presented in the sources detected theexistence of seasonal and permanent routes. Particular attention is paid to communications, which formation occurred in winter. The final outcome of our study was mapping of the results, which made it possible to create a visual model that displays a roadmap of the territory in the period under review. A peculiar indicator of the developed transportation system was clarified through the analysis of settlement structures in cartographic materials, which form a single vector of movement from one locality to another. A strict approach to the localization of these settlements in the sources provokes interest. Localities, probably, could be the intermediate points during trading, commercial or other operations.

Keywords

Authors

References