Ferry over the Ob river in the XVII century: geographical, historical and cultural aspects

Written sources of the end of the XVII century mention a ferry over the Ob river located in the south of the Tomskdistrict and used in journeys towards the city of Tomsk. The documents mention it as "Kalmatskiy and Bukharskiy ferry". On the right bankof the river the ferry was located in the vicinity of the current settlement Urtam, where in the end of the XVII century there was founded aRussian stockaded town. On the other bank, the ferry was associated with the region of the mouth of the river Tagan, where historicalsources identify it under the name of "Bukharskiy bridge". On the drawing by S. U. Remezov "Barabinskaya county and adjacent regions",the path approaching the district of the river Urtamka is called the "route from Tara towards Tomsk".Analysis of the geomorphologicalpeculiarities of the valley of the river Ob offers an explanation of the choice of this section of the river for crossing. This location provided asection of the high solid left bank convenient for crossing and traffic, leading to the main riverbed, which, at this point, came closest to asimilar section of the right bank a bit downstream of Ob.The ferry by the river Urtamka and the road towards Tomsk were mainly used by the southern nomads and merchants travelling fromCentral Asia, the so called Bukharian. Only D. G. Messersmidt mentioned this place at the beginning of the XVIII century, however, he wasrather compelled to use this ferry by the spring slush. Heading to the west from Tomsk, the crossing at this section of the river was hardlypractical. Most probably, heading in this direction, ferries across other sections of the river were used. Nonetheless, the route to one of themalso led through the lower reaches of the river Tagan. The region in the vicinity of the mouth of Tagan river resulted in connection with theroutes both from the east and west. These circumstances had put this ferry in quite a favorable geographical location. Possibly, it was one ofthe factors which created the largest complex of medieval monuments precisely in this district of the Ob region of Tomsk. It was named theShaytanskiy archeological microdistrict. There are over 20 archeological objects in this vicinity. Research works on the subject repeatedlymentioned that in the later period the routes became concentration points of the population of the district (26. pp. 28-29). The situation couldbe similar before, as witnessed, inter alia, by the Shaytanskiy archeological microdistrict. If the district was a "transit area" of sorts back inthe pre-Russian epoch, it would explain the presence of the considerable amount of medieval settlements here. It is probable that edificationof fortified settlements was justified in such places, since even at the end of the XVII century the Urtamskiy stockaded town was foundedprecisely "on the ferry". Field inspection of the routes and evaluation of the natural and geographical surroundings of the supposed routes areof great value.

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