On the genesis of the Khakass dwelling "tura"

The article is devoted to the issue of the genesis of autochthonic types of dwellings of the indigenous people of the Khakass-Minusinsk region - the Khakass. The established opinion about the borrowing of the log type of dwelling from the alien Russian population and its distribution in Southern Siberian peoples' culture is crucial in Russian ethnography. The historically prevailing nomadic life style which led to the distribution of a yurt as the basic type of dwelling, and lack of direct evidence of the existence of dwellings of a stationary log type is the reason for the domination of this opinion. However, the diverse natural and climatic conditions of the Khakass-Minusinsk region had to lead to the development of dwellings of a wooden type, in particular their distribution in taiga areas of the natives' accommodation. The author comes to an idea that lack of data in travelers' descriptions about such types of dwellings was caused by routes of expeditions that excluded areas of their existence, and interest first of all in yurts as the more widespread type of dwellings in the steppe part of the region. Since the beginning of the 18th century the construction of Cossack forts and the subsequent distribution of log huts of a Russian type in the region led to the use of the word "tura" to designate these constructions. The word already existed in the Khakass culture and was habitual for them because of the similarity of their traditional autochthonic dwellings to the new objects of material culture of the people who arrived in the region. The author believes that a log construction, a single-chambered carcass, a lack of a garret roof, earthen (or board) floors, the heating system of a chuval ("sool") type should be considered as typical features of the Khakass autochthonic dwelling of a tura type. The building of such dwelling assumed use ing special carpenter's tools, one of which was the Khakass small axe "kuruk". The Khakass funeral log constructions, which in the majority of their features repeated the construction of real dwellings of a tura type, testify to the existence of log autochthonic dwellings as well. This corresponds to the common tradition for all indigenous ethnic groups of the Sayan-Altai. The author considers that dwellings of a log type of peoples of archaeological eras of the early Iron Age are also similar to the Khakass log dwellings, and historically similar characteristics of a way of life, economic activities and climatic conditions of the region contributed to their distribution among peoples living during different eras in the Khakass-Minusinsk region. The author comes to a conclusion that the Khakass log wooden single-chambered heated dwellings of a "tura" type and polygonal yurts, without a garret roof and with an earthen floor must be considered autochthonic both for the Khakass and for all indigenous peoples of the Sayan-Altai. The materials given in the article on the basis of sources on wooden architecture - archaeological, ethnographic and written ones - allow chronological dating of the existence of such dwellings in the region to the period of the 18th century.

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