HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL RELATIONS OF THE POPULATION OF THE BASIN OF VYCHEGDA AND THE UPPER KAMA RIVERS IN THE MIDDLE AGES (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE VYM AND RODANOVO ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURES)

The latest materials of the excavations of medieval sites in the Vychegda basin and the Upper Kama region confirm the ethno-cultural proximity of the Rodanovo and Vym archaeological cultures associated with the related peoples – the ancestors of the Komi-Permians and Komi-Zyryans, which was proved by A.P. Smirnov, V.A. Oborin, A.F. Melnichuk, R.D. Goldina and other researchers. It can be traced in the most conservative, traditional elements of culture – in funeral rites, ceramics, and women's costume decorations. Both cultures are characterized by underground burial grounds, burials in which are made by the method of inhumation and cremation. Ceramics are represented by stucco vessels of cup-shaped and pot-shaped forms, ornamented with comb, rosette stamp, and cord prints. Common adornments of women's costume are umbonoid, arched, anchor and bronze bi-anchor rattle pendants, a variety of tubular thread decorations. The greatest affinity to the Rodanovo culture is found in the sites adjacent to the Upper Kama areas – Sysola, Mid-Vychegda, dating back to the 10th – 11th, 11th – 12th centuries. On the Sysola river, three burial grounds were investigated, different from the Vym, Mid- and Low Vychegda ones. The Votcha burial ground on the Middle Sysola river, dating back to the 10th – 11th centuries, refers to the earliest ones. According to the funeral rite and ware implements, it shows the greatest cultural proximity to the sites of the Kama region, which is most likely due to the relocation of a small group of the Kama population to the Sysola basin. The Uzhga I and II burial grounds on the Upper Sysola are distinguished by their great originality. The burial rite of the Uzhga burial grounds is characterized by dismembered burials, burials of individual skulls, and the tradition of deliberate destruction of graves for ritual purposes. These features of the funeral rite find analogies in the Upper Kama burial grounds, in particular, Averino I in the Afanasyevsky district of the Kirov region, as well as Plotnitsy, located in the Kudymkar district of the Perm region. It is most likely that the population that had left Uzhga burial grounds, was part of the same territorial–tribal association as the northern Upper Kama population, associated with Zyuzdino Komi-Permians, which is confirmed by the data of ethnography and linguistics. The infiltration of the Rodanovo population into the Vychegda basin in the 11th and 12th centuries is documented by the excavations of the Chezhtyyag and Vym Kichilkos I burial grounds. They belong to the Vym culture of the Vychegda Perm, the early complexes of which, dating from the 11th –12th centuries, may be associated with the Rodanovo newcomers. In the burial 37 of the Chezhtyyag burial ground, a characteristic Rodanovo women's costume is represented. At the Kichilkos I burial ground, numerous highly artistic Bulgar silver articles from the Kama region were found, as well as typical Rodanovo decorations, stucco vessels similar in shape and ornamentation, and burials that show the greatest similarity to the Early Rodanovo ones. These materials testify not only to the active trade and cultural relations between the population of the Vym and Rodanovo cultures, but also to the infiltration of the Upper Kama Rodanovo groups into the Vychegda basin in the 11th and 12th centuries.

UNDERGROUND BURIALS OF THE ANCIENT MINGACHEVIR (SAMUNIS)

The article is dedicated to the analysis of archeological excavation as a result of researches discovered in the Mingachevir conducted in the middle of the 20th century of the different type of underground burials of the ancient period. These burials are covered the significant historical period from the second half of the 1st millenium and the first century AD and are the important source of the scientific information on many issues of material and spiritual culture of the population of Caucasus Albania. Underground burials of the ancient period in the Mingachevir zone by the method of placing the deceased in them are divided into three types: 1) burials with a backbone stretched out on the back; 2) burials with a weakly crouched skeleton on the left or right side; 3) burials with a heavily crouched skeleton on the left or right side. The article gives a detailed analysis of all these three types of burials. The author of the article, along with a number of other researchers come to the conclusion that the first type of underground burial is considered to be innovation for the whole of the South Caucasus and its emergence is associated with the penetration of mobile tribes from the North Caucasus in particular the Scythian. Part of these Scythians finally settled in the Mingachevir zone and subsequently merged with the local population, which eventually leads to the appearance of a second type of underground burial in the form of underground graves with poorly crouched skeleton. The third type of underground burial of Mingachevir (Samunis) of the ancient period, namely burials with a heavily crouched skeleton belong to local autochthonous tribes, consolidation of which became the basis for the formation of the state of Caucasian Albania in the 4th – 3rd centuries BC. This type of underground burial has deep local roots and is based on centuries-old local funerary rituals.

Distributed Intrusion Sensor Using DFB Laser with Optical Feedback and Saturable Absorber

Characteristics of a distributed intrusion sensor using a coherent DFB laser diode with an external optical feedback and saturable absorber were experimentally investigated. The stimulus at a location of 2 km using a PZT transducer placed the location of a simulated intruder in Φ-OTDR trace after averaging 32 times. Field trials demonstrated the detection of a vehicle and a pedestrian crossing above the sensing line and a loop in a burial depth of 50 cm. This distributed intrusion sensor using a coherent DFB laser diode as the light source had the advantages of a simple structure and intruder detection capability at the underground burial location.

The Optimized Risk Management of the Waste From TENORM and Nuclear Industries: How to Harmonize Risk From Various Sources

We compared the existing regulation on management of radioactive and non-radioactive wastes with the ideal legislation procedures for protection of environment. The comparison revealed the necessity of risk-based regulation, consideration for ethics and cost-effectiveness of the regulation, and optimal usage of regulation resources. In order to assess the cost-effectiveness of several different waste disposal options, the concept of disposal cost per unit radiotoxicity (mSv or m3) in waste (CPR hereafter) was introduced and calculated. The results revealed that current disposal option of high level radioactive waste (underground burial) was more cost-effective than that of TENORM and asbestos containing waste.

Roman and Early Christian burial-complex at Leptiminus: first notice

Following the rescue excavation of part of the Roman cemetery and a Roman mausoleum (Site 200) on Dhahret Slama, on the SE edge of the ancient town of Leptiminus on the east coast of Tunisia, the continued pressure of modern building led to the discovery of a remarkably well preserved underground burial-complex, as well a considerable extension of the above-ground cemetery which we had previously sampled. The underground burial-complex includes a number of tunnels and chambers, undoubtedly part of a much larger area of catacombs. These underground structures are cut into the sandstone and limestone ridge known as the Formation Rejiche which runs along the coast.3 This geological formation was suitable for the cutting of Punic-type chambers, of which a number have been located on this side of Leptiminus, and for catacombs, of which other examples have been identified in the same region, at Sousse, Sullecthum, and probably Thapsus.The existence of underground structures became clear following enquiries made of local residents, who spoke of substructures and vaults beneath their houses. Residents noted that after heavy rains water vanished rapidly into the ground; we now realize that it disappears into the underground voids of built or carved structures.