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The territory of today’s Tuva has survived many bright historical epochs, many changes of civilizations. In the present day traditional understanding, Tuva is a country of nomads. However, it has not always been inhabited by nomadic tribes. A long time ago, a settled, and by all appearances quite well developed civilization thrived here. This civilization left an inheritance to the descendants – a grandiose system of irrigation canals, which covers the entire Tuva with the network of its veins. Millennia ago, people who lived here were settled agriculturalists. The scale of the work and the skill with which these canals were constructed inspired Tuvan geologist Tatiana Prudnikova to undertake the study of this magnificent phenomenon.
Traces of pre-nomadic civilization
Tatiana Nikolayevna met with evidence of this ancient civilization in the valley of river Chaa-Khol. She noticed several tiers of obviously man-made trenches on the steep slope of the mountain, lined with stonework.
She became interested: what could this be? They explained: irrigation systems. She was surprised: what irrigation canals could there be in nomadic Tuva? Later, she saw the whole picture in aerial photographs – dozens of miles of canals could be seen in every river valley. Even on infertile stony semi-desert areas she could see branching irrigation systems.
As a true scientist, she became inflamed: what a theme, and how come it has not been investigated yet? At first she turned to the Tuvan Institute of humanitarian research, then to Ubsu-Nur international scientific center. They explained the situation to her: cattle herding is much closer to the soul of a nomad, and therefore, this material, even though doubtless interesting, is not especially relevant for Tuva. The scientific director of Ubsu-Nur international center, Viktor Bugrovskiy made a counter-proposal: well, why don’t you do independent research of this theme?
And that is exactly what Prudnikova ended up doing. She got to the academic level of aspirant, and spent about 10 years in study of nature utilization in Central Asia, then defended her dissertation on the subject of “Natural laws governing development of irrigation agriculture in ancient Tuva.” Now she knows every little corner of Tuva where irrigation systems can be found.
While researching the canals in Barun-Khemchik district, in the valley of river Khondelen, she discovered a smallish irrigation system built over by ancient kurgans. Having determined the age of the kurgans, it was possible to determine the approximate age of the canals. It became clear that the canals were older than the burials above them.
Last year, Tatiana Prudnikova, with the help of the ecological department of Kyzyl-Mazhalyk middle school, conducted field research there – results were verified, cross-section soil samples were analyzed, vegetation of the ancient irrigated plots of land was described, archeological monuments were examined. A lot of interesting stuff turned up. For example, in the center of two of the irrigated zones, small granite stelae were discovered, standing within tiny stone enclosures, like the masters of the plots of land. They calculated that the area under research holds approximately at least 200 archeological monuments.
But the most interesting find, in the opinion of the scientists, was located at the foot of the mountain. This was a row of pits in the ground, laid out in a strict order above the stream bed of the main irrigation canal. These pits had a rounded and quadrangular shape and were a part of the same complex with the stream bed of the irrigation canal, and, in Prudnikova’s opinion, looked very much like remains of the dwellings of these ancient agriculturalists.
As the geologist supposes, at one time these objects could have been dwellings of ancient people, members of this settled civilization. This civilization had plowed and sowed the territory of Tuva, and built these powerful irrigation systems. Throughout subsequent eras, almost all the peoples that lived in this area used these systems, including meliorators (landscape utilization crews who design and build irrigation systems) of the Soviet era, who used them for orientation. And we have to add that our scientist has already determined the age of the irrigation systems located in the valley of river Shui – they were built in the Bronze Age, which means that they are around four thousand years old.
Up to this time, aside from medieval fortresses and scattered paleo-camp sites, there was nothing at all known about any houses like this in Tuva. And if the version is confirmed, these will be the first finds of houses of ancient agriculturalists on Tuvan territory. Local herdsmen say that two hundred years ago, in the Khondelen valley, about the area where these interesting objects are located, used to be grain storage reservoirs. This is another interesting but unconfirmed version. A group of archeologists from St. Petersburg spent the summer in Barun-Khemchik district to determine the purpose of these objects. Having examined the find, they suggested that the row of pits may turn out to be only late Scythian burials. Tatiana Prudnikova disagrees with the opinion of the archeologists, but the version about Scythian burials again confirms the venerable age of the discovered canals and of the pits associated with them. They were there before the Scythians. In Prudnikova’s opinion, these pits from Khondelen are fully consistent with semi-subterranean houses, roofed over with logs and animal hides. This is a completely plausible version, as many ancient petroglyphs often show just such a type of housing. Soil samples taken on the sites are being sent for analysis at the Institute of Geography of RAN, Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the Siberian department of science. Results of analysis by the agronomic laboratory in Kyzyl showed high levels of potassium in the soil samples from Khondelen. The solution to this riddle is still before us. It is possible that when the results of the research are in, we will be one step closer to the truth. To find out whether the depths of these objects contain burial chambers, and are, in fact, burials, as the St. Petersburg archeologists suggested, will be possible obnly by excavating them. However, digs are a serious matter, requiring much time, many pairs of strong working hands, large financial support and special permits.
Back to agriculture?
Tuva has everything that is necessary for agriculture. A lot of sun, dry hot climate, fertile soil, and the entire territory is supplied with irrigation canals, which can be used again if rebuilt or renovated. The amount of work that the ancient people invested in the system is colossal. There are dozens of miles of canals stretching over mountain slopes, along river valleys with minimal declination. How they were built, what tools, and what adaptations were used, is difficult to imagine. The total area of ancient irrigated lands many times exceeds that of later times, including those of Soviet era. As the meliorators say, they never had to build new irrigation canals in Tuva, they only had to renovate the old system. Even though now some of the canals are not functioning, the meliorators look after them. In central Tuva, almost all the irrigation systems have reservoirs, and if ever there is a drought or lack of water, there always will be a reserve, and the harvest will not suffer.
-Unfortunately, we can think of the gigantic irrigation system in the Elegest fields, which is not working now – it could supply entire Tuva, - Tatiana Prudnikova summarizes the situation. – The entire Khemchik valley is a gigantic irrigated field. The northern slopes of Tannu-Ola ridge is the same, with its rich black fertile soils. And even the dry Erzin, which does not seem to have any water at all, has irrigation canals.
Throughout the ages and epochs, people living on the territory of Tuva have used irrigation agriculture, with only the most primitive of tools. No matter what you say about our technological age, agriculture is hard work. To keep the irrigation systems in working order you have to take care of it, and clean it on a regular basis. At the same time, all the work has to be done manually, in the way of our ancestors, because technologic approach could cause damage. One of old ploughs from XIII century, which was found in Tuva, bore this Chinese inscription: “Give all your strength to cultivating the soil”.
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