Features of the development of primitive culture and the culture of the ancient world. Object of cultural studies

3.2. The Material Culture of Ancient China The uneven development of material production in different parts of the country affected the formation of the material culture of Ancient China. Of the traditional types of home production and craft, pottery is the most characteristic.

3.3. The Spiritual Culture of Ancient China Philosophy in China emerges at the end of the third period in the history of Ancient China (the "separate states") and reaches its peak in the Zhangguo period (the "warring kingdoms", 403-221 BC). At that time there were six main

TOPIC 11 Culture of Ancient China Culture and historyChinese culture is one of the most ancient on the planet. We say the word "ancient" and at the same time we mean something very old, long gone, forgotten, involuntarily identifying culture and history. But we already mentioned

TOPIC 13 Culture of Ancient Rome Character traits of two nationalities The culture of Hellas was distinguished by its originality, immediacy, openness. As noted above, the Greeks were often impulsive, unrestrained, fickle. However, with all the shortcomings, this character is not

Sources on the history of the Ancient World, the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age 1. The Bible. Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Canonical / modern Russian per. - M.: Russian Bible Society, 2011. 1408 p.2. Beauplan Guillaume Levasseur de. Description of Ukraine. - St. Petersburg: Type. TO.

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Cultural studies as a science studies the patterns of the cultural process, monuments and phenomena of material and spiritual culture, as well as the cultural interests and needs of people, their participation in the preservation, enhancement and transmission of cultural values.

Cultural studies as an academic discipline was born in a multi-level interweaving with philosophy, archeology, history, psychology, ethnography, religious studies, sociology, art history and therefore can rightly be called integrative field of knowledge. This is a socio-humanitarian science that focuses on the being and activities of man and society. Etymologically word "culturology" translated into Russian as cultural science.

Subject and object of cultural studies

The subject of cultural studies(depending on the approach) was understood at different stages of the formation of this science in different ways. The main definitions of the subject of cultural studies are as follows:

1. Culturology studies the content, structure and, its, selection and transfer of cultural values ​​(A. Ya. Flier).

2. Culturology studies semiotic systems: signs, symbols, the language of art and the entire field of human creativity (Yu. Lotman, A. Karmin).

3. Culturology studies culture as a universal way of creative self-realization through the affirmation of the meaning of human life.

There are many definitions of culture. This is due to the diversity of culture itself, with its understanding. You can talk about anthropological understanding of culture . In this sense, any culture is a way of life of an individual or society. She is unique and inimitable. Here are some definitions of this approach:

Culture is the mode of human existence;
- culture - everything that is created by mankind;
- culture is a general way of life, a way of adapting a person to his natural environment and economic needs.

At sociological understanding of culture the emphasis is on cultural values ​​that determine the development of society:

Culture is language, aesthetic tastes, knowledge, beliefs and customs;
- culture is inherited inventions, things, technical processes, ideas and customs;
Culture is the accepted way of thinking.

Philosophical approach to culture highlights in the life of society some regularities that constitute the basis of culture or the reason for its development. This is not an external description or enumeration of cultural phenomena, but an insight into the essence of the processes taking place in society. In this sense:

Culture is a historically defined level of development of society, the creative forces and abilities of a person, expressed in the types and forms of life organization;
- culture is a relatively permanent non-material content transmitted in society through the process of socialization.

The reason for such a variety of interpretations of culture is the inexhaustibility and versatility of human existence. Each researcher pays attention to one of the aspects of culture. It is studied not only by culturologists, but also by philosophers, sociologists, historians, axiologists, anthropologists... And it is not so easy to develop a general view of such a multidimensional phenomenon as culture. The most traditional in (and we will adhere to this approach) is the idea of ​​culture as the cumulative result of human activity. This point of view is expressed in a number of works of famous cultural philosophers (P.S. Gurevich, A.Ya. Gurevich, A.A. Averintsev, V.V. Ivanov, M.S. Kagan, Yu.M. Lotman, M. .K. Mezhuev, V.I. Polshtsuk, V.N. Toporov). Some authors include in the concept of culture and the activity itself, others only "technological" activity (means and mechanisms), others - only creativity. But they are united by the fact that from a philosophical point of view, culture is understood not as the sum of ideas or things, but as a way of human existence and his relationship to himself. With this approach, a simple description of each culture is not enough. An explanation and understanding of the special character of each culture is required. The name of the scientific discipline that deals with this kind of research has appeared - cultural studies.

The object of cultural studies are the same cultures that interest sociologists and historians, but subject of cultural studies is not a simple description of the achievements of a particular culture, but features of its birth, formation, further development and fate of culture.

Culturology also developed under the influence of the turning points of the 20th century in Europe. The First World War, the revolution in Russia and a number of other European countries, fascist regimes, the growth of power and the disastrous consequences of this growth, the emergence of totalitarian regimes - all this caused a new look at the nature of European culture, at its role in society.

Summarizing, we can define the subject of "culturology" : this is the essence and features of such a multi-valued concept as culture, its origin and meaning.

In modern science, it is interpreted ambiguously. The most established definitions:

1. culture is a kind of human existence, the specificity of which is manifested in the fact that it is created by a person;

2. culture is a set of material and spiritual values ​​that reflect the active creative activity of people in the development of the world;

3. culture is a way of human life, the process and result of a person's search for himself and his place in this world;

4. culture is a set of ideas, material objects, technologies.

Method of cultural studies

The development of general problems of the theory and history of culture requires the involvement of the conceptual and methodological apparatus created by philosophy, sociology, psychology, ethics, aesthetics, computer science. Thus, the unification of the empirical and theoretical levels of the study of culture is achieved. At the same time, they use general scientific, philosophical and special methods of cognition . For example, observation, description of the facts of culture and measurement, if possible, of their parameters, is a necessary starting point for their knowledge. The prerequisite for this process is the use procedures of analysis and synthesis, logical deduction and induction . Still popular in cultural studies is the ancient method of knowledge by analogy . In recent decades, it has been widely used methods of modeling cultural processes , in particular computer.

It should be noted, however, that the use of general scientific methods in cultural studies is disputed by representatives of some philosophical schools. So, in the teachings of the neo-Kantians of the XIX century. (Rikkert, Cassirer, and others) a sharp opposition was made between the methods of the sciences of nature and the methods of the sciences of culture. The first, so-called generalizing methods, are aimed at studying recurring features, similar moments in diverse natural phenomena in order to establish their general law.

The methods of the sciences of culture are fundamentally different: they are called upon to investigate unique, unrepeatable cultural phenomena. As a result, these methods turn out to be exclusively descriptive (individualizing, ideographic).

The practice of subsequent culturological studies showed that the difference between the methods of the two groups of sciences should not be made absolute, as well as the uniqueness of cultural objects should not be exaggerated. Here justified combination of different methods and methodological guidelines. For example, among philosophical methods, dialectical methods (ascent from the abstract to the concrete, a combination of historical and logical approaches), phenomenological, and also structural-functional methods (identifying system elements, establishing relationships) are of particular importance.

Special methods of cultural studies include:

1. comparative historical method (consecutive study of a changing cultural object by comparing its states);
2. typological method (the study of cultural objects in order to identify a typical, common property for them);
3. hermeneutical method (intuitive and artistic comprehension of cultural meanings, supplementing objective rational knowledge with sensual images, emotional experiences).

Consequently, culturology is not limited to a narrow range of methods and techniques. Methodological breadth has its advantages when studying the whole variety of aspects of culture.

Each of us from childhood knows about the Tower of Babel and the Egyptian pyramids, about the noble Indians and Indian deities. Most often, we do not think about what unites them, and yet all these are particles of ancient cultures. We call this stage in the development of man and culture the ancient world or ancient civilizations, using a word derived from the Latin civilis - "civil", "state" - and thereby emphasizing the transition from the pre-state stage of development of society to statehood.

The most important event, which allowed mankind to move to a new stage of development, took place even within the framework of primitiveness. Such an event, obviously, should be considered the so-called "Neolithic revolution" - the transition from an appropriating economy to a producing economy, that is, a transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and cattle breeding. It should not be thought that the new activity immediately gave great advantages, in some cases it turned out to be even less effective than hunting and gathering. Nevertheless, new occupations and a new way of life opened up new opportunities for mankind.

The transition to agriculture based on the cultivation of highly productive varieties - wheat, barley, corn, rice - led to relative stability in the provision of food. This contributed to the growth of the population, the emergence of the so-called "surplus product" and the time that could be used for the production of non-subsistence items.

The new activity forced them to lead a settled way of life. Complicated earthworks, digging canals, building dams, reusable fields - all this firmly tied people to a certain place. This place was inhabited by a person, it was filled with objects - property that a person acquired. This place became an important part of man's ideas about the world order, often defining the center of the universe.

The emergence of property, the need for its distribution and rather complex work, in which many people participated, required special regulation. Of course, in the primitive community - especially in the late primitive one - there were complex mechanisms for regulating interpersonal relations, but they continued to remain within the framework of blood and family ties. In the transition to a more complex society, production and property relations came to the fore, which, unlike blood relations, do not have a natural basis, which means they require special regulation. This is how the first state formations arose.

Gradually, the way of life and life of people changed. Huts and semi-dugouts were replaced by solid houses - adobe and frame. Finds in ancient burials testify to the spread of new objects. Richly embroidered, ornamented clothes, various jewelry, the first mirrors made of obsidian - volcanic glass, stone palettes - plates used to prepare various cosmetics, elegant boxes designed to store these products appeared.

There were also changes in people's minds. The relationship between man and the world around him - earthly and divine - was changing, knowledge was accumulated related to the activities of people, with many years of observations of nature, the agrarian cycle. New social structures were comprehended and included in the ideas about the world order.

The path from primitive to civilization, from primitive to antiquity is in general the same. But this unity is diverse: the general laws have been realized in various forms.

The question of the time of occurrence of local differences in culture has not yet been resolved, there are disputes around it. A number of researchers consider the Neolithic upheaval to be a kind of qualitative leap that destroyed relative uniformity and opened the way for cultural identity. The opposite point of view is based on the fact that already in the Paleolithic period, material culture was represented by various forms, which means that the time of formation of each culture practically coincides with the time of the emergence of man in one or another geographical point.

Gradually, on the basis of large territorial associations, under favorable external and internal circumstances, the first ancient states and the first unique special cultures took shape. Many facts testify that this process proceeded faster in areas of intensive cultural contacts, in such areas the most ancient civilizations were formed.

Speaking of the ancient world, they usually consider the so-called Ancient East - a vast territory from Egypt to China with cultures that have developed on it, starting from 5-4 millennia BC, as well as Ancient America and Greco-Roman antiquity, or, as it is customary to call it antiquity. Antiquity, as a rule, is spoken of separately, since, due to various circumstances, it differs significantly from other ancient cultures. The early civilizations of America also stand apart in the history of the ancient world - not only because of their features, but also because we know quite a bit about them. The first "acquaintance" of Europeans with ancient American cultures essentially destroyed them.

The cultures of the Ancient East are typologically similar despite their diversity: they have a number of important common patterns that were realized in these cultures in various forms. First of all, it is necessary to name those characteristics that are not related to cultural, but have one or another influence on culture, determine the circumstances of its existence.

First in it, it is the formation of statehood, which emphasizes the very name "civilization". Initially, statehood arose in the form of city-states, gradually larger territorial associations were formed.

Almost all ancient civilizations arose on the basis of an irrigated form of agriculture. It is very productive, provides a significant amount of surplus product, but at the same time requires significant collective efforts. Such work is impossible without centralized administrative and technological regulation. The organization of collective labor, the distribution of its results, and, as a result, the complication of social organization and its regulation - all this required the emergence of a special apparatus, that is, the state.

An important feature of state power in the Ancient East should not be overlooked. Power did not break with the traditional primitive forms of regulation of interpersonal relations, but grew out of them in a special way. The most important basis of state administration in the Ancient East was the sacralization of the emerging social structure. The personality of the ruler was deified, and the relationship of subjects with power became the relationship between the earthly and divine worlds, thus these relationships were beyond evaluation and criticism. Therefore, even what in our eyes looks like exclusive dependence and suppression was perceived as natural and harmonious, being due to the divine world order. The social upheavals and upheavals that occurred from time to time in the ancient world testified to a deep ideological crisis.

Slavery is often called the basis of the socio-economic structure of the ancient Eastern states. On closer examination, this statement may seem controversial, since the status and rights of the social group that is called slaves vary too much. Nevertheless, indeed, in all ancient states one can find a layer or group of people who are at the bottom of the social hierarchy and have the least number of rights, the methods of coercion and the relationship of this group of people with power are typologically similar. The features of the socio-economic structure do not belong to the subject of cultural studies, and therefore it is enough just to state a certain typological commonality of the socio-economic basis of ancient civilizations.

The spiritual culture of the Ancient East was an alloy based on mythology, rooted in the primitive mythological consciousness and retaining many of its qualities. Mythology in the ancient states, one might say, was a form of ideology. At the same time, it was both professional and esoteric, allegorical and mysterious and purely applied, functional, in many respects regulating and regulating the social structure, work and life of a person.

Individuality and individualism in the ancient Eastern spiritual culture, as a rule, were absent. In ancient Eastern society, the primitive preoccupation of the individual with the collective was not overcome, but, on the contrary, was strengthened, moving to another level. Man acted primarily as a representative of his social group, the bearer of tradition, the executor of the laws given from above. The spiritual culture of the Ancient East was not based on ideas about the value of the individual, the significance of the individual principle, it assumed the functions of affirming and exalting the principle of the transpersonal, divine-universal.

The relationship between the real and the sacred underwent important changes in the ancient world compared to primitive times. The day-to-day practices of the farmer are more repetitive and generally more predictable in outcomes than those of hunters and gatherers. Therefore, a person ceases to feel constant dependence on supernatural forces, counting on divine support and favor only at some key, turning points in his life. The activities of the people of the ancient world were mainly determined by practical goals and objectives, based on experience, i.e. had, so to speak, a rational basis. The earthly and divine worlds, which had previously been a single whole, essentially separated, although, of course, they continued to be closely connected.

Mythological representations changed in accordance with the new understanding of the real and the sacred. Numerous supernatural forces, previously, so to speak, accompanying a person at every step, turn into gods. There were ideas about the places where the gods live, about what occupations these or those deities patronize.

Gradually, in all ancient cultures, more or less systematized ideas about the hierarchy of divine forces developed. For centuries and millennia, these ideas have not remained unchanged. The supreme and minor gods "changed places", some deities were combined into one image. The same can be said about local and national gods.

It is rather difficult to restore the complete picture of the mythological representations of the Ancient East. On the one hand, they did not represent a coherent system, on the other hand, far from all of us know, much can only be assumed. However, in general terms, the mythological systems of the Ancient East are similar: they are based on polytheism, i.e. polytheism. The essence of these representations is the existence of a certain hierarchy of divine forces, the supreme and minor gods, local and, so to speak, nationwide, stand out. Various areas of human activity, the most important life situations are under the jurisdiction of different gods. Mythological representations were realized in the corresponding cults.

An important part of the ancient Eastern religious ideas is the views on the “other world”, “afterlife”. In almost all ancient mythologies, much attention was paid to what happens to a person after death, how a person passes into another existence, what needs to be done so that “life after death” develops in the best possible way.

Gradually, the ethical aspect intensified in the ideas about the afterlife, ideas about the "afterlife" retribution for a righteous or sinful life were formed. And although in ancient cultures these views are still fragmentary and inconsistent, they are certainly important, since they were an important part of the emerging ethical ideas of antiquity.

In the ritual country of ancient religions, a special, central place was occupied by sacrifice. A sacrifice is any gift to a god or gods, usually in exchange for some benefit or help from them. The special religious pragmatism of antiquity is reflected in the features of the sacrificial ritual in ancient cultures. Interaction with divine forces takes place to solve purely practical problems of labor activity, family life, and everyday life. Antiquity was not yet familiar with the ethical aspect of man's conversion to God, which was clearly manifested, say, in Christianity.

The significance of the "otherworldly" ideas of ancient religions determined the important role of the funeral ritual, its development and place in a number of ancient Eastern rituals.

In parallel with the formation of mythological systems and religious rituals, a special group of people appeared - those who possessed special knowledge and skills, that is, priests. In some cultures, this group was very closed and belonging to it was inherited, in others it was open and involved only special training. But there is one common feature that united all the ancient Eastern clergy: they occupied a very important place in the social hierarchy, and sometimes they essentially owned state power. This was facilitated by the special sacred status of the ruler, most often he was also the high priest.

The peculiarity of the clergy of antiquity is also that their activities in many respects went far beyond the cult. They were statesmen, philosophers, owners and keepers of a wide variety of knowledge and skills - medical, agricultural, artistic, etc.

An important common feature of ancient religions is the emergence of temple architecture. As a rule, this is primarily the "house" of the god, so the main parts of the temple building or temple complex were intended to house the image of the deity, mainly sculptural, and to make sacrifices dedicated to the god.

Speaking about ancient Eastern religions in general, it should be emphasized that their role in ancient cultures was universal. They regulated the main stages of labor activity, human behavior in various situations, the canons of artistic creativity, the picture of the world was completely determined by mythology. Religion, therefore, can be considered the core on which the entire cultural complex of the Ancient East was built.

In addition to religion, two more significant features of the spiritual culture of antiquity should be noted. First of all, it should be said about knowledge. Rational knowledge was based mainly on experience, its storage and multiplication were determined primarily by practical tasks, therefore it is generally accepted that knowledge in ancient cultures was of a pragmatic nature. At the same time, such achievements have also appeared that indicate a fairly high level of abstraction, and sometimes, in fact, go far beyond the scope of practical use. This, for example, the emergence of the concept of zero, the most complex mathematical operations and the most accurate astronomical observations. In many ancient cultures, original philosophical systems were formed, which subsequently overstepped the temporal and spatial boundaries.

The spiritual culture of antiquity is determined by another essential characteristic - the emergence of writing. Ancient writing was a pictographic or hieroglyphic script. On the basis of ancient pictorial writing, syllabic, phonetic writing gradually developed. The cuneiform writing of Ancient Mesopotamia was also formed from an older picture writing. Despite the fact that originally writing arose to solve practical problems - the first texts are of an "economic" nature - very soon writing was included in the general context of culture. Holy books appeared, the first examples of verbal creativity. But this does not exhaust the role of writing in ancient cultures: it opened up new possibilities for man. New ways of storing and transmitting information have emerged. An increasingly important role in the culture of antiquity began to play a fixed beginning, and this changed the sign structure of culture. However, the storage and transmission of information by oral collective memory, tradition continued to play an important role in ancient cultures.

The formation of the artistic activity of antiquity occurred gradually - its individual types were distinguished on the basis of crafts. There were people with special skills in artistic activity. This is how the jewelry business developed on the basis of the blacksmith's craft, and this is how the first professional writers came from among the scribes. Primitive syncretism was thus replaced by the professionalization and specialization of artistic activity.

Mythology and ritual were the basis for the development of certain types of art. On the basis of the myth, an epic was formed, in which the word lost its magical function, the cyclicity inherent in the myth also disappeared, the characters became less mysterious, more predictable and schematic. Fine art, which also grew out of myth and ritual, remained mainly in the circle of mythological themes and plots, but within this framework, more and more attention was paid to the real “earthly” life of a person, his occupations, and the objective world that surrounded him. Architecture - both palace and temple - rather quickly passed the path from the simplest forms to more complex ones, then remained within the framework of the formed artistic principles for quite a long time - for centuries and even millennia.

Speaking of ancient art, we mean, first of all, fine art, this is the only kind of art that we can get any complete idea of ​​thanks to the preservation of monuments. Literature is presented incomparably more fragmented, moreover, it is difficult to judge how typical for their time the monuments of ancient Eastern literature that have come down to us are, to what extent they reflect the situation that has developed in verbal creativity. In addition, most of the texts were based on a long oral tradition, which significantly changed the original appearance of the work of verbal creativity. Therefore, ancient literary works are combinations of fragments created at different times. One should not lose sight of the fact that these texts were mostly of a sacred nature, i.e. were not literature in the full sense of the word. We can only say about the art of music and dance that they existed - images of musicians and dancers are known, musical instruments have been discovered, but there is no way to imagine what ancient Eastern music and dance were like.

Considering artistic culture, we usually talk about architecture in its non-utilitarian, artistic meaning. Architecture as such does not fully belong to the field of art, it is located at the intersection of material and artistic culture, as well as applied arts. Nevertheless, a number of monuments of architecture and artistic crafts are genuine works of art, and they cannot be ignored when analyzing artistic culture. This is all the more important when studying the early periods of cultural history, since usually architecture and decorative and applied arts are presented relatively fully and in many ways help to present the artistic ideas of a particular era, a particular culture.

Thus, the analysis of ancient Eastern art is based mainly on the study of fine arts, architecture, and decorative and applied arts.

One of the most important qualities of ancient art is its canonicity. The formation of artistic activity was accompanied by the creation of clear rules by which works of art were created, and the selection of subjects worthy of depiction, they are mainly related to religion - mythology and ritual - and the deeds of rulers.

The picture of the world that arose in the works of art of antiquity, as a foundation, relied on content and visual canons, they can be considered the basic principles for creating artistic reality in the art of early civilizations. The artistic reality of ancient art was a rather closed world, the foundations of this world remained practically unchanged for centuries.

An essential feature of the art of the ancient world was its utilitarianism, a special kind of pragmatism. All that. what we now consider as works of art, had a utilitarian, practical purpose or had a religious, magical character. Accordingly, artistic activity did not acquire a completely independent status, it was combined with religious and industrial activities, and the creators of works of art were priests or government officials. The syncretism of primitive culture and, in particular, the existence of art within the framework of this complex unity, the inseparability of art from other areas of culture - all this had a decisive influence on the art of antiquity, determined its dual nature. On the one hand, art relied on special principles for creating an artistic reality that was different from the world surrounding a person. On the other hand, not a single work of art was created as something valuable in itself, all works of art of antiquity had to solve some kind of industrial or religious tasks.

Both spiritual and artistic culture of the ancient world were focused on repetition, reproduction of the same plots according to certain rules. The authority of tradition, adherence to canons and customs led to significant cultural stability: almost unchanged, ancient cultures existed for centuries and even millennia.

"History Begins in Sumer". This well-known phrase is said about one of the most ancient cultures - the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia.

Unlike Ancient Egypt, which was formed and developed quite autonomously on a single ethnic basis, Ancient Mesopotamia was a combination of peoples, states and cultures.

The beginnings of civilization arose in the south of Mesopotamia at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. The first statehood is associated with a mysterious people - the Sumerians. There are still disputes about the ethnic origin of this people, about their language, about where this people came from to the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates. Upstream along the rivers lived Semitic tribes. In the III millennium BC. they formed their own statehood. North of Sumer was the state of Akkad, Sumer and Akkad together made up Babylonia. In the very north of Mesopotamia, the Semites formed another state - Assyria. The borders of the states of Ancient Mesopotamia were very mobile due to internal and external circumstances,

Among the peoples who formed the ethnic basis of the culture of Mesopotamia, one should also name the Amorites - West Semitic tribes, the Hurrians, who were in the III-II millennia BC. the population of Northern Mesopotamia, Northern Syria and the Armenian Highlands, the Arameans who came to this territory in the 2nd millennium BC, and the Chaldeans who invaded Mesopotamia at the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennium BC. In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. Mesopotamia was conquered by the Persians.

The material culture of the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates in ancient times was determined by irrigation agriculture, with the exception of the northern regions, where the basis of the economy was trade. Crafts developed, archaeological excavations testify to that. that metal processing reached a high level, pottery was covered with enamel and glaze, glazed bricks were used for facing buildings.

The spiritual and artistic culture of Ancient Mesopotamia, as in other ancient civilizations, was based on religious beliefs and rituals.

The religious views of the peoples inhabiting the Ancient Two-Cherkes differed from each other. Due to the close interaction and mutual influence, the assimilation of some peoples by others, a certain common mythological complex has developed. The most important gods, as is typical of all ancient religions, were connected with the outside world.

Information about the gods of Ancient Mesopotamia is contradictory, but in general they can be represented as follows. The pantheon of gods is headed by a triad - Anu, the god of heaven, Bel, the god of the earth, and Ea, the god of water and the underworld. Several solar gods represent different sides of this luminary, so important for life on earth. Samas, the god of light; Marduk, the god of the rising sun; Ninib, the warlike, formidable sun god. Sin, the god of the moon, and the goddess of the morning and evening stars, Istar, also associated with the idea of ​​fertility, played a great role in the ideas of the divine world. The pantheon of gods developed in the southern part of Mesopotamia, gradually ideas about divine powers spread to the north with minor changes. The Assyrians, in addition, obviously, had a special reverence for the national god Asur.

The writing of Ancient Mesopotamia stands apart in the history of the culture of the ancient world. This writing system was called cuneiform. Presumably, cuneiform developed from earlier pictographic writing by simplifying the writing of signs and shortening their writing. In parallel, the phonetization of writing took place: some signs no longer denoted a concept, but a combination of sounds, a syllable. As in other ancient cultures, the first texts were of an economic nature. Later, educational and, as we would say, legal texts appear, monuments of the literature of ancient Mesopotamia, representing different genres.

Lawmaking is one of the brightest signs of Ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest laws known to us are associated with the Sumerian ruler Uruinimgina, who was in power from 2318 to 2312 BC. But the most famous code of laws was created under Hammurabi, with whose reign in 1792-1750. BC. associated with the rise of the Babylonian kingdom. Compared with previous legal norms, the laws of Hammurabi seem to be very perfect, although they did not always cancel the ancient principle of "an eye for an eye."

An important part of the spiritual culture of Ancient Mesopotamia was rational knowledge, mainly mathematics and astronomy.

The artistic culture of Mesopotamia, like that of the entire Ancient World, was determined by mythological themes. The deeds of the rulers, their military victories, participation in hunting also occupied a large place in the art of Ancient Mesopotamia, this theme was especially pronounced in Assyrian art.

A large number of surviving clay tablets introduces us to the literary monuments of the Ancient Mesopotamia. The most famous work of antiquity can be called the Epic of Gilgamesh, known in different versions. The search for immortality by the hero of the epic Gilgamesh reflects the peculiarities of ideas about the "kingdom of darkness and sorrow" that awaits a person after death.

The visual art of Mesopotamia, apparently, went through several stages of its formation. The most ancient is associated with the Sumerian period of culture, when from about the middle of the 4th millennium BC. until the middle of the III millennium BC. first, symbols and signs are formed, denoting various divine powers, later anthropomorphic images of the gods appear. Graphic and content canons are gradually formed. The range of topics is limited to mythological and ritual subjects, the "royal" theme is almost absent.

As the second stage, when the pictorial art of Ancient Mesopotamia develops in its main features, one can name the period from the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. until the end of the II millennium BC. At this time, the canons finally take shape. Mythological themes are characterized by the appearance of images of gods with symbols assigned to them, which helped to recognize the depicted gods. Similar processes take place in the "royal theme": the image of the king has clear signs, gestures, postures of rulers, their relationship with other depicted characters are regulated. Large reliefs and stelae become widespread, instead of small figurines, large-scale sculptural works appear, and wall paintings are formed.

During the 2nd and 1st millennium BC, when Mesopotamia was part of various major powers, the formed fine arts became the basis of the fine arts of the entire Western Asia.

The architecture of the Ancient Mesopotamia is poorly known to us. Archaeological excavations can give only the most general idea of ​​architecture, and the most famous buildings, such as the Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, are known to us only from descriptions. The significance of the culture of ancient Mesopotamia is very great, although, of course, not in the same way as antiquity or even the culture of ancient Egypt. An important role in the culture of the ancient world was played by the writing system of Mesopotamia. On the one hand, the Akkadian language and cuneiform in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. became a means of international communication in the Middle East. On the other hand, cuneiform influenced the writing of other peoples, in particular the Phoenician syllabary, to which the Greek alphabet dates back, which means that the writing of Ancient Mesopotamia can be considered a distant ancestor of our domestic writing system. We also use the sexagesimal counting system of the Ancient Mesopotamia, considering that an hour consists of 60 minutes, and a minute - of 60 seconds, and the circle is divided into 360 degrees. In general, it can be said that the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia during the period of strengthening of its statehood turned out to be very influential in the Ancient East and should be considered a very important part of the ancient Eastern culture.

One of the oldest cultures - known to all and yet unsolved - that which arose in the valley of the Nile River.

The origins of ancient Egyptian culture must be sought no later than the 4th millennium BC. It is generally accepted that by the beginning of the 4th millennium BC. the landscape of the Nile River valley is taking shape, the transition of the population to a settled way of life is being completed, and the formation of local cultures begins.

The ethnic roots of the Egyptians are still a topic for discussion. The so-called prehistoric cultures of Egypt discovered by archaeologists are so unlike the ancient Egyptian culture itself that they gave rise to a number of hypotheses about the foreign origin of the culture of Egypt. Most modern Egyptologists point to the African roots of Egyptian culture and believe that it was formed gradually with the ethnic formation of the Egyptians as an alloy of various peoples - both African and Semitic.

By the IV millennium BC. on the basis of small settlements, more significant ones arise and gradually a number of city-states arise in the Nile River valley, which subsequently transformed into the regions of Ancient Egypt, or, as the Greeks called them, nomes. Over time, the city-states united into two large kingdoms - Northern, or Lower Egypt, and Southern, or Upper Egypt. The ruler of Northern Egypt wore a red crown, Southern - white.

By the end of the so-called pre-dynastic period, about which we can say little with certainty, the most important foundations of ancient Egyptian culture were formed: religious ideas, hieroglyphic writing, artistic style. To a certain extent, changing and developing, they persisted for three millennia.

The unification of the two kingdoms and the emergence of a single state is usually associated with the king of Upper Egypt - Menes, who subjugated Lower Egypt, created a single state and became the founder of the first dynasty. It is quite possible, however, that the unification took place even before Menes - one of the rulers of the so-called pre-dynastic period was depicted wearing a double red-and-white crown.

In a sense, the name “Egypt” familiar to us is also connected with the activities of Menes. On the border of Upper and Lower Egypt, this ruler founded the city of White Walls, which the Greeks later called Memphis. One of the names of this city or, according to other sources, the name of the temple in this city is Xi-ku-pta (x) or Het-ka-Ptah, which means "fortress of the spirit of Pt (ha)" or "abode of the spirit of Pt (ha) ". There was talk. most likely, about the main god of this area. This name in Greek transcription sounded like "Aypoptos", which became the basis for the name of the state. The Egyptians themselves called their country "Kemet" or "Ta-Kemet" - "Black Earth" - according to the color of the soil.

Traditionally, the history of Egypt and its culture is usually divided into several periods of strengthening of the Egyptian statehood, with which the flourishing of culture was associated - the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms. The time between these epochs is commonly referred to as "transition periods". They are characterized by civil strife, loss of independence, lack of significant artistic phenomena and achievements.

Another chronological principle that is used in Egyptology is the designation of time intervals according to the dynasties of rulers. But despite the apparent clarity, Egyptologists are still arguing about the boundaries of periods, about which stage to attribute this or that dynasty to.

The reign of the first two dynasties (3000-2800 BC) is often distinguished and referred to as the Early Kingdom. This is the time of the formation of the ancient Egyptian statehood, the formation of the industrial and socio-economic basis of the state. A single sufficiently perfect irrigation system is being created. This leads to the emergence of highly productive agriculture, improves cattle breeding and weaving. The appearance of papyrus, intended for writing, also belongs to the same period.

In a fairly short time, the formation of a social structure takes place. There is a court nobility, a bureaucratic apparatus - officials-scribes, clergy perform both sacred and state roles. The country is ruled by a pharaoh - this is how we call the ancient Egyptian rulers. The word "pharaoh" comes from the Egyptian "great house" or "big house", i.e. the palace of the ruler, - such an allegory had to be used when talking about the ancient Egyptian king, whose name could not be pronounced. In Egyptian it sounded something like "per-o". in Greek transcription, this word was transformed into "pharaoh."

The end of the pre-dynastic period (3300-3000 BC) and the Early Kingdom served as a kind of crucible in which the ancient Egyptian culture melted. For several centuries, the foundation of spiritual and artistic culture was formed, which determined the cultural movement for three millennia.

The Old Kingdom, roughly dated 2800-2250 B.C. BC, begins with the accession of Pharaoh Djoser, the first ruler of the III dynasty. We know very little reliably about the activities of this king, it is likely that at this time there was a further centralization of the state and the formation of a bureaucratic apparatus.

The construction of the first pyramid is associated with the name of Pharaoh Djoser. As the author of this architectural idea and the leader of the work, the supreme dignitary Imhotep is most often called, who, according to legend, was also an architect, astrologer, healer, magician, philosopher and writer and was revered by subsequent generations of Egyptians. The appearance of the first pyramid differs from the subsequently fixed constructive principle. It consists of six ledges, which can be understood both as steps of a staircase directed to the sky, and as tombs of a slightly modified form - with a square base, placed on top of each other. Usually tombs, they are called mastaba. had a rectangular rather than a square base, the side faces - and this is repeated in the pyramid of Djoser - were inclined. The oldest pyramid was part of a whole burial complex. This tradition determined the appearance of the most significant architectural structures of Ancient Egypt. In addition to the pyramid, the burial complex included temples, as well as buildings for other burials, such as the nobility.

The largest pyramids, located on the Giza plateau, were built for the pharaohs of the IV dynasty - Khufu, or Cheops, as his name sounds in Greek transcription, Khafre, or Khafre, and Menkaur, or Mykerin.

The construction of the famous Sphinx, a fantastic creature with the body of a lion and the head of a man, is also associated with the same dynasty, although it is not very clear with which ruler - Khafre or Khufu. The statue of the Sphinx was carved into the sedimentary rocks from top to bottom, from head to base. The blocks cut down at the same time were most likely used to build a temple at the feet of the Sphinx. Subsequently, the image of the Sphinx becomes very popular in ancient Egyptian art. In the era of the New Kingdom, entire alleys of the Sphinxes led to the temples.

During the period of the Old Kingdom, the final formation of the artistic style takes place. In the visual arts, meaningful canons are formed - themes and plots reflected in works of art, mainly wall paintings. The range of topics is determined mainly by mythology and ritual, especially funeral rituals; there are also plots related to the activities of the pharaohs.

In parallel with the meaningful canons, the pictorial canons are also finalized - showing figures in a complex spread, designating figures of social significance by the size, using a written text, and much more. Similar processes took place in sculpture. The style of a unique and original sculptural portrait is quickly formed. Despite the fact that hieroglyphic writing appeared earlier, the first extensive texts belong to the era of the Old Kingdom. These are, first of all, the so-called Pyramid Texts and the Memphis Theological Treatise.

During the Old Kingdom, the fundamental role of religion in ancient Egyptian culture was also fully defined. The gods were understood as the creators of all things, the patrons of various activities and the most important situations in human life, the picture of the world was completely determined by mythology, the religious ritual regulated the behavior and everyday life of a person.

During the period of the Old Kingdom, ideas about the supreme gods - the solar god Ra, the patron of the underworld Osiris, the god of wisdom Thoth and others - take shape. There were also mergers of common Egyptian and local gods, since the god Ra is known in several of his local incarnations. Religious rituals are streamlined, the most important part of cult practice is associated with ideas about the afterlife.

The era of the Old Kingdom, which formed the ancient Egyptian culture, ends with a state crisis, a period of political and economic instability, the country breaks up into a number of warring regions. Information about this period is very contradictory.

The new unification and restoration of a single state is associated with the pharaohs of the 11th dynasty, who were originally the rulers of Thebes, a gradually growing city in the south. From the XI dynasty, i.e. from about 2050, they begin the countdown of the Middle Kingdom - a period that many Egyptologists propose to consider classical, the time of the highest flowering of ancient Egyptian culture. The art of the Middle Kingdom sought to revive the traditions of the Old Kingdom, but, of course, something new appears in all forms of art.

The architectural monuments of the Middle Kingdom have survived little. During the period of the New Kingdom, the stone of ancient buildings was laid in the foundation of new temples, thereby striving to emphasize the continuity, the reincarnation of ancient architectural creations into new ones. Among the significant buildings of the Middle Kingdom, pyramids should be mentioned - smaller in size and simpler in execution technique in comparison with the pyramids of the Old Kingdom. It is impossible not to mention the famous "Labyrinth", as the Greeks called it, - the mortuary temple of Amenemhat III, consisting of many rooms, passages, galleries and corridors.

Of particular importance is the Middle Kingdom in the history of ancient Egyptian writing and verbal creativity. The literature of this period is represented by various genres. This is the narrative work "The Adventures of Sinehut", this is an accusatory speech directed against injustice, "The Eloquent Peasant", this is the "Tale of the Shipwrecked", these are teachings. New mortuary texts are also being created - “Texts of sarcophagi”.

During the period of the Middle Kingdom, a new type of writing was formed - cursive, or hieratic writing. The first mathematical and medical texts appear, which set forth ideas about the heart, circulatory system, and the doctrine of the brain and nervous system, in our modern language. In these medical teachings, magical ideas were the basis, but along with this, rational, practical observations and ideas also appeared.

The era of the brilliant flowering of Egyptian culture was put to an end by a foreign invasion, and from 1710 BC. in the history of ancient Egypt, the so-called second transitional period begins. The Hyksos invaders were finally expelled from the Nile Valley around 1560 BC. Pharaoh Ahmose I, founder of the 13th dynasty. His reign begins the era of the New Kingdom.

The new kingdom is not only a period of restoration of Egyptian statehood and the revival of ancient Egyptian culture. This is also the time when Egypt becomes a powerful world power, and its culture goes far beyond the Nile Valley, interacting with the cultures of other peoples.

The era of the New Kingdom is very controversial. On the one hand, this is a period of greatness and power of Egypt and its culture, on the other hand, a time of ideological crisis, a rethinking of the most important values. The grandiosity of construction degenerates into gigantomania, satirical, critical and parodic works appear that question what had previously seemed unshakable.

Thebes, from which, again, as in the Middle Kingdom, the revival of Egypt began, and Memphis continue to play an important role in ancient Egyptian culture. New cultural centers also appear, Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaten, transfers the capital to the new city of Akhetaten. Pharaoh Ramses II builds the capital in the Delta - the city of Per-Ramesses. Karnak becomes the most important religious center of Egypt in the New Kingdom.

The most important, one might even say, a turning point in the history of the culture of the New Kingdom was the so-called Amarna - the reign of Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaten, as he called himself in honor of the new state god Aten, with whose worship he tried to replace all previously existing cults. “Pleasant to the Aten” or “Useful to the Aten” - this is how the new name of Amenhotep IV is translated. The religious reform of Akhenaten is still an occasion for discussion. Her motives, character, essence - all this can have different interpretations. Only the general outline of events is indisputable.

A few years after the beginning of the reign, Pharaoh Amenhotep IV breaks with all previous religious, and therefore state tradition. As a state religion, he introduces monotheism - the cult of the solar god Aten. It was a break with the polytheism traditional for Egypt, and a challenge to the influential Theban priesthood - the servants of the god Amun, and the neglect of the “other worldly” ideas associated with the god Osiris, which were so important for the ancient Egyptians, and in general, the destruction of the established picture of the world and the traditional way of life.

What happened echoed in different areas of ancient Egyptian culture. Akhenaten questioned the most important philosophical foundations, and the seeds of this doubt sprouted in sacred texts, in critical and parodic writings that began to appear in Egyptian literature. Secular literature appears and, in particular, love lyrics. In the visual arts during and after the Amarna period, realistic motifs are intensified. The architectural structures of this period were mainly represented by the development of the new capital, which was called Akhetaton, which translates as "Aten's Horizon".

After the death of Akhenaten, Egypt returned to its former beliefs, the activities of Amenhotep IV were condemned, and the servants of the god Amun began to influence state affairs to an even greater extent than before. Nevertheless, of course, Amarna did not pass without a trace for Egyptian culture, the experience of the changes that took place during the reign of Akhenaten turned out to be important in a general cultural sense. In art, theological thought continued to develop those trends that arise in Amarna. And the cult of the solar god Amon even began to acquire some features of monotheism.

Widely known is one of the successors of Akhenaten - the husband of his daughter Tutankhamen. It is her reign that returns Egypt to an interrupted tradition. But they know Tutankhamun not so much because of his state activities - he had little time to do, since he died at the age of eighteen. This ancient Egyptian ruler gained his fame due to the fact that his tomb was found not plundered, although someone visited the first of the premises and created a mess there. For Egyptology, it turned out to be extremely important that all the objects that accompanied a person to another world were preserved in the burial of Tutankhamen - this significantly enriched our understanding of the ancient Egyptian religion and culture in general.

The largest number of architectural and sculptural monuments survived from the reign of Ramesses II. These are the famous colossi, and the Theban funeral temple of Ramesseum, and the famous Nubian temple of Abu Simbel, and much more. Ramses II founded a new capital in the Delta - the city of Per-Ramesses, in which he wanted to combine the greatness of the most important cities of Ancient Egypt.

The reign of this pharaoh can be considered the last period of the flourishing of the statehood and culture of Ancient Egypt. After the death of Ramesses II, internal unrest and strife, as well as external threats, weakened Egypt. The unity of the North and the South at this time begins to collapse, Lower Egypt falls under Mediterranean influences, Lower Egypt tries to keep its own Egyptian tradition unshakable. Despite the efforts of the rulers to revive the former greatness, the statehood of Ancient Egypt and the centuries-old cultural tradition are steadily moving towards sunset.

At the end of the II millennium BC. The new kingdom replaces the third transitional period, and then the so-called Late Kingdom begins, when Egypt falls under the rule of first Assyria, and then the Persians. The conquests of Alexander the Great, one might say, put an end to the independent existence of Ancient Egypt. In 332 BC Egypt becomes part of the state of Alexander the Great and thus part of the new, Hellenistic world.

Three millennia of the history of ancient Egyptian culture ended, but the culture of ancient Egypt did not cease to exist. Modern Egypt is not the only successor to the ancient Egyptian tradition. The influence that Ancient Egypt had on the cultures of Western Asia is great. The ancient Egyptian heritage can be found in ancient culture - borrowed and transformed. In a certain sense, European culture, relying on antiquity, can consider Ancient Egypt as its distant ancestor.

In the history of the culture of the ancient world, the cultures of Ancient America stand apart. The peoples who inhabited Mesoamerica and the Andean region created their own statehood, or, as they say, their civilizations. The peoples who lived in other territories of the American continents did not go beyond the tribal system.

A number of researchers propose to consider the civilization of the so-called Olmecs as the ancestor of highly developed American cultures and the first example of statehood. Quite high cultural achievements at the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC are associated with this people, who inhabited the south of Mexico. and in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. Clay pyramids, stone monuments with carvings on mythological themes, huge stone heads in helmets - this is not a complete list of significant phenomena of this culture.

The Olmec culture is in many ways a mystery to a modern researcher: the territory inhabited by this people is not completely defined, nothing is known about the ethnicity of this culture, we cannot characterize the path that this culture has passed, name the main stages of its formation. Nevertheless, the Olmec culture is commonly cited as one of the earliest examples in the Americas of the transition from primitive to antiquity.

Mesoamerica is considered the oldest center of the formation of state formations and a culture of a new type, within which such significant cultures as Teotihuacan, the Mayan and Aztec civilizations can be named. Of course, Ancient Mesoamerica is not limited to these cultures, it was characterized by significant ethnic diversity, but we associate the most important cultural achievements with these peoples.

The chronological framework for the existence of the early civilizations of Mesoamerica is determined, on the one hand, by the emergence of early statehood at the end of the 1st millennium BC, and on the other hand, by the Spanish conquest. Usually the history of Mesoamerican cultures is divided into two stages: from the end of the 1st millennium BC. until the ninth century AD - early, or, as it is also called, the classical period, and from the 10th to the 16th centuries. - late period.

Among the city-states of the 1st millennium AD. one of the most influential, both politically and culturally, can be called Teotihuacan, located near the place where the city of Mexico is now located. Archaeological excavations help us to imagine the appearance of this city. Most of the architectural structures were buildings on pyramidal bases of different heights. Among the most important structures are the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon, which were most likely the foundations of temples, a complex of palace buildings for various purposes, united by a common base, a complex of commercial and utility buildings. The city was geometrically clearly planned. The layout was based on two wide streets intersecting at right angles, or avenues, as they are also called.

A lot of facts point to that. that Teotihuacan was the largest economic, commercial, religious and artistic center of Ancient Mesoamerica. A variety of architecture, colorful multi-figure paintings, sculptural images of mythological characters, anthropomorphic clay and stone masks, unique ceramics - all this gives reason to believe that the Teotihuacan culture has reached a very high level of development. Dramatic events, not entirely clear to us, led at the end of the 7th century. AD that the city was destroyed. Obviously, this was due to hostilities between the peoples who inhabited Mesoamerica and the territories to the north of it.

After the fall of Teotihuacan, a number of influential city-states formed. To a certain extent, the culture - the successor of Teotihuacan, can be called the culture of the Toltecs, who created in the 4th - early 10th centuries. a powerful state on a complex ethno-cultural basis, which included the culture of the peoples who came from the north, who were at a lower stage of development, and what was left of the civilization of Teotihuacan.

The Toltec state did not last long, in the middle of the 12th century. it was destroyed by peoples invading from the north, among whom were the Aztecs. At the beginning of the XIV century. this warlike people founded their capital, the city of Tenochtitlan, on the site where the city of Mexico City is now located. In the following decades, the Aztecs were very successful in rivalry with other states of Mesoamerica, constantly expanding their possessions, and by the beginning of the 16th century. the Aztec state was a huge empire that stretched from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east and from north to south - from northern Mexico to Guatemala.

Despite the fact that the name of this people, without exaggeration, is known to everyone, our ideas about the culture of the Aztecs are fragmentary and difficult to systematize. This happens because most of the cultural monuments have been destroyed, and what remains is under construction in subsequent centuries, which makes archaeological research very difficult. Despite many irreparable losses, the Aztec culture is not closed to further research; perhaps, materials will come to light that will make it possible to present it more fully and systematically.

One of the cultures with which the highest achievements of the early civilizations of America are associated is the Mayan culture. The most important features of this culture are closest to the ancient world of the Old World among the cultures of Ancient America. This people own the only developed system of hieroglyphic writing in America, a very accurate calendar, the mathematical concept of zero, significant architectural structures, sculpture and painting. At the same time, the Maya, unlike the ancient peoples of the Old World, did not know how to process metals, did not invent the wheel, did not know the potter's wheel, and were not familiar with the domestication of animals. They created their amazing civilization without these important skills for ancient cultures.

At the beginning of our era, islands of the Maya civilization appeared in the Central American jungle and the most important foundations of culture were quickly formed. In the first centuries of our era, cities with temple and palace architecture appeared here, sculpture appeared - steles, reliefs, terracotta figurines - and wall paintings. Hieroglyphic writing is being created, which is evidenced by the numerous inscriptions on paintings, steles, and reliefs. Obviously, the calendar was created quite early.

It is believed that the VI-IX centuries. - the period of the highest flowering of the Mayan culture. This flourishing manifested itself especially brightly in art - in sculpture and wall paintings. Plots traditional for ancient art - the deeds of rulers and ritual scenes - reach perfection in the naturalness of the image and the harmony of the composition. A significant phenomenon of the Mayan culture of the VI-IX centuries. were ceramic vessels covered with multi-color paintings, found in rich burials. The repeated inscriptions on this ritual pottery provided clues to decipher the Mayan script. Mayan architectural structures are represented by multi-room structures on low gata-forms - palaces and temples located on high pyramidal bases, in some of which burials of the nobility were found. As later architectural structures, there are also sites for ritual ball games.

In the IX-X centuries. for some reasons that are not very clear to us, the Mayan civilization is on the verge of death: the cities are emptying, the population is sharply reduced. After the 10th century Maya culture continued to exist in the Yucatan Peninsula and in the mountains of Guatemala, although it was influenced by northern peoples. By the 16th century the territories inhabited by the Maya increased, but their culture was no longer able to achieve the greatness that characterized this civilization in the 1st millennium AD.

The culture of South America in antiquity is most often associated with the Incas. But the age of the huge Inca empire, which European conquerors met in the 16th century, was only one century old. The beginning of statehood and the transition to a new type of culture are attributed to earlier cultures that existed on the territory of Bolivia and Peru from the beginning of our era. Some researchers tend to call the Chavin culture, which arose at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, as the most ancient. and developed almost simultaneously with the Olmec culture in Mesoamerica. A certain similarity of these cultures is also noted, as far as this can be judged by those fragments of them that are available for analysis.

Since the beginning of our era, several cultures with common features have been formed in South America. Early enough, the ancient South Americans learned to process various metals - gold, silver, copper and their alloys, using them for various needs. Weaving has reached great perfection. Fabrics were made from wool and cotton, complex patterns and designs were created using a variety of natural dyes. Significant development is also characteristic of pottery. Pottery with multi-color paintings is another sign of these cultures.

The first irrigation system in South America is associated with the state of Chimu, which existed after the 10th century. AD Significant palace buildings were discovered with the same state.

Among the states of South America in the XV century. the state of the Incas stands out. Gradually conquering neighboring territories, the Incas created a strong statehood. The most important role in the empire was played by the deified ruler, hereditary aristocracy and priests. Separate areas were interconnected by a network of roads along which mail ran - messengers on foot and on llamas. But despite the seeming power of the Inca state, it quickly fell in a collision with European conquerors,

Characterizing the ancient cultures of America as a whole, it should be noted that they did not know many of the most important skills and cultural conquests characteristic of the ancient world of the Old World. With rare exceptions, they did not domesticate animals and did not engage in pastoralism, the early civilizations of Mesoamerica did not know metalworking and became familiar with it by the end of the classical period. Ancient America did not invent the wheel and the potter's wheel, did not use the plow in agriculture, with rare exceptions did not create a writing system, and therefore did not have written monuments that could help in the study of cultural history. In addition, too much was destroyed by the European conquerors and this damage is largely irreparable.

Nevertheless, the study of the culture of Ancient America has an important advantage over the antiquity of the Old World. The historian of American culture can be helped by numerous ethnographic materials from eyewitness descriptions - conquering Europeans - to almost personal acquaintance - the death of the traditional way of life of the American Indians occurred around the end of the 19th century.

But still, to this day, Ancient America remains the most mysterious page in the history of the Ancient World.

The study of individual components of civilizations as socio-cultural systems and the genesis of structures of this type as integral organisms involves the involvement of various kinds of sources, including archeological data. The connection of the subject of archaeological science with the world of culture at first glance lies on the surface of phenomena, which, in particular, was reflected in the appearance in the 30s and 40s. in the USSR, the term "history of material culture", which replaced the word "archaeology" in the name of the country's leading archaeological institute. However, further development of this range of issues showed that such a connection is multidimensional, and sometimes very indirect, especially in the light of increasing attention to the theoretical problems of cultural studies.

As is known, many fundamental concepts of science are of a complex multifunctional nature. Collisions that arise in archaeological science, especially at the interpretive level in connection with the widely used concept of "archaeological culture", are associated with a shift in emphasis, when a term that is unambiguous only at the level of homonyms is subconsciously transferred to the load of different levels of research, and in essence, different sciences, in which this term has a different meaning and conveys phenomena that are different in scope and content. The term "culture" is used in a number of sciences at various procedural levels - both in the aspect of narrowly official use, and as a basic, methodological concept, the most important philosophical category.

The developments of Soviet culturologists have significantly advanced the problem of defining the concept of culture, although there is a tendency towards its infinitely expanded interpretation, as if replacing the concept of "society". The phenomenon of culture is considered first of all as a system of regulators of human activity, existing in the forms of external (objective) and internal (subjective) objectivity. V. E. Davidovich and Yu. A. Zhdanov rightly emphasize that it is through the category of human objective activity that the concept of “culture” as a socio-philosophical category can be introduced into the general system of categories of Marxist-Leninist philosophy (Davidovich, Zhdanov, 1979, p. 28). These authors in their monograph consider it possible to single out three morphological cuts or layers of culture: material culture, in which transformational, practical-objective activity is in the foreground; spiritual culture with its mechanisms of action and the results obtained and, as a special morphological layer, artistic culture (Davidovich, Zhdanov, 1979, pp. 194 - 206). N. S. Zlobin prefers to talk about the material and spiritual forms of the objective existence of culture (Zlobin, 1980, pp. 45-56; Vavilin, Fofanov, 1983, p. 145). Much attention is paid to various aspects of culture as a global phenomenon of world history by one of the active Soviet culturologists E. S. Markaryan (Markaryan, 1969, 1973, 1983). In his opinion, the concept of "society" expresses the structure, and "culture" - the mode of activity of the collective subject of action - the social system (Markaryan, 1969, p. 64). Perhaps this is an excessive fascination with the level position of culture, since the social system is a society for which, with this approach, culture is a way of activity. In one of his latest works, E. S. Markaryan rightly emphasizes that it is thanks to culture that human activity has transformative and universal capabilities in terms of its potencies. At the same time, it is noted that in the course of human adaptation to the environment, the adaptive effect is achieved by means of “sociocultural restructuring of human individuals through the universal transformation of their external and internal environments” (Markaryan, 1981a, p. 146). On this most important side of culture, leading us to life support systems, we will stop later. Along with this, researchers note that culture is relatively independent and its stages do not repeat verbatim the stages of socio-economic development (Davidovich, Zhdanov, 1979, p. 235). This is most evident when there is a tendency to maintain a rigid system of values, regulated by customs and traditions.

Without going into the details of the ongoing developments, one cannot but admit that the concept of culture is the most important category of historical materialism (Mezhuev, 1977, “p. 13). To study the world-historical process, it is important to have epochal sections or types of culture - the culture of the primitive era, the era of slave-owning societies, etc. At the same time, the diversity of a particular historical process is reflected and expressed in local cultural ways of adapting historical communities of people to certain environments. habitats (Markaryan, 1981a, p. 151). This is especially clearly manifested in the primitive era with its capabilities, limited production potential and, accordingly, cultural and economic types.

Rice. 1. Types of cultures of the ancient era in Central Asia and the Middle East.

In the aspect of such studies, archaeological materials occupy a very definite place. They represent a selection of the once really existing culture (in the culturological understanding of this term) of the society of the primitive or pre-capitalist eras in its subject-productive aspect. This indisputable fact makes us pay special attention to culturological developments, since it is they that make it possible to determine to a large extent the information possibilities of archeological data, especially in historical and sociological reconstructions.

Before moving on to questions of cultural interpretation in archeology, it is necessary to dwell briefly on the procedure for studying archaeological objects. There are quite a few options here, and often they are overly complicated, in clear conflict with the actual material. With a one-line construction of the levels of procedures, a significant number of them, up to seven, was proposed, and theoretically this number can be increased to significant limits. An important aspect is the introduction of a system of direct and feedback links between levels, which was especially emphasized by the English archaeologist D. Clarke (Clarke, 1968). characteristic of the structural approach. In general, there is no doubt that the procedure should be cyclical and at the same time dynamic in nature with close interconnection and interaction of various cycles, or stages, of research (Bochkarev, 1975).

It is necessary to differentiate different types of explanations of archeological data, each requiring a special approach and, accordingly, methodological methods for processing and analyzing materials. This is in the most general presentation - archaeological, sociological and cultural interpretations. Depending on the direction of the explanatory strategy, the entire set of relevant procedures is built. Let us consider successively different types of these explanations (Fig. 2).

Archaeological interpretation as an important research direction is completely within the framework of archaeological science. It is associated primarily with the clarification of the situation identified at the level of experiment, excavation, exploration of a new object or group of objects in a number of already known archaeological complexes. In general, this is a large section of archaeological systematics, organizing mass material into blocks for further analysis. There are two main tasks here. This is a clarification of the position of newly discovered objects in time and in a number of previously known complexes and cultures.

Determination of position in time is carried out using a number of techniques, starting with stratigraphy. The typological method, which is fundamental to archeology, is of paramount importance here, as well as in cultural and sociological interpretation. But the classification system and the set of features in each case will be different depending on the task. In other words, the description is carried out taking into account subsequent explanations. Another important preliminary stage is the criticism of the source, the elucidation of its cognitive capabilities. In essence, a special case of applying the typological approach is the seriation method, when stable percentages of different types of products in a particular complex are compared. This means that the general patterns of cultural genesis lead to repetition in simultaneously existing sets of these ratios.

The questions of the position of the studied objects in the system of previously known complexes are solved in a similar way. The typological method is also used here. In typology and classification, in this case, morphological features are of particular importance. The formulation of the research problem may also have an impact at the stage of excavation (the stage of experience, experiment), since the main goal in solving questions of the cultural affiliation of a monument is to obtain a representative sample. Such source processing of materials is the most important component of research in archeology, capturing all three stages of the procedure - experience, description and explanation.

Archaeological interpretation forms an obligatory preliminary stage for subsequent sociological or cultural interpretation. Only materials that have been processed at the level of chronological systematics can be fully used in subsequent analysis in these types of explanation. This is a prerequisite for all subsequent operations. The two most important elements of the logical procedure are the statement of the problem and the internal criticism of the source, which determines the volume and nature of the information contained in the source. The formulation of the problem significantly affects the excavation of the site. Thus, when raising the questions of studying social structures, it is absolutely necessary to excavate a group of dwellings in a settlement that simultaneously exist for a certain period of time, and a burial ground - in its entirety or a significant part of it. Depending on the setting of the tasks of sociological interpretation - the study of the social structures of ancient societies or once functioning economic systems - typology and classification can be based on various grounds, when special importance is attached to completely specific sets of features (the functions of tools, the size of dwellings, etc.). Taking into account the specifics of the research procedure, depending on the task at hand, and assessing the information content of the available material are the main conditions for all types of explanation.

The culturological approach is of great importance already at the level of archaeological systematics. It is he who makes it possible to affirm in the conclusion that the archaeological culture is not an artificial classification formation, but an objective reality. Let's dwell on this issue in more detail.

Culture is a fundamental concept of archaeological systematics, applied at the source study level of material organization, which precedes any historical interpretations. Therefore, the definition of archaeological culture must proceed first and foremost from the materials of archeology (Zakharuk, 1964; Kamenetsky, 1970; Gryaznoe, 1969; Fedorov-Davydov, 1970; Masson, 1971a). In a general form, archaeological culture should be understood as a really existing set of interconnected objects (artifacts), in a certain way limited in time and space. In the taxonomic system and at the procedural level, culture is the concept following type and trait. Sign, type and culture form the simplest system of concepts of vertical hierarchy. Just as a type is a stable combination of traits, a stable combination of types will produce a culture (Masson, 1972; Bochkarev, 1975). Along with the vertical chain trait-type-culture, a system of concepts of horizontal hierarchy is also being developed. A common and easy-to-handle system is the three-member system: local variant-culture-cultural community, which is often called ethno-cultural community, mixing levels of research. Within a certain region, these subdivisions, of course, are characterized by a quantitative increase in territorial parameters, but not theirs. should be considered the main one in the selection of the corresponding complexes. Just as a statistically stable combination of types makes it possible to substantiate the allocation of an archaeological culture, the allocation of horizontal hierarchy units can: be quantified in a certain way (Clarke, 1968, pp. 287-317; Masson, 1976a, pp. 3-7).

At the same time, all these concepts are not an abstract combination of researchers, but ultimately reflect the real processes and phenomena that took place in the history of society, and in particular in the field of culture. This concerns, first of all, such a cardinal concept as an archaeological type, regarding the objective reality of which there were many contradictory arguments. As you know, the most important feature of the cultural process is stereotyping, due to which the members of society are introduced to the results achieved (Markaryan, 1973; Abrahamyan, 1978; Types in culture, 1979). Stereotyping refers to the adoption of new technologies or models of action by many people within the respective groups (Abramyan, 1978, p. 91). The question was also raised about the development of this phenomenon in time with a parallel complication of the forms of stereotyping, starting with a simple mechanism of imitation. With the progress of production, such a farm of stereotyping arises as standardization, which separates into a special sphere of production that produces standards (Abramyan, 1978, p. 94). We see the early stages of the relevant phenomena in ancient times, as, for example, in ceramic production with the introduction of the potter's wheel. Standard types of mass crafted vessels are widely used by archaeologists in various research operations. Similar processes take place in metalworking based on the casting technique in standard models in conditions of increased demand for certain types of products, in particular for weapons. It should be concluded that it is the process of stereotyping that archaeologists observe in the material embodiment of artifacts. Moreover, the very possibility of an archaeological typology lies in the stereotype of culture, its "reference" character. This is one of the manifestations of a real, objective basis on which the grouping and organization of archaeological materials are based, combined into complexes, cultures and other subdivisions. At the same time, the identification of these communities is a purely archaeological operation of the archaeological science itself, and here even a terminological shift of levels is especially dangerous. The introduction of the term "ethnos" into the very definition of archaeological culture is especially unfortunate, although it is precisely ethnic differences that in many cases will ultimately be the reason for the existence of stable cultural differences observed by archaeologists. At the source study level of the organization of the material, it is necessary to speak only of a cultural community, which should by no means be replaced by the concept of "ethno-cultural". The stable communities identified on the basis of archaeological analysis, and in particular cultures, can have different historical content, correspond to entire civilizations (Harappa), large historical and ethnographic communities (Andron, Kelteminar), and small tribal groups.

Archaeological materials contain a wealth of information for studying the way of life of ancient societies and the culture of life support that support the functioning of the entire cultural and social system as a mega-complex. G. E. Markov characterizes the way of life as a set of typical living conditions, norms and forms of life, relationships between people, society's attitude to the environment (Markov, 1978, p. 17). In a more formalized definition, a way of life is understood as a steadily reproducible objectification of human activity and life, taken in the "facts of everyday life" (Marxist-Leninist theory ..., 1983, p. 191; Zlobin, 1976). This refers to everyday life, in the integrity of its various spheres and areas, ranging from work and participation in social and political life and ending with everyday life and leisure. It is the substantive aspect of the daily life of ancient people that is daily and hourly studied by archaeologists who excavate ancient dwellings and settlements, where it is more often and easier to find ordinary, mass material than data reflecting extraordinary processes and situations. The systematization of this information, which illuminates the way of life and common typological features of ancient groups, is of great importance for the analysis of historical processes. It is the way of life that makes it possible to study general patterns, including socio-economic ones, in their specific diversity (Marxist-Leninist theory ..., 1983, p. 197).

Since archeology studies ancient cultures primarily in their subject-productive aspect, it can especially brightly illuminate the material world of culture. It is impossible not to admit that recently little attention has been paid to things, and, following a kind of fashion for formalization, the objects found by archaeologists are treated primarily as artifacts without further analysis of the sociocultural sphere behind them. At the same time, philosophers attach particular importance to the subject form of the transfer of social experience, the style of existence in the world of material culture. At the same time, it is emphasized that a way of life is associated with things, they are objects of sociocultural relations, play a role in educating and reinforcing the behavior and way of thinking accepted in a given environment (Cultural progress, 1984, p. 76). In this regard, such a mass phenomenon as the painted pottery of the pores of early farmers, covered with complex patterns, is especially interesting, representing, like a poison, a whole semantic ‘complex’ (Rybakov, 1:965, no. 1, 2). In addition to their decorative and aesthetic functions, many vessels of this type embodied the artistic form of storing and transmitting information and, being in everyday use, served as a means of transmitting the accumulated ideological tradition. The disappearance of painting on dishes or its sharp reduction, observed in many civilizations of the Old World with the onset of the period of crafts (ceramics of Uruk, Lushan, Namazga V), among other factors, was clearly associated with ideological shifts and changes in the methods of storing and transmitting information, especially with the introduction archaic writing systems.

It is necessary to emphasize the important initiative of a group of ethnographers and culturologists who turned to the issues of life support culture (Culture of life support ..., 1983). It is considered as a subsystem that includes such components as settlements, dwellings, food, clothing, and is directly aimed at maintaining people's livelihoods. Basically, the culture of life support lies in the sphere of material culture, but its socio-normative layer reflects a number of aspects of spiritual culture - ritual and cultural, prestigious, aesthetic, and some others (Culture of life support ..., 1983, p. 9). In general, life support culture is a part of culture that is directly aimed at supporting the life of its carriers, and functions mainly in the sphere of consumption. The line between the primary production of material goods and the final stages just passes at the level of the culture of life, when the benefits take a form that is finally aimed at meeting the needs of life (Culture of life support ..., 1983, p. 57). It is easy to see that archeology, in terms of its informative potential, has great potential for studying the life support systems of ancient societies, closely related to the types of lifestyles. Of the other subsystems of culture, with such a consideration, three more can be noted: production, socio-normative and cognitive (Arutyunov, 1985). At the same time, in order to characterize the production subsystem associated with the production and reproduction of material goods, tools and means of production, the most extensive information can be gleaned from archeological data. The socio-normative subsystem, which includes morality, law, customs, rituals, a significant part of religious institutions, is less provided with archaeological materials, at least in the first, superficial approach. In fact, the possibilities of studying, say, cults and customs using ethnographic and general theoretical models are also considerable here, if we go beyond the stereotyped characterization of any incomprehensible artifact as simply “cult” without subsequent meaningful analysis. Finally, a cognitive subsystem is distinguished, which is a collection of scientific and empirical knowledge and experience, and also includes a field of knowledge associated not with rational, but with emotional aspects, such as art. And in this area, archaeological materials potentially contain certain information. In particular, the data of technological analysis and experiment make it possible to highlight many aspects associated with the spontaneous accumulation of positive knowledge, with a kind of pre-science.

Culturology allows you to approach the study of the very dynamics and internal content of the process of cultural genesis. This mechanism is largely determined by the interaction of old and new, traditions and innovations (Fig. 3). Ethnographers and culturologists have done a great job of studying cultural traditions and innovations. In this regard, the conference held in Yerevan in 1978 on the methodological problems of studying ethnic cultures was fruitful (Methodological problems ..., 1978; Sukhanov, 1979; Traditions ..., 1978). Yu. V. Bromley defines traditions as components or aspects of culture characterized by stability, continuity, repeated from generation to generation (Bromley, 1973, pp. 67 - 68). One of the components of traditions are rites or rituals, acting in this case as a means of social regulation. As a result, we see stereotypical forms of mass behavior, expressed in the repetition of standardized actions (Bromley, 1973, pp. 70, 71). In this regard, the term "tradition" itself has not moved far from its original meaning in Latin - transmission, tradition.

More generally, in tradition, one can see the mechanism of self-preservation, reproduction and regeneration of a particular culture as a system, when traditions include the process and results of stereotyping as a concentrated expression of socio-historical experience (Markaryan, 1978, p. 50; Abrahamyan, 1978, p. 91-96; Types in culture, 1979). Innovation is understood as the introduction of new technology and new models of activity, and the creation of such models occurs by abstracting stereotypical objects and functions and combining them in a non-standard combination (Abramyan, 1978, p. 95).

In archaeological science, which studies the objective world of culture, innovations associated with the approval of a new technology or a new model of activity in society are reflected in the appearance and distribution of new types of artifacts, which can be clearly defined by the method of archaeological typology and confirmed by quantitative analysis (Masson, 1981c, pp. 38-42). The determination of the fact of a break in traditions and the spread of innovations on the materials that make up the object of archeology is established on the basis of an analysis of various categories of sources (ceramics, flint tools, metal products, funeral rites) studied in their archaeological sample. Determining the threshold of innovation, the qualitative and quantitative correlation of the new and the traditional is of fundamental importance for the organization of the archaeological material itself, the identification of both archaeological cultures and individual stages of their development.

The interaction of traditions and innovations reflects the complex, dialectical nature of cultural genesis. On archaeological materials, one can observe how individual innovations, having gone through stereotyping, clearly fixed by the types of artifacts, turn into traditional elements of the cultural complex (Fig. 4). The typological method also makes it possible to trace the gradual changeability of innovations, reflecting a kind of adaptation to the cultural system as a whole. The continuity of culture under such a mechanism follows the dialectical law of subtraction or negation, which is a condition and moment of development and, at the same time, a moment of connection between the new and the old. With the interaction of the aspects of overcoming, preserving and ascending to a new, higher stage, the selection of preserved cultural forms and their retention with organic inclusion in a new whole takes place (Davidovich, Zhdanov, 1979, p. 241). In general, it must be said that the creative use of materialistic dialectics is still not widespread in archeology, where researchers are practically limited to evolutionary models supported by methods of graphical analysis. However, it is quite clear that, for example, consideration of the change of archaeological cultures, which is well known to archaeologists at the empirical level, from the standpoint of the dialectical law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones and vice versa, will allow a deeper and more complete study of the past of ancient tribes and peoples and the cultures left by them (Masson, 1986c) . Both ethnic assimilation and cultural adaptation were not simplified mechanical phenomena, but primarily a dialectical process.

The change of types of artifacts is essentially a factorological skeleton of the process, where, as we always strive to emphasize, the use of cultural developments and concepts is very important. This significance of them increases at the actual culturological interpretative level of the analysis of archaeological materials. Such an interpretation should be carried out not by itself, in a refined environment of abstract categories, but in close connection with other phenomena, taking into account the entire archaeological material and the entire amount of information contained in it. The processes of succession and innovation are not an isolated phenomenon, but one of the manifestations of the functioning of society. They must be analyzed taking into account the production potential of a given society, its social structure, and the possibilities of the cultural and economic system as a whole. Thus, innovations are stereotyped and then integrated into the cultural system only if they are perceived by the social environment and there is no process of rejection. When analyzing continuity, it is important to distinguish between general and local traditions. The former are largely associated with technological advances, which is clearly seen in the example of the widest distribution of the same type of flint industries. The sphere of traditions of a general nature is expanding more and more with the development of society, especially with the spread of the urban way of life. Local traditions, on the other hand, are especially important in identifying archaeological cultures and subdivisions that are taxonomically close to them. In a meaningful analysis of the causal mechanism of innovation, it is necessary to take into account the main areas of their manifestation - technology, everyday culture and ideology. After such a differentiated assessment, it is possible to actually raise the question of the sources of innovation, which can be associated with convergent development, diffusion, and unity of origin. In general, the ongoing cultural changes, or cultural transformation, can be divided into three varieties (Arutyunov, 1985). The first one is a spontaneous transformation, when innovations are mainly formed as cultural mutations, development proceeds due to internal mechanisms and incentives. The second variety is stimulated transformation, when cultural changes occur under the indirect influence of external impulses, but without direct borrowing (Fig. 5). And, finally, the third variety, well known to archeology since the first stages of its development as a special branch of knowledge, is direct borrowing.

Let us dwell on a specific example taken from the materials characterizing the early agricultural cultures of the south of Central Asia (Table 1).

Comparison of the individual constituent elements of the Anau IA complexes and the Neolithic Jeytun culture makes it possible to outline both certain local traditions and innovations that are so noticeable in archaeological materials. First of all, attention is drawn to the phenomena associated with innovations in the field of technology: the use of raw bricks in house-building, the introduction of metallurgy, the use of sand instead of chopped straw as a thinning agent in ceramic production, new types of tools, the appearance of whorls and stone hoes. Since in this case the development of technology is meant, one could conclude that we have before us the result of the natural evolution of local society, which, however, can also use already established technological methods by direct borrowing. However, notable innovations are also observed in the field of culture. Thus, the complete change of the flint industry, compared to the Dzheitun period, is very indicative, considered as a stable combination of types of products, blanks and processing. In the Anau IA complex, changes are observed in all these three components, which clearly points to a different cultural tradition. The spread of new compositions of painting and ornamental elements also testifies to cultural innovations. Only 25% of ornamental motifs retain Neolithic traditions. Indicators of cultural tradition that can be traced to the Dzheytun cultural layer contain elements common to many early agricultural cultures (small plastic, game pieces, mortars, graters, ocher in burials) and features that are more closely linked to the traditions of the Dzheytun culture as a specific archaeological community. (types of houses, elements of ceramics ornamentation). The former are essentially connected with the epochal type of culture.

Naturally, the question arises of analyzing the causes of observed innovations. At the same time, burial data are of considerable importance as a source that is sensitive to ethnic changes and provides material for the anthropological characteristics of the ancient population. The funeral ritual of the Dzheytun burials and the burials of the time of Anau IA is basically the same: the dead were placed in a crouched position on their side, their bodies were sprinkled with ocher, and burials were made on the territory of the village. For both archaeological complexes, the unstable orientation is also indicative - mainly to the north, northeast and northwest, but in some cases also to the southwest. The anthropological composition of the settlement of the time of Anau IA - Monjukly-depe, according to the materials of the burials, to a certain extent resembles the picture established by the combination of local traditions and third-party innovations in the Anau IA complex. Along with skulls typical of the early agricultural cultures of Central Asia and Iran, attributed to variants of the Eastern Mediterranean Caucasoid population (Ginzburg, Trofimova, 1959; Trofimova, 1961), here is a skull that reveals dravidoid features characteristic of the population of the equatorial type of South India (Eneolith of the USSR, 1982, p. 20). Thus, anthropological data speak of the possible emergence of a new population. This makes it possible to explain the cultural innovations noted above by the resettlement of tribal groups, which were probably also the bearers of the new technology. Elements dating back to the local Neolithic tradition, in this case, most likely reflect the complex nature of the processes of cultural and, apparently, ethnic assimilation, when the local population, partially incorporated by newcomers into the system of their tribal communities, retained a number of traditions, such as in painted ceramics. The question of the source of infiltration is already a problem of a specific branch of archaeological science dealing with this range of monuments. In this case, according to most researchers of innovations, they were the regions of Central Iran (Eneolith of the USSR, 1982, p. 20).

Various forms of cultural transformation can be considered on the example of Central Asia in the ancient era (Masson, 1986a). At the first stage, cultural changes here are, in a number of respects, spasmodic in nature, innovations are associated with stimulated transformation (Fig. 6). There are also direct borrowings. Cultural innovations are observed in various areas of material culture and are embodied in new types of artifacts. Genetically, most innovations are associated with Hellenistic influences. As a result, even mass folk culture is undergoing significant changes. Open forms are widespread in the ceramic complex, some types of vessels directly follow the standards of Hellas. Thus, the changes also affect the subsystem of life support, since functionally ceramic dishes ensured the preparation and consumption of food. The flowering of coroplasty is indicative. It comes as if in a second wave, since the Bronze Age terracotta tradition practically died out during the Early Iron Age, perhaps not without connection with the Zoroastrian dogma. Many types of early terracotta clearly follow Hellenistic patterns. The local origin is firmly manifested in the raw architecture. However, the interpretation of decor-forming elements, often following the modified patterns of Greek orders, undoubtedly reflects direct borrowings. Thus, the spontaneous transformation of the original layer is combined, and sometimes coexists with the Greek beginning, with respect to which two features can be traced. First, a massive stream of innovation flows primarily into the elite subculture. Secondly, the Hellenistic components are most widely represented in large centers as an indispensable element of precisely urban culture. It is noted that, for example, in the rural settlements of Parthien there is no active influence of the Hellenistic culture.

At the second stage, in the Kushan era, there is primarily a spontaneous transformation of the Oriental-Hellenistic layer, which enters the phase of organic synthesis. The further influence of the Greek, and then the Roman standards as a whole was not very great and organically fit into the local post-Hellenistic complex. Commercial relations played an important role here. Trade in jewelry and works of art objectively played the role of cultural exchange. Another source of stimulated transformation was the cultural traditions of India, which penetrated, in particular, with the spread of Buddhist dogmas. The influence of the nomadic world of the steppe Asia was relatively short, but tangible. Thus, a powerful center of the Central Asian urbanized cultures of the ancient era, as well as in the ancient Eastern era, was formed in the conditions of the crossing of various traditions and cultural synthesis.

An important aspect in the study of the progressive development of human society is the study of cultural progress. This issue is given special attention in the philosophical literature (Cultural progress, 1984), a symposium was devoted to it, held in Yerevan in 1982, at which specific archaeological materials were analyzed (Cultural progress in the era ..., 1982). Progress is considered as a type and direction of development from less perfect to more perfect, but these changes do not always lead to structural complication. Both the progress of the system as a whole and the progressive development of its individual components are observed. The dialectical nature of development is also determined by the fact that the progress of the system as a whole includes simultaneously the regression of its individual elements, connections and functions (Kon, 1967, pp. 379-380). Accordingly, regression is characterized as a type of development from higher to lower, as degradation, lowering the level of organization, a return to outlived forms and structures. The complex, contradictory nature of the historical and cultural process makes us pay attention to both categories that characterize the ongoing changes. As you know, V. I. Lenin specifically emphasized that it is “non-dialectical, unscientific, theoretically wrong” to consider the course of history, ignoring sometimes gigantic leaps back (Lenin, vol. 30, p. 6). With the general progressive nature of the course of world history, we know vivid examples of decline, disintegration, return to a lower level of development (Masson, 1983a). Such are the decline of the Harappan civilization and the Cretan-Mycenaean society of Greece, when from the structures of the early class type and the state there was a return to the primitive era with the loss of a number of essential components of the socio-cultural system, in particular writing. An almost equally sharp slowdown in the rate of development with the loss of a number of highly organized elements of the cultural system occurs in the Balkans, where the amazing flowering of the early agricultural cultures of the Eneolithic period, including social differentiation, which was reflected in the Varna necropolis and the pictographic tablets of Tartaria, is replaced by poor complexes of the Bronze Age (Masson, 1969, 1982; Chernykh, 1976). Apparently, the early agricultural-pastoral and pastoral-agricultural societies of the Balkans and adjacent areas, having approached the threshold of civilization to varying degrees, exhausted the possibilities of specific cultural and economic systems in a given natural and historical situation, after which a social cataclysm sets in and cultural regression is observed. M. G. Gadzhiev, based on archaeological materials, convincingly raised the question of cultural regression that took place in Dagestan at one of the stages of the paleometal pore (Gadzhiev, 1982, pp. 9 - 12). Perhaps this phenomenon spread to the entire region of the North Caucasus, characterizing the post-Maikop period.

Cultural progress, with a certain specificity of its parameters, was not closed or isolated, but was determined by progress in the social sphere and in the economy. Optimization (for its era) of the productive forces was its important prerequisite. The social structure itself formed a creative background (depending on the situation, both positive and negative), on which the formation of artistic and cultural values ​​took place (Cultural progress, 1984, p. 17).

The dynamics of cultural progress in different zones during the Paleometal Age is indicative. In the belt of agricultural and pastoral cultures of the arid zone, the large-scale introduction of metal into culture did not signify; cardinal changes, but rather recorded the maximum flourishing of the already established cultural system. In the steppe zone of Eurasia and in a number of areas adjacent to it, progress during the Paleometallic Age was especially impressive (Masson, 1982c). First of all, and especially important, it was carried out in the sphere of production of material values ​​and led to greater efficiency of production processes and an increase in labor productivity. An important role here was played by the use of such an impersonal source of energy as the draft power of animals. But the development of mining, metallurgy and metalworking, with its differentiation into such industries as the specialized activities of blacksmiths, foundry workers, jewelers, gunsmiths, acquired a decisive importance in the progress of production of that era. For a huge zone outside the framework of the ancient Eastern ecumene, this was the technological basis for the second major social division of labor. New technology, especially casting, made it possible to quickly obtain standard series of tools that could be easily replicated. In this case, a sharp increase in the productivity of the manufacture of tools, and not the productivity of the tools themselves, which in this respect do not always exceed products with a type-setting flint working edge, was the decisive and determining factor of progress.

An important feature of the cultural progress of the Paleometal Age was an increase in the level of sociability and the rate of dissemination of information. The need for exchange and extensive contacts was laid down in the very material production of the Bronze Age, which used various metals, the deposits of which are much rarer than the outcrops of flint or obsidian. The spread of wheeled transport also contributed to the strengthening of ties. Significant form of communication is developing significantly, and various kinds of symbols acquire special significance. A number of symbolic, or, as they are usually characterized in archaeological literature, cult objects contributed to the accumulation, consolidation and transmission of experience, transformed from individual to social. This side of culture, widely represented in archaeological materials, has not yet been properly explored. Suffice it to point to the so-called standards and wands, known in Maykop, and in Gisar, and in Aladzha-Khuyuk, and in Palestinian complexes. Since the connection of a symbol with the symbolized phenomenon is, as a rule, motivated (Artanovsky, 1981, p. 34), the symbols themselves become a focus, a visible concentration of more or less abstract truths.

It should be noted that the historical type of cultures that developed as a result of progress in the Paleometallic era in the steppe zone of Eurasia is distinguished by a high degree of generality. This increased commonality is connected both with the unity of technology, of which the development of exchange was an integral part, and with the more lively communication facilitated by the progress of vehicles. As a result, technological, cultural and ideological innovations, which together determine the direction of progressive development, spread relatively quickly over vast territories. A special regional or even epochal type of steppe bronze cultures is emerging. The rate of spread of innovations increases abruptly due to the widespread use of the horse as a means of transportation.

Culturological aspects are also of no small importance in the analysis based on archeological materials of the process of formation of the first civilizations. Fundamental changes in the sphere of socio-economic relations and socio-political structures were accompanied by fundamental changes in the sphere of culture. There was a qualitatively new cultural complex, which actually is a civilization. The culture of most of the primitive era was characterized by traditionalism, when there is mainly a repetition of the process in the same volume and on the same technical basis. Now, many components of culture are undergoing transformation as a result of the adoption of new technology and new models of action in society. In the objective world of culture, known to us in his archaeological selection, this can be seen in the appearance and wide distribution of new types of artifacts (Masson, 1982e; 1984, pp. 56 - 59).

When considering the culture of the era of the formation of civilization, one can see that innovations equally cover the sphere of technology, everyday culture, largely associated with the way of life, and the sphere of ideology. In the field of technology, the main changes occur in crafts. For example, for the Middle East, innovations in metallurgy, pottery and construction have played the greatest role. The successes of heat engineering, the use of new tools (potter's wheel, etc.) have led to the fact that standardization is becoming more widespread. In the construction business, which is widely developing high-rise and monumental buildings, the development of canons and modules is also observed, the formation of architecture in the proper sense of the word is taking place. In accordance with the new value orientations that have taken root in society, new technical capabilities are realized as the differentiation and specialization of crafts. Among the crafts, weaponry, glyptics, and jewelry production stand out as special industries. Not without reason, in written documents already for the time of Uruk IV, at least 80 different positions and professions are mentioned.

Of great importance were the new needs for the level of communication, and especially the qualitative leap in the volume of information to be stored and transmitted to ensure the functioning of society as a complex social and economic system. As a result, writing develops, various types of transport develop, and above all - wheeled carriages. The latter provided a new volume of economic, cultural and political ties and interactions: from the transportation of raw materials to the transfer of soldiers. The variety of information channels is growing, among which regular fairs, temple festivals and other mass ritual actions are playing an important role.

In addition to the growth of general well-being and the satisfaction of a wide range of needs, everyday culture was especially sharply affected by the allocation of groups of individuals or social strata with a different share of social wealth. This can be seen from the differentiation of the way of life, reflected in residential complexes, household implements and funeral rites. The increasing specialization of activity contributed to the separation of mental labor from physical labor. This, in addition to the emergence of schools of scribes, is evidenced by the development of non-applied art, which left genuine masterpieces of individual artistic creativity. In the context of increasing social differentiation, the latter are becoming more and more important among the utilitarian and prestige-symbolic functions of innovation. At the same time, prestige is perceived mainly not as personal authority, but as belonging to a certain social stratum, which is also fixed in the world of things. In the sphere of ideology, new stereotypes are also being developed in connection with the institutionalization of power and the sacralization of the position and functions of the ruler. At the same time, elements of agrarian cults and mythological schemes of the universe familiar to the communal masses are partially used.

The original layer of the cultural complex of civilization, in which innovations are represented by such a wide range, was the culture of primitive society, but this initial layer has undergone a radical transformation. The formation of innovations went in two ways: through invention, or cultural mutation, i.e., through spontaneous transformation, and through borrowing, or crossbreeding, i.e., through stimulated transformation. The first way is of particular importance. The repetition of individual components of the cultural complex of the first civilizations can not always be explained by borrowing under the conditions of the so-called phenomenon of the initial discovery, about which L. S. Vasiliev wrote a lot in our literature (Vasiliev, 1976). For example, as I. M. Dyakonov rightly emphasizes, the way of developing graphic sign systems for speech transmission belongs to the universals of human culture, and verbal-syllabic writing was invented repeatedly and in more or less the same way (Dyakonov, 1976, p. 6). E. S. Markaryan drew special attention to the question of the immanent creation of innovations as cultural mutations in a number of works. He emphasizes that the mechanism of creative innovation performs the functions of mutations (Markaryan, 1978, p. 86). At the same time, in this case, we are not talking about the identification of fundamentally different phenomena studied in biology and social science, but about the establishment of structural and functional similarity between them (Markaryan, 1981b). The independent creation of innovations, or cultural mutation, has a complex dialectical character and includes, as noted above, aspects of coping; preservation and ascent to a new, higher stage. Without a deep study of this mechanism, it is impossible to understand the natural! the nature of the emergence and development of the first civilizations, formed in a completely different cultural environment and at a gigantic territorial distance.

Of course, this does not detract from the importance of such a factor as cultural borrowing, which is especially widely represented in secondary civilizations, where it is observed in the field of technology, utilitarian objects, as well as in the sphere of prestige and signs. However, such borrowing, as a rule, occurs on the basis of selection, which ensures the adaptation of borrowings and minimizes the reaction of rejection by the local sociocultural environment. As a result, that internally complex process is observed, which is called above stimulated transformation.

For the study of the archaeological materials of societies with a complex social structure, the distinction between the utilitarian and prestige-sign functions of cultural innovations emphasized by SA Arutyunov is very important (Arutyunov, 1978). Certain phenomena and objects borrowed at a prestigious difference may not have a utilitarian meaning, since borrowing takes place among the elite strata of the population, for whom borrowed innovations serve as a means of asserting their special position in a given sociocultural environment. This circumstance should explain the wide distribution at a certain stage of prestigious symbolic symbols, such as the already mentioned wands, pseudo-pins and standards, as well as other standards associated with ideas about a special, higher, or, in any case, more prestigious way of life. As S. A. Arutyunov notes, Japan, for example, experienced two periods of intensive borrowing of cultural innovations - the first time during the 6th - 8th centuries, when a number of Korean-Chinese standards were mastered, and the second - in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. influenced by European standards. Each time, a massive stream of innovation penetrated primarily into the life of the ruling classes and strata (Arutyunov, 1978, pp. 103-104). It is indicative that these periods coincide with the decisive milestones of socio-economic development - the formation of a class society and the state in the first case, when, by the way, these same factors determined the spread and planting of Buddhism as a new state religion, and the formation of capitalist society - in the second. According to the materials of archeology, such a spread of cultural innovations, including those of prestige-symbolic or retaining only this function, is well traced at the final stages of the primitive system, when military aristocracy and ideological leaders emerge everywhere.

Here we come to one of the most important features of the culture of the time of the first civilizations - its internal differentiation associated with the allocation of an elite subculture. Lenin's proposition is well known that in every national culture, along with the dominant bourgeois culture, there are elements of democratic and socialist culture (Lenin, vol. 24, pp. 120-121). Soviet researchers repeatedly turned to this provision, developed it and concretized it. Thus, B. A. Rybakov pointed to the presence in the culture of Kievan Rus of a princely retinue culture, which was characterized primarily by the desire for representativeness (Rybakov, 1970). In fact, the era of the first civilizations was the first period when this splitting of a single cultural stream clearly occurred in the conditions of the formation of a society of social inequality and class contradictions. The types of objects that make up the elite subculture are usually taken from mass, folk culture, but reworked by professional craftsmen in accordance with the demands of the social environment. This was one of the most important ways of forming cultural innovations and creating a qualitatively new cultural complex in that period. Often, such stereotypes over time lost their elitist, prestige-sign character and, according to the figurative expression of S. A. Arutyunov, going down the social ladder (Arutyunov, 1979), again became elements of a universal, folk culture. The allocation of a special subsystem of the elite subculture is a specific feature of the cultural complex of the first civilizations. You can use to characterize the culture of this period and such a technique as the coefficient of actualization. It was proposed to characterize artistic culture (Bernshtam, 1978), but it can also have a broader meaning. This refers to the measure of actualization of previous experience, and in cases where the entire heritage and only the heritage is recognized as relevant, an “absolutely conservative culture” is created with an actualization coefficient equal to one. This situation is typical for most stages of the development of primitive society. On the other hand, when nothing of the previously created is used and only newly created values ​​and standards are recognized as relevant, an “absolutely innovative culture” is formed, of course in the form of a theoretical model, with an actualization coefficient equal to zero. With this approach, the coefficient of actualization of the cultural complex of the first civilizations, saturated with innovations in all major areas (technology, everyday culture, ideology), can be defined as approximately equal to 0. 5. This circumstance, as well as the formation of an elite subculture, makes it possible to characterize the culture of the first civilizations as a qualitatively new phenomenon. Most likely, from the point of view of cultural genesis, the formation of civilization can be viewed as a kind of cultural revolution, which is in the closest causal relationship with the formation of a class society and state. At the same time, cultural innovations that determined, whatever their origin, a fundamentally new image of the first civilizations, having passed the stage of cultural integration, themselves become traditional elements in the civilizations of the Old and New Worlds. Once dynamic and advanced, these cultural complexes, having passed the threshold of innovation, become traditional and, as we know from the Ancient East, conservative in most forms of their manifestation. It should be borne in mind that the qualitative cultural transformations that took place in a relatively short period of time at the time of the formation of the first civilizations were fundamentally different from the cultural revolution taking place under the conditions of building socialism. Lenin's plan for the spiritual renewal of society, the plan for a cultural revolution, provided, first of all, joint, organized, conscious activity of the masses of working people, primarily through familiarization with elementary culture (Zlobin, 1980, pp. 231-233; Kii, "1967). The indisputable greatness of the cultural achievements of the first civilizations should not obscure the fact that their foundation was the deep social and cultural disunity of society, and the shaping of this disunity into specific cultural standards and models with a high coefficient of prestige was the essence of the era and the changes that took place. A long and difficult path of cultural development began through polar, albeit often interpenetrating systems of confrontation, which only a new classless formation would eliminate.

Soviet philosophers specifically emphasize that "the level of cultural progress of a society is measured by the volume of spiritual values ​​created in society, the scale of their distribution and the depth of their development by a person" (Cultural progress, 1984, p. 43). Cultural values ​​created in the era of the first civilizations often did not enter the wide arena, remained the property of certain strata and professional groups. The very complexity of ancient writing systems severely limited the spread of literacy. The narrowness of the social base of progressive phenomena in culture also determined the internal weakness of the most ancient civilizations, which sometimes disappeared as a cultural phenomenon with a break in traditions in a number of areas of cultural progress.