Nomadic Cultures in the Mega-Structure of the Eurasian World / / Evgenij N. Chernykh; ed. by Peter N. Hommel, Irina Savinetskaya.

• VerfasserIn: Chernykh, Evgenij N.,
• HerausgeberIn: Hommel, Peter N.,; Savinetskaya, Irina,
• Place / Publishing House: Boston, MA : : Academic Studies Press, , [2017]; ©2017
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (696 p.)

Two major dividing lines have formed the megastructure of Eurasia, determining the historical epochs of the continent's peoples. The first, vertical (longitudinal) line has separated East and West since the Paleolithic Age. The East was dominated by Mongol peoples speaking Sino -Tibetan, Manchu-Tungus, and Altaic languages. The Caucasoid peoples of the West spoke mostly Indo-European, Semite, and Finno-Ugric languages. The second line divided the continent horizontally (by latitude) into North and South. This division was closely connected with the Eurasian Steppe Belt. To the north of it lay the world of hunter-gatherers and fishermen. To the south, settled agriculture was dominant. The Steppe Belt itself was the domain of pastoralists, the nomadic and semi-nomadic herders. These lines converged at the entrance to the Great Silk Road. With the swift development of horse domestication and horseback riding, the nomads moved-from the Early Metal Age (500-400 BCE) to Genghis Khan's and the Genghisid's Great Empire (1200-1400 CE)-to the forefront of Eurasian history as their world became increasingly involved in dramatic and sometimes tragic relationships with their southern neighbors. This book focuses on the tangle of problems in these nomadic peoples' history.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Table of Сontents -- Author's Preface to the English Edition -- Translator's Preface to the English Edition -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Part I. The Steppe Belt in the Mega-Structure of the Eurasian World -- Chapter 1. The Formation of the Eurasian World -- Chapter 2. Transitions from North to South: Geoecology, Subsistence and the Eurasian Steppe Belt -- Chapter 3. Transitions from East to West: Across the Layers of the Eurasian Geoecology -- Part II. The Archaeology of Nomadic Cultures -- Chapter 4. Archaeology and History: Sources of Difference -- Chapter 5. "Gifts" from the Nomads: Pastoral Contributions to World History -- Chapter 6. Nomadic Cultures in the Early Metal Age: Archaeological Time, Technology and Territory -- Chapter 7. The "Proto-Metal" Age in Eurasia -- Chapter 8. Metallurgical Revolution in the Carpatho-Balkan Region -- Chapter 9. The Origins of the Circumpontic Metallurgical Province -- Chapter 10. The Circumpontic Metallurgical Province and Caucasian "Corridor" -- Chapter 11. The Circumpontic Province and the Nomads of the Steppe Belt -- Chapter 12. Great Leap and Great Stagnation -- Chapter 13. The Second Millennium: Revolutionary Changes in the Eurasian Steppe -- Chapter 14. The Neighbours of the West-Asian Metallurgical Province -- Chapter 15. From the Centre of Asia to the West: the Forerunners of Genghis Khan? -- Chapter 16. East Asian Steppe and Ancient Chinese Metallurgical Provinces -- Chapter 17. At the Roots of the Age of Iron -- Chapter 18. The Scythian World through the Eyes of Herodotus -- Chapter 19. The Scythian World through the eyes of Archaeologists -- Part III. Nomadic Culture in Historical Context -- Chapter 20. The Transformation of the Pastoralists of Arabia -- Chapter 21. A Collision of Worlds: Islam and Catholicism -- Chapter 22. The first Wave from the East: the Huns -- Chapter 23. The "Huns" in the East -- Chapter 24. A Second Wave from the East: the Turks -- Chapter 25. The heirs of the Western Turkic khanate -- Chapter 26. The Third Wave from the East: China and the Mongols -- Chapter 27. Third Wave from the East: the Mongols and world of Islam -- Chapter 28. A Third Wave from the East: the Mongols and the Christian World -- Chapter 29. The Fall of the Great Mongol Empire -- Chapter 30. An Eastern Millennium -- Part IV. Rus', Russia and the Nomadic World -- Chapter 31. Why only Rus'? -- Chapter 32. From the Avars to the Time of Troubles -- Chapter 33. The Early Modern Period: Rupturing of the borders of the Eurasian Nucleus -- Chapter 34. Sarmatia Asiatica and Sarmatia Europeana -- Chapter 35. Breaking Borders: colonization in Principle and Practice -- Chapter 36. An Assault on the Steppe -- Chapter 37. The Soviet Steppe -- Part V. In place of an Epilogue: Difficult questions and complex problems -- Chapter 38. Reflections on life among complex problems -- Chapter 39. Ideology and Culture -- Chapter 40. Self-sufficency and Historical Development -- Appendix 1. Radiocarbon Chronology of the Early Metal Age Cultures in Western Eurasia -- Appendix 2. In Thirst of Immortality: Genghis Khan and the Mission of Chang Chun the Monk -- Appendix 3. Mariott Hotel and Batu Khan -- Appendix 4. The Last Descendant of Genghis Khan? -- Appendix 5. The Great Silk Road and the Secret Mission of Chokan Valikhanov -- Historical Sources -- Bibliography -- Index