Turkmenistan-Russia: two centuries of scientific research
October 01, 2017 | 01:52 |807
The history and culture of Turkmenistan for the third century are attracting the attention of a number of inquisitive scientists from around the world. Russian travelers and researchers who laid the foundation of scientific knowledge about Turkmens and Turkmenistan in such fields as history, ethnography, archeology, botany, zoology, geography and geology are undoubtedly the priority here. Making long and often dangerous expeditions to an unknown land, in the XIX century they were the first to compile reliable maps of the Turkmen land, gave a comprehensive description of the Caspian Sea and the Amudarya, the Karakum and Kopetdag, their relief and climate, flora and fauna, and later - in the first half of the twentieth century - discovered the inexhaustible reserves of mineral resources, and natural reserves of our Motherland. One of the brightest representatives of the magnificent galaxy of Russian scientists who contributed to the study of Turkmenistan was Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Marushchenko.
Archaeologist Alexander Marushchenko
The oldest, pre-literate period of the history of mankind is being studied by archaeologists. Carrying out excavations of former habitats of people, their burials, irrigation structures, religious objects, scientists recreate the real shape of ancient cultures and man himself, tracing the destinies of tribes and peoples. It is clear that in such activities different approaches and diverse points of view are possible. The hypotheses can be tested only by confirming or disproving the correctness of the new materials accumulated over time. In the gallery of glorious names of major scientists, whose works do not become obsolete over the years, but reveal new facets and arise lively interest of new generations of researchers, a special place is occupied by Alexander Marushchenko, an outstanding archeologist of the twentieth century, who devoted his entire life to the discovery and study of ancient monuments of Turkmenistan.
In 1920, being a 16-year-old teenager - a student of higher archaeological courses at the University of Samara, he received his first "open sheet" to examine the monuments of the Buzuluk Uyezd. After graduation, Marushchenko worked at the University of Samara, in the provincial archive office, then in the late twenties of the last century was called into the army. Subsequently, having received a diploma of an archaeologist at Moscow University, he received an invitation from the government of Turkmenistan. Alexander Marushchenko arrived in Ashgabat, where he headed the first organized archaeological section of the Institute of Turkmen Culture.
Since then, until the end of his days, he lived and worked in Turkmenistan, traveled and walked almost all areas of our country in search of unknown monuments of the past.
The name of Alexander Aleksandrovich Marushchenko is well known in scientific circles. He was a scientist of an unusually wide outlook and erudition. His interests extended from historical archaeological to natural sciences. He was also well educated in the latter and constantly used them to solve archaeological problems.
A. A. Marushchenko knew Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the Urals and the Volga region, the Near East, Egypt, India and Mongolia. Tracing the connections of the cultures of Southern Turkmenistan, he groped for the ways of the movement of ancient tribes and peoples. Alexander Aleksandrovich was free-oriented in geological and geographical sciences, anthropology, and linguistics, he studied deeply the written sources, drawing useful information from all possible sources. And he was one of the first who researched the archeological monuments of Turkmenistan. His broad erudition and exceptional knowledge helped him to make many important discoveries.
Despite the versatility of his scientific interests, he paid special attention to the study of the Stone Age of Turkistan. This issue is what A. A. Marushchenko mainly researched in the seventies, after retiring, going on expeditions with archaeologists, geologists, geomorphologists. During this period he made a collection of stone tools, mainly from the western regions of Turkmenistan.
In his materials, stored in the archives of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a sketch of an essay on the period of the Stone Age on the territory of Turkmenistan has been found. On the Zauzboy Plateau, in the Karakum desert, on the outskirts of the ancient deltas and in the middle reaches of the Tedjen and Murgab, Badkhyz and Karabil, in places - in the middle reaches of the Amu Darya the tireless scientist collected rich archaeological harvests.
As a result of research in recent years, the archaeological materials of the Stone Age have been significantly enriched, ideas about the history of the most ancient population have been supplemented, and Marushchenko's thesis has been confirmed that there exist monuments of the East European and Asiatic appearance of the Paleolithic epoch on the territory of Turkmenistan.
It is no exaggeration to say that A. A. Marushchenko was one of the founders of archaeological science in Turkmenistan. He was much ahead of time. Because of this, his views often seemed paradoxical, unusual and ran counter to the prevailing views. Moreover, a firm position on issues of principle caused dissatisfaction with the then science leaders and even "organizational circles".
Alexander Aleksandrovich spent a lot of time and effort studying the foothill plains of Kopetdag, the place where the most ancient cultures of irrigated agriculture appeared and developed in the world. This allowed him to talk about the high level of development of local cultures, not inferior in a number of signs to the brilliant civilizations of the Middle East. The emergence of ancient fortified cities and private property in the early Bronze Age, and the process of transition from the primitive communal system to the state.
Using the example of Namazga-depe, Altyn-depe and other monuments, the scientist claimed that the foothill plain of Southern Turkmenistan was one of the first centers of culture of the Ancient Eastern type and was developed socially and economically along with them. At the same time, the uniqueness of the natural environment, namely the absence of large rivers, was determined not by the Sumerian-Babylonian, but by the Hittite-Elamian way of development.
At the end of the III millennium BC local society stood on the threshold of civilization. Maruschenko allowed even the existence of writing in the ancient townspeople and believed that over time it would be found.
For three decades of intensive work, he almost did not less than an entire institute. Now even the former opponents of Alexander Alexandrovich, under the pressure of incontrovertible facts, write about the Middle East level of development of South Turkmen cultures, prototypes where excavations were conducted under the guidance of Academician V. M. Masson. However, one should not forget that the first serious study of Altyn-depe, Nisa and other large monuments was done precisely by A. A. Maruschenko in the 30es of the last century.
He was also recognized as a specialist in the field of Turkmen fine arts, covered issues of ethnogenesis of the Turkmen people, and fruitfully studied the Turkmen carpets. Here he also proved to be a subtle and profound researcher. He knew in the smallest details the ethnographic canvas of everyday life of Turkmen tribes, clans and settlements.
Some of Marushchenko's thoughts and observations could be written down in due time by the ethnographer, the doctor of historical sciences Annadurdy Orazov:
- The colors and the pictures of the carpets are full of deep meaning. The color range of Turkmen carpets is of great aesthetic value, it contains the beauty of folk art. But it has a much deeper meaning, pointing to the tribal or clan belonging of the item. Like the picture, the color of each Turkmen tribal unit is peculiar and inherent only to him, - Alexander Aleksandrovich asserted.
Scientists of the older generation remember well the exceptionally interesting report of A. A. Marushchenko at the All-Union meeting on the ethnogenesis of the Turkmen nation, which took place exactly half a century ago in Ashgabat. The scientist analyzed the origins of individual figurative elements and compositions of the carpet and their correspondence with ornaments on ceramics and art objects of the predecessors of Turkmens in the Eneolithic, Bronze, Early Iron, etc.
Today, when the interest in the national heritage of the Turkmen people is growing in the world, we must not forget about the work done by these scientists. And it is very important to bring his thoughts to a wide range of contemporary and future researchers in the field of Turkmen history, ethnography and culture.
