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The paper deals with the issue of archaeological evidence for relocation of '500 Ashina families' to Altai in AD 460. After moving to Altai, the Ashina group teamed up with the local population and took the name 'Türk'. Here, they engaged in iron production and achieved significant economic and military power. Archaeological sites show that the burial practices of the pre-Türkic and early Türkic time continued the earlier traditionstogether with the deceased person, their horse was laid into the grave. However, in the 5th century, new forms of ritual structures-square stone enclosures-came to the Altai. The immigrants brought the tradition of memorial square structures, and, in turn, took the ancient tradition of Altai human burial with a horse. Additional Information: Question Response Author Comments: Dear editor, perchaps would be good to choose dr. Jean Bourgeois from Ghent University (Belgium) as one of the referees. He worked on Altai and well knows archaeology of the regions. His e-mail is

We present the fi ndings of studies concerning the irrigation systems of the Altai and outline the directions of their further exploration. Irrigation canals, widely distributed in alpine valleys and intermontane depressions, are streams of the drift type. Most are found in central Altai and in the Chulyshman River valley of eastern Altai. Complex irrigation systems were recorded in the Bilgebash and Sarduma river mouths in the Chuya valley, in the Chulcha River mouth in the Chulyshman valley, and in Tötö, the Kurai basin. Pilot excavations of the main canals showed that wooden troughs had been placed on their bottoms. Radiocarbon analysis of wood from those troughs (Cheba and Oroktoi) suggests that they date to the Late Middle Ages, and a soil sample from the bottom of the canal of the Tenga irrigation system indicates early medieval age. In the 1800s and early 1900s, canals were used by the natives mainly for watering small plots of barley, but also of wheat and rye. Agriculture has been practiced in the Altai at least since the Early Iron Age, having fl ourished, apparently, during the Early Middle Ages. The fi rst irrigation systems must have appeared together with the fi rst farmers; however, taking into account the prolonged use and modifi cations of the main canals, assessing the time of their initial construction is diffi cult.

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