The Role of Natural Cryogenic Resources in Traditional Subsistence Systems of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East

Abstract

Рассмотрены перспективы междисциплинарных исследований роли природных криогенных ресурсов (снега, льда, мерзлоты и др.) в традиционных системах жизнеобеспечения народов Сибири и Дальнего Востока. Дана оценка средообразующему значению криогенных явлений. Приведен обзор примеров традиционных экологических знаний, связанных с использованием снега и льда для хранения пищи, в качестве строительного материала, в земледелии и других сферах хозяйственной деятельности. Ключевые слова: криогенные ресурсы; жизнеобеспечение; этноэкология; традиционные экологические знания; Сибирь; Дальний Восток.

Cryogenic Resources: Ice, Snow, and Permafrost in Traditional Subsistence Systems in Russia

“…For the second half of the 20th century, Russian science has seen a typical decrease in the interest in this topic due to the wide development of industrial technologies for cooled food preservation, crop irrigation, etc. At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries due to global warming and an increase in the interest in indigenous subsistence, studies of the environmental values of natural cryogenic recourses have been developed [21,24,[26][27][28]31]. If we compare this situation with the modern global trends, we can see that in the USA, Canada, Greenland, and Nordic countries, there has been a wide development in the study of the environmental value of natural cryogenic resources in the context of studying indigenous subsistence [34,35], changes in the hydrological regime [36][37][38], and Arctic tourism [39].…”

“…The use of natural cold is the most ancient method of food preservation. Neanderthals stored the meat of animals obtained from hunting in holes dug in frozen soil [31] (p. 136). In the traditional culture of different peoples throughout the millennia, various methods of using natural cryogenic resources for the storage of food have arisen.…”

“…The main source of the actual information and empirical basis reflecting the features of traditional ecological knowledge of the ethnic groups considered in this article are the scientific publications and ethnographic descriptions made by Russian researchers in the second half of the 19th century through to the beginning of the 21st century [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. In this research, the results of our previous studies were also used, which were based on the field research in the territory of Siberia and the Far East of Russia, which took place between 2010 and 2018 [28][29][30][31][32]. Most of these works have been published only in Russian, and therefore remain poorly known worldwide.…”

“…The research hypothesis considered cryogenic resources including their interpretations within the context of the ethnoecological studies as components of the traditional subsistence systems of the different people and ethnic groups (Figure 1). previous studies were also used, which were based on the field research in the territory of Siberia and the Far East of Russia, which took place between 2010 and 2018 [28][29][30][31][32]. Most of these works have been published only in Russian, and therefore remain poorly known worldwide.…”

Discovery of the Cold World on the Earth and in the Universe: from Ancient Natural Philosophy to Cryosophy

“…Many studies of cryogenic effects have been closely related to the classical subjects of geology and geography, as well as to various problems of physics, chemistry, cosmology, climatology, ecology, pedology, biology, medical sciences, etc., which led to changes in the axiological comprehension of cold. Now it became clear that cold is a yet underestimated resource rather than something hostile (Melnikov & Fedorov, 2018;Fedorov, 2019). A few years ago, the term cryodiversity (Melnikov & Gennadinik 2018) was coined to help understanding the diversity of objects and phenomena associated with cold and phase change of H 2 O, as well as forms and properties of ice as a focus of theoretical research.…”