Ingala Valley

Description

Ingala Valley is located in 75 km to south of Tyumen, at the mouth of the Iset River. At this point, the borders of the Isetsky, Yalutorovsky, Zavodoukovsky and Uporovsky Districts of the Tyumen Oblast are closed. The valley was named in 1994 by the most common local toponyms translated from the Siberian Tatar language as «scirpus».

The valley covers an area of about 1 500 square kilometres. It was formed as a result of a merger of the river valleys of the Tobol and Iset rivers. It has a shape of a trapezoid in a map with the top converts to the northeast. A length in direction of the north-south is about 55 km away, on the west-east axis - from 20 to 45 km. In terms of relief it looks like a cavity, which is bounded on the north by a high terrace of the Iset River, and from the east by a terrace of Tobol River. In a central part of the valley flow Hog Ingala and Large Ingala rivers, which are tributaries of the Iset River.

There are two ways to the valley. The southern route is from Tyumen by the highway M51 towards Kurgan. Beyond the village Isetskoe it needs to cross the Iset River and turn left in front of the village Soloboevo, then through Malyshy and Botniki get to Krasnogorskoe, the beginning of the valley. Then you can move the route Krasnogorskoe-Loga—Minino—Onufrieva—Upper Ingal—Niphaki—Ingalinskoe—Lykovo—Koklyagina—Surka—Tyutrina—Byzovo—Uporovo; this path goes around the valley from the south-west. Then after Uporovo you may cross the Tobol River and get Zavodoukovsk heading north through Lesnoy—Central—Michurinskiy; then you come back Tyumen by the highway P402.

The northern route involves movement from Tyumen to Zavodoukovsk by the highway P402. Before Zavodoukovsk you must turn right, cross the river Uk and continue move back to the right (westbound) towards Sungurovo. After Sungurovo you cross the Tobol River and reach Novolybaevo, which begins immediately the Ingala Valley. Then you can move the route Novolybaevo—Karasye—Shilikul, and from the last enter the southern route, reaching back roads through Pushkareva to Ingalinskoe (to the west) or to Koklyagina (to the south).

History of the study

The first explorers of the valley became so-called «bugrovschiki», which were robbers of ancient graves. In 1669, the governor of the Tobolsk rank Pyotr Godunov sayd to tsar Alexei Mikhailovich that it were extracted gold, silver items and utensils from the «Tatar graves» near the Iset River. As a result of bugrovschiki most of treasures of the Siberian kurgans lost forever.

In 1712, a commander of Shadrinsk prince Vasily Meshchersky began excavations of kurgans to get gold, silver and copper items to replenish the state treasury in order of the Siberian governor prince Matvey Petrovich Gagarin. During the years 1715-1717 governor Gagarin sent the Siberian treasures to Peter the Great four times. 250 ancient gold jewelry sent by Gagarin became known as the Siberian collection of Peter the Great, which is now available in the State Hermitage at the gallery of jewels called «The Scythian Gold».

A part of the treasures had been extracted by bugrovschiki appeared in private collections abroad. The most famous one was the collection of Amsterdam mayor Nicolaes Witsen, a part of it is known only with drawn tables in the third edition of his book «Noord en Oost Tartatye» (1785), while the collection was lost after 1717.

The first among scientists who got acquainted with findings of the Ingala Valley was Daniel Messerschmidt, whose expedition into the Siberia Governorate took place in 1719-1727. Gerhard Müller, who visited the Siberia in 1733-1743 together with the Great Northern Expedition, stated a finish of bugrovschiki's activity because kurgans had been totally robbed. Peter Pallas during the Academic Expedition (1768-1774) described the kurgans Tyutrinskiy, Savinovskiy and Peschaniy-I. In 1861, Nikolay Abramov (scientist) published information about kurgans and hill forts of the Yalutorovsky, Tyumensky and Kurgansky Okrugs. In 1890, Ivan Slovtsov published a list of burial mounds and hill forts of Tobolsk Governorate, including information about the burial mounds Krasnogorskiy-I and Krasnogorskiy Borok, also the hill forts Zmeevo and Lizunovo (Krasnogorskoe). In 1893, Axel Heikel became the first who discovered traces of the Andronovo culture near Yalutorovsk.

Resumption of studies of the valley in 1959 due to the P. M. Kozhin. Since 1962, an expedition of the Ural State University (V. Frolov, T. Gasheva, V. T. Yurovskaya (Kovaleva), T. G. Bushueva, B. B. Ovchinnikova) works. In 1970-1980, exploration was carried by V. A. Mogilnikov from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also by N. P. Matveeva, Alexander Matveev (historian) and I. V. Usacheva (Zilina) from the Tyumen State University, and by A. S. Sergeev from the Institute of History and Archaeology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In 1994, A. V. Matveev identified natural boundaries of the valley that firstly allowed to perceive it as a united archaeological complex. The following year, research has been started by the West Siberian archaeological expedition of the Institute of Northern Development of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. With Decree of the President of Russia Boris Yeltsin on February 20, 1995 № 176, many archaeological sites of the Ingala Valley received status of cultural heritage site in Russia of federal importance. In 1995-2003 there were identified new 300 archaeological sites.

Periodization of cultural layers

Currently, these are 549 archaeological sites discovered in the Ingala Valley, the oldest one dates to the Middle Stone Age.

Mesolithic

The Mesolithic is presented in the Ingala Valley with early cultural deposits of the archaeological monument «Ostrov-II». Absence of radiocarbon dating does not allow to set an age of the finds. With analogy of other Mesolithic parkings in the south of the Tyumen Oblast («Katenka» and «Zvezdniy»), a chronological framework of the oldest finds in the valley were limited within 8th-7th millennium BC.

Neolithic

The Neolithic presents with 37 sites found during excavations the settlement «Dvuhozernoe-I», the ritual complex «Ostrov-II», the grave field «Old-Lybaevo-IV». 6 of these belong to the Koshkino archaeological culture, 12 to the Sosnovka-Ostrov culture, 11 to the Boborykino, 3 to the Poludenskoe and 5 don't have a reliable cultural attribution.

According to Eugene Volkov, the earliest Neolithic culture of the Ingala Valley should be considered the Koshkino (middle 6th millennium BC - late 5th millennium BC) and the Sosnovka-Ostrov (middle 5th millennium BC - 4th millennium BC) was the next. Boborykino culture (late 5th millennium BC - late 4th millennium BC) coexisted with the Koshkinskino and Sosnovka-Ostrov. Monuments of the Poludenskoe culture are few; perhaps they were functioning at a time when the surrounding area was empty.

Copper Age

The Chalcolithic is presented with 54 monuments, of which 28 belong to the Lybaevo culture, 12 to the Andreevskoe and 14 did not get a reliable attribution.

Early Chalcolithic (the Buzan period of the Lybaevo culture) is identified with artifacts of the grave field «Buzan-III» (3190 BC ± 60 years), the settlements «Sazyk-IX» (3150 BC ± 60 years) and «Lipihinskoe-V». The most prominent artifact of the grave field «Buzan-III» is the remains of a wooden funerary ladya longer than 5 m found in 1996, the oldest in Northern Eurasia. Its age is comparable to the Stonehenge 1, the Protodynastic Period of Ancient Egypt, the Egyptian hieroglyphics, the first cities in Mesopotamia and the late period of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture. A replica of the ladya is situated now in the Archaeological gallery of the Yalutorovsky Ostrog.

During the first third of the 3rd millennium BC members of the Andreevskoe culture penetrated into the valley from the Tura cultural and historical province, and until the end of the 3th millennium BC the Lybaevo and Andreevskoe cultures evolve synchronously. Eugene Volkov calles this phase as the Dvuhozerny period of the Lybaevo culture (represented by artifacts of the settlements «Dvuhozernoe-I», «Lower Ingalinskoe-IIIa», «Ostrov-IIa» and «Upper Ingalsky Borok-II»).

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age in the valley is divided into 3 stages. Early Bronze Age (late 22nd / early 21st century BC - middle 18th century BC) is represented with 7 settlements of the Tashkovo culture (a sequel of the Andreevskoe one) and 2 monuments of the Imbiryay culture.

Stage of the Andronovo antiquities is presented with 13 monuments (4 both from the Alakul and Fedorovo cultures and 5 from the Cherkaskul). Opened by Axel Heikel near Yalutorovsk in 1893 traces of the Alakuls were firstly considered an evidence of random attacks of Alakul squads to the north. Also finds in the settlement «Uk-III» near Zavodoukovsk and in the Khripunova grave field near village Krasnogorskoe discovered at the end of the 20th century forced to more seriously consider the presence of the Andronovo culture in the Ingala Valley. According to Alexander Matveev, the Alakul culture consists of the following stages: Chistolebyazhsky, Alakul (developed), Kamyshinsky (late) and Amangeldinsky (transition to the Fedorovo culture). Of these there were found in the Ingala Valley monuments of the middle (the Khripunova grave field is the most northern of the Alakul cemeteries, the settlement «Lower Ingalinskoe-III») and late (the second group of burials of the Khripunova grave field, the settlement «Uk-III») stages of dating the second quarter of 18th - middle 16th century BC. The Fedorovo antiquities are dated from middle 16th to late 14th century BC, the Cherkaskul ones are dated to 13th-11th centuries BC.

Late Bronze Age in the valley is presented with 24 monuments, of which 12 belong to Pakhomovo culture (though it existed in sync with Cherkaskul one), 7 belong to Barkhatovo culture, 5 are not identified. A chronological boundary of Barkhatovo antiquities (settlements «Schetkovo-II» and Kolovskiy) is within from last quarter of the 11th to end of 8th century BC. During late Bronze Age in the Ingala Valley construction of hill forts began, the earliest of which is the «Ak-Pash-I». The tallest of hill forts is the Lizunovo (Krasnogorskoe) in the Iset District, it is located on a promontory with a steep slope nearly 45-meter-high. It's learning began an opening of the Barkhatovo culture.

Iron Age

Transition time from the Bronze Age to the Iron one is presented in the Ingala Valley with 4 monuments of the Itkul culture (late 8th-5th century BC) and 3 monuments without sustainable cultural attribution.

There are 139 sites from the early Iron Age, among them 30 belong to the Baitovo culture, 16 belong to the Gorokhovo, 55 to the Sargat culture, 1 to the Kashino, 37 do not have a strong cultural attribution. Baitovo tribes (7th-5th century BC) were successors of the Barkhatovo culture and coexisted with Itkul and Gorokhovo tribes, being destroyed by Sargats. Gorokhovo people (originated in 7th century BC) did not immediately dissolve by Sargats and coexisted with them until 3rd century BC. If early stage of the Sargat culture (5th - early 3rd century BC) is held in co-existence with its neighbors, then from 2nd century BC to 5th century AD Sargats have no rivals throughout the Middle After-Ural.

Kurgans in the valley are associated with Sargats (and partly with Baitovo tribes) first of all. Amount of kurgans reaches 177, a diameter of individual ones more than 60 m. Many of kurgans contain highly artistic artifacts made of gold, silver, gemstones and numerous decorations made in workshops of Ancient Egypt, slave-owning states of the Northern Black Sea Coast and Central Asia. So, during excavations of the Tyutrinsky grave field near the village Suerka in 1981, Natalya and Alexander Matveevs had found beads from blue spinel, which is produced only in the Hindustan, Sri Lanka and Borneo, also a miniature (less than 2 cm in length) faience amulet of Harpocrates (Hellenistic tradition of image the Ancient Egyptian god Horus). According to Alexander Matveev, wealth of Sargats's kurgans may indicate the Ingala Valley was a burial place of representatives of one or more Sargat «royal» families at beginning of Common Era, which had a source of enrichment from control of the supply of strategic goods along the Silk Road.

A Sargat village discovered in the tract Copper Borok covers an area of 15.5 ha that makes consider it as a town.

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is represented in the valley with 21 monuments, seven of them belonging to the Bakal culture (9th-15th century), and four belonging to Yudino (10th-13th century). Ten monuments do not have cultural attribution. It is believed that Bakal and Yudino cultures coexisted, but there is a need to justify the earlier date of the Bakal culture to fill the gap in the 300 years after disappearance of the Sargats in the 5th century.

Tourist use

Tourists may be interested in visiting protected areas and objects of cultural heritage located in the valley. Thus, Buzan, Zinovskiy and Khokhlovskiy kurgans in the Yalutorovsky District and located in the Isetsky District the Mary's ravine are the natural monuments of regional significance. A list of the objects of cultural heritage of federal importance in the Ingala Valley include:

There are the archaeological school camp «Issedon» in the Isetsky District and «Lukomorye» in Zavodoukovsk. The Zavodoukovsk History Museum offers an exhibition «Secrets of the Ingala Valley» and summer car tour «An archaeological heritage of the Ingala Valley» along a path Zavodoukovsk - Lybaevo - archaeological sites - Lower Ingal (with customer's transport).

It was announced that in 2013 the sanatorium complex «Ingala» in the Zavodoukovsky District would be put into operation (land area of 13 ha, number of rooms 350 seats), being built instead of a pre-existing resort «Niva» (as of 2014 was not yet opened).