Theoretical and Methodological Approach in the Archaeology of the Early Modern Period for Modeling the Life Support Systems of the Russians of Siberia

Purpose. The article continues the series of the author’s developments concerning the study of archaeological sites and materials of the Russian pioneers of Siberia in the 16 th – 18 th centuries. The purpose of the publication is to present a theoretical and a methodological approach to the study of Russian archaeological complexes of the Early Modern Period and the results of its application in creating models of life support systems, and a probable ethnographic picture of being. Results. The process of cognition includes three stages: the first is the creation of typologies of things (objects) with a reconstructed purpose, the second is a comprehensive retrospective analysis of existing typologies using a cultural approach. The result is analyzed within the boundaries of the reconstructed ethnocultural environment (the third stage), in which things and objects were created and functioned within the framework of a living culture. Sources for modeling the ethnocultural environment: written and linguistic, anthropological, visual, ethnoarchaeological, ethnographic. Examples of the application of the proposed approach were the models of formation and development in the European part of Russia and Siberia of types of pottery, its purpose and application. In the formation of costume complexes, this is indicative in the study of types of leather shoes. The housing complex is analyzed from the point of view of carpentry traditions brought from the Russian North and the spread of traditional types of housing, their planigraphy, area, height. The possibilities of constructing typologies of objects related to spiritual culture, associated with the education system and the presence of literacy and numeracy skills among the population, including within Western Siberia, and identifying from these positions the relationship with the indigenous population of the region are proposed. Conclusion. The significance of the obtained results is relevant not only for the reconstruction of the historical vulgar population of local territories or individual regions, but also for the whole of Russia in a certain chronological period.