Counting Jetons from Old Buryat Burials of the Olkhon Region

The history of the accumulation of materials on counting jetons of the 17th–18th centuries obtained from the burials in the Olkhon region (western coast of Lake Baikal from Cape Elokhin to the Buguldeika village, including Olkhon Island) is considered. Based on the study of literary sources, available archival and collection materials stored in the funds of the Irkutsk State University (excavations of V. V. Pavlutskaya in the 1980s), 8 burials from the Old Buryat cemeteries were identified, in which counting jetons were recorded (more than 244). For the first time, counting jetons from the accompanying inventory of the burial ground Todakta IV are introduced into scientific circulation in full. A generalization and analysis of all currently found counting jetons of the Olkhon region are carried out and their general classification is proposed. To determine the images on some counting jetons and establish the names of the masters who made them, A. A. Pushkarev’s research was used. It was possible to identify 129 jetons with varying degrees of completeness. Among them, according to the plots on the front side, the portrait theme (chest profiles of monarchs) occupies a leading place. There is a variety of plots on the reverse side of the jetons: heraldic signs, an ancient warrior, a park with a fountain, a three-masted ship, a tree under the sun. Most of the counting jetons are marked with the seal of the master Johann Christian Reich (109). There are also works of Johann Friedrich Weidinger (7), Albrecht Hoger (4), Johann Jakob Ditzel (4), Johann Adam Vogel (3) and Cornelius Lauffer (1). Taking into account the periods of activity of these masters, it is possible to outline the chronology of the use of certain plots for decorating jetons. In the first half of the 18th century (along with heraldic signs marked in the 17th century) images are often found: a sailing ship and a tree under the sun; in one case, an ancient warrior was recorded (in combination with the image of Louis XV). The themes of coats of arms and ships were encountered in the second half of the 18th century. In the Old Buryat burials of the Olkhon region, counting jetons originating from different workshops are found together. The latest of them were made in the workshop of Johann Christian Reich, which is probably associated with the intensification of the export of jetons to Russia and Siberia in the second half of the 18th century

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art history · Fountain · Geography · Portrait · Environmental Engineering and Cultural Studies · History · Night-time city culture · Technology, Environment, Urban Planning