Okladnikov Alexei. Art of the Amur. Ancient Art of the Russian Far East

New York: Harry N. Abrams; Leningrad: Aurora Art, 1981. — 160 p. — ISBN: 0-8109-0681-3.Recent archaelogicall finds near the Amur River in the Russian Far East have uncovered a very ancient culture that relates directly to the present-day peoples living in the same general area of Siberia. For the first time this rich and astonishing cultural heritage is described in words and splendid illustrations by the Soviet archaeologist and writer Alexei Okladnikov, an outstanding scholar who has devoted more than forty years to studying the distant past of the peoples of Central and Northern Asia.
There can hardly be another place in the world where an ancient art is so closely interwoven with contemporary life. Most of the archaeological and ethnographic objects shown in this book belong to two periods—the Neolithic (fourth to second millennia B.C.) and the present nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The astonishing similarities in the exquisite work of the artists who transformed everyday objects into works of art show the historical continuity of this culture and of its traditions.
Mysterious stone carvings on rocks convey facial features from long ago that are basically like those of the modern tribes. Ancient clay vessels have the same spiral, zigzag, meander, circular, and geometric patterns that are still in use today. Modern shaman ritual objects —decorated rugs, robes, shirts, and drumsticks—evoke ceremonial practices that have continued over the centuries. The power of nature and the might of animals can be felt equally in old stone carvings and recent folk art cult figures of bear, tiger, elk, serpent, bird, and fish—the creatures who were feared but who also provided the necessary food in the great chain of life. Delightful birch-bark boxes of all sorts and splendidly embroidered and appliqued ceremonial gowns made offish skin, cotton, silk, or brocade come from the modern world, but the decorations are immemorial. A find for archaeologists and a delight for lovers of the beautiful, this exceptional book brings the work of the Nanai, Olcha, and Nivkh peoples into clear focus.