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The authors examine a complex of materials of various origins that highlight the process of development of the Om River mouth by Russians in the 17th century. We believe that this place, located approximately halfway between the Tara Fortress and Yamyshevskoye Lake, was convenient for resting caravans heading for salt and returning from salt mining. Russian fishermen also were not leaving aside the Om River mouth, as reported in written sources. Perhaps, there was a trade with nomads living along the Om and Irtysh Rivers, which is evidenced by the 17th century coins, struck at Russian and Polish-Lithuanian mints. From the dates of issue of the coins, there were two periods of active penetration of Russians into the area. The first episode occurred at the time of the dispatch of the first caravan for salt in 1601, until 1628, when the “Tara Troubles” occurred. This resulted in a situation where the intentions of the Tara governors to found a city at the mouth of Om turned futile. The second period of deve-lopment of the Om mouth by the Russians began in the middle of 17th century and ended with the construction of the First Omsk Fortress by I.D. Bukholz in 1716.

The concept of studying of ethnographic and archaeological complexes (EAC) involves the analysis of their individual components: population, villages, communication routes and others, including borders — both external and internal. The analysis of archaeological, historical, and ethnographic literature has shown that borders or borderlands can be traced in almost all populations at any stage of their development. However, while the borders between large associations, like states or ethnic groups with different cultures, have been addressed by experts, almost no attention is being given to local boundaries between smaller collectives, although there are written, cartographic and oral sources that can be used as a basis for such research. After considering the materials of various origins concerning the native villages of the Middle Tom region, it became possible to discuss the boundaries between them, and the boundaries of the administrative entities which encompassed them in the 18th century. At this time, residents of villages located 15–30 km north of the Kuznetsk fortress were moving to new unoccupied lands in the upper reaches of the river Inia and its upper tributaries, as well as to the left bank of Tom below the mouth of the Mungat River. According to the drawings of S.U. Remezov, there was a boundary between the Tomsk and Kuznetsk districts. The borderline rivers could be Unga-Promyshlennaya in the north and Osipovo-Mungat in the south. Possibly, there were small settlements of Tulbers. After the middle of the 19th century, another process of settlement of the Tom riverbank territories of its both sides began. By the 1930s, all its banks were inhabited, and the reserve of free lands came to end. Indigenous people began developing islands on the river or starting settlements within 15–20 km from the village. In the second third of the 20th century, new villages were developing in the remote territories away from Tom. Almost all of them were abandoned in the second half of the 20th century. The available information suggests that there were borderlands between the villages within single districts. Most often these were represented by watercourses — small rivers and streams, ridges — elongated hills located perpendicular to terraces, and sometimes lakes. These borders were well known to locals. It cannot be ruled out that river rapids and shoals could also have been used as borders. The analysis of the correlation of locations of the villages, river rifts and stretches suggests that, in the studied area of Tom, villages were located on the river stretches between the shoals. There is also information about the existence of boundaries between minor objects, though they require further research.

In this paper, the features of the natural and geographical conditions of the northern forest-steppe of the Middle Irtysh region, which Russian peasants began to develop at the beginning of the 18th century, are examined. The criteria that led the peasants to consider these lands convenient for resettlement have been analyzed. Nowadays, these lands belong to the Gorkovsky and Sargatsky districts of the Omsk Region. The sources for conducting this work were represented by archaeological, ethnographic, and geographical data on this area. The author believes that the natural conditions of the right and left banks differ significantly in the studied area. On the left bank, there is a wide floodplain with a large number of the flooded lakes, small rivers and streams. On the floodplain, there are uplands which become islands during the floods. On the left bank, two lines of villages appeared: the first was located on the terrace of the Irtysh River, the second — along the hills on the floodplain. The terrace approaches closely the right bank of the Irtysh; therefore, the cases of coastal collapse and the associated processes of intensive formation of the ravines are frequent there. There is a small amount of water of good quality, while the groundwater runs at a depth of more than 20 m; therefore, cascades of dams were built in the ravines. The villages are arranged in two lines, first of which is located directly on the terrace, most often at the mouths of the ravines. The second line of the villages is 8–12 km from the terrace at the tops of the ravines. Here, good quality groundwater is available at a depth of about 3 m. Arable lands, comprising rich black soil, stretch along both banks of the Irtysh. With distance from the Irtysh, more and more lands appear to be less suitable for agriculture. Therefore, these areas were populated later than the banks of the Irtysh. Landslide processes, stimulating the active formation of the ravines on the right bank of the Irtysh, were unfavorable in a long term perspective. Firstly, they occurred with a period of 50 years. Secondly, the coast collapsed at its maximum over about 1 km length. Therefore, the first settlers might have not known about these processes. However, if one takes into account the patterns of the resettlement of the indigenous population, then the absence of archaeological sites does not necessarily indicate uninhabitedness of the territory, since their settlements could have been destroyed. Although in general, if one to talk about the criteria of the favorableness of land for resettlement, then the presence of not only land, but also arable land and good water must be contemplated.

In this article, the authors analyse materials from the excavations of the Tara fortress (Omsk Region, Wes-tern Siberia), founded in 1594 by Prince Andrei Yeletsky and functioned as the main outpost of the Russians in the Middle Irtysh region to counter Khan Kuchum, the Kuchumovichs, and then the newly-arrived population from Dzungaria and Kazakhstan, until construction of the Omsk fortress in 1716. The aim of this research is to identify amongst the finds the articles of Polish-Lithuanian origin, in outward appearance similar to Russian ones. Having studied the collections formed during the excavations of the fortress in 2007–2020, the authors came to the conclusion that such items are definitely represented by the signet rings with nobility coats of arms, coins, and baptismal crosses made according to the Catholic canon. Potentially, Polish-Lithuanian origin could be assigned to some types of fabrics and leather goods, such as a travel compass case with images of French fleur-de-lis, some types of shoes, and handgun holsters. The presence of Venetian glass ware and plinth bricks in the layers of the 17th c., according to the authors, is also associated with the arrival in Tara of the population that had previously resided in the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or on the western borders of Muscovy. The owners of these items ended up in Tara (and in Western Siberia) because they were taken prisoners or sided with the Russians during the Russian-Polish wars. Over time, they formed a special category of service people called ‘Lithuania’. This is evidenced by numerous written sources. The basis for this conclusion is given by particular characteristics of Tara's trade relations established, primarily, with China, Lesser and Greater Bukharia, and the Uzbek Khanate, i.e., with the south in the 17th c., from where Chinese porcelain, silk and cotton fabrics, and some types of smo-king pipes came to Tara. At that time, weapons, bread, coarse fabrics, money for salaries of the servicemen of the Siberian garrisons, and cheap beads were imported to Tara from the west through Kazan, Kungur, and Lozva. In the 18th c., the main trade of the Russians began to concentrate in Troitskosavsk (Kyakhta since 1934) on the border with Mongolia, from where tea, silk, and porcelain were exported, whereas a flow of Russian-made goods, as well as European wines, sugar, some species of nuts, and spices, was established through Kazan into Siberia. Instead of ’Lithuania’, Germans started coming to Siberia. In the 19th c., Poles reappeared en masse in Western Siberia. However, those were no longer residents of Lithuania and Western Russian principalities, but ethnic Poles exiled to Siberia for participation in anti-Russian uprisings.

The specifics of ethnographical and archaeological research is such, that it requires use of new sources for a more detailed analysis. So, potentially, the books, created in the late XVII — early XVIII century by Siberian cartographer S.U. Remezov are very important in modern science. The author of the article examines one of the map of the late seventeenth century, which became a source for a compilation of several pages by S.U. Remezov. The author sees several methodological bases of a research in the field of ethnoarcheology. They are system approach, synergetics, and world-system analysis. However, in this case, the author uses the theorem of Gödel, which he considers possible to adapt for the Humanities in order to justify the need to involve a wide range of sources. The methodology of the study is to compare the same geographic features on past and present maps, as well as to use written sources for analysis and interpretation of data maps. After examining it and comparing it with a modern version, the author concludes that the accuracy and reliability of the map by Strunin is undeniable. This allowed us to draw conclusions about the natural and geographical situation at the end of the seventeenth century, formed by the systems of communication, patterns of settlement of the Russians and their art of war in the defense of the border lands. The author believes that the system of the Russian settlement on the Tobol River banks is a variant of the settling on the banks of large rivers and lower reaches of their tributaries. In this case, the first settlements were founded on the most liveable places. The system of communications between the settlements had been established by the natives before the Russians arrived, they adapted them to fit their needs, and they mainly survived to the present day. As for the military, defending the border lands at the Tobol River, the Russians put an emphasis on constructing fortified settlements, and moving the equestrian army. The author pays great attention to one of the events at the end of the XVI century, the battle of Tobolsk nobleman Vasily Shulgin with the nomads. The author considers the place of the battle, the reasons for its sad outcome, and its importance for the subsequent development of the Tobol region.

The results of 2007–2016 archaeological excavations of Tara and historical materials on the town planigraphy in the period under consideration gave birth to this work. The study made it possible to reconstruct the history of the territorial development of the town from its foundation until the adoption of an unified urban plan in 1775. The survey allowed to identify the principles of foundation and development of a Siberian Russian city at the end of XVII–XVIII centuries. During the work, we tried to determine the importance of such factors as defenses, availability of transit routes, fire safety, etc. for the development. In the course of excavations at Tara fortress, archaeologists from the Omsk Branch of Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS excavated about 1500 m2 of the cultural stratum with a capacity of 2 m and more. We received information about different aspects of the culture of Tara population at the end of the XVI–XVIII centuries, including about the fortress planigraphy and conditions of its streets. Furthermore, considering the geographical features of the location of Tara stronghold, the authors have studied the roads leading to it. The article presents the results of these works considering the roads leading to Tara fortress from different angles, transitions across the rivers that surrounded it, Tara streets, transformation of planigraphy of the fortress in the late XVIII century. Tara fortress was built with the use of natural barriers. From the West, it was well protected by a marsh and a river. From the East, the road to the castle was complicated by the Irtysh floodplain and the Arkarna River's tributaries. There were only three roads to get to the city, which were covered by the towers of the fortress. Nowadays, these roads turned into streets and are used to travel more often than others located between them. By the end of the XVIII century, Tara had gradually become one of the most comfortable and clean town in Siberia. The town dealt with fires, and arrangements for drainage of wetlands solved the problem of mud at Tara streets. In general, the system of roads leading to Tara started to develop since the fortress was established, correct geometric planigraphy of the town began to take shape in the second half of the eighteenth century, taking into account the existing road. At the same time, indiscriminate housing development disappeared and improvement of the streets began.