Traces of Ancient Chinese Influence in the Traditional Culture of the Forest Yukagirs of the Upper Kolyma

One of the few peoples of Northern Eurasia who still retain their appropriating economy are the forest Yukaghirs of the upper Kolyma, hunters of elk, fur-bearing animals, upland and migratory birds, and fishermen. The archaic type of economy determines the functioning in the Yukagir culture of the elements of the world outlook and the folklore heritage of bygone eras. In folklore, ancient, new and latest layers are distinguished. It is not yet clear to what stratum and with what ethnic influences the appearance of ancient Chinese stories in the Yukaghir folklore is associated. In Eastern Siberia, the earliest alleged ethno-cultural ancient Chinese traces are determined by the Neolithic; the Bronze Age is characterized by individual objects of material culture and rock pictograms. In the Middle Ages, the direct southern influence was weakened by the settlement of Eastern Siberia by the Tungus, Turkic-Mongolian tribes. The alien tribes could act as translators of ancient Chinese traditions, the presence of which was noted by researchers in clothing samples, Yukaghir folklore, and the gene pool. In the study of alleged contacts, not only the data of the advancement of some ancient Chinese groups in the northern direction, but also the migration of the ancient Yukaghir tribes, who had previously assimilated ethnic elements from southern and central Yakutia to northern latitudes under pressure from the newcomer Tungus and ancestors of the Yakuts, will be of importance. The initial stage of research discovered some common structural units and images in a series of ancient myths about the creation of man, versions of the global flood and the hero's pursuit of an eight-legged elk, a zoomorphic image of Heaven.