vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #560 / Vladivostok by Braille / Reading article...

When thinking of the Primorye region one turns naturally to its current political and economic situation in the world, not to its archaeological record. Yet, it is precisely those attributes of this region which make possible a prosperous and productive future that have provided also for a rich and reaching past.

In the world of modern man the Russian Far East is a natural feeding ground for such industries as oil, forestry, fishing, and all manner of minerals which are only beginning to tap into the vast storehouses of the Primorsky Krai. It is greatly due to these geological and environmental truths that this region has been allowed its tentative footing in today’s global economy.

However, Primorye has been throughout most of man’s prehistory a fruitful and expansive territory, ideal for settlement, production, culture and economy. As such, man has maintained a long standing history in the Primorye region, dating back tens of thousands of years.

In fact this region is theorized to have been the point of origin for much of the prehistory of the America’s. Geologists, such as those from the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), suggest that approximately 21 thousand years ago during the Pleitocene Ice Age glacier formations caused the sea level to lower by 120 meters. This event, they believe, resulted in the emergence of a land bridge which connected the Russian Far East to Alaska across the Bering Sea.

Archaeologists speculate that this land bridge could have been a route for the initial human population of North America. This would make the Primorye region, and the area surrounding Vladivostok, a staging ground for one of the most significant mass-migrations in the history of our species.

A few intrepid archaeologists are sifting through what can be reached, with limited resources and limited funding, but information on current archaeology being conducted in the region is hard to come by for the armchair enthusiast. This is unfortunate considering its incredible promise and inherent significance.

Archeological discovery and exploration excite the cultural and historical mind. Such continued archeological investigation has the power to connect the prehistoric past of the Primorsky Krai, and Vladivostok, to the great past of the world.

While Vladivostok surges to connect to the world of today, archaeological excavations in this region would prove to be a gainful venture, having the potential to drastically improve the international perception of the region. Along with creating relations between local universities and universities abroad the increase in tourism and scientific interest would be a boon to the region’s economy.

Vladivostok may be a city for the future, but the Primorye region has been a home to man for more than 30,000 years. History is important, and lies back beyond the written record, beneath the soil of the Primorsky Krai. I imagine what stories could be told, and wonder at the thought that they are stories which belong to us all, to a tradition held not by nations, but by mankind itself.