Schiot vozrasta u pratiurkskikh narodov (popytka istoriko-kil’turnoi rekonstruktsii)

Abstract

According to Arabic and Turkic-language sources of the 10th and 11th centuries, turning 40 marked a threshold after which a decline in man’s physical and mental abilities ensued. Such views could be traced across the area from the Turkic-language states of Sayan-Altai and eastern part of Central Asia to Eastern Europe. The splitting of life cycle into three 20-year periods, which was characteristic of the Turkic peoples, still exists in cultures of Southern Siberia. The wide expanse of this area and the archaic nature of customs related to such views suggest that the phenomenon may have originated in the earlier pre-Turkic culture. The origin of the vigesimal numeral system may also have been influenced by the earlier cultures of the Caucasus.