The material culture of the ulta of Sakhalin through the items collected by the Tungus expedition of 1927-1928

The article is devoted to the systematization and semantic analysis of the Ulta items collected by B.A. Vasiliev during the Tungus expedition of 1927-1928 on Sakhalin. The previous publications on this topic are mainly devoted to the listing of these items. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to analyze the material culture of the Ulta in the light of their ethnic identity. The author employs hermeneutic and semantic approach to the problem, considering items as a text of culture and identifying their semantic meaning. The features of the Sakhalin landscape, the complex nature of the Ulta economy, the combination of sedentary and migratory periods - all this shapes the Ulta’s ethnocultural identity. In this context, the article examines the main tools used in economic activities and related utensils, clothing, religious items, as well as ornamentation of items and their ethnocultural features. The study of the items from Vasiliev’s collection shows the diversity of the Ulta’s ethnocultural ties.