Рассматривается возможность использования концепции фронтира применительно к сибирским материалам. Ставится вопрос о том, насколько эта концепция, выработанная в рамках иных исторических условий и другого менталитета населения, колонизирующего пространства Нового Света, пригодна для понимания процессов освоения русскими Сибири. Делается вывод о том, что концепция фронтира не способна объяснить процессы быстрого освоения Сибири русскими, и приводятся аргументы, подтверждающие этот тезис.

The article analyzes the question of how the concept of the frontier explains the process of Siberia's annexation to the Tsardom of Muscovy. The concept of the frontier is the basis of American historiography of the New World development and it was widely spread at the turn of the 21st century in Russian historiography. There was a fundamental difference between the development of the New World and the development of Siberia. The Europeans needed land. For the Moscow authorities it was important to extend their citizenship to the local population, which could become a source of furs. Also the author examines the situation between the state and the fugitives who were outside the borders at the end of the 17th century. "Kamenshchiki" (those who live in the mountains) is not a unique case when Russian settlers were outside the territory officially belonging to Russia, then they got Russian citizenship one more time and thus determined the border between Russia and China. This situation is very important for understanding the fundamental differences between the colonization of the New World and the colonization of Siberia. The external similarity is deceptive. The settlers had a different motivation. Also their attitude toward local population was different. The settlers perceived the local population in different ways. European states and Russia had unequally determined their mission in the new lands. In the New World the frontier as a manifestation of civilization moved from the East to the West of the continent. Russian towns, fortresses, villages founded in Siberia in the 17th century were located throughout Siberia. In southern Siberia there was a border which was determined by the citizenship of the population living there, not by geographic conditions. There was no frontier as a territorial boundary between the newcomers and the aboriginal peoples. There was no frontier in cultural and economic relations. And the most important thing is that there was no frontier at the mental level of those who came to Siberia. The cultural, confessional and linguistic diversity that surrounded the Russians in the European part of Russia was not different from what they met in Siberia. The main thing was the Eurasian heritage which was at the mental level of the peoples of Northern Eurasia. This heritage was formed among their ancestors as a result of numerous migrations, exchanges, contacts; and it made possible to establish a dialogue without the opposition "civilization -savagery".