New Archaeological Data on Achaemenid Influences in the Southern Urals

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonid T. Yablonsky† ◽  
Mikhail Yu. Treister

Abstract Under the eastern outer edge of Burial-mound 1 in the Filippovka-1 cemetery near the edge of the mound a grave-pit was discovered which was untouched by looters. The grave goods in this female burial numbered approximately 1200 objects used for various purposes: they included objects from the Achaemenid range, which bear witness to the influences exerted by Achaemenid culture on the material and spiritual culture of the local nomads. This article is a publication of those objects (jewellery items, utensils, vessels made of silver, glass and stone) and their attribution, which makes it possible with varying degrees of probability to date them and to determine the centre of production from which they came.

Author(s):  
Yanina V. Rafikova ◽  

This article aims at discussing the time and the character (pragmatic or ritual) of disturbances in paired burials of Kozhumberdy cultural group of Late Bronze Alakul´ Culture in the Southern Urals and Western Kazakhstan. Data. The object of the study are Kozhumberdy paired burials, which were deliberately disturbed, including 19 simultaneous and 3 non-simultaneous graves. Results. The simultaneous burials are divided into two groups according to the degree of skeletal impairment. In the first group the remains of both deceased are equally broken; there are 10 of such burials. The skeletal impairment of pelvic and/or femur bones prevail. In the second group the remains of one of the deceased are broken to a greater degree; there are 9 such burials. As a rule, the female bones suffered more: the skull manipulation (removal, breaking) is their characteristic feature. The fact of the presence of vessels in situ in most graves and the accuracy with which the penetration was accomplished may serve as the evidence of the disturbances made by the contemporaries of the buried. There seems to be no pragmatic purpose for such disturbances: the absence of prestigious grave-goods in most undisturbed paired burials may serve as the indirect indication of this fact. This is supported by direct evidence as well because those who disturbed the graves were apparently not interested in the valuable jewelry; it was left in the disturbed part of the grave. Notably, the disturbance of non-simultaneous burials is like that of simultaneous graves: the skeletons are broken down to the pelvic and/or femur bones (1) and the skulls are removed (2). Conclusions. The disturbance of Kozhumberdy paired burials was carried out during post-burial rituals performed by the contemporaries of the deceased.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-119
Author(s):  
S L Vorobyova ◽  
Z F Khasanova

Basing on ethnographic, archival and archaeological data, the authors of the article analyze the features of the development of cattle breeding among the Katai Bashkirs from ancient times up to our days. Due to traditions and geographical and climatic factors, cattle breeding has been the main occupation of the Katai Bashkirs until today. The Katai Bashkirs live in the mountain-forest zone of the Southern Urals in the territory of the Inzer basin in the Beloretsky District of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The peculiarities of the natural and geographical zone, primarily its inaccessibility and the lack of large open spaces, have created conditions for preservation of ethnic traditions, for separate development of material and spiritual culture of the ethnoterritorial group of the Bashkirs. The study of the Katai Bashkirs of the Inzer basin allows tracing changes in the way of life of the Bashkirs from semi-nomadic one to the formation of farms and the development of horse breeding. The origin of the Katai (kytai, ktai) tribal group is associated with the Mongolian tribes of the Kara-Khitais, or Khitans, that came to the territory in question at the end of the 14th century. In the 15th - 16th centuries the territory of the Inzer basin was part of the Historical Bashkortostan. The field materials of one of the authors of the article, as well as written and archaeological data, speak of the nomadic way of life of the Bashkirs during the Middle Ages. After resettlement to the territory of the Inzer basin, the Katai Bashkirs adapted to local natural conditions and began to lead a semi-nomadic way of life. In the 18th century there was a sharp change in economic activity. At the end of the 19th century, the cattle number reduced. This was due to the fact that Russians captured Bashkir lands and constructed mining plants in the territory of the Inzer basin, and it led to reduction of pasture and hayfields. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Katai Bashkirs were still engaged in semi-nomadic cattle breeding. Mass exodus ceased in 1921-1922. According to informants, the last nomadic migration was in 1932. At the end of the 20th century, farms for breeding horses appeared in this territory.


2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 61-69
Author(s):  
Alexander D. Tairov ◽  

A political and economic strategy is one of the forms of social adaptation to external conditions unconsciously or consciously adopted in the society. There are two main political and economic strategies in all types of societies from states to groups and at different levels of social integration (from households and above): network and corporate ways. But only one of them can dominate under specific historical conditions. The adopted political and economic strategy may be clearly seen in the funeral ritual of the society. The archaeological indicators of the network strategy are one-grave kurgans, monumental burial structures, a magnificent burial rite, a wealth of grave goods, including a large number of precious objects, a significant number of “priestly” burials of various ranks. The indicators of the corporate strategy are the multi-burial mounds, the absence of large burial structures, the simplicity and standardization of burial structures, rituals and grave goods. The main efforts of society are directed at the construction of monumental public buildings, primarily sanctuaries and temples, which symbolized the community as a whole. A dramatic change in the funeral ritual may also reflect a change in political and economic strategy. The transformation of the funeral ritual among the nomads in the Southern Urals, which took place in the Early Sarmatian time, records a change in the political and economic strategy. The transition from the network strategy that dominated from the second half of the 6th — the late 5th centuries BC to the corporate strategy ends in the late 4th — early 3rd centuries BC. This change in the political and economic strategy was due to the sharply increased instability of society during the environmental crisis in the 4th century BC caused by an abrupt aridification.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-287
Author(s):  
Vladimir Nikolaevich Myshkin

This article deals with equestrian ammunition items found near the burial mound of the 21 Filipovka I burial ground in the Orenburg region in order to establish the time of construction of this burial mound. The burial mound Filippovka I was a necropolis of the social elite of nomads who inhabited the steppes of the Southern Urals in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. The richness of the funerary inventory and the complexity of the ritual actions performed during the erection of the burial mounds make it possible to study many aspects of the history and culture of these tribes. This determines the importance of a comprehensive study of the materials of this burial ground. Equipping a horse includes four bronze objects: two bridle plaques, check-piece and headband decoration bridle were found around the barrow 21 Filippovka I burial ground. Some of these items have close analogies among the details of equine ammunition from the Scythian monuments of the Black Sea North Littoral, dated by import items. The analogies that exist among the Scythian antiquities allow us to date the burial mound of the burial ground of Filippovka I during the time of the 4th century BC. The presence of such things as a headband in the form of a griffin head and a bridle plaque in the form of a wolf's head fixes the existence of the cultural interaction of nomads who left the burial ground of Filippovka I with the western Scythian world of the Northern Black Sea Coast


2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-50
Author(s):  
Sergeï Gutsalov

Abstract This article publishes interesting burials of ancient nomads dating from the end of the 3rd, 2nd or 1st centuries BC from the Dongulyuk II and Volodarka I tumuli necropoleis in the West of Kazakhstan. Materials from these funerary sites include some quite rare finds: phalerae, belt plates bearing depictions of confronting winged dragons, two-handled infantry swords used by warriors on foot and other objects relating to the life of nomads. The funerary rite – including such elements as burials in pits with ledges or in catacombs, the laying out of horses’ skulls on ledges, the arrangement of the deceased with their heads pointing to the north or south – indicates that the cultural links of the nomads from the southern foothills of the Urals at the end of the 1st millennium BC were orientated towards Central Asia. If it is borne in mind that many objects among the accompanying grave goods can also be associated with the eastern half of the Eurasian steppes, then it would seem highly likely that the nomads had originally come from northern China, moving west and migrating into eastern Europe including the southern Urals.


2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elke Kaiser ◽  
Katja Winger

Grubengräber mit spezifischen Bestattungssitten, die in Grabhügeln im Balkan- und Karpatengebiet ausgegraben wurden, werden seit langem der Jamnaja-Kultur zugeschrieben. Die Gräber der Jamnaja-Kultur sind zwischen 3100 und 2500 v. Chr. (kalibriert) vor allem in der osteuropäischen Steppenzone zwischen den Ostkarpaten und dem südlichen Uralvorland verbreitet. Das Auftreten von vergleichbaren Grabanlagen westlich dieser Hauptverbreitungszone wurde immer wieder mit Migrationen aus der Steppe erklärt, deren Verlauf sehr unterschiedlich gedeutet wurde.Seit der umfassenden Studie von I. Panajotov ist die Zahl an archäologisch untersuchten Grabhügeln im heutigen Bulgarien angewachsen, so dass die darin freigelegten Grubengräber neu bewertet werden können. Insgesamt 162 Gräber weisen charakteristische Kennzeichen auf, die es erlauben, sie der Jamnaja-Kultur zuzuordnen. Sie lassen sich in drei regionale Gruppen im Nordwesten, Nordosten und im Süden des heutigen Bulgariens unterteilen.Eine Serie von 14C-Daten zeigt, dass die Gräber in den drei Regionen zwischen 3100 und 2500 cal BC angelegt wurden, was für eine Zuwanderung über einen längeren Zeitraum hinweg spricht. Insbesondere in Thrakien belegt die Beigabe von Gefäßen aus dem lokalen Kulturmilieu in den Bestattungen der Jamnaja-Kultur einen intensiven Kontakt der Zuwanderer mit der Bevölkerung, die dort in den Tellsiedlungen lebte.Die Steinstelen und die Ausstattung der Verstorbenen in den westpontischen Grabkomplexen mit Spiralringen sind Attribute, wie sie aus Bestattungen der Jamnaja-Kultur im nordwestlichen Schwarzmeerraum überliefert sind. Daher wird diese als Herkunftsregion der vermutlich eher kleineren Populationsgruppen diskutiert, die über mehrere Jahrhunderte hinweg in das heutige Bulgarien einwanderten. Soweit die immer noch nur auf Gräbern beruhende Quellenlage überhaupt verlässliche Rückschlüsse zulässt, ergibt sich ein Bild kommunikativer Prozesse, die zwischen der lokalen und der zugewanderten Bevölkerung stattfanden. Die in der Forschung wiederholt beschworene Überlegenheit seitens der Steppenbewohner ist in den Befunden nirgends zu erkennen.Les tombes à fosses avec rites funéraires spécifiques fouillées dans les Balkans et la région des Carpates ont depuis longtemps été attribuées à la culture Yamna. Ces sépultures, qui datent entre environ 3100 et 2500 cal BC, sont réparties avant tout dans la zone des steppes d’Europe orientale, entre les Carpates et les régions limitrophes de l’Oural du sud. La présence de tombes semblables à l’ouest de cette zone a été considérée à maintes reprises comme preuve d’une immigration de populations venant des steppes, bien que les modalités de cette immigration aient été interprétées de manières diverses.Depuis la parution des travaux exhaustifs d’I. Panajatov, le nombre de tumuli fouillés sur le territoire de la Bulgarie moderne s’est accru, ce qui nous permet de réévaluer les tombes à fosses qu’ils contenaient. En tout 162 tombes exhibent des traits caractéristiques de la culture Yamna. Elles peuvent être classées en trois groupes répartis sur le nord-ouest, le nord-est et le sud de la Bulgarie actuelle.Une série de dates radiocarbone indique que les tombes à fosses de ces trois régions ont été établies entre 3100 et 2500 cal BC, ce qui laisse penser à une migration sur une durée prolongée. Le fait que des vases de production locale appartenant à une culture indigène aient été inclus dans le mobilier des sépultures Yamna en Thrace suggère que des contacts étroits existaient entre les immigrants et la population autochtone qui à cette époque habitaient des tells.Les stèles en pierre et la présence d’anneaux en spirale dans le mobilier des ensembles funéraires à l’ouest du Pont-Euxin sont des traits qui surviennent dans les sépultures de la culture Yamna du nord-ouest de la Mer Noire. Cette constatation forme le point de départ d’une discussion qui cherche à déterminer la zone d’origine de groupes (vraisemblablement plus petits) qui auraient émigré en Bulgarie actuelle au cours de plusieurs siècles. Les données à notre disposition – uniquement funéraires – suggèrent que nous avons affaire à des processus de communication entre les populations indigènes et immigrantes. Il n’existe aucune preuve archéologique étayant la thèse si souvent réitérée d’une domination des peuplades venant des steppes.Pit graves with evidence of specific burial rites excavated in the Balkans and the Carpathians have long been attributed to the Yamnaya culture. These burials, dated to between 3100 and 2500 cal BC, are mainly distributed in the eastern European steppe zone between the eastern Carpathians and the area bordering the southern Urals. The presence of similar burials west of this zone has repeatedly been taken to be evidence of migration out of the steppes, although its course has been interpreted in a number of ways.Since I. Panayotov’s comprehensive study of these burials, the number of burial mounds excavated in present-day Bulgaria has grown, which makes it possible to re-examine the pit burials within them. A total of 162 graves possess characteristic traits of the Yamnaya culture. They can be divided into three regional groups, in the northwest, north-east and south of present-day Bulgaria.A series of 14C determinations dates the establishment of the pit graves in all three regions to between 3100 and 2600 cal BC, which suggests that migrations took place over an extended period. In particular the custom of including vessels belonging to an indigenous culture among the grave goods of the Yamnaya burials in Thrace suggests that there were close contacts between the immigrants and the local population that lived in tell settlements.Stone stelae and the inclusion of spiral rings among the grave goods of the western Pontic burial complexes are traits that have been recorded in the burials of the Yamnaya Culture in the north-western Black Sea zone. This forms the starting point of a discussion examining the area of origin of presumably smaller population groups that migrated to present-day Bulgaria over several centuries. As far as the evidence – which still relies on burials only – allows, it appears that we are dealing with processes of communication between the local and the immigrant population. There is no archaeological evidence for the dominance of the steppe people repeatedly cited in the literature.


Author(s):  
A. O. Khotylev ◽  
N. B. Devisheva ◽  
Al. V. Tevelev ◽  
V. M. Moseichuk

Within the Western slope of the Southern Urals, there are plenty of basite dyke complexes of Riphean to Vendian among Precambrian terrigenous-carbonate formations. In metamorphic formations of the Taratash complex (Archean to Early Proterozoic, the northern closure of the Bashkirian meganticlinorium) there was observed the andesitic dyke with isotopic age of 71±1 Ma (U-Pb SHRIMP II on zircons) and near Bakal two bodies of gabbroids with zircons of similar ages were found. These are the first evidence of possible Mezozoic magmatism in this region.


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