scholarly journals Osteological complexes of the Bronze to Iron Age transitional period, and the Early Iron Age, in the hillfort of Maray 1 (Ishim River region)

Author(s):  
S.I. Tsembalyuk ◽  
A.V. Kisagulov ◽  
А.Е. Nekrasov

The article deals with osteological complexes of the Maray 1 hillfort located in the forest-steppe area of the Ishim River region. The research materials were obtained from the excavations carried out in 2010 and 2019. The main periods of the site habitation recorded for the hillfort are the early chronological horizon represented by the settlement of the Krasnoozerka Culture of the Bronze to Iron Age transitional period (9th–7th c. BC), and the late cultural layer which is marked by the hillfort of the beginning of the Early Iron Age, left by the population of the Baitovo Culture (4th–2nd c. BC). From each layer associated with different periods of the site habitation, archaeo-zoological collections have been selected. The purpose of this work is to determine the type of economy of the Maray 1 population during the two major habitation phases. The essential research materials comprised of oste-ological collections obtained from the Krasnoozerka and Baitovo layers. The research technique included bone determinations based on comparison with the reference skeletal collections from the Museum of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Yekaterinburg), using anatomy atlases [Gromova, 1950]. Determination of subfossil bird bones was carried out in the same institute, and it in-cluded comparison of the bones from the settlement with the reference osteological collection of modern bird spe-cies. The species attribution was based on morphological structure of the bones and their fragments. The oste-ological collection of the Maray 1 hillfort is stored in the Museum under No. 2361. Analysis of the species compo-sition of osteological complexes from the two main habitation periods allowed distinguishing domestic and wild animals, including birds. The proportions of the number of bones and representatives of domestic and wild fauna have been analyzed. In the Krasnoozerka Culture materials, significant predominance of wild animal bones has been determined, which suggests that the economy of the Krasnoozerka settlement was dominated by the appropri-ating activities with a significant role of hunting (mainly elk). In the Baitovo layer, bones of domestic animals signifi-cantly prevail over those of wild fauna, suggesting that the economy was based on producing sectors.

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-250
Author(s):  
O. D. Mogylov ◽  
S. V. Rudenko

The article is devoted to the publication of the materials of the settlement of the Early Iron Age near Ivanivka in the Tyasmyn river region. Archaeological reconnaissance here revealed the emergence of cultural strata, represented by animal bones, ceramic moldings and imported antique utensils, arrowheads, pins. The materials date back to the pre-Scythian and Scythian period: VIII—IV centuries BC.


Author(s):  
N.A. Leibova ◽  
S.S. Tur

Materials from the analysed sites of the Staroaleyka and Kamen Cultures in the Forest-Steppe Altai (South-ern Siberia) are dated to the 6th–2nd c. BC. The aim of this study is to introduce the dental data for the Staroaleyka and Kamen Cultures into scientific discourse, to identify and analyse intergroup variability within both communi-ties, their origin and genesis, and the direction of their relations with the Bronze and Early Iron Age populations. Materials of the Staroaleyka Culture are represented by a series from three burial grounds: Firsovo-14, Tu-zovskiye Bugry and Obskiye Plesy 2, dated to the 6th–5th c. BC. The Kamen Culture series from the Forest-Steppe Altai has been collected from six burial grounds: Rogozikha-1 (6th–4th c. BC), Obyezdnoye-1 (5th–4th c. BC), Kamen-2 and Kirillovka-3 (5th–3rd c. BC), Novotroitskoye 1 and 2 (5th–3rd c. BC), Maslyakha-1 (3rd–2nd c. BC). In total, 402 individuals were examined using the Odontological program. The analysed craniological series are stored in the TSU (Tomsk) Cabinet of Anthropology and the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography of Altai of AltSU (Barnaul). As comparative data, published Bronze and Early Iron Age series from Western, Southern and south of Eastern Siberia, southern Trans-Urals, Aral Sea Region, Central and Western Kazakhstan were used. Study methods: 25 odontoscopic and odontoglyphic features were recorded. Ten key characteristics, which have comparative data in literature, were discussed. The evaluation of the traits and their further analysis were carried out according to the methodology of A.A. Zubov. The construction of circular polygons and calculation of the av-erage taxonomic distances were carried out in the GROUP COMPARISON program (author — Olga M. Leybova), designed for processing of dental data. Intergroup variability was assessed through correspondence analysis in the STATISTICA 8 software. For the first time, dental data for the Staroaleyka Culture population have been re-ceived, and data for Kamen Culture has been significantly extended. Despite the territorial and chronological proximity of the Staroaleyka Culture series, it has been established that they belong to two different odontological variants. Odontological data does not exclude the presence of the «Ural» component in their morphological com-plex. The analysed samples of the Kamen Culture, with the exception of those from Rogoziha-1, appear to repre-sent the Western odontological branch with different proportions of the eastern component in the series. In the morphocomplexes of the groups from the Obyezdnoye-1 and Kamen-2 burials, traits of an undifferentiated gracile type have been identified. The burial complexes of Novotroitskoye 1 and 2 and Maslyakha-1 were left by anthro-pologically uniform population representing a maturized odontological variant. Similarly to the craniological data, a fairly wide range of contacts has been established for the population of the Kamen Culture, including the early nomads of the Southern Urals, Western Kazakhstan, south-western and eastern Aral Sea region on the one hand, and Tuva and the Minusinsk Basin on another. Unlike craniological studies, odontological data does not suggest any proximity to the synchronous Pazyryk population of the Altai Mountains. Significant differences have also been revealed with the Kamen Culture population of the Ob River region near Novosibirsk.


Author(s):  
A.V. Sleptsova

The results of the study of the dental anthropology complexes of the population of the Sargatka, Gorokhovo and Kashino cultures of the Early Iron Age in Western Siberia are presented. The source base of the study is 490 individuals from burials located in the Tobol, Ishim, Irtysh River regions, as well as on the territory of the Baraba forest-steppe zone. The aim of this study is to reconstruct the origin and processes of the formation of the anthropological composition of the population of the Sargatka, Gorokhovo and Kashino cultures on the basis of new dental anthropological data. Trigonometrically transformed dental trait frequencies were subjected to the principal component analysis. Be-sides Sargatka, Gorokhovo and Kashino cultures samples, 17 Bronze Age and 27 Early Iron Age dental samples from different region of Eurasia were used for statistical comparison. The results of the statistical comparison may possible to make a several conclusions. The anthropological composition of the Gorokhov population and Sargat groups from the Tobol, Ishim and Irtysh River regions was significantly influenced by diachronic contacts with the descendants of the Andronovo tribes of the Southern Urals, and synchronous relation with the Savromats and Sarmatians of the Southern Urals. The population of the Sargatka culture and the Gorokhovo groups, simultane-ously living on the territory of the Tobol River region in the 5th–3rd centuries BC significantly different from each other. However, the subsequent close population relation between the Sargatka and Gorokhovo groups and their contacts with the Sarmatians contributed to the convergence of their anthropological composition. In the formation of the anthropological composition of the Sargatka population of Baraba forest-steppe zone the main role belongs to the local Late Bronze groups — the Fedorovo Bronze Age population of Western Siberia and their descen-dants, people of the Irmen culture. The most specific is the anthropological composition of the Kashino popula-tion. The specificity of the small group of the Abatsky 3 burial of Kashino culture from the Ishim River region lies in the sharp predominance of the features of the “eastern” dental non-metric complex, which distinguishes this popu-lation from the groups of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age of Western Siberia and adjacent territories.


Author(s):  
A.A. Tkachev ◽  
Al.Al. Tkachev ◽  
T.N. Rafikova

The paper presents the results of the study of the Sarov complex in the Roza Vetrov VII settlement, located in the forest-steppe Tobol River Region (Western Siberia). The Sarov stage of the Kulayka Culture terminates the Early Iron Age and dates to the 1st c. BC — 3rd c. AD. The dwelling represented by a hut-like superstructure used by fishermen during the spawning period of the warm season is described. Also characterised are the tools in-cluding pestle, grindstone, and a fragment of the casting form. The pottery complex reflects all specific features of the Sarov stage ware — the monotony of the ornamental composition, which consists of multiple repetition of rows of the combed stamp and waves, downswept rims. The characteristic of the sample is the complete absence of figured stamps in the ornamentation. The time of migration of the northern taiga population into the sub-taiga and forest-steppe zones of Western Siberia is based on the chronological position of the Sarov sites and specifics of the historical and cultural situation in the present region in the end of the Early Iron Age. The Sargatka Culture, which was spread in the territory of the forest-steppe Trans-Urals, existed until the end of the 2nd — early 3rd c. AD. The Sarov complex of the Ayga VIII settlement is attributed to the 3rd c. AD; the burials of the multicultural Kozlov burial ground, where the Sarov pottery has been found, are dated to the 3rd–6th c. AD. The spread of the Sarov population occurred from the Surgut area of the Ob River Region or the Lower Irtysh River Region along the main water arteries — the rivers of Irtysh, Tobol, Tura, Iset — from the 3rd c. AD. The Sarov materials of the Roza Vetrov VII settlement could be dated to the same time. The Sarov population took part in the genesis of the early medieval cultures of the forest-steppe and the sub-taiga Trans-Urals. Bakal Culture inherited from the bear-ers of the Sargatka Culture the pottery ornamentation technique, while from the population of the Sarov and Kar-ym Cultures — the shape of vessels with a whisk and cornice sloping inside. The influence of the northern taiga population can also explain the spread of fortifications with bastions in Tobolo-Ishim Region.


Author(s):  
S.V. Berlina ◽  
S.I. Tsembalyuk ◽  
A.S. Yakimov

The paper reports the results of the studies of the fortification system of the Early Iron Age Dikaya Yama hill-fort situated in the Middle Tobol River region of the Western Siberian forest-steppe zone. The hillfort was built by the population of the Sargatka Culture, and it is dated to the 3rd c. BC — 1st c. AD. The defence lines at the junc-tion of two adjacent fortified platforms have been studied. It has been determined that the earthwork of the first platform was built up from turfen blocks; the presence of traces of postholes suggests that the earthwork was reinforced with a wooden-frame wall — a wattle fence. The ditch between the platforms had a trapezoidal shape with the size of 3.2–4 m of the upper part and 1.2–1.6 m of the lower part. The soil from the ditch was placed into the mound of the rampart of the second platform. The mathematical analysis of the volume of earth making the mound of the rampart allowed establishing its height of 2.0 m. Analysis of the stratigraphy and planigraphy re-vealed the remains of a frame structure set on the rampart. The wattle fence on top of the rampart and the para-pet along it have been reconstructed. Moreover, there have been identified the remains of a frame-and-pillar structure installed into the body of the rampart, which was aimed to strengthen the mound and prevent untimely slipping. A graphic reconstruction of the appearance of the fortifications existed on the studied site has been cre-ated. Carcass fortifications of the wattle fence type, a wall constructed in “zaplot” technique, set on the rampart, have analogies in the Early Iron Age hillforts of the Tobol-Irtysh interfluve: Kolovskoe, Rafailovskoe, Ak-Tau, and Pavlinovo. There existed a tradition of mounting a palisade into a ditch-trench — such structures have been re-corded at the hillforts of Borovushka, Likhachevskoe, Bochanetskoe, Inberen 4 and Rozanovo, Mar'ino Ushchel'ye 4 and Malo-Kazakbaevskoe. The fortification system of the hillfort of Dikaya Yama, which, structurally, is represented by the earthwork ramparts on top of which there were mounted wooden walls in the technique of the wattle fence, is consistent with the traditional scheme of the fortifications of the Early Iron Age population. The question of simultaneous or sequential building of the platforms of the hillfort will be addressed in future work. However, the unified planning solution in organizing forms of the fortification structures implies, in our opinion, preliminary design of the whole settlement and its construction at one time.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-244
Author(s):  
Yu. Yu. Lyashko

Motroninsky ancient settlement belongs to the most famous monuments of the Scythian epoch of the Dnieper Forest-Steppe Right Bank. Since the late 1980s and until today, work is underway to study the monuments of this time in the vicinity of the site of the ancient settlement. This work is based on materials that identify the chronological and periodic frames of the surveyed monuments. In total 21 settlements of Scythian time of VII—III centuries BC were surveyed and opened. The results of this work confirm the version of the researchers of the site of ancient settlement that its main population lived outside the fortification in a radius of several kilometers.


Author(s):  
V.I. Molodin ◽  
◽  
L.N. Mylnikova ◽  
M.S. Nesterova ◽  
L.S. Kobeleva ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 14-22
Author(s):  
Lyasovich Vsevolod I. ◽  

Today, an understanding of the state of knowledge of the Pianobor and Kara-Abyz archaeological cultures is quite relevant for archaeologists of the Urals and Prikamye. A variety of scientific approaches to understanding the nature of the above cultures gave rise to a lot of questions and problems in the scientific literature relating to the reconstruction of the ancient history of the Southern Urals. This article cites and analyzes recent works related to the history of studying the antiquities of the Pianobor and Kara-Abyz archaeological cultures of the Southern Urals of the early Iron Age. Based on them, thematic historiographic blocks are identified and conceptual directions in the study of the above-mentioned cultures are determined. Today’s situation shows that in the field of studying the forest-steppe cultures of the Ural region of the Early Iron Age, certain scientific trends have developed, in which theoretical knowledge of the ancient history of this region is developing. Moreover, each of them touches upon a specific feature of the functioning of the Kara-Abyz and Pianobor archaeological cultures in the Early Iron Age in the Southern Urals. The author outlines six actual lines of development of studies of the above-mentioned cultures: 1) historiography; 2) natural science methods in archaeological research; 3) analysis of trade relations; 4) the introduction into the scientific circulation of excavation materials; 5) problems of chronology; 6) problems of the genesis and historical fate of archaeological cultures. In many cases, these theoretical developments of scientists overlap, forming a circle of problems and interests, creating discussions, or complementing each other’s scientific concepts. The latter trend allows us to form a unified system of knowledge and characteristics in understanding the historical development of the Pianobor and Kara-Abyz archaeological cultures. Keywords: Early Iron Age, pianoborskaya culture, kara-abyzskaya culture, South Ural, Pre-Ural, forest-steppes Pre-Ural, historiography


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-101
Author(s):  
A. P. Medvedev ◽  
R. S. Berestnev

The article is devoted to the characterization of pre-Scythian time monuments in the forest-steppe course of the Don. The authors come to the conclusion about the regional specificity of the process of cultural genesis in this territory at the beginning of the early Iron Age. The authors analyze the new treasure of Novocherkassk type. It was opened in 2016 in the Podgorensky district of the Voronezh region. This treasure includes psalms, hatchet, metal plates, bracelet-like rings, spearheads. In inventory, it is close to the pre-Scythian burials in the forest-steppe Ukraine (Butenki, Kvitki). Obviously, the population that left the treasure penetrated into the territory of the Middle Don region from the steppes between the Dnieper and Ciscaucasia — the place where the Cimmerian culture was formed in the 9th century. Objects close to the Proto-Meotian, Novocherkassk complexes, their diversity show this process. It remains an open question about the relationship in the studied region of the funerary monuments of Novocherkassk type and Middle-Don mounds of the Scythian time.


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