Myskhako necropolis. Excavations in 1978 – 1979

The series of articles «The Pontic necropolises» has been published since 2007, and has explored a number of funerary monuments of the Early Iron Age and ancient times of the Abrau Peninsula. In the fi volume of the series the complex of burials of the Myskhako burial ground is introduced into scientifi circulation. Two burial horizons have been discovered in this region, which are separated by two and a half millennia. Like the neighboring ancient Gorgippia, the settlement of Myskhako (Bata village: Strabo, XI, 2, 14; Ptol., Geogr. V, 89), with which the published necropolis is connected, is located at the crossroads of sea and land highways.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 152-166
Author(s):  
Lyasovich Vsevolod I. ◽  

The study of the peculiarities of the armament of the Pianobor tribes is an urgent direction of modern archaeological science. The purpose of this article is to isolate and then analyze the sets of weapons for the male burials of the Yuldashevsky burial ground of the Pyanobor archaeological culture of the Early Iron Age. The problem of the study is to reconstruct the nature of the military culture of one local group in the Pianobor society. The novelty of the work is the fact that the totality of weapons in the burial, the weapon set, is considered within the framework of one specific archaeological monument, and not as a whole in terms of culture.The Yuldashevsky burial ground belongs to one of the necropolises of the Pianobor culture, where an increased content of weapons is noted. The occurrence as well as the combination of a certain type of weapon in the burial inventory makes it possible to distinguish weapon sets, as well as to designate popular types of weapons among a specific group of the drunken population. Applying the comparative-historical method, including the method of statistics and chronology, it was possible to focus on the number of weapon sets, their filling with weapons, the time frame of some weapons, and its similarity with the Kara-Abyz set of weapons. As well as the Kara-Abyz, the Pianobor culture inherited a set of weapons characteristics of the Ananyin time. Its indispensable attributes are: a) polearms in the form of spears with small points; b) arrowheads made of different materials ‒ bronze, iron and bone, with the domination of the latter in quiver sets; c) long single-edged blades ‒ combat knives. Despite the relative proximity of the habitat of the Pianobor tribes to the Sarmatian world, the latter did not have a significant impact on the armament complex of the Pyanobor tribes. Moreover, in the drunken environment, its own standardized weapon set was formed, represented by various variations in the mutual occurrence of a bow, spear and a combat knife. Keywords: Pianobor archaeological culture, weapons, burial ground, military burials, early Iron Age, Yuldashevsky burial ground, southern Urals


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gino Caspari

The Valley of the Kings in Tuva Republic, southern Siberia, is arguably one of the most important archaeological landscapes in the eastern Eurasian steppes. Nonetheless, little information exists about the spatial characteristics and preservation conditions of this burial ground consisting of large “royal” mounds. We map the large monuments of the Uyuk Valley’s northern river terrace and assess their state of preservation based on high-resolution optical satellite data. The burial site consists of several hundred mounds, over 150 of them with diameters of more than 25 m, the largest monuments are bigger than 100 m in diameter. This makes the Valley of the Kings in Tuva Republic one of the largest Early Iron Age burial sites in the Eurasian steppes. Unfortunately, around 92% of the large monuments are in bad condition, mostly due to looting.


Antiquity ◽  
1939 ◽  
Vol 13 (49) ◽  
pp. 58-79
Author(s):  
R. E. M. Wheeler

In recent years considerable attention has been devoted to the problems of the Early Iron Age in the British Isles; and, amongst these problems, that of the relationship between the insular and the continental cultures of the period has not become simpler or clearer as the British evidence has accumulated. How far, and in what manner, were the various Iron Age cultures of Britain derived from the continent? How far, and under what conditions, were they due to local initiative in Britain itself? Until questions such as these can be answered approximately, it will remain impossible alike to estimate the real achievement of the later prehistoric civilization of the island and to visualize the full significance of the adjacent civilization of northwestern Europe. The problem is not an easy one. The agricultural and therefore local basis of most of the Iron Age economy of Britain encouraged the strong local differentiation of cultural forms, and this local individuality was enhanced by the fashion in which the major tracts of open and habitable chalk or greensand tended, in ancient times, to be isolated by expanses of dense and often impassable forest. And, similarly, an intrusive element from overseas might easily take root in a particular area of southern or eastern Britain without directly affecting other areas within a relatively short map-distance.


Author(s):  
Beisenov A. ◽  
Kreshioli L. ◽  
Jumabekova G. ◽  
Bazarbayeva G. ◽  
Barinova E.

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.


Author(s):  
M.S. Kishkurno ◽  
A.V. Sleptsova

The article covers the results of a study on the odontological series from the Kamenny Mys burial ground (3rd–2nd centuries BC). In this work, we set out to study the genesis of the Kulay population of the Early Iron Age in the Novosibirsk Ob area. The main relations of the population with the groups of adjacent territories, as well as the nature of their interaction with the local groups, were determined. The odontological series from the Kamenny Mys burial ground includes the teeth of 24 individuals: 12 males, 6 females and 10 adult individuals whose gender could not be determined. The anthropological materials were examined according to a standard procedure, which involves the description of the tooth crown morphology considering the archaic features of the dental morphology. Also, an intergroup comparative analysis was performed via the method of the principal component analysis using the program STATISTICA version 10.0. It was established that the dental characteristics exhibited by the Kulayka population reveal signs of mixed European-Mongoloid formation with a significant predominance of the Eastern component. We compared the morphological characteristics of the sample with data obtained for the populations of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. The intergroup comparison revealed the closest connection between the Bolshaya Rechka culture and the Kulayka group. The studied material provides anthropological confirmation of the interaction between Kulayka (taiga) and Bolshaya Rechka traditions (steppe), drawing on the data about the burial rite and ceramic complexes. The comparison of the Kulayka series with Bronze Age samples suggests that the forest-steppe populations occupying the territories of the Novosibirsk and Tomsk Ob and the Ob-Irtysh areas had no effect on the genesis of the Kulayka population. We suppose that the origins of the Kulayka population in the Novosibirsk Ob area should be traced to the populations from the West Siberian taiga of the Bronze Age, which is significantly complicated by the lack of sufficiently complete and representative series dating back to the specified period from the territory of the Middle Ob area. Further accumulation of anthropological material from the Middle Ob area will provide the opportunity to trace the genesis of taiga populations of the Early Iron Age.


Author(s):  
P.O. Senotrusova ◽  
A.A. Ekkerdt ◽  
P.V. Mandryka

The paper concerns the ornithomorphic images found at the Pinchuga VI burial ground. The site is located in the lower course of the river Angara (Middle Siberia). The chronological boundaries of the study span the second quarter of the 1st millennium AD (end of the Early Iron Age). All burials at the burial ground were performed ac-cording to the rite of cremation outside the cemetery. Two intact objects and fragments of the third image of a bird were found at the necropolis. Figures were found in different contexts. One of them was found in the filling of a grave pit, the second item within an assemblage of various articles in the inter-grave space. The third item was broken and lost as the result of illegal excavations. All articles share similar characteristics. These are realistic images of diurnal birds of prey “frozen” in a diving flight; the images are shown en face, with a high-relief head, with the tucked wings and feet pulled up with talons. A geometric decor conveys their feather, and a stylized mask is present on the chest of one item. The images are slightly convex, their front side is polished. The closest analogies to the Angara images of birds are known in Western Siberia, including the Tomsk burial ground, the Kholmogory treasure, the Ishim collection, and materials from the Parabel cult place. All this makes it possible to attribute the analyzed items to the Kholmogory stylistic group of the Kulai cult casting. Products of this group be-came widespread in Western Siberia in the second quarter of the 1st millennium AD. The ornithomorphic images found at the Pinchuga VI cemetery extend the geographical range of the items of this style to the territory of Mid-dle Siberia. Apart from the figurines of birds, the necropolis also yields other items of the Western Siberian cult casting, including disks with concentric ornaments, a hollow image of a fish head, and a bird-head belt applique. Bronze items were imported, and in the course of exchange they were spreading over considerable distances. This proves the existence of established cultural ties between the populations of the Lower Angara region and Western Siberia at the End of the Early Iron Age.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1645-1656
Author(s):  
Guy De Mulder ◽  
Mark Van Strydonck ◽  
Mathieu Boudin ◽  
Ignace Bourgeois

ABSTRACTRecently a cremation cemetery was excavated at the site of Wijnegem where 29 cremation graves and 9 funerary monuments were uncovered. Thirty radiocarbon (14C) dates were carried out, mostly on cremated bone but also 10 charcoal samples were dated. Twenty-four cremations were studied. Four ring ditches were dated by charcoal samples from the infill of the ditch. The 14C dates showed an interesting long-term occupation of the cemetery. Different phases were ascertained. The history of the cemetery starts in the northern part of the site around a circular funerary monument. Two cremations were dated at the transition of the Early to Middle Bronze Ages. Two other graves represent the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Ages. The main occupation period dates between the end of the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. Finally, an isolated cremation grave marks the definite abandonment of the site during the Late Iron Age.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2441
Author(s):  
Nam Chul Cho ◽  
Min Kyeong Jang ◽  
Il Kwon Huh

Bronze mirrors, considered important grave goods, were widely used before glass mirrors in ancient times. Most excavated bronze artifacts are covered with corrosive materials and lose their original colors. More importantly, identifying corrosion characteristics and the manufacturing techniques used for these artifacts are essential for proper artifact preservation. In this study, Early Iron Age bronze mirrors excavated from the Korean Peninsula were examined to determine their microstructures, corrosion characteristics, and production techniques using various analytical methods, such as Micro-Raman spectroscopy and field emission electron probe microanalysis. As a result, sulfides containing iron suggested chalcopyrite use during production or that the sulfides originated from copper, iron, and sulfur residual matte. The analysis also detected corrosion layers with high tin oxide (SnO2) levels and selective corrosion in the α + δ eutectoid phase on the artifact’s surface. In the corrosive layer, cuprite, malachite, and cassiterite corrosion products were detected, and nanocrystalline SnO2 was identified as a characteristic of long-term soil erosion. Identifying these artifacts’ corrosion characteristics and manufacturing techniques is essential and can greatly contribute to proper artifact preservation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 106-123
Author(s):  
Anastasia Sleptsova ◽  
◽  
Vladislava Yudakova

In this study, based on the analysis of the dental characteristics of the series from the burial ground Abatsky-3 (III–V centuries AD) we considered the questions of the origin of the Kashin population of Western Siberia of the early Iron Age. Despite the small number of the studied sample (16 individuals), the detailed morphological characteristics and the results of multivariate statistical analysis made it possible to clarify a number of hypotheses about the origins and relationships of the Early Iron Age Kashino population of Western Siberia. The specificity of the Kashino population from the Abatsky-3 burial ground lies in a high predominance of the “Eastern” dental non-metric complex, namely, in the high frequencies of the 6-cusps lower molars, the distal trigonid crest, and, to a lesser extent, the deflecting wrinkle on the first lower molars. This complex of characteristics clearly differentiates this population from the groups of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age of Western Siberia and adjacent territories. According to the results of our study, it can be assumed that populations of the Kashino and Sargat cultures (latter is the closest to the representatives of the Kashino culture in the territorial and cultural terms) have different origin and their contacts were based more on cultural rather than population interactions. The results of the analysis favor to the hypothesis of the penetration of the Kama population related to the Ananyino and Glyadenovo cultures into the Trans-Urals and suggest the contribution of the Ananyino groups in the formation of the Kashino population.


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