scholarly journals New data on human skulls from the ritual complex of the Bystrovka-2 Early Iron Age burial ground

2021 ◽  
pp. 138-151
Author(s):  
Maria Kishkurno ◽  
◽  
Elena Alekseeva ◽  
Alexey Shishkin ◽  
Alisa Zubova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
Ritual Practice ◽  
Biological Stress ◽  
Human Skulls ◽  
Base Of The Skull ◽  
Archaeological Cultures

Various kinds of postmortem manipulations with the bodies of the dead were widespread in the ritual practice of the Scythian tribes of Eurasia. One of the evidences of such practice is finds of isolated skeletal bones or skulls buried in an unusual context. One of the sites where such finds was discovered is the Bystrovka-2 burial ground of the Kamenka archaeological culture in the Novosibirsk Ob region. In the kurgan 9 of this site, a ritual complex containing the burial of three human skulls, previously displayed on stakes or poles was excavated. In this article we present the results of recent anthropological analyzes of these skulls and discuss the question concerning the origin of the sacrificed people. The analyzed data allow us to say that in the Kamenka society, putting heads on poles rather had an apotropic function than was connected with military cults. The sacrificed people were selected from the strongest and healthiest young people. The condition of the bones of the skull and dentition of the examined individuals definitely indicates a relatively low level of biological stress. Comparison of the skulls from Bystrovka-2 with the skull found at the Kulayka settlement of Bolshoi Log in Omsk showed the possibility of coincidence of some mythical and ritual practices among the Kamenka and Kulayka archaeological cultures. The intentional lesions found on the skulls from these two sites are functionally and anatomically fully identical. The first group of injuries observed at the base of the skull are traces of postmortem decapitation, the second found on the cranial vault is technological holes for fixing the head on a pole. The central element of the ritual in both cases was precisely placing the head on a pole and thus creating an apotrope indicating the border of the “clean” territory.

scholarly journals Human and Steppe in the Early Iron Age. Results of Interdisciplinary Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 6-30
Author(s):  
Mikhail Krivosheev ◽  
◽  
Evgeniy Pererva ◽  
Maksim Eltsov ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Mode Of Life ◽  
Archaeological Cultures ◽  
Science Disciplines

Introduction. Recent archaeological studies deal with the integration of natural science disciplines. Such scientific interaction includes the reconstruction of climatic changes, human adaptation to the changing conditions of nature, study of sociocultural specifics in nomadic groups as well as rising archaeological cultures, with emphasis on the interconnection between the fluctuations of steppe environmental conditions and steppe populations. Analysis. The article presents the results of the carried out interdisciplinary analysis of classic and modern archaeological studies and natural science disciplines. This allows evaluating the specifics of different factors (paleoclimatic, sociocultural, etc.) influencing the “steppe-human” system in a new way. Such factors as registered climatic changes, spreading areas of archaeological cultures, mortuary funeral rites, results of paleoanthropological examination, written records and ethnographic data provide evidence to reconstructing different time-span events of early nomads’ history in one context. The reconstruction of historical reality shows quite strong correlation between the environment and specific features in the development of ancient steppe societies. Human has high adaptive abilities to changing factors. However, the steppe population mode of life is extremely conservative and it has practically never changed during the Sarmatian or Sauromatian history. Climate fluctuations over the steppe area influenced the demographic and social structure of nomadic society. During auspicious periods, nomadic communities became populous and active politically and military. If negative factors dominated, the population tended to decrease and the social structure tended to simplify. Critical indicators of aridization and humidization in Eurasian steppes are followed with the population outflow, which is evidenced by small amount of archaeological sites or even by vanishing of cultures. Results. Thus, the authors conclude that when studying archaeological sites of the Early Iron Age nomadic cultures, it is necessary to consider the steppe and human as a single organism responsive to changing and a strong impact of environmental and socio-cultural factors.

scholarly journals Burials with Weapons and Horse Bridle of Yuldashevsky Burial Ground in the South Ural Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 152-166
Author(s):  
Lyasovich Vsevolod I. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Southern Urals ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
Specific Group ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
Relative Proximity ◽  
The Military ◽  
Archaeological Monument

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

The pattern of archaeological cultures in northern China during the Eastern Zhou Period to the Qin Dynasty – also on the interactions among the Rong, Di and Hu ethnic groups and the Central Plains

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-188
Author(s):  
Yueying Shan
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Central Plains ◽  
The North ◽  
Spring And Autumn Period ◽  
Eastern Zhou ◽  
Archaeological Cultures ◽  
Cultural Features

Abstract Through the systematic trimming and analysis to the remains of the archaeological cultures of the Eastern Zhou Period through the Qin Dynasty in northern China, this paper puts forward that during this period, there were two cultural zones (the north and south cultural “belts”) with clearly different cultural features and connotations and peoples bearing clearly different physical characteristics in northern China, and discussed the regional differences of the remains of the archaeological cultures in each cultural belt and their developments and changes. The cultures in the south cultural belt could not be regarded as a part of the early Iron Age cultures in the Eurasian Steppes, but a kind of culture peculiar to the transitional zone between the cultures in the Eurasian Steppes and that in the Central Plains; the development and evolution of the north cultural belt, which emerged in the mid to the late Spring-and-Autumn Period, can be divided into three clear phases: the first phase was a part of the early Iron Age cultures in the Eurasian Steppes, but since the second phase, the cultural features and connotations of this belt began to stray out of the cultures in the Eurasian Steppes, which would be closely related to the military conquering and political management of the Central Plains polities and the powerful northward advance of the cultures of the Central Plains. Referring to the relevant historic literature, this paper made further observations to the interactions among the polities of the Central Plains and the peoples in these two cultural belts and the changes of the cultural patterns in each of the two cultural belts, and revealed the processes of the Sinicization of the Rong, Di and Hu ethnic groups in northern China. This paper pointed out that the Hu ethnic group lived in northern China since the mid Spring-and-Autumn Period, and the later appearance of the Hu people in the historic literatures was related to the northward advances of the territories of polities of the Central Plains rather than the southward invasion of the nomadic tribes living in the present-day Mongolian Plateau.

scholarly journals Mapping and Damage Assessment of “Royal” Burial Mounds in the Siberian Valley of the Kings

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gino Caspari
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
River Terrace ◽  
Burial Site ◽  
Southern Siberia ◽  
Northern River ◽  
Preservation Conditions ◽  
Burial Mounds

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.

scholarly journals Actual Trends in the Latest Research of the Pianobor and Kara-Abyz Archaeological Cultures

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 14-22
Author(s):  
Lyasovich Vsevolod I. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Southern Urals ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
The Southern Urals ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Archaeological Cultures ◽  
Theoretical Developments

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

scholarly journals The Early Iron age Burial Ground Kaspan-6 in Jetusy

2017 ◽  
pp. 97-108
Author(s):  
Beisenov A. ◽  
Kreshioli L. ◽  
Jumabekova G. ◽  
Bazarbayeva G. ◽  
Barinova E.
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Burial Ground

scholarly journals NEW DATA ON THE DENTAL CHARACTERISTICS EXHIBITED BY THE POPULATION OF THE KULAYKA CULTURE IN THE NOVOSIBIRSK OB AREA

2019 ◽  
pp. 140-151
Author(s):  
M.S. Kishkurno ◽  
A.V. Sleptsova
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Standard Procedure ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Dental Morphology ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
Intergroup Comparison ◽  
The Bronze Age

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.

scholarly journals Finds of ornitomorphic images of the End of the Early Iron Age in the Lower Angara region

2021 ◽  
pp. 77-84
Author(s):  
P.O. Senotrusova ◽  
A.A. Ekkerdt ◽  
P.V. Mandryka
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Western Siberia ◽  
Birds Of Prey ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
Front Side ◽  
The Third ◽  
En Face ◽  
Realistic Images ◽  
Middle Siberia

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.

Myskhako necropolis. Excavations in 1978 – 1979

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
Funerary Monuments ◽  
Ancient Times

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.

Possibilities and limitations of pXRF as a tool for analysing ancient pottery: a case study of Late Bronze and Early Iron Age pottery (1100–600 BC) from the northern Black Sea region

2020 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 238-266
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Daszkiewicz ◽  
Nadezhda Gavrylyuk ◽  
Kirsten Hellström ◽  
Elke Kaiser ◽  
Maya Kashuba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Black Sea ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
Working Groups ◽  
Fluorescence Spectrometer ◽  
Archaeological Cultures

AbstractIn an archaeometric research project supported by the Volkswagen Foundation (Project 90216 [https://earlynomads.wordpress.com/]), working groups consisting of chemists, geologists and archaeologists in Berlin, Kiev and Saint Petersburg collaborated on analysing pottery recovered from Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age burials and settlements from sites of different archaeological cultures in the steppes and forest steppes north of the Black Sea. The article presents the results of the classification of 201 samples using energy-dispersive X-Ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) compared to the results of MGR-analysis and WD-XRF of these samples. Fingerprints for the seven sites studied could be defined.

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