scholarly journals Sarmatian burials of the kurgan semetеry

Author(s):  
Yakov B. Berezin ◽  

The discussed materials originate from burials No. 2 and 5 of mound 1 of the Nezlobnensky-6 burial mound, investigated in 2006 by the expedition of the NASLEDIE (Stavropol). The documentation stored in the archive of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as diary entries and field photography of the author were used in the publication. Results. The funeral rite of the burials and gravegoods are described in detail and analyzed in the main part of the publication. The finds were dated, their place among the archaeological cultures of the peoples who inhabited the Central Pre-Caucasus in the Early Iron Age was determined. A circle of analogies is given among synchronous archaeological sites, both in the central Pre-Caucasus and in adjacent territories. Conclusion. Burial 2 dates from the III-I centuries BC and is associated with the culture of the pre-Caucasian Sarmatians, presumably the Sirak tribal union. This type of graves was identified by archaeologists in the middle of the XX century and since then their number has been steadily increasing. Burial 5 is also dated to Sarmatian period, but earlier than burial 2. It belongs to the IV century BC and is a rather rare form of burial, a collective military grave. It is likely that all the people buried there died at the same time, as a result of a military conflict.

Author(s):  
Kazakov A. ◽  
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FROLOV Ya. ◽  
◽  

The article publishes materials from the Ust-Belokurikha 3 burial ground. The site is located in the Smolensk District of the Altai Territory. The burial ground was destroyed during construction work. There were five burial mounds on the site. One burial mound was excavated. Its artificial hill had been built of stone. There was one burial in the center of the mound. The deceased in the grave was laid on his back and his head was oriented to the southwest. His legs were bent. The specifics of the funeral rite allow dating the site to the Early Iron Age. Preliminary dating of the necropolis can be attributed to the Bystryanskaya culture. The absence of visually prominent mounds at the site is characteristic of most mound necropolises of this kind in the northern foothills of Altai. Those sites were destroyed during the intensive anthropogenic use of the area. Continuing plowing of the land containing archaeological sites in the foothill zone creates an additional threat to the deteriorating condition of the ancient burial mounds. Keywords: burial mound, early Iron Age, Scythian-Saka time, northern foothills of Altai, Bystryanskaya culture


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-109
Author(s):  
Kulemzin A. ◽  
◽  
Ilyushin A. ◽  

The article publishes and investigates the materials of the excavations of 1976 and 1980 at the Shestakovo-II burial mound in the Chebulinsky district of the Kemerovo region. The burial monument is located in the Achinsko-Mariinsky forest-steppe on the second floodplain terrace of the Kia River near the village of Shestakovo, next to other archaeological sites investigated (the Shestakovo-I settlement, the Shestakovo-II settlement and the Shestakovo i burial mound), which belong to the final stage of the early Iron Age and form a single archaeological cultural and chronological complex Excavation materials are systematized at the level of elements of burial structures, memorial funeral rite, burial method and burial equipment. A comparative analysis of published materials with sources from neighboring territories and the valley of the middle reaches of the Kii River is carried out. It is concluded that the published sources are close to the excavation materials of the objects of the third and fourth stages of the Shestakovo i burial mound, which is a reference site for the Shestakovo archaeological culture of the transitional Tagaro-Tashtyk time in the Achinsk-Mariinsky forest-steppe in 1979. Based on the statement that the Tesin archaeological culture of the 3rd century BC is the middle of the 3rd century in the steppes of the Middle Yenisei is a synchronous Shestakov archaeological culture of the Achinsk- Mariinsky forest-steppe and, taking into account the observations made by various authors about the late creation of similar processes in this region, we model a cultural and chronological development scheme. This suggests that the Shestakov archaeological culture could have function from the 2nd century BC to the 4th century. This model and the analogies given to the materials from the Shestakovo II burial mound allow us to date this monument to the 3rd — 4th centuries and attribute it to the final stage of the development of the Shestakovo archaeological culture. Key words: Achinsk-Mariinsky forest-steppe, finale of the early Iron Age, Shestakovo-II burial ground, Shestakovo archaeological culture


Author(s):  
Mikhail Krivosheev ◽  
◽  
Evgeniy Pererva ◽  
Maksim Eltsov ◽  
◽  
...  

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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco V. García Quintela ◽  
A. César Gonzalez-Garcia

Despite their elusiveness, the people referred to as “Celts” by ancient chroniclers left behind certain archaeological remains that may be interepreted from the perspective of archaeoastronomy in an attempt to discover a calendrical “root” for them. In recent years, a number of studies on Late Iron Age sites, Roman or romanised locations and Christian landscapes in Hispania and in Gaul raised the possibility of detecting physical evidence of the celestial concepts that some classical authors attributed to the Celtic mystics, the Druids. However, these studies dealt with certain key aspects of how the Celts organised time that are not generally known and which tend to be presented in a summary way. Here, we explore aspects such as the difficulty of referring to a "Celtic calendar" per se, the sources for our study, the difficulties of adjusting the cycles of the Sun and Moon, the role of the “horizon calendars” and how these aspects may have played a role in actions that left a physical footprint that can still be seen today at several archaeological sites. We show that, although there may be common aspects that connect all Celtic sites and areas, there was no common calendar as such, although there are solid indications of the usage of a shared time-reckoning system.


Author(s):  
Oleh Osaulchuk ◽  
Zoya Ilchyshyn

The article offers results of preliminary archaeological investigations, conducted by Scientific Research Center «Rescue Archaeological Service» (Institute of Archaeology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) in 2007 and 2017, prior to the construction project of the bypass road around Berezhany town in Ternopil region. It provides information concerning the newly discovered archeological sites as well as the elaboration of the obtainable data on formerly revealed sites in the surroundings of villages Lisnyky, Lapshyn, Hayok and Hlynovychi. According to archival and bibliographic data, archaeological surveys were previously conducted in 2006 by the expeditions of Mykhailo Filipchuk and Mykola Bandrivsky nearby villages Lapshyn and Hynovychi. However, the summaries of these surveys are insufficiently published and besides presenting the incoherent results, which cause some confusion in the number of sites. In 2007, expedition of Rescue Archaeological Service has re-examined the multi-layered settlement Hynovychi I, collecting the items from the Late Paleolithic to the Early Iron Age. Subsequent rescue archeological excavations were carried out in 2008 by the expedition led by Bohdan Salo. Ancient Rus settlement Hlynovychi III was discovered adjacent to the previous site. Around the village Lapshyn, additional archeological sites were discovered, namely Lapshyn III, IV, V, and VI, which behold several phases of the region’s inhabitants starting from the Paleolithic and until the Age of Principalities. Materials of Vysotsko and Chernyakhiv cultures are predominant on these sites. Four groups of barrows were located on the forested hills near village Lisnyky, named therefore Lisnyky I, II, III, and IV. They contain a total of 20 barrows, which could be dated to the Bronze Age. Altogether, the explorations of 2007 and 2017 has newly discovered or identified ten archaeological sites, including settlements and burrow necropolises. Seven previously known settlement were localized due to the updated information. As a result, the archeological map of the region was significantly supplemented, with the names and numbers of archaeological sites well-coordinated. Some of the ancient settlements and the barrow groups are located along the route of future bypass road, thus making it necessary to conduct preventive archaeological excavations. The results of intended studies will definitely clarify cultural and chronological identity of these sites. Key words: archeological surveys, preventive archeological studies, assessments of the impact on the archeological heritage, bypass road around Berezhany town, settlement, barrow group, Paleolithic, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Late Antiquity, Vysotsko culture, Chernyakhiv culture, Age of Principalities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 48-71
Author(s):  
Oleksii Trachuk

In 2023, Ukraine will celebrate the 130th anniversary of Trypillian culture discovery by Vikentii Khvoika. What has changed in the understanding of the heritage left by such a mysterious and unique Ukrainian archaeological cultures as Trypillia? One of the problems stating that the “sites” in terrestrial housings were not cult burial structures but the remnants of residential buildings was solved. However, in the 1970s, Soviet archaeologists had a bizarre fantasy offered by K. Zinkovskyi that Trypillian settlements had been burned not by conquerors – steppe herders – but by Trypillians themselves. This fantasy was confidently denied by such authoritative archaeologists as V. Petrov, V. Zbenovych, I. Sveshnikov, H. Todorova, M. Gimbutas, V. Dergachev. At the beginning of the 21st century, due to the creation of the state reserve “Trypillian Culture” in Cherkasy region, holding of more than ten “Trypillian Circle” festivals in Kyiv region, and introduction of a tourist route from Kyiv to Lviv, the Ukrainian interest in Trypillian culture as an Eneolithic civilization of farmers grew significantly. During this period, some archaeologists (N. Burdo, M. Videiko, V. Kruts, O. Korvin-Piotrovskyi) extracted from the archives the forgotten imagination of K. Zinkovskyi, gradually and methodically began to prove to their colleagues-archaeologists and Ukrainians that Trypillia farmers ritually burned their settlements. Archaeological sites, unfortunately, keep silent about rituals, but they can testify about those who conquered Trypillia and burned their settlements. In addition, M. Videiko believes that the melee weapons of the people of Trypillia are better than the bows and arrows of the steppe horsemen, while Trypillians also fought among themselves. D. Telegin and V. Dergachev refuted such versions in their research of Middle Stog herdsmen. But on the other hand, the situation is confused by Yu.Rassamakin, who unjustifiably replaces the well-known Middle Stog people with Skelians, Kvitiants, and Derevites, who did not seem to be at war, but traded with European farmers.Thus, in the Eneolithic history of independent Ukraine, artificial problems arose. The author, systematizing the interpretations of famous archaeologists and the experience of the post-Eneolithic epochs, tried to solve them in his article.


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (39) ◽  
pp. e2100338118
Author(s):  
Tatiana R. Feuerborn ◽  
Alberto Carmagnini ◽  
Robert J. Losey ◽  
Tatiana Nomokonova ◽  
Arthur Askeyev ◽  
...  

Dogs have been essential to life in the Siberian Arctic for over 9,500 y, and this tight link between people and dogs continues in Siberian communities. Although Arctic Siberian groups such as the Nenets received limited gene flow from neighboring groups, archaeological evidence suggests that metallurgy and new subsistence strategies emerged in Northwest Siberia around 2,000 y ago. It is unclear if the Siberian Arctic dog population was as continuous as the people of the region or if instead admixture occurred, possibly in relation to the influx of material culture from other parts of Eurasia. To address this question, we sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 20 ancient and historical Siberian and Eurasian Steppe dogs. Our analyses indicate that while Siberian dogs were genetically homogenous between 9,500 to 7,000 y ago, later introduction of dogs from the Eurasian Steppe and Europe led to substantial admixture. This is clearly the case in the Iamal-Nenets region (Northwestern Siberia) where dogs from the Iron Age period (∼2,000 y ago) possess substantially less ancestry related to European and Steppe dogs than dogs from the medieval period (∼1,000 y ago). Combined with findings of nonlocal materials recovered from these archaeological sites, including glass beads and metal items, these results indicate that Northwest Siberian communities were connected to a larger trade network through which they acquired genetically distinctive dogs from other regions. These exchanges were part of a series of major societal changes, including the rise of large-scale reindeer pastoralism ∼800 y ago.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 58-69
Author(s):  
Dmitrii V. Selin

Purpose. The Ordynskoe-12 Settlement is an important site for the study of the Late Bronze Age in the south of Western Siberia. The ceramic complex allowed the author to characterize the Ordynsky type archaeological sites. There is a syncretism of the material, including components of other archaeological cultures. According to researchers, the ceramic complex of the site reflects the transition from Fedorovskaya culture to Irmenian culture, while the author identifies items close to ceramics of the Yelovskaya, Karasuk and Irmenian cultures, or a transformed version of Yelovskaya culture at a later stage of its existence. Results. A study of the composition of the clay paste revealed seven recipes. The dominant recipes feature an admixture of crushed stone and organic matter, and chamotte and organic matter, which together account for more than half of the studied samples. A separate group consists of samples mixed with crushed stone. Mixed recipes testify to the coexistence of different populations. Conclusion. The data obtained indicate that this settlement is a multicultural archaeological site. Three archaeological cultures coexisted and interacted in its place – Irmenian, Yelovskaya, and an eastern variant of Pakhomovo culture. Imported vessels indicate contacts with southern cultures, however, importing did not become a mass phenomenon until the transition period from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age.


Author(s):  
DASHKOVSKIY P. ◽  
◽  
OZHIGANOV A. ◽  
SAVKO I. ◽  
Shershneva E. ◽  
...  

The article presents the results of the study of mounds N26 and N33 at the Khankarinsky Dol burial ground, located in the Krasnoshchekovsky district ofthe Altai Territory. The excavations were carried out by the Krasnoshchekovskaya archaeological expedition of Altai State University with the participation of students of the Barnaul State Pedagogical University. As a result of the excavations, it was revealed that both mounds had been robbed, which makes their chronological attribution difficult. At the same time, the inventory in the form of fragments of gold foil was found only in mound No. 33. Recorded during the excavation of mound No. 33 features of the burial rite is the position of the deceased on his right side, facing to the East, accompanying burial of the horse along the Northern wall of the grave, ritual food, have certain analogies to previously explored objects of the Pazyryk culture on the necropolis Khankarinsky Dol and the nearby burial grounds Inskoy Dol and Chineta-II. In addition, such signs of the funeral rite find parallels with similar indicators for the sites of the Pazyryk period excavated in the Central and South-Eastern Altai. Mound No. 26, taking into account the analysis of the burial structure, the eastern orientation of the deceased, the presence of ritual meat food, the location next to the chain of mounds of the Pazyryk culture, gives reason to tentatively attribute it to the Scythian-Saka period. Keywords: funeral ceremony, Scythian-Saka period, burial mound, altai, artifacts


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 132-141
Author(s):  
Polina A. Snitkovskaya

Purpose. A funeral rite is one of the most stable components of any archaeological culture. Even though it is the most conservative and stable element, ritual practices may vary depending on the culture. The causes of variation might be cognitive mechanisms and random errors which appeared while copying funerary traditions. In a society with a close cultural basis, reproduction of the same rituals may include different symbols. Their transformation will have either a cluster character or may be smooth. In the Sintashta and Petrovka cultures, the lines of evolutionary development are determined by such elements of the funeral rite as principles of organization and decoration of the kurgan space. We describe these elements in our article. Results. In conditions of population mobility whose cultural basis is close but the hierarchy is weak, reproduction of cultural stereotypes is most susceptible to variability. While studying interactions between the Sintashta and Petrovka archaeological cultures, we identify a definite link in their burial rites. They are characterized by a sustainable complex of individual items. In this article, we relate the rite features to the methods of constructing and planning of the enclosing kurgan structures, the ground and burials. A variability of the elements is due to a change in the ways of implementing actions aimed at sending the deceased to the other world. The ritual forms could have been changed intentionally, or it might have been an error while copying the mythological constructs with subsequent preservation of its meaning. The range of activities before creating a burial mound is determined by the methods of constructing and planning the surrounding structures, kurgan platforms and gravel pits. To analyze characteristics of each group considered, we used a database of 19 burial grounds – 61 kurgans representing the Sintashta culture (16 sites) and the Petrovka culture (45 sites). We consider the dimensions of mounds, types of fences (ditches, shafts, stone fences), their shape, planning of gravel pits and the design of the kurgan platform. Conclusion. The distribution of objects with different architectural elements and ways of kurgan space decorating indicate the presence of local traditions characteristic only for a certain area. Some variability is expressed by a change in the way how symbolic actions were implemented. Mounds with ditches are more common in the Tobol region, while stone fences were found only in Central Kazakhstan. Replacement of ditches on the weakly deepened fences might have been done intentionally, or it could have been a result of an error while copying the mythological construct, with subsequent preservation of its meaning.


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