Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 4, Europe

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

Practically the whole territory is steppe zone. The Dnieper valley is characterized by availability of common grass soils of the floodlands or upper floodland terraces. Five Quarternary terraces are identified in the lower Dnieper zone. Chernozemic soils occur here. There are alluvial soils in the floodlands. Grass steppes dominate in the region; there are mixed grass, fescue, feather grass soils farther to the south. Bairach forests grow in large ravines. They contain oak, elm, and lime. The climate is Atlantic-continental. The average annual summer temperature is 5-10° C. The average air temperature in January is -3-7° C; in July it is 19-23° C. The average annual precipitation is 400-600 mm. During the transition from the Atlantic to the Subboreal, considerable fluctuations of the climate were noted; they resulted in a general aridization.

Settlements

Permanent settlements were located on high hills surrounded by ravines and on the outliers of plateaus. Some settlements are fortified by defensive walls. The first type of habitation buildings includes small ovalshaped houses with a foundation pit slightly sunk into the soil; houses were constructed of clay and reed. The second type includes one-and three-chamber surface houses that are rectangular in plan. Habitation complexes are located in several groups. At a later stage, defensive moats and stone walls were erected around the settlements.

Economy

Range herding and crop growing were the basis of the Yamnaya culture tribes' economy. Cattle, mostly bulls, predominated in the herd. Upper quern stones, millstones, and flint sickles provide evidence of agriculture. Apparently, during plowing, bull traction was used. There are traces of metal processing. Exchange of goods with neighboring regions, primarily, with sedentary agricultural tribes of the Late Tripolye and Usatovo cultures developed (Lagodovska et al. 1962).

Sociopolitical Organization

A large social community must have occupied the Lower Dnieper region during the Yamnaya tradition, as

Eurasian Steppe Nomad 131

evidenced by a large number of kurgans and settlements in the region. The construction of permanent settlements, especially settlements surrounded by stone defensive walls suggests the existence of a strong tribe association headed by leaders capable of organizing such construction. These leaders must have controlled the allocation of raw materials such as stone and metal. They must have organized exchanges with the traditional sedentary agricultural communities of neighboring territories. The construction of defensive systems during the late stage of the Yamnaya culture is indicative of possible conflicts among the local populations and possible incursions of neighbors, most likely nomadic Yamnaya tribes. The greatest concentration of kurgans is noted in the region between the Dnieper and the South Bug. Many burials of people belonging to a socially high rank have been uncovered here.

Religious and Expressive Culture

Beliefs in life after death were reflected in a specific attitude toward the burial rite, which is traditional across the whole territory of Yamnaya culture. It is only with the evolution of property and social differentiation that burials of local elite are apparent in the presence of socially important objects: wooden wagons, stone axes, and maces. Cult constructions have been found in the kurgans: anthropomorphic stelae, and menhirs. Aesthetic tastes of the Yamnaya culture were satisfied by means of various stone and bronze ornaments, pendants, stone hammer-shaped pins, cord and stamped ornament on clay pottery.

References

Archaeologiya Ukrainskoi SSR (Archeology of the Ukrainian SSR) ed. (1985). Ivan I. Artemenko. Kiev: Naukova Dumka.

Lagodovska, Olga F., Olga G. Shaposhnokova, and Michail L.

Majarevitch (1962). Mikchailovskoye poseleniye (The Mikhchailovskoye Settlement). Kiev: Izdatelstvo Akademii Nauk Ukrainskoi RSR.

North Caucasus Piedmont

Katakombnaya

TIME PERIOD: 4500-3900 B.P.

LOCATION: The area between the Lower Volga and the Don, the northern part of the Stavropol plateau, the

132Eurasian Steppe Nomad

Kuban basin; rare sites have been discovered in the transVolga area and in the Donets basin.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Kurgan burial rite;

burials in catacombs and pits of various constructions with wooden roofs; the position of the dead is on the side in a contracted posture; orientation is predominantly southern; skulls are deformed; clay pots, censors, funnels; bone hammer-shaped pins; bronze adzes, chisels, knives, awls, forks; wooden wagons; sacrificial vessels with animal bones in the mounds of the kurgans and in the tombs; collective burials. Seasonal summer and winter camps.

This subtradition forms part of the Katakombnaya culture circle. Early sites are synchronous with the Late Yamnaya in the Volga basin and North Caucasus piedmont site (Shishlina 1992). Late Katakombnaya sites survive until the Timber Grave period.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

The initial period of the culture coincides with changes in climate: a drastic aridization occurs. The area of the valley deciduous forests is reduced. The climate became sharply continental between 4200-3700 B.P., when the precipitation level was 50 mm less than it is today. Gramineous and mixed grass steppes were replaced by gramineous steppes. Semidesert and desert landscapes predominate (Kremenetskii 1997).

Settlements

Settlements have not been found. There existed only seasonal summer and winter camps located near water sources. The occupation layer of such camps is not expressive. No dwellings are known. Supposedly, people used dwellings of the yurt type.

Economy

Mobile herding based on goat and sheep rearing was the basis of economy. There were cattle in the herds, the third place was occupied by horses. The productivity of nomadic economy was based on seasonal use of grasslands. Apparently, neither hunting nor fishing played a particular role. Agriculture did not exist. Community crafts started developing, primarily wood processing

related to the manufacturing of wooden wagons and metallurgy. Craftsmen who were manufacturers of bows and arrows occupied a particular place in society. An active exchange with semimobile and mobile tribes of the North Caucasus who were major suppliers of arsenious metal was preserved. Expensive stones to make hammers and maces, fragrant timber of box-tree type, ocher, festive clay pottery, bronze jewelry were imported from the North Caucasus. Trade relations were supported by cross-cultural marriages (Shishlina 1997).

Sociopolitical Organization

Property differentiation of burial types is evidence of the existence of at least three social groups. The first group includes tribal chiefs whose burials are noted for their large kurgan mounds, complicated funeral constructions, rich funeral goods that included symbols of power; such burials were often accompanied by wagons. The second group is the group of ordinary tribes people whose burials are noted for the presence of a large quantity of vessels and tools. There is also a group of burials with no goods. Apparently, family communities based on sex and age links and genealogical relationships were a nuclear social unit. Family tribal burial sites correspond to such family groups. Sometimes such communities were united under the power of tribal chiefs.

Religious and Expressive Culture

Religious concepts found their reflection in funeral rites. There was a cult of ancestors and a cult of animals. A find of a pendant in the form of a small golden snake biting its tail, in the burial site of Ergueni in Kalmykia, is evidence of the fact that the Katakombnaya culture people knew the main Indo-European myth of the creation of the world.

References

Kremenetskii, Constantin V. (1997). "Holocene Environment of the Low Don and Kalmyk Area." In Rhe Sreppe and the Caucasus (Cultural Tradition), ed. P. Kozzin. Moscow: 30--46.

Shishlina, Natalia I. (1992). "Chronologiya i periodizatsiya rannego etapa sredney bronzi Kalmykii" ("Chronology and Period Classification of the Early Part of the Middle Bronze Age in Kalmykia"). In Severnaya Evrasiya s Drevnosti do Srednevekoviya (Northern Eurasia from Antiquity to the Middle Ages) ed. V. Zuev. SaintPetersburg: Gosudarstvennii Ermitazz, 72-75.

Shishlina, Nataliya I. (1997). "Kalmykia Local Model of Herding Adaptation in the Caspian Region" In Ethnocultural Processesand Contacts in Ancient Times and the Middle Ages, ed. V. S.Olkhovskii. Moskva-Alma-aty: 87-89.

Steppe and the Caucasus (Cultural Tradition) (1997), ed. P. Kozzin. Moskow: Dominant.

Shishlina, Nataliya I. (1993). "Wechselwirkungen und Transformationen der Grabund Bestattungssitten des Kalmuckengebietes gegen Ende des 3 lahrtausends v.Chr." Zeitschrift fur Archaologie 27: 273286.

Sinitsin, Ivan V, and Urubdzzur E. Erdniyev (1978). Drevnosti Vosrochnogo Manicha (Revivalist Manichaeans in Antiquity), SaratOY: Saratovskoye knizznoye izzdate1stvo.

Trifonov, Viktor A. (1991). "Stepnoye Prikuban'ye v epokhu eneolitasrednei bronzy (periodizatsiya)" (Kuban Steppe Region from the Aeneolithic Period to the Middle Bronze Age (Period Classification)) In Drevnii kultury Prikuban 'ya (Ancient Culture of the Kuban Region). Leningrad: Nauka, 92-166.

Shilov, Valentin P. (1975). "Ochreki po istorii drevnikh plemen Nizznego Povolzz'ya" In Essays on the History of Ancient Tribes of Lower Volga Region. Leningrad: Nauka.

Shevchenko, Albert V. (1986). "Antropologiya naseleniya yuzhnorusskikh stepei v epochu bronzy" ("Anthropology of the SouthRussian Steppes in the Bronze Age") Antropologiya sovremennogo i drevnego naseleniya Evropeiskoi chasti SSSR (Anthropology of Modern and Ancient Peoples of the European Part of the USSR).

Leningrad: Nauka, 154-172.

Nechitaylo Anetta L. (1978). Verchnee Pricubaniye v bronzovom veke (Upper Kuban Region in the Bronze Age). Kiev: Naukova Dumka.

Derzzavin Valerii L. (1991). Srepnoye Stavropolye v epochu rannei i srednei bronzi (Middle Stauropol Region in the Early and Middle Bronze Age). Moskva: Institut Archeologii Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk.

Urals Yamnaya

TIME PERIOD: 4600-3800 B.P.

LOCATION: Southern areas of the Orenburg region along the banks of the Ural river and its tributaries.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATIRIBUTES: Kurgan burial grounds

located along the edge of the upper floodlands, more rarely in the upper sectors of the floodlands; they contain up to 10-12 kurgans; burials are in pits; the position of the dead is a supine contracted posture and on the side in the contracted posture; intensive presence of ocher in the pits and over the skeletons; mats of bark and grass on the bottom; egg-shaped vessels; leaf-shaped bronze knives, four-faceted awls, socketed bronze axes; a lack of permanent settlements (Morgunova and Kraustov 1991).

There are no early sites here; sites of the early and late stages are known. These are different from the Yamnaya sites of other regions because of the general conservative character of the burial rites, the survival of traditions until the beginning of the 2d millennium B.C.,

Eurasian Steppe Nomad 133

and coexistence with the traditions of the Middle Bronze Age of the region.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

In a geomorphologic respect, the region is related to the Urals plateau. The topography is predominantly hilly plain. The territory is cut by riverine valleys, ravines, and streams. Average annual precipitation is 280 mm. Average June temperature is 28° C; average January temperature is -10° C. Replacement of mixed grass and gramineous steppes and dry gramineous and desert-like gramineous steppes with southern chernozems by mixed grass and gramineous steppes with dark chestnut and chestnut soils is a characteristic feature. In 4200-3500 B.P., optimal climatic conditions of the Holocene were replaced by Subboreal continental conditions. Salination of soils and aridization of the climate occurred (Demkin and Ksykov 1996).

Settlements

No purely Yamnaya culture settlements of the Urals Yamnaya tradition have been found, apparently, because of the mobility of the population. Supposedly, there were temporary winter and summer campsites. The Yamnaya layer has been uncovered in a major mining and metallurgic complex of Kargaly in the South Urals.

Economy

Mobile herding was the basis of the Urals Yamnaya culture tribes' economy. Rearing ovicaprids and cattle, the use of wheeled transport in the form of wooden wagons, the use of the horse in the economy provided the mobility of economic life. Apparently, as early as the Yamnaya culture, age the population of the Urals region began the development of the local metallurgical center of Kargaly, although so far no metallurgical villages and workshops have been uncovered. But a lot of bronze items come from burials, the local production of which is clear. No links between the Urals Yamnaya people and the southern regions have been established; supposedly, there existed some exchange links with the northern forest population of hunters and fishermen. Interrelations with neighboring Yamnaya culture tribes, primarily, the Volga Yamnaya people, and through them with the North Caucasus region are well recorded (Chernikch 1997).

134 Eurasian Steppe Nomad

Sociopolitical Organization

Apparently, the Yamnaya culture population of the Urals region could be united in a tribal confederation, but nuclear families remained the basic economic unit. The tribal union was determined by genealogical relationships and the institution of age classes. The final stage of the Yamnaya culture of this region is characterized by a clear property stratification of the population and the appearance of rich elite burials. Apparently, this tribal elite implemented social control and allocation of raw materials. A role played by intercultural marriages with neighboring Yamnaya tribes is possible.

Religious and Expressive Culture

Beliefs in life after death were reflected in a specific attitude toward the burial rite, which is traditional and not very expressive at the early stage but becomes differentiated in accordance with the social and property position of the dead during subsequent periods. Various ornamental compositions were used on the pottery: stamped, cord ornament; bronze jewelry that was most likely of North Caucasus origin rather than of local origin had to satisfy the aesthetic requirements of the local population.

References

Morgunova, Nina L., Kravtsov, and Alexandr Yu (1991). "Drevneyamnaya kultura Priural'ya" ("Ancient Cave-Dweller Culture of the Ural Region"). Sovetskaya Archeologiya 2: 35-50.

Chernikch, Evgenii N. (1997). "Kargaly-krupneishii gornometallurgicheskii komplex Severnoii Evrazii v drevnosti" ("Kargaly-The Largest Mining-Metallurgical Complex in Ancient Northern Europe"). Rossiyskaya Archeologiya I: 21-36.

Demkin, Vladimir A. and Yakov G. Ryskov (1996). Pochvy i prirodnaya sreda suchich stepei yuzhnogo Urala v epokhu bronzy i rannego zheleza (Soils and Natural Resources of the Arid Steppes of South Ural in the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age). Pushino: Pushinskii Nauchnii Institut.

Volga Yamnaya

TIME PERIOD: 5000-4300 B.P.

LOCATION: The Lower and Middle Volga.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Kurgan burial grounds

located in the second and third upper floodlands as well

as deep in the steppe in a bounded area; the burial grounds contain dozens of kurgans; burials are in pits; the position of the dead is a supine contracted posture; intensive presence of ocher in the pits and over the skeletons; mats of bark and grass on the bottom; eggshaped vessels; leaf-shaped bronze knives and fourfaceted awls; given a lack of permanent settlements, the presence of only inexpressive dune temporary campsites (Merpert 1974).

Volga is the major variant of the Yamnaya culture that generated all major features of the future Yamnaya community: The earliest burials that are correlated with the Late Eneolithic burials have been found here; the migration of the Yamnaya culture people to the west and east started from here; and the sites of the Volga region Yamnaya culture are the basis of the Middle Bronze Poltavka culture genesis.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

Major part of the territory is steppe zone. The Volga valley is characterized by availability of common grass soils of the floodlands or upper floodland terraces. The middle trans-Volga area, the region of the Samarskaya Luka, and the area to the south provide typical medium humus chernozems. The territory is cut by ravines and streams. Small areas of deciduous forests (birch tree, oak) alternate with huge areas of the north variety of grass steppe. Usually very podzolic and saline soils extend in a wide belt as far as Eruslan and the upper Usens. Farther to the south, these soils combine with considerable sectors of brown grass soils. Farther to the south as far as the Caspian sea, sand dunes and semistabilized sands occur. The north part overlaps the forest-steppe zone where steppe zones alternate with deciduous forests. The steppe zone begins in the Saratov region: The north zone includes mixed grass, fescue, feather grass soils of moderately humid steppes of chernozem. This is the first zone. The second, southern zone is a dry fescue and feather grass steppe; on southern chernozems and dark chestnut soils. In the Volgograd Volga region, the steppe zone is replaced by the semidesert zone that extends as far as the northern part of the Caspian sea lowlands. Climate fluctuations at the turn of the Atlantic and Subboreal periods changed the border of the forest-steppe and semidesert; it shifted down to the south. The final stage of the Yamnaya culture is characterized by general aridization of the climate.

Settlements

No stationary permanent settlements have been uncovered. There existed seasonal winter and summer campsites located in deep areas of the steppe and in the riverine valley. The occupation layer is not expressive; there are no traces of any habitation. All camps are located in the dunes. Fragments of egg-shaped vessels and flint microliths have been found.

Economy

Mobile herding was the basis of the Volga region Yamnaya culture tribes' economy. Rearing ovicaprids, the use of wheeled transport in the form of wooden wagons, and the use of the horse in the economy provided the mobility of economic life. Seasonal use of grasslands is likely: alternation of winter pastures that were located close to the Volga with summer pastures located in the open steppe. The role played by hunting is insignificant; fishing and agriculture did not occur (Shilov 1975).

Sociopolitical Organization

Apparently, the Yamnaya culture population of the Volga region could be united in a tribal union, nuclear families of which were formed by groups of related families. Seasonal migrations of these tribal unions contributed to the flourishing of the herding economy. The unity of the tribal confederation was determined by genealogical relationships and the institution of age classes. It is possible that as early as this period the institution of tribal chiefs whose social importance was emphasized by rare insignia of power found in the burials (axes, maces) and who could arrange migrations of some Yamnaya tribes from the homeland area to neighboring territories started to develop. This tribal elite could implement economic and social control. The role played by intercultural marriages with neighboring Yamnaya tribes is quite obvious.

Religious and Expressive Culture

Beliefs in life after death were reflected in a specific attitude toward the burial rites, which is traditional and not very expressive at the early stage but becomes differentiated in accordance with the social and property position of the dead during subsequent periods. Various ornamental compositions were used on the pottery, especially cord ornament; bronze jewelry of North

Eurasian Steppe Nomad 135

Caucasus ongm, bone pendants, and flattened beads satisfied the requirements of the local population.

References

Merpert, Nikolai Y. (1974). Drevneishii skotovody Volzhsko-Uralskogo mezhdurech'ya (Ancient Cattle-Herders of the Volga-Ural Interfluvial Region). Moscow: Nauka.

Turetski, Michail A. (1988). "Keramika pogrebenii yamnoy kulturi Volzhsko-Uralskogo mezhdurech'ya Buried Ceramics of CaveDweller Culture in the Volga-Ural Region"). In Problemi izucheniya archaologicheskoi keramiki (Problems of Studying Archeological Ceramics) ed. Igor B. Vasiliev. Kuibishev: Kuibyshevskii Pedagogi-

cheskii Institut, 35--42.

Shilov, Valentin P. (1975). Ocherki po istorii drevnikh plemen Nizhnego Povolzh'ya (Essays on the History of Ancient Tribes of the Lower Volga Region). Leningrad: Nauka.

SITES

Boldyrevo

TIME PERIOD: 5400-4000 B.P.

LOCATION AND IMPORTANT EXPANSION: Southwestern

Orenburg region, the Ilek river.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

This Yamnaya site is located on the Ilek river that flows in the Urals watershed uplands and plain steppe province of the Russian plain and is the right tributary of the Ural river. The burial ground is located along the edge of the terrace situated over the floodlands. Dry gramineous steppe with black chernozems was typical for the Bronze Age. Wormwood, fescue, and feather grass vegetation predominated (Demkin and Ryskov 1996).

Physical Features

Kurgan mounds are small and low. Burials are located in quadrangular pits with ledge profiles. The pits are roofed with timber. The bottom is covered with red ocher. Skeletons lying on the right side or on the back in contracted posture were found on the bottom. The orientation is to the east or to the northeast. The skulls

136Eurasian Steppe Nomad

and feet of the dead are covered with ocher. Some burials have no goods. Others are noted for the presence of sets of copper tools and weapons, ceramic flat-bottomed vessels, and copper knives. Treated hollow bird bones and two pieces of "boiled iron have been found. A major burial of kurgan 1 is of particular interest. It was performed in a pit with shoulders roofed with a wooden ceiling. The bottom of the pit was covered with a mat made of dark brown bark that was sprinkled with ocher. The skeleton was destroyed by robbers. A copper knife in a wooden scabbard finished with leather was lying on the bottom of the pit. In the Yamnaya culture burial of kurgan 5, the dead person was covered with a blanket made of light bark, and a lot of ocher was placed on the body (Morgunova and Kraustov 1991)

Cultural Aspects

The burial ground is typical for the Urals piedmont region. The burial rite shows stability in the Urals piedmont Yamnaya culture. It is different from other rites in the construction of the pit, which has shoulders. Burials with pieces of iron are singled out. The composition of one of the knives is arsenic bronze of the North Caucasus origin, which presupposes its imported origin. Apparently, the Urals Yamnaya culture people who left us the Boldyrevo settlement had direct relationships with the Late Yamnaya and Poltavka populations of the Volga region.

References

Morgunova, Nina L., Kravtsov, and Alexandr Yu (1991). "Drevneyamnaya kultura Priural'ya" ("Ancient Cave-Dweller Culture in the Ural Region"). Sovetskaya Archeologiya 2: 000-000.

Demkin, Vladimir A., and Yakov G. Ryskov (1996). Pochvy i prirodnaya sreda suchich stepei yuzhnogo Urala v epokhu bronzi i rannego zheleza (Soils and Natural Resources of the Arid Steppes of South Ural in the Bronze Age and Early fron Age). Pushino: Pushinskii Nauchnii Institut.

Mikhailovka

TIME PERIOD: 5000-4300 B.P.

LOCATION AND IMPORTANT EXPANSION: Village of Mi-

khailovka, Novo-Vorontsovsky district, Kherson region, Ukraine.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

Grassland soils of the floodlands and upper floodland terraces, chernozems. Mixed grass, fescue, feather grass steppes. Bairach forests grow in large ravines: oak, lime. Atlantic-continental climate. The settlement is located on a high hill; the adjacent plateau from the west and a neighboring southwestern hill also form part of the settlement.

Physical Features

The middle and upper layers date to the Yamnaya age; the lower layer is related to the Eneolithic. During the middle period, the area of the settlement was 1.5 ha. Habitation complexes were located in three groups. One group of houses was situated in the southeastern part; the second was located 15 km to the north; the third was located in the northeastern part of the promontory. Clay-made hearths found both in the houses and outside them are characteristic features of the settlement. Artifacts included flint scrapers, knives on flakes, stone rubbers, millstones, sling stones, axes, hoes, bone and horn awls, harpoons. Metallic goods are represented only by awls that are four-faceted in cross-section. The pottery is shell, sand, and lime tempered. Two main forms have been identified: (1) flat-bottomed pots decorated with cord and pearl ornament, sometimes with cord impressions covering a considerable part of the vessel surface; (2) egg-shaped pots with a high straight, clearly cut rim, low shoulders, and a round bottom, and ornament covering the upper part of the vessel. Cord and comb impressions are most common. Late Tripolye red clay painted amphorae have been uncovered. Kurgans in the watersheds of rivers and settlements correspond to the middle horizon of the settlement of Mikhailovka.

During the late period, people settled on the plateau that is adjacent to the main hill in the west and the neighboring southwestern hill. At the late stage, there appear defensive constructions that consisted of moats and stone walls. The central hill where public and cult houses were located was the most fortified. Major defensive constructions were located on the central hill near the slope from the side of the river. A wall that was 45 m long crossed the settlement and ended near the edge of the steep eastern slope. A second wall was 34 m long. A third wall ran parallel. Another wall was erected from the side of the plateau. A road to the settlement was made over the moat. The walls were made of local

limestone in one or two rows. Sometimes the stones were strengthened with a soil solution. Dwellings were located on the southwestern hill. Two types of dwellings have been identified: (1) small oval premises with a foundation that was slightly sunk into the soil, constructed of clay and reed; (2) oneand three-chamber surface houses that were rectangular in the plane, the socle of which was 1 m high and made of stone, with the upper part of the walls made of clay. Stone nests that served as the foundations for the posts that supported the roofs have been uncovered in some dwellings. Artifacts included two types of pots: (1) pots with eggshaped body and round or flat bottom and a high rim, decorated with cord or comb impressions; (2) eggshaped pots with a short straight rim and high shoulders, decorated with cord-impressed ornament and finger nips. Plates and censors refer to a separate group. Flaked flint weapons are typical: scrapers, knives, arrow points, spear points, daggers. Stone goods are represented by ax-hammers, battle axes, rubbers, sinkers, millstones. Twenty-six items made of copper have been found: awls, chisels, adzes. A great number of mortars for crushing ore and anvils to treat manufactured copper goods and a nozzle have been found (Archeologiya... 1985).

Cultural Aspects

The settlement of Mikhailovka is one of the most expressive sites of the Yamnaya culture. Its significance is great because the lower layer is dated to the Eneolithic period, which is important for the resolution of the origin of Yamnaya culture in connection with its links with the preceding Eneolithic layer. The settlement's finds and bones of domesticated and wild animals are evidence of a great role played by herding, rearing cows and bulls. There is also evidence of an important part played by the horse in economic life, and of household agriculture (flint sickles) and of a possible use of draft animals during plowing. Bones of domesticated animals account for 89.5 percent; bones of wild animals account for 10.5 percent. First place in the herd is occupied by the bull (38 percent), followed by ovicaprids (32.5 percent); then the horse (17.6 percent). Fishing and wild game hunting played a certain part in the economy. Availability of tools related to forging and metalworking productions is indicative of a certain specialization of the local population. Burials have been found in the settlement itself, which, in fact, is not typical for steppe cultures, but this tradition is spread in the early agricultural cultures of the Northwest Pontic region.

Eurasian Steppe Nomad 137

Censors and amphorae found in the upper layer are evidence of a possible exchange or coexistence with the tribes of the Kemi-Oba and the Early Catacomb cultures (Lagodovska et al. 1962).

References

Archaeologiya Ukrainskoi SSR (Archeology of the Ukrainian SSR)

(1985). ed. Ivan I. Artemenko. Kiev: Naukova Dumka. Lagodovska, Olga F., Olga G. Shaposhnokova, and Michail L.

Majarevitch (1962). Mikchailovskoye poseleniye (The Mikhchailovskoye Settlement). Kiev: Izzdarelstvo Akademii Nauk Ukrainskoi RSR.

Zunda-Tolga

TIME PERIOD: 4500-4000 B.P. (Alexandrovskii et al. 1997).

LOCATION AND IMPORTANT EXPANSION: Russia, republic of

Kalmykia, lake Chograi.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

The Katakombnaya burial ground of Zunda-Tolga is located on the territory of the Kumo-Manych depression. It is a part of the Caspian sea level that is characterized by flat surface. The climate is temperate and severe continental (Kremenetskii 1997). Semidesert vegetation-fescue, feather grass, wormwood-predomi- nates. The soils are brown desert and steppe, saline in various degrees. Saiga, gray goose, savka, bustard are representative of the fauna.

Physical Features

The burial ground is located on a small hill and is composed of 20 kurgan mounds extended along the west-east line. The main kurgan mounds belong to the North Caucasus Piedmont Katakombnaya culture. Kurgans above the main burials reach 1 m and have a diameter of up to 30 m. The burials occur mostly in catacombs; the position of the dead is on the left side in contracted posture. Mats have been preserved on the bottoms of the tombs. The orientation of the dead is mostly southern and southeastern. Many have been

138Eurasian Steppe Nomad

found in the burials: clay vessels, bronze knives and awls, bone pendants, and flattened beads. Almost every burial has a brazier or a censer with coal. Studies have shown that box tree and tamarisk were used to make fire. Approximately half of the dead had deformed skulls. One burial made in a large rectangular pit with shoulders is noted. It was roofed with a wooden ceiling on which a bronze knife, a stone ax-adze, and a censor were left. The dead was "seated" on the bottom of the burial pit on a special wooden scaffolding. A stone scepter was located nearby. A canopy erected over the dead was supported by four wooden pillars. Bones of sheep, goat and horse, have been uncovered in the kurgan mounds along with eggshells (Shishlina 1997).

Cultural Aspects

Analysis of the funeral rite shows that mobile herding was the main occupation of the population at the burial ground of Zunda-Tolga. Phytolith analysis has shown that the area where the burial ground was located was subject to intensive pasturing. The seasons when some burials were made have been identified: early spring and autumn. Apparently, this place was used as winter grasslands. North Caucasus metal, ocher, box tree of North Caucasus origin, as well as the presence of rare North Caucasus burials in the burial ground, are very strong evidence of close cultural links between the

local people and the North Caucasus region based, apparently, not only on trade exchange, but also on cross-cultural marriages. The burial of the "chieftain" in a large rectangular pit is evidence of the existence of military men among the local population. Supposedly, the kurgan burial ground was used by one or two tribal collectives as a family necropolis.

References

Kremenetskii, Constantin V. (1997). "Holocene Environment of the Low Don and Kalmyk Area." In Steppe and the Caucasus (Cultural Tradition), ed. P. Kozzin. Moscow: Dominant, 30-46.

Shishlina, Natalia I. (I997). "Stratigraphy, chronology and culture of kurgan I from the burial groind Zunda-Tolga." Steppe and the Caucasus (Cultural Tradition), ed. P. Kozzin. Moscow: Dominant, 81-92.

Alexandrovskii Alexandr L., Olga A. Chichagova, Konstantin E. Pustovoitov, and Natalia I Shishlina (1997). "Merhod and Approaches of the CI4 Investigation of the Archaeological Sites of the Steppe Region of Russia." Steppe and the Caucasus (Cultural Tradition), ed. P. Kozzin. Moscow: Dominant, 9-21.

NATALIA SHISHLINA

Department of Archaeology

State Historical Museum

Moscow

Russia

European Early Bronze Age

ABSOLUTE TIME PERIOD: c. 4700-4000 B.P. (calibrated

carbon years).

RELATIVE TIME PERIOD: The Early Bronze Age (EBA) follows the European Eneolithic and precedes the Northeastern and the Western European Bronze Age traditions.

LOCATION: From the Rhine (in the west) to the Dnester (in the east) and from the southern border of Poland in the north to the northern edge of Mediterranean Europe (borders of Macedonia, Dalmatia, Slovenia in the south).

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Appearance of bronze

tools and ornaments and local bronze manufacture; appearance of new metal types, such as elaborate shafthole axes and the first blade weapons (swords); continuation of copper tools and ornaments. Outstanding features include formation of tell-sites in Pannonia and other lowland areas; fortified sites in the surrounding uplands; shell-tempered pottery; separate cemetery sites; a great deal of regional diversity in material culture (i.e., ceramics); and new modes of subsistence. Cultural traditions become increasingly regional and localized.

REGIONAL SUBTRADITIONS: The Danube and its tributaries criss cross the area and impose a certain unity in terms of ease of communication within each region, allowing the formation of subtraditions. The river systems and

their valleys form "natural corridors" through the mountainous, forested, and marshy areas and have provided important lines of communication and movement from prehistory to the present. Geographically, there are several macroregions, each of which has a series of related but culturally distinct regional subtraditions. The cultures in these areas are linked by the presence of a small number of distinctive artifact forms:

Western traditions-Unetice in West central Europe (Germany, Slovakia, southwestern Poland, and western Austria).

2 Central traditions-Hatvan, Nagyrev, Nitra, Maros (including Pitvaros and Mokrin), late Zok, and Vinkovci (including the Great Hungarian plain or Pannonia, and the areas of the plain and the surrounding highlands that fall within the surrounding countries of southern Slovakia, western Romania, northern Yugoslavia, eastern Croatia, and eastern Austria).

3Eastern traditions-Glina-Schneckenberg (in Transylvania), and Cernavoda and Foltesti in Eastern Central Europe (east of the Carpathians)-- Moldavia, eastern Romania (beyond the Carpathians), and northern Bulgaria.

4Southern traditions-Bubanj-Hum IIIb (central and southern Serbia).

The cultures to the north and northeast of this area are commonly called the Corded Ware

139

140 European Early Bronze Age

tradition, and to the north and west IS the Bell Beaker tradition.

IMPORTANT SITES: Region l-Unetice, Rivnac; Region 2-Branc, Klarfalva-Hajdova, Kiszombor-Uj EJet, Mokrin, Nitra, Sz6reg, Spizzky Stvrtok, Vinkovci; Region 3-Cernavoda, Foltesti, Glina, Habasesti, Schneckenberg; Region 4-Bubanj, Novacka, Cuprija.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

The Early Bronze Age of temperate Central Europe (within the Danube drainage) is the period that witnessed some of the most dramatic and widespread social and economic transformations in European prehistory between the introduction of agriculture (at the advent of the 7th millennium B.C.) and the Roman conquest (at the turn of the modern era). During this period, social stratification, new social and religious ideologies, new technologies and modes of production, and a realignment of human adaptation to environment take place. There is evidence for incipient social stratification, more intensive agricultural production, more diversified domestic herding strategies, exploitation of the agriculturally marginal highland zone, dispersion of foodproducing communities throughout the remaining unoccupied habitats, widespread adoption of metallurgy, and a clearer enunciation of male dominance in most cultural realms. The foundation of modern food production systems are consolidated. These changes set the stage for the earliest complex societies in temperate Europe, north of the Mediterranean littoral.

Environment

Climate. Central Europe has a moist temperate continental climate, with cold wet winters and warm moist summers. Climatic variability is largely a function of altitude and proximity to the neighboring climatic regions. For example, along its southern perimeter, it retains features of the more arid Mediterranean climatic zone to the south. The area has a continental rainfall regime, with precipitation evenly distributed throughout the year. The highest precipitation is during the summer (June) and the lowest during the winter (February). Rainfall across the entire area is sufficient for dry faTming. In the late fall and early winter (November to March), snow begins to accompany the alteration in temperature. The open plains allow snow accumulations to be easily blown away by the winds. In the uplands, accumulations often remain for long periods, inhibiting

movement. Fast-flowing streams and rivers freeze in the lowlands, but less in the uplands.

The Early Bronze Age evolved during the Sub-Boreal climatic phase (c. 3000--1000 B.C.). In comparison to the preceding Atlantic period, sharp rainfall fluctuations, a slight decrease in temperature (to c. 16.25°C), and a slightly drier climate generally characterize the first half of the Sub-Boreal. Several small climatic fluctuations take place, with sharp rainfall fluctuations. Pollen spectra indicate a decrease in arboreal pollen as the treeline dropped, meadows opened up, and forests were cleared owing to increase in the area of land under cultivation and for grazing. The spread of settlement and introduction and rapid spread of plow cultivation and beginning of transhumant herding also contributed to this decline. Deforestation was not as widespread in temperate Europe as along the Mediterranean littoral, although altitudinal zoning of deciduous forests was reduced.

Topography. Sites are found in an extremely wide range of altitudinal environments, ranging from lowland marshes to mountain tops. Virtually every major environmental zone, not occupied or ignored during the Neolithic, is colonized during the preceding Eneolithic or the Early Bronze Age.

Geology. The region is linked by the Danube and its tributaries as they drain into the Black sea. The region can be divided into three major geological regions, the Upper, Middle, and Lower Danube basins, with their respective uplands. The geology of the region is highly varied, but is largely characterized by broad alluvial plains bordered by high mountains. The plains are often marshy depositional basins, whereas the surrounding higher regions are better drained. The hills and mountains bordering the valleys are very fertile. They were once covered by thick forests, little of which remain today, having been cleared in historic and prehistoric times. The soils covering the floodplains and hilly ridges are presently under cultivation. A thick blanket of Pleistocene loess blanketed much of the area and became the basis for much of the rich modern soil covering the region during the Holocene.

Biota. The plant communities of the area fall within the central European biotic region. There is usually a 7-8- month growing season. Climatic change, deforestation, and agricultural practices have all functioned to transform the biotic landscape. Pollen diagrams indicate that the environment was probably much the same in the Bronze Age as at present, barring modern deforestation. Typical central European types of deciduous