Contacts of the North-West Black Sea Coast Population in the Late Bronze Age

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to consider the possibility of Timber-grave (Zrubna) culture influencing on the western area of Sabatynivka culture on the one hand and the likelihood of connections of the population of the Sabatynivka culture of the Northwest Black Sea in the eastern direction on the other. The methods of research are comparative historical, chronological method and scientific methods. The scientific novelty consists in the comparison of archaeological data on the Sabatynivka culture of the region and the results of genetic analysis. Conclusions . In the late Bronze Age, the steppe part of Right-Bank Ukraine, steppe Crimea, and Pryazovie were inhabited by tribes of Sabatynivka culture. It is dated to the 15th-12th centuries BC. Most researchers associate its origin with Babyne culture. Timber-grave culture in Ukraine was widespread, mainly on the left bank of the Dnieper. In the steppes of the Dnieper region, archaeological material reflected contacts between the Sabatynivka and the Timbergrave cultures. This is not surprising. In this situation, the Dnieper is not only a border between cultures but also their contact zone. Due to the western influences (cultures of the Lower Danube region), archaeologists include the Sabatynivka culture in the Sabatynivka – Noua – Coslogeni cultural and historical community. But there is reason to suppose that the Black Sea steppe and a small part of the population are penetrating to the west. This is evidenced by the findings of ceramics with features of Timbergrave culture, found on the settlement Grybivka IV of Sabatynivka culture in the Odesa region. The Late Bronze Age monuments often trace the influence of different cultural traditions. This is reflected, first of all, in the composition of the ceramic complex, the method of making ceramics, its ornamentation. Most of the pottery found in Grybivka IV is traditional for the monuments of the Sabatynivka culture of the Northwest Black Sea. However, the decoration made by the notched stamp resembles the finds well-represented on the Timber-grave culture sites situated between the Volga and Ural rivers. Some ornamental compositions detected on the vessel fragments from the Grybivka IV site are known on the Timber-grave pottery, namely those which are treated as an element of Andronovo culture. DNA analysis also reflected the evidence of transcultural contacts. The bones from the burial of Sabatynivka culture Sychavka 1/6 were subjected to this analysis. The deceased appeared to be a relative of another sample taken from the burial of Timber-grave culture and living in the Samara region (Russian Federation).