Yamnaya Research Articles

A grave in Ilyatka and Globular Amphora site cluster on the Southern Bug, Podillya, Ukraine

Discussed in the article, the multi-burial grave from Ilyatka (Staraya Sinyava district, Khmelnytskyi province, Ukraine) is the first feature of the Globular Amphora culture in the drainage basin of the upper Southern Bug to be subjected to comprehensive bioarchaeological and chronological analyses. The time when the remains of seven people (four men and three women) were deposited in it was determined to be 2700–2550 BC. The feature is part of a small site cluster on the upper Southern Bug, made up of 16 sites. The importance of the cluster follows from its location in one of the crucial communication hubs of the Ukrainian forest-steppe. This makes the cluster vital for the exploration of the forest-steppe settlement by Globular Amphora communities, their expansion towards the middle Dnieper area, and connections to Yamnaya culture groups.

FRONTIER DYNAMICS IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATIC CHANGE

Climatic changes (aridization) in the Early Bronze Age allowed the population of the North-Western Black Sea coast to use natural resources in a greater volume than before. On the one hand, steppe ecosystems were such resources. The expansion of the steppe zone and its transformation stimulated the development of cattle-breeding economy. Therefore, part of the agricultural Late Tripolye population chose to change territory (relocation to the Northwestern Black Sea coast) and switch to a new for themselves economic and cultural type (mobile cattle breeding) to overcome the crisis situation. In our opinion, the analysis of the archaeological sources and the cultural and ecological situation indicate that the North-Western Frontier can be attributed to the cattle-breeding type. Taking into account the analysis of the colonization attractors and the relations between the newcomers (Yamna culture) and the local population in the zone of the Balkan-Carpathian Frontier, we can conclude that it belongs to the trade type. Apparently, the population, having advanced from the North-Western Black Sea coast, built peaceful relations with its partners, organically fitting into the context of the communities of South-Eastern Europe. Consideration of interrelations of the Yamna culture population with the autochthonous population demonstrates the multivariance of contacts and the absence of uniform norms and scenarios. Each micro-region had its own peculiarities, which do not indicate the replacement of the local population by aliens. The conclusions of geneticists about the total migration of the Yamna population to Central and Southeastern Europe, which led to the replacement of genetics and the formation of new cultures, can be refuted not only in terms of archaeology, but also in the framework of the frontier theory. The starting point of the frontier is the meeting of different communities and the interaction between them, which leads to processes of transformation. This is why understanding the frontier as a process allows researchers to move from its spatial localization to the social aspect. The theory of the frontier opens wide prospects for historical and archaeological research.

Male-biased migration from East Africa introduced pastoralism into southern Africa

BackgroundHunter-gatherer lifestyles dominated the southern African landscape up to ~ 2000 years ago, when herding and farming groups started to arrive in the area. First, herding and livestock, likely of East African origin, appeared in southern Africa, preceding the arrival of the large-scale Bantu-speaking agro-pastoralist expansion that introduced West African-related genetic ancestry into the area. Present-day Khoekhoe-speaking Namaqua (or Nama in short) pastoralists show high proportions of East African admixture, linking the East African ancestry with Khoekhoe herders. Most other historical Khoekhoe populations have, however, disappeared over the last few centuries and their contribution to the genetic structure of present-day populations is not well understood. In our study, we analyzed genome-wide autosomal and full mitochondrial data from a population who trace their ancestry to the Khoekhoe-speaking Hessequa herders from the southern Cape region of what is now South Africa.ResultsWe generated genome-wide data from 162 individuals and mitochondrial DNA data of a subset of 87 individuals, sampled in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, where the Hessequa population once lived. Using available comparative data from Khoe-speaking and related groups, we aligned genetic date estimates and admixture proportions to the archaeological proposed dates and routes for the arrival of the East African pastoralists in southern Africa. We identified several Afro-Asiatic-speaking pastoralist groups from Ethiopia and Tanzania who share high affinities with the East African ancestry present in southern Africa. We also found that the East African pastoralist expansion was heavily male-biased, akin to a pastoralist migration previously observed on the genetic level in ancient Europe, by which Pontic-Caspian Steppe pastoralist groups represented by the Yamnaya culture spread across the Eurasian continent during the late Neolithic/Bronze Age.ConclusionWe propose that pastoralism in southern Africa arrived through male-biased migration of an East African Afro-Asiatic-related group(s) who introduced new subsistence and livestock practices to local southern African hunter-gatherers. Our results add to the understanding of historical human migration and mobility in Africa, connected to the spread of food-producing and livestock practices.

Міграції чи культурні контакти: щодо теорії «ямної навали» на терени Центральної Європи

It is noted that some researchers have associated the migration of ancestors of Indo-Europeans to Europe with the Yamna cultural and historical community. It is established that based on a comparison of genomic markers from the remains of the Volga-Ural group of Yamna culture and representatives of European populations from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age, Western geneticists recently proposed their concept of mass migration of bearers of Yamna culture to Central Europe, which led to the emergence of Corded ware culture. It is noted that from the archaeological point of view, neither this large-scale migration nor the origin of the «Corded ware culture people» from the «Yamna culture people» can be traced. It has been suggested that the formation of Corded ware cultures took place along with the formation of Yamna cultural community on a unified genetic substrate. It is noted that the similarity of genetic determinants in YCHC and CWC is not the result of the formation of one culture from another, but indicates a common genetic basis, which arose from complex processes of interaction between agricultural and steppe populations, which later developed according to individual cultural trajectories. The advance of the Yamna population to the west is considered as an intrusion into the local environment, not as its mass migration to Central Europe. It is assumed that there was a «trade colonization» with the formation of enclaves, covering the newcomers and the local population, with a gradual advance to the west. This is supported by the fact that in Central Europe about 20 burials of Yamna culture have been studied, which do not form a unified complex but occur in cemeteries of different cultures. It has been established that the main movement of the population of the Yamna culture to the west was along the Danube and partly through Transylvania, where the sites of CWC are unknown. The initial area from which the intrusion was carried out is the North-Western Black Sea region. It is concluded that such statistical information gives reason to doubt the mass migration of bearers of Yamna culture from the Volga-Ural watershed to Central Europe. It is noted that instead the migration of the Seredniodniprovska culture, which settled on the territory of the Northern Sub-Carpathian region and the Sokal Ridge, is much more clearly expressed. It has been established that the population of this culture joined the local CWC environment, forming syncretic sites with features of two and sometimes three (Yamna/Catacombna) cultures. It is known that after Seredniodniprovska culture the representatives of Catacombna culture penetrated Central Europe in the north-western direction. Their presence is most clearly traced in the environment of Strzyżowska culture. It has been established that the movement of the Babyne culture population to the territory of the Sub-Carpathian region, and especially to the Western Volhynia – to places where flint outcrops are localized, the environment of Horodok-Zdovbytsia and Strzyżowska cultures is increasingly observed. Key words: Yamna culture, Corded ware culture, Catacombna culture, Seredniodniprovska culture, Strzyżowska culture, migration, intercultural contacts, barrow, burial.

GRAVES OF THE SCYTHIAN AMAZONS: TYPOLOGY AND DESIGN FEATURES

Types of burial structures are one of the most reliable ethno-differentiating criterion. They are commonly due to local natural and economic factors that were accepted by the newcomer population along with main characteristics of their own ritual.
 As for the shape, the graves of Scythian warriors are arbitrarily divided into 11 types with options, which in general make up three main groups: simple pits and more intricate variable chamber constructions such as undercut and catacombs.
 303 graves of women with weapons from 267 barrows are known in the territory of European Scythia. More than half of them (55 %) have not been looted. By territorial principle they can be divided into five main groups: 1) Lower Dnipro steppe (or Steppe); 2) Crimea Foothills; 3) Danube-Dnister steppes (or Transnistria); 4) Forest Steppe Dnipro area (or Forest Steppe); 5) Don region (Steppe and partly Forest Steppe).
 In total, among graves of the Amazons of European Scythia the undercut (alcove) graves are the most represented — 104, inferior to them are catacombs — 99 and pit graves — 80, undefined — 20. However, the indicators for some groups differ significantly.
 We can mention the following design features of the graves: ground steps and hollow in the bottom of entrance pit, separation of entrance to dromos or chamber etc.
 Some specific features are also present in the arrangement of internal space of the graves (nishes, wall and ceiling design, floor decoration, arrangement of a funeral bed etc.).
 So, burial complexes of the female warriors correspond to Scythian regulations, that is, the design of ground and underground elements does not stand out in the burial ground. Here, we are dealing only with regional features typical for community members who lived there.

METAL KNIVES OF THE BRONZE AGE FROM THE VICINITY OF KAMYANA MOHYLA (WESTERN AZOV SEA REGION)

Metal (copper and bronze) knives is one of the most striking categories of artefacts in the materials of the Black Sea cultures of the Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age. In addition to introducing new archaeological evidences to scientific community, the paper aims to analyze the place of a representative series of knives (8 items) from the vicinity of Kamyana Mohyla (Zaporizhzhya region) in the cultural and chronological coordinate system of the southern part of Eastern Europe Bronze Age. Three knives came from the Yamna culture burials. The one with an oval blade of the Zarechnoe type (kurgan 1, burial 8) is similar to those used on the vast area from the North-Western Black Sea region to the North Caucasus. Knives from Novopilipovka (kurgan 6, burial 5) and Semenovka (kurgan 2, burial 1) introduce some local features and were probably produced by the local metalworking center. Four other knives are related to the Catacomb culture. The one with a sub-triangular blade and an accented handle from Zarechnoe (kurgan 7, burial 1) belongs to the artefacts that occure rarely during the Catacomb time, but was common for the Yamnaya culture in Crimea and in the Dnieper region. Other types of artefacts do not meet the analogies in Yamnaya culture burials. Knives with a leaf-shaped short blade and maximum widening in their upper part (Zarechnoe, kurgan 17, burial 4) are usually attributed to the Catacomb culture of the Seversky Donets basin and to the east of the Don river. Knives of the Kamyana Mohyla 5 type with a leaf-shaped blade and a long handle are also usually found at the Catacomb sites of the Seversky Donets basin. Knives of the Sekiz 3 type with a long handle and a short sub-rhombic blade originated in the Catacomb culture and the final Novotitorovka group. They are localized in the eastern regions (the Don basin, the Lower Volga, and the North Caucasus). A knife from the Terpinnya site is associated with the monuments of the second period of the Berezhno-Mayevskaya Srubnaya culture and is similar to the finds coming from the archaeological sites in the steppe Dnieper region and Azov Sea region in the second half of the second millennium BC. The large number of metal knives found in the studied area during the Bronze Age, which originate both from burials and settlements was probably related to the use of Kamyana Mohyla Hill as a ritual place.

THE BRONZE AGE KURGAN NEAR THE VILLAGE OF GROZDEVE IN UMAN REGION

This paper presents the data from the excavation of the kurgan 6 near the village of Grozdeve in Uman region of the Cherkasy oblast. The complex was investigated by the Expedition of the Cherkasy Archaeological Rescue Surveys in 2011. This kurgan was a component of the large kurgan group located to the east and north-east from the village of Grozdeve, near the road Uman — Kirovohrad in the direction of the village of Babanka. Topographically the kurhan cemetery is located on top of the watershed of the rivers Umanka (from the west) and Revukha (from the east), which flow into the Yatran river (basing of the Southern Buh).
 Kurhan 6 was located in the central part of the group. The southern part of the kurgan was partly destroyed by the road, which was built in 1950s. Initially the elevation of kurgan reached 2.5—3 m. By the moment of excavations its elevation reached 1.3—1.5 m, and the diameter was measured to 35—40 m. The kurgan included ten burials of the Bronze Age. Eight of those belong to the Yamna culure (3rd mil. BC), two others were attributed to the Babyne cultural complex (the first half of the 2nd mil. BC). Despite the significantly destroyed mound, profiles preserved the stratigraphy of the kurgan. The buried soil and at least two mounds were identified.
 Yamna burials are similar to the Southern Buh variation of the Yamna culutural complex by its ritual: nearly rectangular pits covered with wood, remains of bark on the floor, position of skeletons, burials of two people, western and eastern orientation of buried, use of ochre etc. Two burials included ceramic pots with a short neck, egg-shaped body and sharp bottom. Those are dated to the late period of Yamna culture.
 Babyne burials do not have significant features. Both are characterized by nearly rectangular pits of a small size and depth, organic remains on the floor and wooden constructions in burials, eastern orientation of buried, the lack of inventory. These burials are dated to the late period of the culture (Dnipro-Prut Babyne culture).

FRONTIER PHENOMENON IN A SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT

Vitalij V. Otroschenko made a great contribution to the study of Copper and Bronze Age cultures in Ukraine. His researches of absolute and relative chronology, cultural changes and cultural coexistence have particular interest in the context of this article. They allow a reader to focus more reasonably on cultural and historical processes of North-Western Black Sea and Balkan-Carpathian regions staying within the frame of the frontier theory.
 Most of researchers on the topic consider the «frontier» as a special zone of interference of different cultures. The frontier is also meant a special area where several cultures meet, shaping new socio-cultural relations. The frontier differs from deeper territory in higher mobility, where movement of large groups of people create new forms of cultural and social contacts. The system of intercultural communication depends on many factors, including the history of formation of the cultural landscape of the territory where intercultural communication is taking place.
 Originally, the concept of «frontier» was applied exclusively to American history, but now we meet it in works related to the history of Ukraine. The situation of the frontier zone has begun to attract archeologists though in a rather narrow area concerning social changes (in the context of anthropological archeology).
 The special nature of the source base of history and archaeology, especially in the preliterate period, determines similarities and differences of frontier problems studying by these sciences. The specificity of archaeological artefacts, on which the study of archaeological cultures relies to a large extent, must also be taken into account: they can spread over quite long distances in the means of exchange, without people movement.
 In archaeological research of European Bronze Age, the Pit Grave (Yamnaya) culture is in the great importance; interest towards it has been reinforced by the latest genetic research. The mobility of society, innovation in the material culture of its western range allowed us to consider the Pit Grave cultural and historical community within the frontier theory.
 At the same time, the comparison of two adjacent frontier zones (North-Western Black Sea Coast and Balkan-Carpathian area) made it possible to compare their common and special traits, in the context of their interconnection and mutual influences, taking into account the aspect of social identification.

Новые данные о начале функционирования Приуральского (Каргалинского) горно-металлургического центра

The article summarizes the data on the initial stage of metal production in the Southern Urals of the Bronze Age. Lots of Yamnaya culture burial mounds with copper items inside were excavated near the Kargaly deposit in the Orenburg oblast. The variety and originality of tools forms indicate the independent nature of the Ural metallurgy in the early Bronze Age. The authors present new data that allows us to reconstruct the process of metal production at the Repin (early) stage of the Yamnaya culture and explain the beginning of this process by the development of the Kargaly copper ore deposit. Excavations of the Turganik settlement were carried out. Cultural layer 5 of the early Bronze Age is dated to 3800–3360 cal BC. It is characterized by ceramics and other artefacts of the Repin type. Fragments of Kargaly copper ore, slags and copper tools (knife, awls) were found in the layer. The traceological analysis of about approximately 100 items made of stone and animal bones was performed. 41 of them are related to metallurgy and metalworking. They represent tools of all metallurgical production stages, starting from metal extraction from ore to the processing of the finished copper product. Functional groups of products such as ore mortar, ore crushing hammers, casting molds, forging hammers, anvils, edges leveling tools, sharpening stones, and others have been identified. Stone artifacts from the burials were also studied, including ore crushing and forging hammers. No mining tools were found at the settlement. It is concluded that the ore was extracted and processed at the Kargaly deposit, located 70 km to the east, and then delivered to the settlement as an enriched concentrate. The settlement was seasonal. Metallurgical activity here took its place in the summer, since the main type of economic activity was nomadic pastoralism.

Погребальный комплекс среднесарматского времени из могильника Опушки в Крыму

The Necropolis of Opushki is located in approximately 15 km to the east from Simferopol, 2–2,5 km to the south-west from the village of Opushki of Mazanka Rural Settlement in Crimea. Illegal excavations have been conducted on the territory of the cemetery since 2002. More than 200 burials constructions were destroyed as a result of grave robbers actions on the territory of about 3 hectares. Scientific researches of the necropolis were conducted in 2003 – 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013–2014, 2016–2020. During this period, more than 300 burials of different types have been uncovered (crypts, simple pit graves, shaft-and-chambers graves, slab graves and cist tomb). Judging by excavated sites, the cemetery was in continuous use from the 1st century BC until the 4th century AD. Among the researched burial constructions there are crypts typical for the Late Scythian period, middle and late Sarmatian burials, crypts influenced by the Northern Caucasus Alans arriving in Crimea, cremation performed by German tradition. The paper is devoted to the middle Sarmatian paired burial in the grave № 233 excavated in 2018. The assemblage of grave goods from that grave is quite various and informative: bronze fibulae, bronze and iron bracelets, red slip pottery, beads. The chronology of the burial assemblage may be defined as the second half of the 1st – first half of the 2nd centuries AD. The funeral rite of paired burials is not typical for the tradition of individual burials in first centuries, although its features are found in the burial grounds of the Central and South-Western Crimea. This funeral rite is associated with the issues of family structure and social relations in the late Scythian society.

The genetic and cultural impact of the Steppe migration into Europe

Background During the early 3rd millennium BCE migration from Pontic Steppe, mainly related to Yamnaya culture, has affected European populations both culturally and genetically, however, it has long been debated to what extent this migration was male-driven, and how this replacement process took place which eliminated partially/largely Neolithic male lines over time. Aim This paper aims to evaluate the influence of the Steppe migration on European Bronze Age populations by calculating both male and female genetic contributions of the Steppe-related ancestry to the European Bronze Age populations. With this approach, we will be able to clarify the hypotheses on whether it was male-biased migration or not. Subjects and methods To evaluate the genetic impact and the proportion of the Steppe-related ancestry to the European Bronze Age populations, we performed PCA and qpAdm analyses by using published genome-wide data. In addition, we quantified male and female genetic contribution into Europe by using the analysis of uniparental markers and the X-chromosome. Results The Steppe migration had a considerable impact on the genetic makeup of the Bronze Age European populations. The data suggest that the Steppe-related ancestry arriving into Central Europe was male-driven, dominantly in the Corded Ware culture populations and lesser in the Bell Beaker populations. In fact, there is no evidence that this migration had a significant input on the mitochondrial genetic pool of all European Bronze Age populations. Conclusions Our analyses suggest that the Steppe-related ancestry had genetic impact on mainly Central-Eastern Europe. Moreover, this migration was male-driven for most of the Central European populations belonging to the Corded Ware groups, and to a lesser extent for the Bell Beaker groups.

Modeling the Past: 30 Years Later

The article compares the author's work on modeling historical processes, completed 30 years ago, with the publication of a similar model devoted to some hypotheses of the penetration of the “steppe heritage” into the gene pool of European farmers of the Bronze Age. The changes that have occurred in the computer modeling of historical processes, which significantly increase their research potential, are characterized. On the example of the models under consideration, it is discussed in what aspects they help to clarify and develop knowledge about the past. The features of spatially explicit models, which are a subset of imitation models (simulations), are demonstrated, including the possibility of taking into account the genetic parameters of the modeled populations and subsequent comparison with aDNA. The degree of novelty of the results obtained in the two compared models is estimated. It is noted which results of the latest research and additional considerations should be taken into account in order to further bring the behavior of the model closer to reality. It is suggested that the modeling results make it possible to associate the origin of the “steppe heritage” not so much with the population of the Yamnaya culture, but with the contact zone in the south of Ukraine, where interaction with the late Trypillian and other agricultural cultures took place. The necessity of supporting with models any assumptions about historical processes that does not follow directly from empirical material in order to confirm the fundamental reproducibility of the proposed scenario is substantiated.

Ancestry and identity in Bronze Age Catacomb culture burials: A meta-tale of graves, skeletons, and DNA

After discovering the first kurgans in the steppes, the archaeologists were faced with the need to determine the social status of buried persons and the relationship between people buried within the same necropolis. Archaeology has developed its methods and criteria for assessing the social status of buried persons, such as the size of the burial kurgans, the location of burials in the center or on the periphery of the kurgan, the wealth of implements, etc. With the introduction of paleogenetic methods into archeology, new opportunities for research in this direction are opening up. The analysis of ancient DNA is a tool that allows you not to assume but to establish consanguinity.This study presents the archaeological and molecular analysis of human remains from the East-Manych variant of the Catacomb culture. Catacomb culture dominated eastern Ukraine and southern Russia in the 3rd millennium BCE. The skeletons were recovered from kurgans of the Ergeninskii kurgan group in Kalmykia (Russia) that were radiocarbon dated the Bronze Age (25th–23rd century BCE). Y-chromosome STR analysis revealed that both individuals belonged to haplogroup R1b. This paternal lineage appears at high frequency in central, western, and northern Europe, and commonly appears among the Yamnaya. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA variation revealed the Catacomb males to belong to haplogroups H and N, respectively, both of which also appeared in the Yamnaya. These genetic data suggest a possible relationship between the Catacomb and Yamnaya cultures and contribute to our understanding of the cultural and historical processes occurring in the steppes of Eastern Europe during the Bronze Age.

The Region of Caucasus and Central European-Carpathian Territory in the Final Eneolithic and the Bronze Age (a Contribution to the Transfer of Technologies and Knowledge)

This article shows that the cultures in the Middle Danube/Carpathian territory were not just peripheral cultures of the developed Aegean-West Asian cultures, but also the western periphery of the Eurasian steppe region. From this aspect, the cultural-historical development in this area was influenced and associated with the cultural-historical development in the Caucasian and Northern Pontic regions as well. This is confirmed by several artifacts of the Caucasian character in the territory of Central Europe. First of all, we can mention single-edged copper axes, whose oldest exemplars in Europe come from the North Caucasus (the Maykop and Novosvobodnaya cultures). With the arrival of the Yamnaya culture, technology of their production emerged in the Northern Balkans and Central Europe along the Danube, through the Northern Pontic region. Their oldest exemplars in this territory are the Baniabic type axes. There are also weapons or tools; and jewellery which is represented by earrings of the so-called of Transylvania type associated mainly with the Únětice, Košťany and Otomani cultures in the Carpathian-middle Danube region. Their prototypes can be found in the North Pontic region — Yamnaya culture. The remaining cultural contacts between Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Bronze Age are confirmed by the dagger of the Srubnaya type from Sklabiňa in Central Slovakia. The existence of contacts between the Caucasian region and the territory of Central Europe as late as the final Bronze Age is proved by the finds of Cimmerian character. As a pars pro toto example, a dagger of the Kabardino-Pyatigorsk type from Malý Cetín in southwest Slovakia can be mentioned.

Early Christian Fetal Burials in the Egyptian Western Desert in the Midst of Magic and Inhumation

Textual and archaeological evidence confirms the use of fetuses in sorcery and magic in Roman Egypt, a practice that early Christians continued. A papyrus from Karanis (Fayum oasis) and the cords used in wrapping buried fetuses confirm this assessment. Such cords of beads were wrapped around a fetus excavated in Kellis 2 cemetery (Dakhla oasis) and an infant discovered in el-Bagawat (Kharga oasis). However, the Christians showed more interest in burying their children, even their fetuses, irrespective of their magical use. This transformation is based on the Christian belief concerning the identification of the soul and body. Every fetus was carefully buried in the same manner as adults. The deceased fetus was individually wrapped and placed in a grave oriented east-west. Christian fetal burials were found in Dakhla and Kharga, two oases of the Egyptian western desert. In the Dakhla oasis, the Kellis 2 cemetery, north tomb 1, cemetery D 7, and House 4 (Area A) are the most prominent areas in which this type of grave was discovered. Concerning Kharga oasis, early Christian fetal burials were excavated in el-Bagawat necropolis. According to their architectural design, four types can be categorized: homeburials, pit graves, funerary mausolea, and finally enclosure graves.

To studying the funeral rites of the population of Chechnya in the 13th–16th centuries (pit graves)

To studying the funeral rites of the population of Chechnya in the 13th–16th centuries (pit graves)

Barrow of the Yamnaya Culture in Žabalj, District of South Bačka, Serbia

Barrow of the Yamnaya Culture in Žabalj, District of South Bačka, Serbia

Metsamor: report after the 2019 season

The 2019 season in Metsamor confirmed the functioning of the settlement in the Urartian period. House II, discovered during the fieldwork, is the first architectural structure built at the beginning of the Early Iron Age period which, after some possible rearrangements, retained control over the Aras valley during the Urartian kingdom. Pottery discovered there confirms that the already excavated part of the settlement was extensively used after the fall of Urartu. A pit grave dated to the 7th century BC yielded a late Urartian cylinder seal.

Элистинский курганный могильник: анализ соотношения курганов и погребений раннего и среднего бронзового века

Introduction. Elista grave field is a largest and most investigated one in the Ergeni Uplands, with the bulk of barrows and burials dated to the Bronze Age. Burial mound sites in the mentioned area are distinguished by linear positioning of tumuli — the most sizeable groups constitute chains of kurgans located transversally along watershed lines. Plateau-like ridges may comprise groups consisting of several parallel kurgan chains. Goals. The study aims at analyzing the correlation (ratio) between kurgans and burials of Early and Middle Bronze Age cultures within the grave field of Elista. Results. The work reveals some specific functions of under-kurgan rooms (space) in different cultures of the examined period. So, burial mounds of the Yamnaya culture contained one central burial each. In the Early Catacomb era, inlet burials were made only in ‘own’ barrows, while the arrived North Caucasian steppe culture gave rise to scattered cases of constructing inlet burials in culturally alien kurgans. Pit-catacomb burials were characterized by somewhat differing use of foreign culture barrows: one such construct virtually demolished the main burial in a Yamnaya kurgan; in another instance, the creation of an inlet burial was followed by heaping quite a plenty of soil which resulted in that the tumulus became several times as large. The distinctive feature is that all the monuments are arranged along the watershed without visible clustering. The largest group is that of kurgans and burials referred to as the East Manych Catacomb culture. Catacomb barrows were inserted into the existing chain, and dimensionally the bulk of them were virtually identical to previous monuments. Conclusions. The analysis shows research of Early and Middle Bronze Age burials should focus not only on quantitative properties in separate kurgans. When it comes to counting inlet burials it is critical to identify the cultural and chronological affiliation of the main burial. Moreover, it is important to obtain additional data, such whether the burial is located inside the tumulus or below the latter, whether there is any trace of later soil heaping, etc. This may be instrumental in discovering additional groups of inlet burials that vary from ‘common’ to ‘elite’ ones and could have been accompanied by several-fold enlargement of the initial (original) tumulus.

ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHAEOGENETICS OF THE PREHISTORIC POPULATION OF UKRAINE: COORDINATION OF RESULTS

The process of the prehistoric population formation in the territory of Ukraine has become the object of archaeogenetic research in the context of studying the genomic history of Southeast Europe. The work was carried out in the framework of scientific cooperation with the genetic laboratories of Grand Valley State University (USA), Harvard Medical School (USA), Universities of Uppsala (Sweden) and Copenhagen (Denmark). The study of the ancient genome of the Ukrainian population has already yielded results for the Late Mesolithic and Neolithic groups of the Middle and Lower Dnieper, the population of the Trypillia culture of Volhynia (Verteba Cave), as well as for the carriers of Yamna (Pit Grave) Culture and some more late groups of the North Pontic Region (Nikitin, Potekhina et al. 2012; 2017; Potekhina et al. 2013; Krzewińska et al. 2018; Matheison et al. 2018; Potekhina 2016; 2018; 2019; Nikitin 2020). Analysis of mitochondrial DNA from Mariupol-type cemeteries showed the dominance of mitochondrial haplogroup U, which indicates a genetic links with the Mesolithic populations of Scandinavia and the forest belt of Eastern Europe. In some cases, mitochondrial haplogroups H and C have been identified here. The existence of the latter in the Dnieper basin is still difficult to explain, as it is characteristic of eastern Eurasian groups. Genetic studies of the population of the Trypillia culture were carried out on samples dated to 3900—3500 cal BC from the Verteba cave in Volhynia. The majority of its inhabitants were carriers of the Mt haplogroup H, which connects the people of Trypillia with the Anatolian and Balkan early farmers. This haplogroup was also characteristic of farming cultures of the Central European Neolithic, but its frequency in Verteba is twice as high. The Mt haplogroup U found in one resident of Verteba may indicate contacts with hunters of the steppe Dnieper Region. Genetic polymorphism is also analyzed in the bearers of the Yamna (Pit grave) Culture of the North Pontic Region, which opens a perspective in the context of the Indo-European studies. The research has shown that among the Late Neolithic populations of the proto-European anthropological type with the dominant Mt haplogroup U, and in the early Eneolithic populations of the region, carriers of haplogroup H of the Mediterranean anthropological type appear as a result of contacts with Trypillian groups, which gradually moved in the eastern direction. The same genetic lines in different proportions are preserved in the anthropologically heterogeneous North Pontic population of Yamna Culture. Expanding the analysis of genetic markers of ancient craniological complexes will facilitate the interpretation of the results of archaeogenetic research. Given the historical and anthropological context, they are promising for the study of intercultural contacts and migrations in the early history of the population of Ukraine.