Typology and classification remain the traditional archaeological methods for the morphological study of ancient ceramic vessel shapes. Their effectiveness, however, depends entirely on the completeness of the archaeological context. Different vessel types cannot “explain themselves”: independent data on the cultural, social, or chronological specifics of the sites where they were found are required to interpret them. When such contextual information is missing or incomplete, any formal systematics of vessel shapes become difficult to justify in terms of the cultural-historical content they are meant to reflect. The article proposes a new research methodology designed to overcome these limitations. It aims to identify in archaeological assemblages clay vessels that are identical in their shaping skills – the so-called products of “a single potter.” The reference corpus comprises wheelthrown shapes made by professional, high-skilled potters in the 1970s–1980s and handmade vessels crafted by non-professional craftspeople according to their personal “morphological standards.” Central to the approach are the results of pairwise comparisons of vessel shapes within each potter’s series and between pots made by different individuals. This has made it possible to establish reliable quantitative criteria for pairwise similarity of vessel shapes, sufficient to robustly identify the vessels of “a single potter” in archaeological contexts. Testing the method on assemblages with reasonably complete historical and archaeological contexts demonstrated its ability to detect both chronological phases and cultural particularities of ceramic complexes from archaeological sites.
In the 2nd – 4th centuries AD, a significant number of large (0.5 to 1.2 km2) and medium-sized settlements with complex structures and distinct citadels were formed in the foothill and lowland areas of the Central and Northeastern Caucasus. The process of establishing these early urban centers was completed by the second half of the 2nd century AD. These settlements were accompanied by extensive necropolises covering several square kilometers. The growth of material resources led to a sharp increase in the population and its density, as evidenced by the number of archaeological sites in this chronological period. This circumstance led to the migration of cultural bearers both within the region and beyond its borders. The presence of a significant number of large settlements, which can be considered early urban centers (or cities of a special type), indicates the processes of urbanization in this society. The high population density, the presence of a significant number of urban-type monuments, and the wide range of contacts (from trade to military and political), as well as their geographical extent, suggest that this society had a certain structure and organization. Given the cultural characteristics, the population that left the monuments of the early Alanic culture in the central and eastern regions of the North Caucasus can be considered to have been in the state-building phase of social and political development. However, it is too early to directly compare this cultural entity with early states. It is more appropriate to compare it with the analogues of early states according to L.E. Grinin. The conclusions presented in the article are based solely on the analysis of archaeological sources, as there is no information about this cultural phenomenon in written sources.
Paleolithic needles are well known to the scientific community for their variety of models and practical applications. Needles with an eye attract attention not only because of the method of creating the eye but also due to the traces of wear that aid in their identification. Active experimental work on this topic is well-documented; however, the variability and incomplete reporting of protocols, as well as the subjective nature of result evaluation, prevent meaningful comparison and discussion. An important aspect of such studies is the technical means of recording results, which is not always available to researchers. This paper focuses on presenting a result of skin perforation experiments that has not been previously discussed in detail. The perforation was carried out using needles with a slit eye, equipped with threads of various origins – from tendons and hemp epidermis. These experiments were carried out separately, with the threads not being mixed during the trials. The relief formed on the surface of the hole of the tusk needle in both cases has clear features sufficient to identify the nature of the thread. It was necessary to register the condition of the eyes before the work began and upon its completion. The fixation was carried out at both macro and micro levels. Microscopic images provide greater illustration and convincing evidence. This observation is relevant for both experimental and archaeological materials. In conditions of prolonged deposition, the microrelief of the tusk surface can be preserved. Its study may be useful for addressing issues related to even short-term use wear of bone artifacts. Through the availability of micrographs obtained using a scanning electron microscope, it has become possible to analyze wear markers that previously received little attention from researchers, such as an “adhesive crust,” the features of abrasive zone morphology and topography, and the traces formed by threads of plant and animal origin. The results of the experiment include micrograph-supported conclusions indicating that wear is more pronounced when plant-based thread is used. These threads, even with a small number of perforating strokes, destroy the rough elements of the technical relief. An explanation for this phenomenon is proposed.
The article presents the results of a comprehensive study of dental and maxillofacial pathologies in the population of the North Caucasus who lived from the Early Iron Age to the Early Middle Ages (10th century BC to 9th century AD). The research material was derived from paleoanthropological collections of the Zayukovo-3 burial site (Kabardino-Balkaria Republic). The burials of the studied individuals belong to the Western Koban culture (7th – 5th centuries BC), the Sarmatian period (Podkumok-Khumara cultural group, 1st – 3rd centuries AD), and the Alanian era (5th – 7th centuries AD). In this study, an adapted version of M. Schultz’s methodology was used to analyze the frequencies of caries, apical periodontitis, enamel hypoplasia, dental calculus, antemortem enamel chipping, and the degree of dental wear. Significant differences were found in the dental and maxillofacial conditions among representatives of different archaeological cultures. Individuals associated with the Koban culture exhibited pronounced dental wear and a low prevalence of caries, suggesting a balanced diet dominated by meat and dairy products. During the Sarmatian period, an increase in caries and dental calculus was observed, which may be linked to dietary changes, possibly involving greater consumption of high-carbohydrate foods. The Alanic period was characterized by severe dental wear, an increased frequency of enamel hypoplasia, and traumatic dental injuries, indicating a decline in living conditions and overall population health.
The article is devoted to Bronze Age sites, which share a unique syncretic-looking pottery, combining the egg-shaped form characteristic of the Yamnaya culture and the ornamental pit-pearl belt of the Repin culture. As a result of the historiographical analysis of the issues of origin, chronology and attribution of these sites, significant discrepancies were found both in the use of the notion of the “Yamnaya-Repin type” and in the understanding of what it represents. Some researchers estimate the appearance of this ceramics type as a result of mutual influence of the Repin and Yamnaya cultures at the stage of their formation, while others imply it is a product of synthesis of late Repin and late Yamnaya ceramic traditions in the pre-Catacomb and early Catacomb periods. In the study of the sites of the “Yamnaya-Repin type”, two interrelated problems have been identified: 1) the state of the source base formed by household remains from mixed layers, with the resulting difficulties of absolute dating, and 2) the search for criteria for identifying a separate cultural phenomenon. The results of recent excavations of the stratified settlement of Ksizovo-1 (Upper Don region) are published as new data for its assessment, where the Yamnaya-Repin site is locally and lithologically isolated from the late Catacomb site. The examination of the Yamnaya-Repin materials from Ksizovo-1 as well as their morphological and technological analysis in the context of a wide range of analogies, leads to the conclusion that the main distribution of this ceramic style in the Don-Donets region predates the formation of the local catacomb cultures. The chronology of the later part of these settlements, according to radiocarbon data, is 2700–2500 BC and shows the process of interaction between the aboriginal (Yamnaya-Repin) and the newcomer (Catacomb) population. Their common origin indicates that the settlements with ceramics of the “Yamnaya-Repin type” were seasonal pastoral temporary camps.
Textile is a unique source of information on technology and production stages from raw material cultivation to fabric manufacture, as well as on the people who produced the raw material, spun it into threads, and wove it into cloth; sewed garments and textile accessories; or transported them via trade routes from the place of production to the place of consumption. The paper contains technological analysis of 16 fragments of medieval textile from Golden Horde graves in the northwestern Caspian region and the Lower Don region. Traditional methods of optical microscopy were applied, along with advanced techniques of scanning electron microscopy and determination of nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios in silk textiles. The isotopic composition (д13C) of mulberry leaves, which is the primary food source for silkworms, is correlated with regional temperature data and precipitation rate and is affected by exposure to light, moisture, and the “canopy effect.” This information provides an opportunity to narrow down the geochemical areas where raw silk may have been produced. Six types of cloth were singled out, namely, lampas, taffeta, lancй, protolampas, damask, and samite. The 14C AMS dating put these cloths back to the 13th century. Based on the results of the nitrogen and carbon stable isotope composition of the silk cloths, we singled out three groups of cloths most likely related to different geographical areas where mulberry trees grow that provide the primary food source for silkworms. One of the groups is characterized by the highest д15N value, which means that the potential mulberry growing region can be described as arid. These data, which are the first of this kind to be published, will be complemented by the results of the isotopic studies of other medieval silk cloths, therefore making it possible to specify the routes used to transport raw silk from the production centers to the consumption sites.
In the first quarter of the 21st century, it became possible to expand research on the key issues of ancient metallurgy and metalworking, as well as related social and cultural processes, based on the database accumulated by Bronze Age archaeology over the previous century. The phenomenal discoveries of antiquities from Maikop, Novosvobodnaya, the dolmens of the Western Caucasus, and the Velikent catacombs have enhanced our understanding of the vibrant cultures of the Ponto-Caspian steppes, including Novotitarovskaya, Yamnaya, Catacomb, and North Caucasian cultures. Nowadays, the interrelationship among all these phenomena is becoming increasingly evident. Over the past five years, a series of seven burial complexes with the numerous gun and weapon inventories has been investigated, which included bronze eye axes that have been explored in the Donetsk-Don region. The high social status of the deceased is highlighted by the frequent finds of silver and gold jewellery. These burials were performed in catacombs and also have signs of a rite (large kurgans, priority layout in the kurgan, large size of the catacomb, etc.), as well as various categories of non-metallic prestigious inventory (stone pommels of maces, pestles and mortars, hammer axes, drilled axes, and flint arrowheads), which make them elite. A typological analysis of these complexes and previously found similar complexes, as well as the search for analogies among stratified kurgan materials and dated Caucasian antiquities, allowed relating them to various stages of the Donetsk catacomb culture. First of all, these burial complexes are related to the early and developed stages corresponding to the Uspensky and Privolnensky stages of Caucasian metalworking. The ceremonial and inventory signs of the elite status of those buried in these catacombs show detailed similarities with such signs from a certain category of graves of the Novosvobodnensky (Late Maikop) period. They belong to “the artefact group 2”, which represents complexes with a set of military-hunting equipment and tools for wood processing according to the classification of S.N. Korenevsky. Taking into account the hypothesis about the genesis of the dolmens and early catacombs based on the megalithic traditions of the burial rite of Novosvobodnaya, this similarity is legitimate.
The article is devoted to the publication of materials from the excavations of the Samosdelskoye settlement, a multi-layered archaeological monument that existed from the Khazar period (9th – 10th centuries) until the first half of the 14th century in the Lower Volga region. In the lower (Khazar) layers of the monument, residential buildings were represented by yurt-shaped dwellings, semi-dugouts, and single-room houses made of turluk. Researchers associate layers from the 11th to the first half of the 13th century with the city of Saksin, known from written sources. At this time, multi-room houses built from adobe and recycled fired brick appeared in the settlement. The article takes a detailed look at one such house; in it there are at least five rooms. This layout was not original but arose as a result of combining separate rooms into one. The building had two construction periods. In the first period, its walls were built mainly of adobe bricks. Some walls had a shell-like structure, and their outer facades were made of small fragments of fired brick. In the second period, all the walls were built from the outside using whole fired bricks and their large fragments. The filling between the shells was made of clay with small brick fragments. During the reconstruction, the general layout of the house did not change. A special feature of this building is the presence of a strip foundation under some rooms, which is completely uncharacteristic for this time. An analysis of the reconstructions suggests that the house of the first period perished as a result of some catastrophic event that affected the entire city. Subsequently, the building was restored to its original volume.
The article is devoted to the introduction into scientific circulation of a collection of bone wares from the excavations of the Bagaevka settlement of the Golden Horde period, located on the Volga’s right bank in the Saratov region. The wares were divided on functional purpose into the following groups: tools and household articles (components of knives and other tools: handle, backplate, couplings, holder, ornamented ware); objects of arms and hunting equipment (quiver loop, ornamented facing of quiver, lash handle); toiletries and ornaments (stripe, cowrie shell with a hole); objects for games (knucklebones); and wares characterizing the technological process of production of objects from horn and bone (workpiece from the elk horn, fragment of an oyster shell). The morphological features of the artifacts are considered on the basis of typology with the involvement of a wide comparative background of materials of medieval monuments of Eurasia. The bone wares used in a large city were more diverse and numerous than those used by the villagers of the Golden Horde. The distribution of finds on groups is remarkable: tools and household articles 30%, objects of arms and hunting equipment 15%, toiletries and ornaments 10%, and objects for games 35%, wares characterizing the technological process of production of objects from horn and bone 10%. Finds of workpiece from the elk horn and a fragment of an oyster shell demonstrate the existence of bone carving craft in the Bagaevka settlement (previously, no traces of this production had been recorded in the Golden Horde rural settlements of the Lower Volga region). The products of bone carvers used by the villagers were not inferior to professional handicraft wares from the Golden Horde towns.
This article presents the results of fieldwork conducted by the Lower Volga Paleolithic team of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as part of the 2025 Lower Volga Expedition of the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. During the season, the study of the Middle Paleolithic site of Chelyuskinets II, located in the Pichuga ravine of the Dubovsky District, Volgograd region, was continued. The primary objective of the 2025 research was to establish the extent of the site’s cultural deposits and determine their state of preservation. To this end, a continuous 26-meter profile was prepared between two areas discovered on the left side of the cape in previous years. This profile not only allowed for tracing the distribution and refining the position of the site’s cultural layer but also for identifying its preservation characteristics. The cultural layer comprises individual blocks of dense grayish-blue loam, which in turn lie at a uniform level but with distinct, apparently rhythmic discontinuities along the strike, within a layer of highly ferruginous coarse sand. Within each individual block, the cultural layer has been preserved in situ. As a result of the work, the collections of stone artifacts and fauna have been expanded, and prospects for further study of Chelyuskinets II have been clarified.
This article examines the hypothesis linking late hoards of dirhams from “Posemye,” the regions of the Seversk land, with the decline of the Romny culture resulting from the spread of the Old Russian culture. This territory is characterized by a significant concentration of hoards containing round cut-outs from Arabic coins, which has been confirmed through mapping. In the first stage of the study, a compact chronological group of hoards (974/975–990/991 AD), comprising 14 out of the 30 recorded complexes, was identified based on the latest coins (t.p.q.). The hoard concentration within such a narrow time frame supports the hypothesis of a military cataclysm that accompanied the incorporation of this “tribal” territory into Rus’. The second stage was dedicated to the analysis of the metrological characteristics of the round cut-outs. It has been established that in circulation, the size of a coin took priority over its weight. This indicates the existence of a monetary system oriented towards piece-by-piece acceptance. Large payments were presumably conducted by weighing batches of coins. The chronological significance of the placement of the cut on the coin has been revealed: if initially they were made only from the central part of the coin field, then from the 970s onwards, cut-outs from the edges became predominant. The study of their dimensions made it possible to determine the rate of their reduction. The identification of modal diameter values within the complexes, combined with numismatic dating, contributed to the refinement of the hoards’ chronology. The peak of their deposition falls in the 980s; by the end of that decade, this original monetary system rapidly disappears. The violent nature of these events finds confirmation in archaeological data: all investigated Romny hillforts show evidence of fire at their final stage of existence. Life at these sites either ceased for a long period or was never revived. Among the known chronicle accounts, the situation described finds the closest correspondence in the campaign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich against Volga Bulgaria in 985 AD.
In 2002–2003, excavations were conducted at the multi-layered settlement of Karamyshevo 9, covering an area of 724 square meters. In the central part of the excavation, covering approximately 200 square meters, 21 postholes and storage pits, as well as two ash pits (zolniki), were investigated. These features are associated with two Bronze Age structures. We attribute them to a population that produced pottery of the Yamnaya-Repin cultural type. The pottery assemblage comprises fragments from no less than 40 vessels with rim diameters ranging from 16 to 40 cm, representing five distinct forms. Cord-impressed and comb-stamped motifs predominate in the decoration. Silty clay was used as the primary raw material for the manufacture of all pots. Across the extensive forest-steppe region of the Don area, we have identified four settlements of the Yamnaya-Repin cultural type with a rich cultural layer: Karamyshevo 9, Ternovoe, Shilovo, and Cherkasskaya, along with several dozen sites with a less substantial cultural deposit. The first two sites mentioned also contain features of household structures. These settlements, together with classic Yamnaya sites, fill the gap in the distribution of Early Bronze Age sites in the Upper Don. The chronology of these settlements is now supported by the first direct radiocarbon dates obtained from specific Yamnaya-Repin-type ceramic vessels from the Karamyshevo 9 settlement, from pottery of the late Repin culture stage, and by the known radiocarbon dates for the Yamnaya culture from kurgan cemeteries in the Middle Don. Consequently, in assessing the probable period of contact between the Repin and Yamnaya populations and the later timeframe for the existence of the settlement of the Yamnaya-Repin cultural type Karamyshevo 9 with its hybrid pottery, then it is logical to assume that it occurred between the late phase of the Repin culture and the early phase of the Yamnaya. An analysis of the available radiocarbon dates suggests these events took place in the second half of the 4th millennium BC, most likely within the interval of 3400–3200 BC.
The article is devoted to the characteristics of the complex of horse equipment accessories used by the nomads of the Southern Urals in the second half of the 6th – 5th centuries BC. The Southern Ural region is defined as the flat territories adjacent to the Southern Urals in the west and east. This complex was identified as a result of the study of the co-occurrence of more than 700 harness items found in nomadic burials and on burial platforms beneath kurgans dating to the 7th – 4th centuries BC. To determine the nature of the connections (frequency of cooccurrence), the TYPE program was used, designed for the typology of objects of various categories. The article provides a list of elements (bits, cheek-pieces, decorations, and other bridle accessories, saddle set parts, etc.) of the complex and their brief descriptions. The existence of this complex, judging by imported items as well as by analogies from monuments studied in other regions of settlement of Eurasian nomads, falls on the period from the middle of the 6th century BC to the end of the 5th century BC, possibly the turn of the 5th – 4th centuries BC or the very beginning of the 4th century BC. By identifying the strongest mathematically determined correlation coefficients between the types of harness accessories in this complex, it could be divided into at least two groups, which are its structural “cores.” The first group can be dated back to the second half of the 6th to the beginning of the 5th century BC, while the second group belongs to the time within the 5th century BC and, possibly, the turn of the 5th – 4th centuries BC or the very beginning of the 4th century BC. In general, this complex has clearly expressed characteristics that significantly distinguish it from earlier and later horse harness traditions.
The paper is devoted to the analysis and reconstruction of the crest and plume of a medieval helmet from Gorodets (Gorodets Historical and Art Museum Complex, Inv. No. GRM 3397). The crest was studied using X-ray radiography and with comparative analysis of existing analogues among archaeological and iconographic materials. Crests with metal rings on helmets were particularly widespread in the 13th – 15th centuries. They served as fasteners for attaching a helmet ornament in the form of decorative cloth ribbons, threaded through a ring in such a way that a plume consisting of two dangling ends of one ribbon was formed. The linguistic analysis allows us to correlate these cloth ribbons with cloth flags called “Yalovets” or “Yelovets,” which were attached to the high spikes of helmets. At the same time, the crest of the helmet from Gorodets features a unique design with an imitation of a ball-“apple” on the spike in the form of intersecting metal strips in the form of semicircular eyelets. In M.V. Gorelik’s reconstruction, this element has a purely practical purpose, intended to suspend small decorative tassels made of horsehair. However, this reconstruction does not take into account the peculiarities of the ornamental decoration of the helmet bowl and completely covers one of its important quatrefoils positioned at the base of the crest. This element is part of the apotropaic protection of the helmet and its owner in the direction of all four sides of the world. Given these observations, the reconstruction of M.V. Gorelik seems to be incorrect, and the author of the paper presents his own version of the reconstruction of the crest and plume.
Like any science, archeology relies on sustainable concepts, most of which were formed decades ago. Therefore, these concepts can be used only through the lens of contemporary critical analysis subject to continuous adjustments. One of the key concepts of the Southern Ural nomadic world in the mid-1st millennium BC is the “migration” concept formulated by M.G. Moshkova in 1974 and significantly developed in the works of subsequent decades. Through the next decades, this concept significantly evolved. All in all, this concept boils down to the idea that the Transural forest-steppe people (and the Gorokhovo culture people in the first place) were number-one influencers for the Southern Transural Sauromatian nomads. This influence transformed the traditions and led to the formation of the “Common Sarmatian Prokhorovka Culture.” The analysis reveals that this concept fails to explain transformations in the Southern Ural nomads’ culture in the middle to second half of the 1st millennium BC because nomads had entered the Transural forest-steppes long before the Gorokhovo Culture emerged. The 5th – 4th centuries BCE nomadic burials in the Southern Ural reveal “steatitic” ceramics. Originally it didn’t belong to the Gorokhovo Culture. Instead, it is associated with the Itkul area’s southern extremity in the Ural Eastern piedmont, where, at the stage of the Itkul Culture’s formation from a post-Mezhovka basis under Sargary and Barkhatovo influences, a bright and very distinctive “early Gafury” ceramic complex emerged. The research shows that the Gorokhovo Culture in the Transural forest-steppe cannot be dated earlier than the mid-300s BC. There the Gorokhovo Culture was forming through nomads relocating north and merging with the local indigenous forest-steppe people. These data prove that the new traits in the Southern Transural nomads in the 400–300s BC are solely associated with their peripheral location in the Ural-Volga nomadic world and their wide networking (exogamic marriages) with the Ural eastern piedmont people. Thus, at the turn of the Scythian and the Sarmatian eras, the nomadic culture was transforming due to the processes inside the nomadic community. In particular, a transformation driver was an emerging and collapsing social stratification revealed by Filippovka 1 “royal” necropolis
The Malyaevka V kurgan burial site was excavated by a joint expedition of the Volgograd State University and the Institute of Archaeology Russian Academy of Sciences in 1998–1999. This paper presents the results of an anthropological analysis of two male skulls obtained from the excavation of burial 5 of kurgan 7 at the Malyaevka V burial site, Leninsky District, Volgograd region. The description of the craniological materials was carried out using methods conventional in Russian and international anthropology, including sex and age assessment based on the skull and postcranial skeleton bones; description of the skull using craniometric and cranioscopic systems of features; and description of pathological conditions on the skull. The results showed that both skulls are identified as belonging to the dolichocephalic Europoid type and exhibit a “steppe pathological complex,” indicative of a specialized meat-and-dairy diet. Both males showed signs of exposure to cold stress in the form of a vascular reaction of the “orange peel” type, indicating a mobile lifestyle for individuals who could spend long periods outdoors, exposed to cold winds. The male (skeleton 1) showed such a pathological condition as internal frontal hyperostosis, which is rare in paleogroups. The presence of signs of unintentional artificial deformation of the Beshik cradle type in this same individual is also noteworthy. Furthermore, the skulls show a high incidence of combat-related injuries, suggesting the males’ participation in armed conflicts. The successful healing of the wounds may indicate that the society of early nomads possessed proficient skills in battlefield surgery and the use of defensive weaponry. The high degree of similarity in the morphological complex of features between both skulls suggests a close biological relationship between the males.
This study presents comparative analysis results of medieval population series originating from the kurgan and ground burials in the Lower Volga region, categorized according to the presence or absence of unintentional artificial cranial deformation traces. A total of 753 cranial vaults were examined, of which 220 exhibited signs of unintentional artificial cradle (beshik)-type deformation. The series were divided into a nomadic group (under the kurgan and ground burials from the Khazar, Oghuz, Cuman, and Golden Horde periods) and a sedentary population group (necropolises of the Vodyanskoye, Krasnoyarskoye, and Selitrennoye settlements; burial grounds of the Tsarevskoye settlement and its suburbs; and the Shareniy Bugor cemetery). Comparative analysis evaluated 20 pathological and discrete traits of remains in adults and 8 features in immature individuals. Frequency comparisons were performed using the non-parametric Pearson’s chi-square test (ч2) for adult samples and Fisher’s exact test for children’s series, with verification using the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test. The comparative analysis of the deformed and non-deformed skulls revealed no statistically significant differences between most traits across the examined series, including mixed-sex and non-adult groups. However, certain conditions were identified showing a significant variation in the compared series. The frequency of these traits was consistently higher in samples with unintentional cranial deformation. Notably, degenerative changes of the temporomandibular joint, vascular reactions, and nasal trauma were significantly more prevalent in both sedentary and nomadic populations with beshik-type deformation. The observed differences between individuals with and without traces of unintentional artificial deformation likely indicate populations that not only utilized beshik-type cradles in daily life but also adhered to traditions in family relations, diet, and lifestyle practices rooted in the nomadic cultures of ancient Central Asian peoples. The unintentional artificial deformation observed in skulls dating back to the late 7th to the 15th centuries was compatible with normal biological functioning. The pathological deviations identified in its carriers probably result from environmental and sociocultural factors affecting the human body.
The article is devoted to the publication of a glass skyphos in a gold frame, originating from looting excavations on the territory of the Western Caucasus. It was received by the State Historical Museum with the assistance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. The article describes the manufacturing technology of such vessels and expands their distribution area, already outlined by researchers. The almost complete absence of such vessels in the ancient centers of the Northern Black Sea region, contrasted with their significant presence in nomadic burials from the Kuban basin dating to the 2nd – 1st centuries BC and from the Volga-Don interfluves during the first half of the 1st century AD, indicates that these vessels influxed into the region due to direct contacts between the Sarmatians and Asia Minor territories. The published skyphos, which according to the typology of Zasetskaya/Marchenko belongs to body shape type IIb and handle configuration variant 1, is dated to the end of the 2nd – first half of the 1st century BC. It apparently came to the region as a war trophy or a diplomatic gift from Mithridates to one of the local leaders for participating in the war against Rome. The skyphos is made of natron glass of Eastern Mediterranean origin (possibly the Syro-Palestinian region or the island of Rhodes). The frame of the skyphos is made mainly of native gold but much later than the glass vessel itself, possibly in the first centuries AD. However, the high probability of a high-quality modern fake using parts of actual ancient jewelry cannot be ruled out.
The article presents an analysis of sixteen paired heterosexual burials from burial grounds of the Srubno-Alakul contact zone of the Trans-Urals. Currently, the attention of the researchers is focused on interpreting these burials. However, it is impossible to come closer to understanding the meaning of these burials without a comprehensive source analysis, which is the primary aim of this study. The paired burials from the Srubno-Alakul burial grounds were categorized by age groups: adults (7), adolescents (2), adolescents with children (2), and children (5). The characteristics of each identified group are determined according to the main features of the burial rite: simultaneity and non-simultaneity of their commission, localization and arrangement of graves within the burial ground, disturbed burials, body position and orientation, as well as the accompanying grave goods. It was found that most paired burials (11 cases) were found in kurgans with different combinations of Srubnaya and Alakul cultural components. Notably, all paired burials from Srubnaya kurgans (3 cases) contained Alakul cultural components. In one case a paired burial was accompanied by Cherkaskul vessels, which indicates continuity in the practice of this rite in subsequent times. Between the paired burials of adults on the one hand and adolescent and child burials on the other, age differentiation is expressed in the absence of non-simultaneous adolescent and child burials, their localization exclusively on the periphery of the burial site, and also in the absence of decorations in most of them. The hierarchical conditionality of the location of graves on the burial site was recorded in two burials of adults located in the center of the burial sites of single-grave kurgans. In fact, apart from the fact of pairing, the burials in question do not differ from most simultaneous burials. The hugging position in simultaneous burials, being universal for couples of different age groups, reflects the common symbolic meaning of these burials. The recently obtained results of deciphering the genomes of an adult couple from Burial 10 and a boy from a single Burial 6 of Kurgan 1 of the Selivanovsky II burial ground show that the heterosexual couple were parents of the boy, confirming actual marital bonds between paired individuals. Today, the most likely explanation for the paired burials of the Srubno-Alakul territory of the Trans-Urals in light of the real relationship between a man and a woman is that adult pairs represent spouses during their lifetime, and adolescents and children were engaged.
The research aims to elaborate on the cattle breeding model of the Early Iron Age populations from the Southern Trans-Urals forest-steppe and steppe. The economy of the Trans-Urals Bashkirs of the 18th – 19th centuries can serve as a model for the forest-steppe Southern Trans-Urals population of the period. Pastoralists lead the semi-nomadic way of life with almost year-round pasture keeping of cattle. While maintaining permanent winter settlements, the Bashkirs migrated seasonally in spring, summer, and autumn across grazing lands, relying on natural forage. The economy of the Kazakhs of the Younger and Middle jüz of the 18th – 19th centuries and the southeastern Bashkirs of the Middle Ages and modern period could be used as a model for reconstructing the economy of the nomads of the Southern Trans-Urals steppe. In the first variant, when ethnically related nomadic groups inhabited the steppes from the Ural foothills to Turgay, the Aral-Ural migration cycle predominated completely, with winter camps located in the Aral region, lower Syr Darya basin, and Caspian areas. When the situation had escalated in the South, winter nomadic camps shifted northward to the valleys of the Turgay, Irgiz, Or, Ilek, and Emba rivers. The second variant is characterized by the habitat of the unrelated and stronger ethnopolitical tribes in the territory from the Ural River to the Turgay and on the Cis-Ural steppe. At such a variant, an Aral-Ural circle and Southern Urals types of pastoralism prevailed. The nomads spent summer on the steppes from the Ural River to the eastern slopes of Turgay. In winter they moved to the Kyzyl-Kum, the foothills of Karatau, the middle and lower Syr Darya, and the northern and northeastern Aral Sea region. The nomads of the steppe foothills of the Urals, as well as the southeastern Bashkirs of the 18th – 19th centuries, had their camps properly in the Southern Urals. Winters they spent in the steppe foothills or intermountain valleys; summers they spent in the mountains.
