The article is dedicated to the memory of the outstanding archaeologist S. I. Kovalenko (1960–2025), a researcher of the Paleolithic of Moldova and the south-western part of Eastern Europe. It highlights his work at key Upper Paleolithic sites (Kosoutsy, Rashkov, Brynzeny, Bayraki), his contribution to the study of stratigraphy and lithic industries, as well as to the refinement of their cultural and chronological interpretation. The paper emphasizes his scholarly integrity, professionalism, and personal qualities.
The article presents the results of an analysis of the funerary rite of the group of burials attributed to the Srubnaya Cultural and Historical Community (Late Bronze Age). The burials in question share a common feature in their grave goods sets, namely, each grave contains a set of two metal knives. The nineteen examined burials are located mainly in the Volga middle and lower reaches, The principles behind forming sets of two knives are defined, their important feature is the presence of "universal" and "specialized" tools in each set. The burials show a high degree of similarity of the rite within the selected group. The interred are adult males, who presumably performed both military and priestly functions. The obtained characteristics made it possible to consider the discussed burials as "socially important".
This article provides the first detailed description and classification of non-metallic jewelry (beads) from Middle Bronze Age burials from Ciscaucasia, dating to the second quarter of the 3rd millennium BC (Kyondelen I burial ground). Based on visual detection data using optical microscopy, confirmed by the results of analyses of chemical composition performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDS), and mineral composition using X-ray diffraction, it was established that most of these items were made of faience, while the remainder (about a quarter of the total) were made of stone (talc/ steatite, calcite/limestone and carnelian). A study of burial complexes containing faience and carnelian items from the Middle Bronze Age of Ciscaucasia and the North-Western Caspian region has revealed a steady increase in the proportion of such ornaments from the second to the third quarter of the third millennium BC and a concentration of such items in sites in the North-Eastern Caucasus. This suggests that this particular territory served as a transit point for the spread of faience and carnelian ornaments to the Ciscaucasus and neighboring regions. The nearest sources of this import could have been the Northern Iran and Northern Mesopotamia regions, which were quite accessible for this type of transaction through the territory of the coastal part of Dagestan and the Greater Caucasus Passage.
The article examines new data supporting the author's previously proposed Reuto-Dniester hypothesis for the origins of the Sakharna-Solonceni culture (and, more generally, the Carpathian-Dniester Incised and Stamped Pottery (ISP) cultures). The focus is on a specific and rare type of Sakharna-Solonceni ceramics: "cylindrical" mugs. Direct and close analogies to these mugs are found in the Edinets and Costi & scedil;a cultures (which the author previously proposed as ancestral to the Sakharna-Solonceni and ISP cultures of the Carpathian-Dniester region). In turn, this type of ceramic "cylindrical" mugs of the Edinets and Costi & scedil;a cultures could be inspired by their related cultures of the early Bronze Age from the Carpathian Basin (such as Schneckenberg, Hatvan and Nagyr & eacute;v).
This paper presents a study of items of artistic craft in the Near East dating from the IV-III millennium BC. The discussed artifacts mirror the material and spiritual culture of the ancient population, the social structure at different stages, and the level of production development. The author focuses on the products with decorative coatings and inlays from archaeological sites of two historically and culturally related regions - Mesopotamia and Anatolia. An overview of the most significant finds is presented. They are grouped by territory, chronology, and functional purpose (architectural details, anthropo-and zoomorphic stone and metal sculpture, etc.), types of coatings, and inlays. The article aims to characterize their specifics, namely, materials, used techniques, dynamics of application on various categories of objects, based on comparative historical and stylistic analysis. A number of conclusions are put forward, in particular, concerning the priority of Mesopotamian artistic craft in the use of decorative coatings and inlays starting from the late IV millennium BC, which was conditioned by the formation of early states with a centralized temple economy. In Anatolia, the use of the discussed artistic techniques is limited to zoo-and anthropomorphic metal sculpture marked by a schematic appearance. The author explains the focus of the Anatolian artistic craft on metalworking by the lack of tradition of processing colored stone and abundant ore sources.
This article examines the ancient origins of the folkloric motif of the Wild Hunt, which was widely disseminated across Europe during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The origin of this tradition and its original meaning are reconstructed through an analysis of its three main components: the figure of the Wild Huntsman, his retinue, and the object of the hunt. It is argued that folkloric versions of this narrative reflect only in a distant and fragmentary way the underlying nature of the cultural phenomenon in question, while nevertheless preserving certain archaic features. The term "Wild Hunt" functions as an umbrella designation for a set of relatively independent aspects of social practice and religious belief in ancient societies. On the one hand, the Wild Hunt may be interpreted as a mythological reflection of age-graded social institutions, in which initiation practices, marginal male youth associations, and nocturnal predatory hunting are progressively transformed into the image of a supernatural collective pursuit. On the other hand, the motif is associated with the intrusion of otherworldly demonic forces into the human world and corresponds to ideas of soul abduction and its transfer into the realm of the dead. Thus, the Wild Hunt appears as a multilayered mythological construct in which elements of social organization, warrior ideology, and eschatological beliefs are interwoven.
The article discusses the issues of determining the geochemical and isotopic markers of copper ores used as raw material for metal production during the Bronze Age in the Ural Mining and Metallurgical region. As a result of ISP-MS analyses of ore samples from ancient mines, the authors compiled two reference databases of background samples with diagnostic combinations of accessory elements and corresponding signatures of lead isotope ratios. The study of Pb isotopic ratios made it possible to organize the entire series into two separate groups. The first category included sedimentary ores of copper, sandstones, and slates of the Tatarian strata of the Permian period in the steppe Cis-Ural. The second group included ores from various formations, including pyrites (of the Uralic, Cyprian, and other types), porphyritic, and skarn deposits associated with the older geological structures of the Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous age of volcanic and post-volcanic origin in the eastern slopes of the Urals and the Mugodzhary Range. The determination of the elemental composition of ore materials made it possible to establish geochemical indicators of certain geological and genetic types of copper ore production objects developed during the Bronze Age. As a result of Factor Analysis and Principal Component Analysis of the obtained data, the authors established statistically reliable associations among accessory elements resistant to pyrometallurgical treatment, demonstrating a high degree of internal correlation.
The author seeks to demonstrate that some oral traditions of the Algonquian peoples reveal a legacy of the European Bronze Age. According to Ojibwe beliefs, they once lived along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and their migration inland was linked to a command from a higher power to settle where food grew in the water. This command to settle in a place or under circumstances that seem impossible belongs to a specific type of story, well-attested in Greek material. Another Ojibwe belief - that of seven eras into which the history of the people is divided - finds a very close Etruscan parallel. A brief summary of our previous research shows that early Greek and Etruscan beliefs may coincide with Scandinavian ones or originate in Scandinavia. A Passamaquoddy story about a man's stay in the village of Thunders finds parallels in Herodotus, and the description of Thunders is comparable to what one can see in Swedish petroglyphs. The plot of another Passamaquoddy story closely matches that of the History of Adapa, recorded in Akkadian in the 14th century BCE. Both stories can be shown to derive from Scandinavian imagery and ideas of very early times. The Algonquian peoples, and the Ojibwe in particular, had a unique social institution - the Midewiwin - that ensured the transmission of traditions from generation to generation, which helps us understand how certain ideas, stories, and narratives could have survived for three millennia.
In 2021-2022, the IA RAS expedition conducted excavations in the Northwestern Crimea in the vicinity of the village of Suvorovskoye (Saki district of the Republic of Crimea). The object of the study was the Late Bronze Age settlement of Bagay 1, its northern part, which falls within the construction zone of the Yevpatoria branch of the Tavrida highway. As a result of large-scale work on an area of over 1.38 hectares, objects characterizing the material and spiritual culture of the inhabitants of the settlement were discovered - residential and adjacent buildings for household purposes, pits, separate stone sketches, the remains of a stone box for storing food, three burials and an altar, which had a platform with an entrance consisting of two vertically dug-in cattle leg bones. Inside, there was the debris of a molded vessel surrounded by stones, and a cluster of teeth of a large ungulate. The collection of finds amounted to 1,166 items, of which 86 are bone products, the use-wear analysis of which is presented in the article.
FThe Palatki I site (the Middle Trans-Urals) yielded two clay molds for blanks (rods and sub-rectangles). It is associated with the Pottery of the Eneolithic Ayat culture. Similar ceramic molds are known in the Bronze Age on both sides of the Urals. They were found in the burials of the molders (the Novotitorovka, Catakomb, and Poltavka cultures), but differ from those published in their proportions and elegance. According to morphological characteristics, Ural artefacts are similar to the items found in the Polymyat type sites of the Western Siberia, although they are more likely to be considered derivative types. Common archaic features unite the finds from the Palatki I and the sites of the Eneolithic Imerk culture (the Moksha River basin). This fact may indicate strong connections between the fishermen/hunters of the forest zone from the Eastern Europe and the Trans-Urals. New sources don't contradict the conclusions of the Hungarian linguists about the dispersal of the ancestors of the Finno-Ugric peoples in the 4th-3rd Millennia BC. There is reason to speak about the Trans-Urals center of the metalworking that evolved in the Eneolithic. Local molders used simple copper processing techniques common in the Circumpontian Metallurgical Province (CMP). The technologies were indirectly transmitted from the population of the Garino culture from the Kama River basin, who supplied copper of their own production to their neighbors. The eastern boundary of this cultural center shifted to the North-West Siberia in the pre-Seima period of the Bronze Age.
This work analyzes collagen isotope shifts in bone samples from Stone Age sites in the forest-steppe Volga region. The bones of herbivores and some omnivores (elk, beaver, horse, deer, marmot, bear, wolf, and fox) exhibit delta 13C distributions ranging from-21,8 %o to-19,3 %o, and delta 15N from 2,7 %o to 6,8 %o. This range is considered normal for a diet that includes both plant and meat and makes the samples reliable for absolute age determination. Elevated delta 15N values (7,5-11,6 %o) are observed for the skeletal remains of badgers, wild boars, cattle, and dogs, with valid radiocarbon dates obtained for all but the last sample. Reptiles (pond turtles) and fish in the region exhibit the lowest delta 13C values (-27,3-24,8 %o), while the latter exhibit high delta 15N values (8,4-14,3 %o). Radiocarbon dates for their bones, teeth, and shells are 350-850 years older than those obtained for mammals and indicate the presence of a so-called "freshwater reservoir effect" in the forest-steppe Volga region. delta 13C isotope shifts in human bone collagen range from-24 %o to-20 %o, generally consistent with data for mammals in the region, while delta 15N values are significantly higher (12-15,5 %o) and correlate with those obtained for fish. The difference between paired dating of human and animal bones is 400-700 years, which indicates the influence of the "freshwater reservoir effect" and a specific diet associated with the systematic consumption of aquatic resources.
The study examines the validity of the "8000-year-old winemaking" concept, analyzing the lack of verified Neolithic seeds and permanent infrastructure in favor of the external origins of modern Georgian varieties and technologies.
This article presents the first publication of materials from 39 burials of the Usatovo culture at the Korotnoye/Kulak cemetery, excavated in 2023 on the right bank of the Kuchurgan estuary. The article examines the burial structures and features of the ritual, as well as the main categories of grave goods: 10 painted vessels, 66 vessels with an admixture of crushed shell in dough and with inset ornamentation; 7 anthropomorphic figurines and fragments of another; 2 miniature antler finials; a metal bead; a stone pestle and pendant; flint flakes and 6 microliths - arrowheads. The primary results of archaeozoological and radiocarbon analyses are presented. A conclusion is drawn regarding the prospects for further study of the Usatovo cemetery of Korotnoye/Kulak.
The article publishes materials from three post-Catacomb graves from barrow 1 of the Vesyoly I cemetery on the right bank of the Lower Don. One of them is a standard burial of an adult killed by an arrow with a notched flint point (burial 4); the second one is the burial of a flintklapper (burial 29), which is unusual in its ritual and grave goods; and the third one is a pit-cenotaph containing pottery and the remains of sacrificial animals (burial 32). An attempt is made to demonstrate the ritual unity of these graves within a single funerary and memorial complex. According to stratigraphic data and in the structural-semantic sense, burial 4 seems to be central. Two other burials, 29 and 32, were its accompanying funeral feasts, the first of which contained the sacrifice of a flintklapper (burial 29), and the second one was the offerings of meat and other food in clay vessels (burial 32).The author substantiates the hypothesis that the flintklapper belonged to a military detachment of the pre-Caucasian population of the Lola culture, which stormed the Liventsovskaya-Karataevskaya fortress on the Right Bank of the Don, 40 km southwest of the Vesyoly I cemetery. This, after R. A. Mimokhod, occurred during the second phase of the existence of the post-Catacomb cultural block (2100-2000 CalBC). According to this hypothesis, the flintklapper was a captive of the local post-Catacomb population, which combined the traditions of the Dnieper-Don Babino and Kamenka-Liventsvoskaya cultures of the late Middle Bronze Age.
In 2025, an archaeological expedition directed by O.V. Sergeeva identified several burials attributed to the Dnieper-Don Babino culture in barrow 2 of the Millerov IV barrow cemetery in the Rostov region. The principal burial was that of a woman (no. 9), with a unique assemblage consisting of three bronze eyeglass-shaped pendants, a necklace of bronze tubes, canines with drilled perforations, and beads sewn onto the clothing. Above it, the first kurgan mound was constructed, into which a later Babino burial (no. 24) without finds was inserted. The final Middle Bronze Age interment in the barrow, burial no. 2, with a miniature bronze knife and carnelian beads of various shapes and sizes, was overlain by an additional mound. The closest parallels to the Babino burials from the Millerov IV barrow cemetery are the complexes discovered in 2017, approximately 40 km to the northwest, in barrow no. 5 of the Burgusta I cemetery. The principal burial in the barrow is a female one (no. 11), whose grave goods are almost identical to the burial from Millerov IV and includes two identical bronze bi-spiral pendants and a necklace of bronze tube beads. According to recent studies by R.A. Mimokhod, similar eyeglass-shaped or bi-spiral pendants form part of female dress and represent a rather rare imported item from Central Europe and the Carpathian-Danubian region, dated to phase I of the post-Catacomb cultural block.
This study presents the findings of archaeozoological research on the osteological collection from the excavations of the Panagia 1 settlement, located in the southwestern part of the Taman Peninsula. The settlement is associated with the late Sabatinovka-Belozerskava cultures and is dated to the 14th-10thcenturies BC. The paper discusses biological and archaeological characteristics influenced by economic factors, including taxonomic composition, anatomical and osteological spectra, sizes of domestic animals, bone pathologies, livestock slaughter patterns by age groups, natural preservation, bone fragmentation index, traces of human impact, and the structure of meat consumption. The findings from these long-term, comprehensive archaeozoological studies of this significant Late Bronze Age site in Taman and surrounding regions represent the first consolidated publication of extensive material shedding light on the subsistence system of the ancient population of the Taman Peninsula during the Late Bronze Age. Based on the research, it can be concluded that cattle dominate the osteological spectrum of domestic animals, followed by horses, with small ruminants in third place, and pigs at the bottom of the list. The analysis of skeletal section ratios indicates local butchering practices. Beef formed the basis of the residents' meat diet. Hunting, fishing, and gathering were of secondary importance to the population.
Anniversary of the Beginning of Scientific Research) This article examines the discovery date of flint mines near the town of Krasnoselsky (Republic of Belarus), which are part of the archaeological complex of the same name. The historiography of the issue is reviewed, the main sources are identified, and key theses on this topic in Russian and international literature are defined. The text of the report by Polish researcher Zygmunt Szmit, who in 1925 documented and examined mines and axe workshops near the present-day town of Krasnoselsky, is introduced into scholarly circulation. The possibility that the Polish geologist Bronis & lstrok;aw Rydzewski or Zygmunt Szmit discovered this site in 1924 or 1926, as indicated in the literature, is explored. The results of our study can inform further work on the museumification of the flint mines that are part of the Krasnoselsky archaeological complex.
This paper presents the analysis of materials from a grave in the Zhartas burial ground belonging to the Sargary-Aleksyevka culture, located in the north-eastern Kazakh low hills (Saryarka) in the middle reaches of the Shiderty River. The funerary rite and associated artifacts find analogies among culturally similar sites in Central Kazakhstan, which are part of the cultural community of roller ceramics. According to paleoanthropological analysis, the woman interred, aged approximately 45-55 years, can be classified as belonging to the Caucasoid dolichocranial cranial type. Examination of her postcranial skeleton indicates she represents the "steppe" morphotype commonly associated with Bronze Age populations from the western region of the Eurasian steppes. Anthropological evidence further suggests a resemblance between the woman buried at the Zhartas burial ground and individuals from other Bronze Age burial grounds in Kazakhstan. The artistic reconstruction made from her skull gives an idea of the appearance of the population of the Sargary-Aleksyevkaculture in the north-eastern part of the Kazakh low hills. Judging bywell-known analogies, radiocarbon and isotopic data, as well as current ideas about the chronology of coil pottery finds from the steppe zone of Eurasia, the Zhartas burial ground dates to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC.
Changes in the ecosystem may be an important factor influencing the evolution of ancient communities. Wetland sites are among the mostvaluable "natural archives" for ancient historyand environmental change reconstruction. Multidisciplinary research at the Serteya II site, located in the Dnieper-Dvina basin, allowed revealing the sequence of historical and natural events from 8,000 to 3,000 BC based on "natural archives". The paleolandscape was reconstructed for the vicinity of this site, which existed in a changing environment. Deep-water lakes were replaced by shallow water bodies with a coastal wetland line. By the second half of 4,000 BC, lake and river landscapes had formed, when pile dwellings appeared. The choice of habitat was determined by the availability of various resources and the productivity of the ecological niche, which ultimately shaped economic strategies in different periods of time. The minimal anthropogenic impact of hunter-gatherer communities on the environment could be due to both the small size of ancient communities and a rational resource management system. Global climate changes in the Holocene (Bond events) are only partially reflected in the palaeoclimatic history of the Serteya micro-region.
Excavations of settlements discovered in recent years in the southeastern Gulf of Finland region have uncovered a new Bronze Age sites. Bronze objects and evidence of their production were found at these settlements - fragments of clay casting molds and crucibles, pieces of bronze. These finds are examined in detail in this article - their form, alloy composition, and location in the cultural layer. A characteristic feature of the alloy composition is the presence of tin and arsenic. Similar finds have been discovered in the south-eastern Baltic, in Northern Finland and in the area of distribution of the Textile ceramics culture. The most reliable information about bronze casting production was obtained from the study of the dwelling of the Textile ceramics culture at the settlement of Galik 11, which dates back to the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 1st millennium BC. This site is the earliest evidence of local bronze casting production in the Gulf of Finland region. This study determined the timing of the emergence of local bronze casting production in the region, identified the direction of cultural connections among the population, and obtained new information about the bronze casting of the Textile ceramics culture.
