Archaeological culture associated with. Archaeological culture of Russia

Tribes of Europe and Asia in the II millennium BC. e.

In the vast expanses of Europe and Asia, which lay outside the areas of development of the ancient slave-owning states, at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. e., as well as in these states, conditions were created that favored the development of bronze casting. The success of cattle breeding, which marked the second half of the 3rd millennium in many areas of the Eurasian continent from the Yenisei to the Iberian Peninsula, led to a significant change in the entire social structure of the tribes living in this territory. The foundations of matriarchal-tribal relations were undermined, opportunities were created for the widespread accumulation of wealth by the tribes in the form of livestock, and intertribal conflicts over pastures and reservoirs began to arise more and more often. War to enrich oneself at the expense of neighbors is becoming more and more commonplace. It is no coincidence that vast settlements surrounded by high ramparts and ditches appeared, such as, for example, on the Upper Rhine and in Western France.

The Bronze Age among the tribes of Europe and North Asia basically coincides with the 2nd millennium BC. e., but for most of them it continued even at the beginning of the 1st millennium. During this time, patriarchal tribal relations developed with the dominant position of men in the family and clan. The economic basis of these changes was the strengthening of the importance of cattle breeding, as well as the general rise in the productive forces, and above all the development of metallurgy. A significant role in this process was played by the gradual spread of plow agriculture, the signs of the use of which in the Bronze Age are becoming more and more numerous; with the further progress of archaeological science, this can be said with increasing confidence. Tribal communities, headed by elders - the heads of patriarchal families, were united at that time into populous tribes occupying vast territories separated from the territories of other tribes by forests, rivers and lakes. At the head of the tribe was a popular assembly of male tribesmen. However, with an increase in the number of tribes, and especially with the formation of associations of several tribes, the assembly loses its original character. Now only members of the tribal communities closest to the meeting place participate in it. The rest are represented by elders and military leaders. The process of property differentiation contributes to the strengthening of the tribal nobility and its isolation from the mass of fellow tribesmen. Gradually, economic strength, wealth, and power, as well as the administration of religious rites, are concentrated in the hands of the nobility. Elders and leaders very often become priests at the same time.

The main areas of distribution of cultures of the Bronze Age at the beginning of the II millennium BC. e.

If you look at the map of Europe and Asia at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. zones of ancient slave states, we will see the following picture.

To the east of the Yenisei, vast expanses of the Baikal region and the Baikal steppes have been occupied since the Eneolithic time by the population who left monuments of the so-called Glazkovo culture (at the place of discovery in the suburbs of the city of Irkutsk, formerly called Glavkovo), in which the first signs of links with the Early Bronze Age culture of Northern China were found.

The entire vast region of Kazakhstan, the steppe and forest-steppe parts of Western Siberia and the Southern Urals, up to the Caspian Sea, represents the territory occupied by tribes that left us monuments of the so-called Andronovo culture (Andronovskaya, it is named after the place of the first find near the village of Andronovo, in the south of the Achinsk region, Krasnoyarsk Territory. ), as a whole, strikingly uniform throughout this vast expanse. To the west, covering the entire Lower and Middle Volga region, the Black Sea steppes up to the Dnieper, and to the south - to radon modern Odessa, occupying also the forest-steppe zone to the borders of the Oka basin, lies the second vast territory of the tribes of the so-called "Srubnaya" culture ("Srubnaya" culture is named after its characteristic rite of burial in log cabins under the mound.), very close in appearance to the Andronovo culture. In Central Asia, along with the development local cultures during the Bronze Age, elements that reveal proximity with the Andronovo culture of Siberia and Kazakhstan spread more and more. The cultures of the Iranian Highlands, connected with the cultures of Western and Central Asia, continue to develop.

Although the North Caucasus is usually divided modern science on several cultures of the Bronze Age, but they all have links with each other. Features related to North Caucasian cultures are found in sites in most regions of Georgia and Armenia.

The vast areas of the Volga-Oka interfluve were occupied by tribes that left us monuments of the so-called Fatyanovo culture. The Middle Dnieper region has been inhabited by tribes of the so-called Middle Dnieper culture since the Eneolithic times. Further to the northwest, from Volyn to the northern part of Poland and the middle reaches of the Elbe, at the beginning of the Bronze Age, tribes continued to live, distinguished by related forms of culture.

The center of Europe - the present-day Czech Republic, Lower Austria, Silesia and Saxony with Thuringia - was inhabited by the tribes of the Unetitsa culture (The culture is named after the most extensive burial ground located near the village of Unetitsa.), which later developed among the main Unetptsk tribes into the Lusatian culture (the Lusatian culture got its name from Lusatian region in Germany (in German - Lausitz), where burials characteristic of this culture were first found.), Covering an even wider territory both in Germany and Poland, and in the south towards the Danube basin, where on the territory of Hungary formed a special center of bronze culture, connected through the Balkans with the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization.

At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the northern part of Italy, France, and the Iberian Peninsula were special areas with a group of related cultures, where one of the major centers ancient European metallurgy. At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the south of the Iberian Peninsula was occupied by tribes of a single culture (the so-called El Argar (Named after the place of the first finds in the El Argar area, in southern Spain.)). The tribes that inhabited the British Isles were also distinguished by significant cultural unity. This picture of cultural and historical features that developed at the beginning of the II millennium BC. e., of course, did not remain unchanged.

Archaeological cultures of the Bronze Age - II millennium BC.

Below we will talk about the most characteristic centers of culture of that time and about the changes that have taken place over the centuries.

Tribes of Andronovo and "Srubnaya" cultures

Clay and bronze products of the Andronovo culture

Huge space was occupied in the Bronze Age by tribes of Andronovo and "Srubnaya" cultures close to each other. Initially, these tribes lived in the Middle Volga and Southern Urals, and their culture was close to the culture of the tribes that left the catacomb and pit mounds. At the beginning of the Brodz Age, they settled east to the Minusinsk Basin and west to the Dnieper and the lower reaches of the Southern Bug. These tribes already had a relatively complex economy. On the one hand, they developed cattle breeding and, perhaps, they were the first to include the horse among domestic animals, first as beef cattle, and then as a transport force. On the other hand, the tribes that created the "Srubnaya" and Andronovo cultures were much more widely engaged in agriculture than their Eneolithic predecessors. This branch of the economy also determined their whole way of life: they were more sedentary, settled in significant settlements, which by the end of the Bronze Age, for example, on the Volga, reached the size of modern large villages and stretched along the river for several kilometers. They knew the stall keeping of cattle in winter.

Clay items, ax and bronze items from the Srubna culture

During the excavations of the Andronovo settlement near the village of Alekseevsky, on the Tobol River, the remains of pens were discovered next to the dwellings, very close in type to the covered premises for livestock that surrounded the houses on the later Kazakh winter roads in the same area. The inhabitants of the Andronovo and "Srubnaya" villages formed communities that led a closed economy and produced everything they needed themselves. On the spot, woolen fabrics were woven, hats were knitted, leather and furs were dressed, clothes and shoes were sewn. All tools and tools were also made locally from stone, bone, wood and metal.

Great perfection was achieved, especially among the tribes of the Andronovo culture, in the home production of pottery. Pots of slender forms were distinguished by a well-polished surface and a beautiful geometric pattern reminiscent of complex ornaments of Central Asian carpets.

Bronze products of the Srubna culture

Bronze working has already reached a high level of development; in the early burials of the tribes of the “Srubnaya” culture, casting molds were found for the manufacture of such a complex weapon as the battle ax, a characteristic type of which at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. penetrated from Mesopotamia through the Caucasus to our southern regions. Daggers, spears, arrows and jewelry were also cast from bronze - earrings, bracelets and plaques sewn onto clothes. In the early days of these cultures, bronze casting seems to have been carried out at home. However, with the development of casting technology and the complication of the forms of products, specialists - casters began to deal with bronze casting. Some of them lived in communal settlements, serving the needs of the community, while others gradually broke away from the community, turning into itinerant craftsmen working to order, having their own tools, a supply of raw materials and semi-finished products. By the end of the II millennium BC. e. the number of such itinerant masters increased especially. Many of their warehouses have come down to us, containing casting molds, bronze ingots, as well as prepared tools and weapons. Such warehouses have also been found in the territory occupied by the tribes of the Srubnaya culture and in many parts of Western and Southern Siberia and Kazakhstan.

An exchange arose between communities and itinerant craftsmen, who were the owners of not only their simplest tools, but also the products they produced. Exchange also arose within the community, contributing to the uneven accumulation and differentiation of the property status of its members. The development of the bronze casting business also contributed to the revival of intertribal trade. Tribes and communities, on whose territory there were deposits of metals, began to develop them to a large extent. Such basic areas of ancient metallurgy are found in many parts of the USSR. As an example, we can name the Kalbinsky ridge, southern Semipalatinsk, with many ancient copper mines, a number of areas in the Southern Urals, the Donetsk ridge and the Caucasus.

A significant rise in the productive forces caused a further complication of social relations. Gradually, a tribal aristocracy is formed, which differed from its fellow tribesmen in wealth. It begins to appropriate the right to occupy public positions and to a special share in the spoils of war. The memory of this is kept by the discovered treasure troves of the late Bronze Age, containing expensive and rare items, mainly weapons (arrowheads, daggers and axes) made of metals or valuable types of stone.

A sign of the allocation of tribal nobility is the construction of huge burial mounds. One of these mounds is located in the tract "Three Brothers" near the town of Stepnoy. Its huge size - up to 15 meters high - speaks of the special position of the person buried under this grandiose mound, over the construction of which hundreds of people worked. The same huge mound of the same time is the so-called "Wide Grave" near the village of Lepetikha, on the Lower Dnieper. Similar burial mounds, rising among modest ordinary graves, are located in a significant number in the steppes of Central Kazakhstan. In their bowels, they hide rich burials in vast stone crypts.

The study of settlements and mounds shows that the tribes of the Andronovo culture developed many of those peculiar elements that later became characteristic of the cultures of the Saks and Savromats of the 6th-4th centuries. BC e. Anthropological study of the remains of Andronos and Savromats also speaks of their genetic relationship. All this suggests that the tribes that created the Andronovo culture were the direct ancestors of the Saks and Savromats in terms of language, that is, they spoke the language of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. The ancient languages ​​- Scythian, Savromatian (later Sarmatian), Saka, and from the modern ones - Ossetian, dating back to one of the dialects of the Sarmatian language, belong to the Eastern Iranian subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages ​​​​of the Indo-European family.

In the second half of the II millennium BC. e. Andronovo tribes settled widely in a southerly direction - they appear in South Kazakhstan, in Kyrgyzstan, where monuments of the Andronovo culture of this time are known in large numbers. Tribes with a culture related to Andronovo appeared at that time not only in Khorezm, but also in the south of Central Asia up to the borders of modern Afghanistan and Iran.

Strengthening ties between South Siberian and Chinese tribes

Until recently, it remained unclear why the culture of the eastern part of the territory, occupied by the Andronovo tribes, at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. become different from the culture western territory so strong that it forced archaeologists to single out a special Karasuk culture in the Middle Yenisei and Altai. Indeed, the most dramatic changes have taken place. The forms of pottery changed; bronze items, for the most part, took on a completely different look than those of Andronovo; in the economy along with agriculture special meaning received cattle breeding and, above all, sheep breeding; the population became more mobile; his physical type changed, becoming closer to the type characteristic of the then population of Northern China. All this suggests a significant inclusion of people from Northern China in the tribal composition of Southern Siberia. This was confirmed by further research of the Karasuk sites. Karasuk daggers, knives, spears, Celtic axes, adornments in the form of pawled pendants and all kinds of plaques turned out to be especially close to those found in areas adjacent to the Great Wall of China from the north. But a number of the most typical Karasuk items, especially knives, miniature images of a pair of chariot teams, ceramic ornamentation found their direct prototypes in the products and decorations of bronze items from the capital of the Shan (Yin) kingdom, near Anyang. The same observation was confirmed by the fact that on the original Karasuk stelae (stone vertical slabs-monuments) the ornaments directly go back to the Yin ones.

Currently, Karasuk-type sites can be traced in the form of several local groups: in the Baikal region, where Yin vessels on three hollow legs - tripods, were found, in the Minusinsk Basin and in Altai, where the number of Karasuk sites proper is especially large, as well as in Kazakhstan - near Semipalatinsk and Lake Zaisan. It was in these places, according to the indications of Chinese chronicles, that the Ding-Ling tribes, who had previously lived in Northern China and were related to the Chinese, settled. Obviously, it was they who brought diverse elements of culture to Southern Siberia, especially in the field of bronze casting, borrowed by them from the population of ancient China during the Shang (Yin) kingdom.

Karasuk monuments can be traced up to the 8th century. BC e., when forms of things and ornaments began to spread in southern Siberia, indicating the growing importance of the Eurasian steppe tribes related to the Scythians. At the same time, first of all in Altai, the first iron products appeared.

Bronze Age in Iran and Central Asia

The culture of the tribes of mountainous Iran and Central Asia at the end of the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. e. is a continuation of the Eneolithic, but over the past time, serious changes have occurred in this culture. Settlements begin to fortify with walls. Material culture is becoming richer and more diverse. Along with stone and copper products, bronze ones are increasingly beginning to appear. Apparently, cattle breeding is developing strongly - especially the breeding of small cattle, in connection with which summer grazing of cattle is beginning to be used on remote mountain pastures; thus, pastoralism begins to acquire a semi-nomadic character. The horse begins to play an important role, which gives pastoral tribes greater mobility; with this circumstance, the penetration of the Kassite tribes from the mountains of Iran into Mesopotamia is probably connected. At the same time, a number of settlements continue to lead a settled agricultural economy, which from now on in these areas coexists with semi-nomadic cattle breeding. Settled tribes accumulate material values ​​and property stratification begins within the communities. The craft is developing significantly. Particularly remarkable are those related, apparently, mainly to the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. e, artistic bronzes from Luristan (Iran), mainly parts of horse harness, decorated with stylized images mythical monsters and animals. Stone-cutting art and pottery are also developing. Increasingly, the potter's wheel is being used.

Several local cultures belonging to culturally close tribes can be traced. Thus, the population of South Azerbaijan and Kurdistan (the settlement of Goy-Tepe, etc.) stood close to the inhabitants of Eastern and Central Transcaucasia; the tribes of Central Iran and the foothills of southern Turkmenistan (the settlements of Tepe-Sialk, Tepe-Hissar in Iran, the southern settlement of Anau, Namazga-Tepe in Turkmenistan, etc.) had original, but close cultures. Later than in these areas, agriculture developed in areas adjacent to the southeastern corner of the Caspian Sea (the Dehistan region in Turkmenistan, whose settlements are similar in culture to the settlements found near Astrabad in Iran). In Khorezm, in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya, the Eneolithic culture of fishermen and hunters is being replaced by the Tazabagyab culture, the culture of cattle breeders and hoe farmers.

Significant changes occur in Central Asia by the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e., apparently caused by the penetration from the north of the tribes associated with the Andronovo culture. At the end of this millennium life stops in the old agricultural settlements of Southern Turkmenistan. Several centuries earlier, the same phenomenon was observed in the cities of the Harappan culture in the Indus Valley, with which the most ancient Central Asian settlements have certain connections.

A new agricultural culture, the bearers of which, having learned to smelt iron, are already beginning to develop the river lowlands, appears in the oases of Central Asia only by the second quarter of the 1st millennium BC. e. Changes in culture are also observed in Eastern and Central Iran (as can be judged, for example, by the burial ground at the site of Tepe-Sialk), where, obviously, the newcomers from the northeast also penetrated by this time, speaking, in all likelihood, dialects of Iranian branches of the Indo-European family of languages.

Bronze Age in the Caucasus

Permanent ties between the tribes that lived in the Transcaucasus and the Western Asian centers of the slave-owning civilization were established as early as the early Eneolithic. The widespread export from the Ararat region of obsidian, which served as the main material for the manufacture of stone arrowheads and other tools in Mesopotamia and Elam, has already been mentioned. These connections contributed to the penetration into Transcaucasia of many achievements of ancient Eastern technology, more advanced models of tools and weapons. Forms of daggers known in Mesopotamia, the ancient Assyrian form of a bronze sword, ancient Eastern axes, a special type of axes, and much more were adopted by the metallurgists of Transcaucasia and were widely used in their production. Many of these forms also penetrated further north. The same type of ax, for example, was common in the east - in Central Asia, in the north - among the tribes of the Srubnaya and Andronovo cultures, and in the west it was made by bronze casters of the tribes that settled in the 2nd millennium BC. e. territories of modern Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The ceramic work of the Transcaucasian tribes also experienced a certain influence of ancient Eastern civilizations. Spread in the II millennium BC. in Transcaucasia, painted utensils (the so-called Elar type). The name of this type of utensil comes from the settlement of Elar, near Yerevan.)) to a certain extent, it is a variant of the utensils widely used in Mesopotamia and Elam. These are red or pink utensils, painted mainly with dark paint; in its ornamentation both in the south and in Transcaucasia there are many geometric elements and images of birds are often found. Jewelry and art of this time, in Transcaucasia, connections are also found with Mesopotamia, and later with the Hittite culture.

Monuments that characterize the peculiarity of the development of the culture of the tribes of Transcaucasia in the Bronze Age are found in Central Georgia (near Trialeti) and in a number of places in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The form of settlement in these places in the Bronze Age was settlements, often surrounded by walls of large stones (the so-called cyclopean masonry). Initially, these settlements retained the former appearance of communal settlements, built up with houses, in the construction of which stones or stone slabs were used. Later, internal fortifications appeared here, behind the walls of which the dwellings of representatives of the tribal nobility, more extensive houses of tribal elders and tribal leaders were hidden. As in the countries of the ancient East, the nobility was fenced off with walls not only from external enemies, but also from their fellow tribesmen. Such changes in the very layout of the settlements of Transcaucasia during the Bronze Age clearly indicate the process of decomposition of the old primitive communal orders.

Painted vessel from a kurgan in Trialeti, Georgia.

The same picture is drawn by the materials of excavations of numerous burials of the same period. In Trialeti, in the valley of the Tsalka River, a large number of burial mounds dating back to the first half and the middle of the 2nd millennium BC were explored. e. A considerable number of these mounds have preserved for us the burials of ordinary community members with a modest inventory. But next to these mounds rise huge mounds containing either extensive stone burial halls or deep underground tombs. They have preserved traces of funeral ceremonies, during which the deceased leader was carried on an ancient Eastern type chariot, carrying his weapons and jewelry. The wealth of the buried is evidenced by the silver daggers they carry, silver and gold dishes, fine jewelry and necklaces made of silver, gold and gems. Ornaments on dishes and jewelry are striking in their sophistication. I remember, for example, a golden goblet, decorated with graceful spirals of golden cords studded with semi-precious stones, or a silver goblet, which depicts a procession of people in animal masks and clothes with tails heading towards the altar and the sacred tree. The golden figurines of animals found in this burial mound testify to the firm assimilation by the craftsmen of Transcaucasia of the techniques of jewelers from Mesopotamia. This found expression, for example, in a figurine of a ram, whose eyes are made of mother-of-pearl and multi-colored stones, fixed on mountain resin. The best examples of Elar-type utensils, which especially expressively preserved features of similarity with the ceramics of Western Asia, were found in large numbers in the rich mounds of Trialeti.

Gold cup from Trialeti, Georgia. II millennium BC

In Armenia, in the city of Kirovakan, a similar burial was discovered, containing many painted vessels. The bronze weapon turned out to be completely similar to the Trialeti one. The massive golden bowl was decorated with figures of lions depicted in the ancient oriental style. Near it lay silver vessels, similar to those of Trialeti. Random finds made in various regions of Transcaucasia suggest that those changes in social order, which so expressively depict the finds in Trialeti for us, took place at the same time in many regions of modern Georgia, Armenia and Western Azerbaijan.

These changes were caused by the further development of many industries. In the second half of the II millennium BC. e. in Transcaucasia, irrigation of fields was already used, apparently, horticulture and viticulture were widely developed, herds were numerous. The most important innovation was the spread of horse breeding and the use of horses for riding and chariot riding. It was from this time that bronze bits of various types, designed to control half-wild horses, began to come across in the cemeteries of Transcaucasia. The development of weaponry, from the dagger to the long bronze sword and other types of more advanced weapons, also testifies to the military clashes of the tribes over land and booty. Military clashes delivered new working hands - prisoner-of-war slaves. It is at this time that the presence of slaves becomes so common, they are considered so necessary for the nobility, that they are placed in the graves of the nobles so that they can serve them in the afterlife. As an example, we can cite a burial discovered in a crypt under a mound on the southwestern coast of Lake Sevan, where 13 killed slaves were found around the richly decorated funeral chariot of a tribal leader, and a driver, who was also killed during the burial, was laid near the bulls that brought the chariot. . This shows not only the existence of slavery, but also the fact that the production value of slaves at that time was not yet great.

Such burials are now known in many areas of Transcaucasia. They testify that the process of intra-tribal differentiation that began in the early period of the Bronze Age led to the emergence of new forms of social relations based on the exploitation of slaves. This process was especially intensified when some regions of the Southern Transcaucasia in the 9th-8th centuries. BC e. were included in the slave state of Urartu.

In the North Caucasus in the II millennium BC. 8. A powerful center of bronze culture developed. It had a strong impact on many areas of the steppe zone, on the regions of the Volga region, the Kama region and the Volga-Oka interfluve, serving as a transmitter of the advanced achievements of ancient Eastern technology.

At the end of II - beginning of I millennium BC. e. The tribes of the North Caucasus possessed a highly developed bronze-casting industry and took the first steps in mastering the technique of iron processing. Particularly well-known in this regard is the region of present-day North Ossetia, where the most characteristic monuments (mainly burial grounds) of the so-called Koban culture are concentrated. High-quality axes, daggers and swords, bronze combat belts and all kinds of ornaments, covered with relief and engraved images, speak of a high level of craftsmanship. Among the Koban finds there are many bronze bits that testify to the use of a horse for riding. An analysis of the forms of weapons suggests that the tribes of the North Caucasus at that time were familiar not only with ancient Eastern, but also with South European bronze items. A similar Bronze culture also existed on the eastern and southeastern coasts of the Black Sea (Colchis).

Bronze Age in the Upper Volga region

Clay vessels and a bronze ax of the Fatyanovo culture. Finds in the Ivanovo region

Earlier it was already mentioned about the settlement along the upper reaches of the Volga and the region of the Volga-Oka interfluve of tribes, which, apparently, came out from the upper reaches of the Dnieper and left us the so-called Fatyanovo burial grounds. These tribes brought to the forest areas of the Upper Volga and Oni much more progressive forms of economy than those that the ancient local population had here. Living among the local population of hunters and fishermen, the tribes who came here, obviously, had to spend their strength to a large extent on protecting their territories and herds.

The tribes of the Fatyanovo culture bred small and large cattle and, apparently, were familiar with agriculture. Their stone tools were distinguished by great perfection, as they were skillfully polished and drilled. Their drilled wedge-shaped battle axes were the perfect images of this kind of weapon. The level of development of metallurgy was especially significant; casters cast a large number of beautiful bronze axes of the ancient Eastern type. Fatyanovo ceramics in its form and ornamentation had some similarities with the North Caucasian. The tribes of the Fatyanovo culture were also aware of the products of the foundry workers of those tribes that were settled to the west of them. In Mytishchi, in the Ivanovo region, along with Fatyanovo dishes, a bronze bracelet in the form of a cuff, characteristic of the Unetitsky culture of Central Europe, was found.

At the end of the II millennium BC. e. these tribes, especially in the Volga regions, continued to develop the advanced technique of bronze casting. Finds made in a burial ground near the Seimas station, near the city of Gorky, provided examples of the outstanding achievements of the foundry workers of that time. High-quality Celtic axes, original spears, widely spread to the Danube, Yenisei and Issyk-Kul, as well as original daggers and combat knives were cast here. Judging by their type and manufacturing methods, it can be assumed that the craftsmen on the Upper Volga were familiar with the achievements of the casters of that time, who were also on the territory of modern Hungary and distant China of the Shang (Yin) period.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the Upper Volga region already by the tenth century. BC e. took the first steps in the development of new iron metallurgy and in this respect did not lag behind other regions of Europe.

Bronze Age culture in the Danube basin and Northern Italy

The areas of the Danube basin in the Bronze Age became a place of high development of bronze casting. Especially in this regard, the territory of modern Hungary stood out, where already in the early Bronze Age, at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e., bronze foundry achieved great success, especially in the manufacture of weapons - daggers, battle axes and bronze axes of various types. Relations with the areas of the Cretan-Mycenaean culture led in the middle of the 2nd millennium to an exceptional flourishing of the craftsmanship of making bronze items in the middle reaches of the Danube. High quality swords, battle axes, various decorations and tools, covered with fine engraved patterns, widely diverged from the Danubian workshops to neighboring countries.

Bronze tools and weapons from excavations in Hungary

At the same time, agriculture also developed here - farming and cattle breeding. Especially high level reached material culture Danubian tribes in the second half of the II millennium BC. e., when settlements (the so-called terramaras) became a characteristic form of their settlements, consisting of wooden huts built in the valleys of the Tisza, Sava, Drava and Danube rivers on platforms resting on piles and surrounded by a rampart and a moat. In the swampy deposits of the valleys of these rivers, in the places where the terramares were located, a huge number of various objects have been preserved, which make it possible to restore many details of the life of the inhabitants of these villages. A large number of bronze sickles found here and casting molds for their manufacture indicates the importance of agriculture in the economy of that time. The remnants of the bits indicate that on the Danube, as well as in the Caucasus, in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. the horse was already used for riding. A significant number of imported items - amber from the Baltic, beads and jewelry from the regions of the Eastern Mediterranean - speaks of the comparatively lively exchange relations of the inhabitants of the Danube settlements for that period.

A culture completely analogous to that of the Danube is also characteristic of the Late Bronze Age of northern Italy, especially in the Po valley. Images of a plow found on rocks in the Italian Alps suggest that the farmers who lived in northern Italy and on the middle reaches of the Danube were already plowing the land.

The similarity of the cultures of the Bronze Age of the North Italian and Danube tribes is so great that the question naturally arises about their possible relationship. It can be assumed that the tribes that created these cultures belonged mainly to that group of the Indo-European population of ancient Europe, which was later known as the Illyrian. This group occupied the space between the Po valley and the upper turning of the Danube, as well as the western part of the Balkan Peninsula.

Unětice and Lusatian cultures of Central Europe

The vast expanses of Silesia, Saxony and Thuringia, Bohemia and Lower Austria, north of the Danube in the first half of the 11th millennium BC. e. were occupied by a group of tribes that left monuments of the so-called Upetitsa culture. The settlements of these tribes consisted of quadrangular houses with wicker walls coated with clay. Rounded hive-shaped dugouts, dug in dense strata of loess, also met with bridges. The grain pits preserved in the settlements speak of the occupation of the population by agriculture. Numerous remains of bones of domestic animals, the custom of putting pieces of meat in the grave - all this shows the importance of cattle breeding in the economic life of the tribes. In this regard, the Unětice culture was typical of the Bronze Age in Central Europe.

A burial characteristic of the Unětice culture

The tribes that created the Unetitsky culture were engaged in bronze casting, relying on the rich deposits of the Ore Mountains, Sudetes and Western Beskids. Samples of products that came out of the hands of the local casters differed little from the common forms characteristic of the Bronze Age in many regions of Europe. However, there were also peculiar products, which were discussed in connection with the issue of the westward advance of the Eneolithic tribes that inhabited the southern Russian steppes.

For the middle of the II millennium, signs of strengthening the ties of the tribes that created the Unetitsky culture with the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization can be established. In earthenware, for example, the influence of Mykonian forms is noticeable.

At the same time, some expansion of the territory occupied by the Unetitsky tribes was noticed due to the inclusion in their number of a number of tribes of Central Europe with a related culture, but initially still distinguished by a certain originality. At the same time, the process of gradual modification of the Unětice culture itself begins. This process is most clearly seen in the transition to cremation, and the remains of the burned corpses were enclosed in a vessel. Initially, according to ancient custom, these vessels were placed in deep earthen graves, around which a circle of stones was laid out - a magical sign of the sun. However, over time, new types of burial grounds began to appear, which received from archaeologists the name "fields of burial urns." At the same time, we observe noticeable changes in the forms of bronze and ceramic products of the Unětice culture. Gradually here in the second half of the II millennium BC. e. a new, so-called Lusatian culture is taking shape, which most researchers consider proto-Slavic, that is, created by tribes who spoke a language to which the languages ​​of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European family go back.

Bronze items from Unětice culture

Monuments of Lusatian culture are found on a vast territory from the Spree to the Danube and the Slovak Mountains and from the Saale to the Vistula. In the northwestern regions of Ukraine spread in the middle of the II millennium BC. e. the so-called Komarov tribes, close to the Lusatian ones, in which researchers see the ancestors of the Eastern Slavs. In Ukraine in the second half of the II millennium BC. e. very close to the unique, Lusatian and Komarovo sites are the groups of cemeteries and settlements of the Vysotsky, Belogrudovsky and Chernolessky (by the names of the villages near which these cemeteries were discovered.) types, also associated by researchers with the settlement of the Proto-Slavs here. Characteristic monuments of the Lusatian and related cultures are settlements consisting of the so-called "pillar" houses, the walls of which were made of vertical pillars with wattle covered with clay, or taken with boards. The tribes of the Lusatian culture were apparently engaged mainly in agriculture, since they find in burial urns a large number of bronze sickles. When excavating settlements, grain graters and the remains of grains of various cereals are constantly found. There is every reason to believe that the tribes of the Lusatian culture already used for plowing not only a plow, but also a plow, two finds of which were made in the peat bogs of present-day Poland.

The study of settlements and burial grounds of the Lusatian culture of the Bronze Age suggests that public relations were still primitive communal here. However, the importance of the man - the master of the house and the warrior - has noticeably increased.

Apparently, here, too, there was a transition from the ancient matriarchy to patriarchy, a transition that characterizes the beginning of the decomposition of the primitive communal system.

Other cultures of Central and Northern Europe

The regions of Central Europe lying further to the west - the territories of present-day Upper Austria, Western Germany and Holland - in the middle and at the end of the 11th millennium BC. e. were occupied by a population with a special culture, from which there were barrow burials characteristic of it. Bronze weapons are found in the burials, sometimes sickles are also found. However, the study of the settlements of this culture leads to the conclusion that if the population that left these monuments to us knew agriculture, then its main occupation was semi-nomadic cattle breeding.

Similar forms of culture are also found among the tribes that lived at that time within the borders of modern Northern Germany and Southern Scandinavia. It is possible that this predominantly pastoral culture was left by the tribes that were the immediate predecessors of the tribes of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages; it is in these areas that the written history of the ancient Germanic tribes finds itself a millennium later. At the same time, it should be noted that, judging by the archaeological data, the level of development of the tribes inhabiting Scandinavia was somewhat higher in the Bronze Age than that of the tribes inhabiting the territory of Germany. Numerous bronze inventory of Scandinavian burials is much more diverse, and rock carvings in Southern Sweden (for example, in Bohuslän) even tell about campaigns of Scandinavian multi-vessel boats, about sea battles and landings of warriors armed with long bronze swords and round shields. Among these images there is also a drawing of plowing with a plow.

Bronze Age in Western Europe

Alleys of menhirs near Carpak in Brittany

On the territory of France in the Bronze Age, two groups of tribes with different cultures should be distinguished - the mainland and the northern seaside. The latter is characterized by a wide distribution of structures that arose back in the Eneolithic: giant cromlechs - round in terms of the sanctuary of the sun, alleys of menhirs (stone pillars) erected in memory of individuals, members of the clan and tribe, and burial boxes from giant slabs - dolmens - have been preserved in large numbers to the present day, especially in Normandy and Brittany. Full affinity with them is found by similar monuments in the south of England. The tribes that left monuments of this culture were engaged in agriculture and raised cattle. They lived in small settlements grouped around fortified settlements that served as a refuge in case of danger. Near the settlements there are burial grounds, which consisted of mounds, usually lined with stones at the base. Ordinary community members were buried in these mounds. Warriors, tribal elders and tribal leaders were honored with more magnificent burials in dolmens, sometimes containing several tiers of burials.

This culture, the so-called megalithic (literally, "big stone"), has a number of local variants, but basically retains its characteristic features everywhere.

The creators of the mainland cultures of France were clearly agricultural settled tribes who lived in open settlements, but also had fortified settlements-shelters in case of attack by hostile tribes. They left a huge number of burial mounds throughout France, which served as the main type of their funerary structures. Burial mounds in different parts of France differ in the design of the burial chambers; sometimes they are whole underground dolmens with a gallery, in other cases they are structures in pits made of stone or made of massive logs. The population that left these burial mounds reveals features about their culture that bring them closer to the tribes of the megalithic culture. Together with people who penetrated into France from the end of the 2nd millennium, these tribes can be considered the ancestors of the tribes who spoke the languages ​​of the Celtic branch of the Indo-European family who lived here later. By the end of the Bronze Age, they achieved significant progress in metallurgy. The population of France during the Bronze Age produced metal products of excellent quality, distinguished by exceptional diversity.

People of various social status are buried in the burial mounds of France. Sometimes these are ordinary members of the community, whose simple burial inventory testifies to their modest working life. Next to them are magnificent graves of military leaders buried with rich inventory, sometimes including several swords, spears, helmets and shields, while ordinary community members were armed only with axes. A feature of the rich burials of the Bronze Age of France is also the presence in them of beautifully made bronze dishes. This high culture of the Bronze Age formed the basis for the development of the culture of the population of France at the beginning of the 1st millennium, the period of mastering the technique of iron processing (the so-called Hallstatt period).

Bronze Age in the Iberian Peninsula

Ware from El Argar, Spain

The most important area of ​​bronze foundry from the very beginning of the millennium BC. e. became the region of the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. A peculiar El-Argar culture developed here, the monuments of which were distributed along the entire eastern coast of the peninsula and partially captured the southern parts of Spain and Portugal.

A feature of this culture was the high proportion of mining, copper mining and its processing by bronze casters. The tribes of the El Argar culture had connections not only with other tribes that lived on the Iberian Peninsula, but also with those who inhabited the distant British Isles: this was caused by the need to obtain tin for smelting bronze. In many houses of the El-Argar settlements, the remains of bronze casting workshops are found during excavations. Bronze items produced in the south of Spain were widely distributed outside of it. These products are found in large numbers in Southern and especially Southwestern France and reach Northern Italy, where not only bronze products were found, but also black polished vessels characteristic of this culture, probably (like bell-shaped vessels during the Eneolithic period), imported along with bronze weapons.

The tribes of southern Spain were also engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. Their villages were built on hills and surrounded by strong stone walls. Houses in such villages were multi-room and even two-story. However, despite the significant development of the economy and culture, these tribes still retained primitive society. By the end of the Bronze Age, they achieved considerable success in the development of productive forces. They were engaged in arable farming, gardening, and improved their bronze casting skills to an even greater extent. At the same time, they probably began to use the labor of prisoners of war as slaves in agriculture as well as in mining. The memory of these successes is preserved in later legends about the great antiquity of the southern Spanish slave state of Tartessus, which supposedly existed already in the 2nd millennium BC. e.

The peculiar culture of Southern Spain of the Bronze Age was created by the population, which should be seen as proto-Iberian tribes. Their descendants - the Iberians subsequently inhabited the same areas of the Iberian Peninsula, nearby islands mediterranean sea and southwestern France. It is possible that the Iberians penetrated to the east beyond the peninsula as early as the early Bronze Age.

Spreading language families

In the Bronze Age in Europe, with the exception of the outlying regions, as well as in Southwestern Siberia and Central Asia, we seem to be dealing mainly with a population that spoke ancient languages, which for the most part formed the basis for the development of later language groups. Indo-European family. Indo-European languages ​​of the Anatolian group in Asia Minor, Indo-European Greek dialects in the south of the Balkan Peninsula are attested by written monuments. In the more northern regions, one can outline the settlement of the tribes of the Iranian, Slavic, Illyrian, Germanic and Celtic groups of the Indo-European family of languages. It is also planned, although less definitely, the possibility of determining the settlement of the Baltic and Thracian groups of languages ​​(the latter - on the Lower Danube and in the Balkans).

In the tribes of the Iberian Peninsula of this time, one can see Iberian tribes that did not belong to the Indo-Europeans in their language. Non-Indo-European languages ​​related to the modern languages ​​of the Caucasus were probably spoken by the tribes that created the remarkable cultures of the Bronze Age of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia.

It is also possible that the cultures of the forest regions of North-Eastern Europe and North-Western Siberia, where the population still largely preserved the Neolithic technique, belonged in most cases to tribes that spoke the languages ​​of the later Finno-Ugric language family.

The northern part of East Asia was occupied by tribes, in all likelihood, who spoke languages, from which the Turkic, Mongolian and Tungus-Manchu language families subsequently formed, as well as various so-called Paleo-Asiatic languages. Their culture in the II millennium BC. e. not much different from the state that was described above in the chapter on the late Neolithic.

The overwhelming majority of the tribes that knew the Bronze Age had not yet left the primitive communal system. However, many of them in the Bronze Age developed a patriarchal-tribal system and the decomposition of primitive communal relations begins.

These tendencies especially intensified with the development of arable farming, and in the steppe spaces, nomadic cattle breeding. This happened at the end of the Bronze Age in most of the countries of Europe and Asia, which lay outside the areas of development of ancient Eastern civilizations. New forms of production especially contributed to the transition from collective labor to labor by individual families. The place of the tribal community began to be occupied by the rural, or neighboring, community. This occurs first among the agricultural tribes. The rural community combines two features: on the one hand, private property on all means of production, except land, individual production and appropriation, and on the other hand, collective ownership of arable land, pastures and forests, and arable land is regularly redistributed for family, private use. In neighboring communities, the process of property differentiation proceeded especially rapidly. Elders, commanders, priests, by virtue of their very position, now have the opportunity to enrich themselves by taking possession of a significant share of the community property. They use religious beliefs as an additional and very powerful means of influencing their relatives. Significant changes are taking place in these beliefs. Previously widespread, especially among agricultural tribes, the cult of the goddess of fertility, the mother goddess, fades into the background. The first place is occupied by the cult of male ancestors, the veneration of deified heroes, successful military leaders. At the same time, cults associated with the veneration of heavenly bodies and especially the sun are developing. Throughout the vast expanse of Europe and North Asia, places of worship of the sun have been discovered. Religious ideas reflect the changes that took place in primitive society in the Bronze Age.

In the II millennium BC. e. humanity has achieved new successes in the development of productive forces. As a material for the production of tools, bronze is becoming widespread. Agriculture, cattle breeding, handicrafts are developing, means of transport are being improved; in all areas of production activities, improvements and improvements are introduced, experience is accumulated, and specialization in production activities develops.

The history of mankind during this period is the history of the further development of the slave-owning society in Egypt, in the countries of Western Asia and in India, the history of the growth of slave-owning relations in an ever larger territory, the history of the emergence of new slave-owning states in the Aegean Sea basin, in Asia Minor and in China. During this period, the course of the historical process accelerated, but still it remained very slow; the despotic power of the slave-owners not only fettered the creative activity of the slaves, but also made it impossible for the energy and initiative of the masses of the free people, the community members, to manifest.

Written sources of this time become more abundant and richer in content. From that time the first significant historical monuments, testifying to the grandiose uprisings of the lower classes, the civil wars that shook the slave states.

Most characteristic of the economic history of the period under consideration is the significant development of slaveholding relations in the ancient centers of civilization. By reducing the role of large farms (kings, temples and nobles), based on primitive forms of exploitation, the slaveholding of individuals and the slave trade are growing. Increasingly, impoverished community members are turning into slavery for debts. The former tribal nobility, which had slaves, had to make room and give place to new layers of slave owners. The marketability of slave-owning farms is growing, exchange is developing, and the importance of money in the life of society is increasing. Collections of laws appear, fixing the rules of the exploitative system.

AT political history of mankind, this time, filled with wars, which are now systematically waged by the ruling classes of a number of countries for the sake of capturing slaves and robbery, is also characterized by the fact that it gives us the first documents of diplomatic relations between slave-owning states. Alliances of some states against others appear, the struggle of more powerful states for the subjugation of weaker states, tribes and peoples intensifies.

Developments inner life slave-owning states are increasingly intertwined with the fate of other countries surrounding these states. For the first time, instead of intertribal relations, international relations appear, their history begins. However, slave-owning states still exist among a sea of ​​tribes living in a primitive communal system. Trade relations are expanding between the slave-owning states and their neighbors, primitive tribes are assimilating some production experience and cultural achievements of more developed countries. But for the slave owners, the surrounding tribes remained only a reservoir from which they drew the bulk of the slaves, they were only an object of robbery.

In the history of human culture, this time is marked by the fact that for the first time significant monuments of literature, both artistic and political, have come down to us from it. The latter, which has come down to us, for example, from Egypt, speaks of the intensification of the class struggle, the breaking of former communal ties; it is imbued with the fear and hatred of the slave owners towards the oppressed masses; she teaches to "bend the crowd" and not even trust friends, because among the slave owners there is an eternal unceasing struggle of some predators against others. Fiction has preserved for us the oldest folk tales, epic tales, and songs. Scientific knowledge at this time is systematized, and we learn about the achievements of ancient mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.

In the history of human culture, this time is also marked by the fact that it was then that the foundation was laid for the creation of the alphabet, which then spread among all European and many Asian peoples, and the writing of the Chinese people was born.

Russian Civilization

Archaeological culture is a set of artifacts that belong to one particular area and era. It gets its name based on the distinctive features of the ornament used in a particular territory. The term "culture" in archeology differs somewhat from the generally accepted definition. It can only be used if the findings of scientists give an idea of ​​the way of life people led several millennia ago.

The archaeological cultures of Russia include several stages of development. Each of them goes from one to another. Taking into account the fact that the territory of the country is quite large, at the same time it could be inhabited by tribes belonging to different cultures, leading far from the same lifestyles.

Culture of the Middle Stone Age

Such a concept as the archaeological culture of the Mesolithic, in fact, is absent. At this time, the tribes were not yet divided among themselves. People were trying to survive, and it didn't matter how they did it. Someone gradually began to practice farming, someone continued to hunt, and someone tamed animals, set the pace for modern cattle breeding. However, this period of time cannot be completely discarded, since it was he who laid the foundation for the formation of many civilizations.

At this stage, the first types of archaeological cultures appeared. Scientists and archaeologists do not believe that they need to be separated so early. But the beginnings were laid. Each tribe departed from its former relatives, separated on various grounds, be it a way of life, an ethnic side of the issue, or, for example, ways of burying dead ancestors. But the stage under consideration should by no means be underestimated, because its study will help answer questions related to the emergence of subsequent cultures.

Trypillia civilization

The Trypillia archaeological culture dates back to the Eneolithic (5-2 millennium BC). It got its name from the area where the first monuments were discovered. It happened in the village of Trypillya.

It is noteworthy that around the 18th century, excavations were carried out on the territory of Romania, during which the Cucuteni culture was discovered. It also got its name thanks to the village, near which artifacts related to it were found. Initially, it was believed that these two cultures differ from each other. So it was until scientists compared the found things and monuments. It turned out that the Cucuteans and Trypillians are the same people.

The discovered artifacts allowed scientists to conclude that the archaeological culture in question was the largest in Europe, its population at its peak exceeded 15 thousand people.

As for the life of this civilization, it took place in the same way as in other places during Towards the end of the period, people began to master clay, now it was used not only for domestic purposes, but also for decorative purposes. Figurines and other pottery products were made from it.

Dolmens

The dolmen archaeological culture did not particularly affect the development of the tribes located on the territory of modern Russia. It originated in India around the 10th millennium BC. e., but the peoples began their travels to the west much later. It happened in the 3rd millennium BC. e., the dolmens then divided into two parts. The first went towards the Caucasus, the second - to Africa, mainly to Egypt. At that time, another civilization dominated the territory of Russia, so the tribes could only supplement the cultural heritage. As for the development in Egypt, it was here that they managed to fully open up.

This archaeological culture got its name from the Breton language, and in translation means “stone table”. Despite the fact that its influence on the Slavic territory was not high, the largest concentration of monuments is located near the Black Sea coast and in the Krasnodar Territory. It is likely that other monuments simply did not survive to the present.

An abundance of stone and bronze items was found near the dolmens; these materials were used not only for the production of labor and hunting tools, but also for decorations. Many of them were found directly in the graves. By the way, they were also called dolmens, like the tribes themselves. These burial places were similar to the Egyptian pyramids. Most researchers admit that some dolmens were built for religious or cultural purposes, and not for funeral purposes. This is due to the fact that the structures themselves were often older than the remains found in them. Thus, it is likely that it was the dolmen civilization that laid the foundation for the pyramids, which have been preserved and admired by many to this day.

Catacomb culture

The Catacomb archaeological culture came to Slavic territory from the east, it was first discovered in the 19th century. Its appearance and flourishing date back to the early Bronze Age. Some sources claim that the appearance of the catacomb tribes is generally oriented towards copper age. In a word, it has not yet been possible to indicate the exact date of the emergence of culture.

The tribes did not advance beyond the European border, so their influence on the development of neighboring civilizations is only superficial. This archaeological culture got its name due to the method of burial, which had a huge number of differences. For example, if we compare the catacomb and pit tribes, then for the latter it was enough to dig a small pit for burial. The burial depth of the first was located at the level of 3-5 meters. Moreover, these mounds often had several branches, they went deep or simply to the sides. It is believed that either people from the same family, or the same in rank or status, were buried in such catacombs.

Household appliances of the catacomb tribes were also quite different. First, they almost did not have a flat bottom. However, this can be explained by the fact that the tribes did not yet understand the full convenience of such production, or they did not have such an opportunity. Secondly, all the dishes had squat shapes. Even if you pick up a jug, its height is very small. There was also a primitive ornament. Like all tribes of that time, it was performed using cord impressions. Only the upper part of the product was decorated.

The tools were made mainly of flint. This material was used in the manufacture of arrowheads, knives, daggers and so on. Some skilled craftsmen in the tribes used wood to make dishes. Bronze was used only for the production of jewelry.

Culture of Russia in the Bronze Age

Unfortunately, the archaeological culture in Russia could not reach its highest peak, but in general development This period of time cannot be ignored. It dates back to the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e. The Russians of that time were engaged in agriculture. The cultivation of forests prevailed to a greater extent, but gradually people began to master the cultivation of less fertile lands.

There is a small jump in the construction of houses. If earlier settlements erected housing buildings only in the valleys, now they are moving to the hills. The primitive fortification of houses also begins.

The early archaeological culture of the Bronze Age is notable for Maikop settlements. The later one is subdivided into several different complexes. The most extensive in terms of occupied territories are the Srubnaya and Andronovo cultures.

Maykop culture

The Maikop archaeological culture dates back to the early Bronze Age, it existed in the 3rd millennium BC. e. on the territory of the North Caucasus. From the found monuments and artifacts, it can be concluded that the population was engaged in livestock breeding and agriculture. The culture originated in the northwest and in the center of the Caucasus. hallmark tribes is archaic in the production of tools and household items. However, despite the outdated appearance of these products, civilization gradually developed. In addition, it was in no way inferior to other territories with more modern tools for that time.

Also, thanks to this, we can conclude that the Maikop archaeological culture during its heyday did not limit its territorial affiliation only to the North Caucasus. There are traces of it in Chechnya, on the Taman Peninsula, up to Dagestan and Georgia. By the way, on the borders with these areas, two different cultures (Kuro-Arak and Maikop) meet, their interweaving is observed. Before the border finds, scientists believed that the stages in question occurred at different times. And so far there is no rational explanation for the mixing of cultures.

Srubna culture

The Srubnaya archaeological culture dates back to the 2nd-1st millennium BC. e. The territory of the tribes under consideration was quite wide, it spread from the Dnieper region to the Urals, from the Kama region to the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas. It got its name due to the abundance of log structures. Funeral rites, burial grounds, over which log cabins were usually erected, did not go unnoticed.

Tribal settlements were located directly near rivers, usually on cape terraces. Often they were fortified with ditches and ramparts. The buildings themselves were not strengthened, but with good external protection this did not need to be done. As indicated, all buildings were made of wood, sometimes the construction was supplemented with clay mixtures.

The Srubnaya archaeological culture, like many others, was distinguished by the methods of burial. Unlike their predecessors, the tribes saw off the dead individually; mass graves are extremely rare. Burials were made in groups, in one place, 10-15 mounds. There is a characteristic feature of the location of the dead - on their side, with their heads to the north. Some burials include the cremated as well as the dismembered. They could be either tribal leaders or criminals.

During the Srubnaya culture, thick, flat-bottomed dishes were used. At first, they tried to decorate it with ornaments. Later they made ordinary pots or vessels. If there was an ornament, then it was jagged or smooth. common feature any decoration of dishes - predominance geometric shapes. Incomprehensible signs were rarely encountered, which most researchers attribute to primitive writing.

At first, all tools were made of flint and bronze, but at a later stage, the addition of iron is noted. Economic activity was pastoral, but agriculture is more common.

Andronovo culture

The Andronovo archaeological culture got its name from the place where the first finds related to it were discovered. This period dates back to the 2nd-1st millennium BC. e. The tribes lived around Andronovo (Krasnoyarsk Territory).

Cattle breeding is considered to be a distinctive feature of culture. People bred white-footed sheep, hardy horses and heavy-weight bulls. Thanks to these animals, they were able to develop rapidly. Some scholars suggest that the Andronovites went as far as the territory of India and laid the beginnings of their own civilization there.

Initially, the Andronovites lived in the Trans-Urals, then they moved to Siberia, from where some of them continued their journey towards Kazakhstan. Until now, despite the abundance of various finds and artifacts, scientists cannot determine why the tribes decided on such a large-scale migration.

If we compare all the archaeological cultures of Russia living in the Bronze Age, then it was the Andronovites who became the most combative. They created chariots and could strike at units or even full-fledged settlements faster than anyone else. This is probably what explains the migration, because in the pursuit of a better life they tried to find more comfortable lands. And if necessary - and win them.

Pit culture

At the end of the Bronze Age, the Yamnaya archaeological culture comes into force. The tribes in question come to the territory of Russia from the east, and their distinguishing feature- early cattle breeding. Many peoples began to develop from agriculture, while these people immediately switched to animal breeding. The culture got its name because of the burial pits. They were simple and primitive, but that was what made them different.

At the moment, the Yamnaya archaeological culture is the most studied. The mounds were located on the tops of the plateau, they tried to be as far away from the rivers as possible. It is likely that once the settlement was flooded during the flood, so people became more careful. Burials were rarely found directly near rivers. All the graves were located along the stream, in small groups (approximately 5 dead). The distance from one burial to another could be completely different, from 50 to 500 meters.

The pit tribes made household appliances from clay. As in the past era, these were flat-bottomed vessels of various sizes. There were huge amphorae, which, presumably, kept cereals and liquids, as well as small pots. The ornament on the dishes was applied with the help of strong cords, their prints made up the entire decor.

Flint was used to make arrowheads, axes and other tools. It should be noted that the pits were not dug by a person manually, primitive drilling installations were created, which were weighted with stones if the ground was solid.

The tribes also used wood in production, from which they made structures that were quite complex for that time. These were stretchers, sledges, boats and small carts.

In the course of the study, all scientists noted the originality of the Yamnaya culture, the tribes treated the bodies of the dead responsibly, therefore, not only material, but also spiritual values ​​are attributed to them. Moreover, these peoples extended their influence to neighboring settlements.

It is likely that chariots were not originally produced for conquest purposes at all. Since the Andronovites, like many other cultures, were pastoralists, such primitive machines were supposed to help them in herding animals. Later, the tribes discovered the productivity of chariots in the military sphere, which they immediately took advantage of.

Imenkovskaya culture

The Imenkovskaya archaeological culture is dated early medieval(4th-7th centuries). It was located on the territory of modern Tatarstan, Samara and Ulyanovsk regions. There are also genetic links with other cultures that were in the neighborhood.

After the Bulgars came to the territory of culture, most of the Imenkovtsy went to the west. After some time, they moved to a new stage of development - they laid the foundation for the Volyntsevo people. The rest mixed with the population and eventually lost all their cultural accumulations and knowledge.

The Imenkovskaya archaeological culture occupies a special place in the development of the Slavic people. It was the tribes in question that were the first to practice arable farming. During this process, they used primitive plows on which metal tips were attached. In addition, in the process of harvesting, the Imenkovites also used relatively modern tools for that time - iron sickles and scythes. focused on dug pits-pantries, akin to modern cellars. Grinding of the crop took place on millstones in the manual version.

The Imenkovtsy developed rapidly not only within their own tribes. They had workshops where they smelted the extracted metals, some rooms were intended specifically for artisans. They could produce utensils, plow points or, for example, sickles. The tribes had a positive impact on neighboring settlements, offering them their knowledge, crafts, agriculture and cattle breeding technologies. Therefore, the cultural heritage of the Imenkovites cannot be underestimated not only by Russians, but also by neighboring countries.

As you can see, many archaeological cultures of the Slavs came to the territory of modern Russia from the east or west. In the first case, people learned new forms and features of agriculture, mastered the skills of cattle breeding. Western tribes also helped in the development of hunting weapons and combat vehicles. One thing is for sure, every new culture made an enormous contribution to the general mental advancement of entire nationalities, regardless of what innovations it bestowed.

It is well known that the idea of ​​isolating an archaeological culture and identifying it with specific peoples goes back to the works of H. Child. “We find certain types of remains—vessels, implements, burial rites, types of house building—constantly repeated together,” he wrote in 1929. “Such a complex of regularly connected features we call the term ‘cultural group’ or ‘culture’.” We assume that such a complex is the material expression of what today can be called a people. This concept was once positively received by Soviet scientists and became an integral part of the theoretical apparatus of Russian archaeologists. There are a large number of works devoted to the study of the status and nature of archaeological culture (for the historiography of the issue, see: Ganzha A.I., 1988; Klein L.S., 1991; Kovalevskaya V.B., 1995; and others). The existing points of view regarding the nature of archaeological culture can be summarized in two large groups. The first position, which goes back to G. Child's definition, assumes that archaeological culture is the material expression of real social groups and peoples. It makes sense to call the supporters of this point of view ontologists. They are the vast majority among archaeologists.

According to another point of view, archaeological culture is an analytical category intended to describe groups of monuments that are typologically close to each other. In other words, it is an intellectual abstraction, a product of the researcher's thinking. In a certain sense, this is an "ideal type" in the sense that the term was used

M. Weber. Regarding the relationship between ethnic communities and archaeological cultures, epistemologists take a more cautious position. They believe that before going to the level of historical and ethnogenetic reconstructions, the archaeologist needs to deal with the actual archaeological source studies issues. This point of view was most consistently developed in the domestic literature in the works of L.S. Klein (1978, 1991) and his students. Proponents of this approach can be called epistemologists.

In British archeology, many prominent specialists also adhere to the view of archaeological culture as an exclusively analytical category (Renfrew C., 1977, p. 94; Hodder I., 1982, p. 169). There are supporters of such views in modern German archeology (Brother S., 2000, s. 156, 165). In American processualism, this issue was discussed in a slightly different context: what determines the similarities and differences in archaeological material - the functional specificity of artifacts or cultural closeness between groups (Binford L., 1973).

By by and large ontologism and epistemologism correlate with each other in the same plane as primordialism and constructivism in sociocultural anthropology (for more details, see: Tishkov V.A., 2003). However, they are not exactly the same. I introduced the first two concepts to denote two common interpretations of archaeological cultures. In the second case, we are talking about the most popular approaches in the theory of ethnicity. Primordialism is the direction according to which ethnicity is an objective given, based on biologically or culturally transmitted traits. A typical example of primordialism is, for example, the concept of ethnogenesis by Yu.V. Bromley. Constructivism suggests that ethnicity is not an innate trait of an individual, but is constructed depending on certain circumstances. B. Anderson's book Imagined Communities (2001) played a particularly important role in the formation of constructivism.

According to Anderson, the formation of nations was not due to natural demographic and ethnogenetic processes. A nation is an ideologically constructed community. A good example is the formation of nations in South and Central America. Here nations arose as a result of the political mobilization of the masses by local leaders and the struggle for independence against the Spanish crown. Initially, throughout the entire territory of the Spanish colonies, there lived approximately the same population of yesterday's immigrants from Europe, Negro residents forcibly taken out of Africa. Only the indigenous population of the various provinces of the Spanish colony differed from each other. However, as a result of political mobilization, several different nations emerged - Argentines, Bolivians, Brazilians, Mexicans, Uruguayans, etc.

Archaeological culture is a set of interconnected monuments, in a certain way limited by time and space.

Main similarities:

The similarity of the funeral rite.

Similarity in the field of ornamentation of ceramics.

Women's jewelry.

Architecture.

archaeological culture- a set of material monuments that belong to the same territory and era and have common features.

Usually, an archaeological culture is named after some characteristic feature that distinguishes it from others: according to the shape or ornament of ceramics and decorations (for example, funnel-shaped goblets culture), burial rite (for example, catacomb culture), etc., or according to the area where the most typical monuments of this culture were first found (for example, the Dnieper-Donets culture).

In archeology, the concept of culture is given a meaning that is somewhat different from the generally accepted and accepted in other scientific disciplines. Similar material monuments that characterize archaeological culture do not necessarily belong to a single society, and a different set of material monuments - to different communities of people. In this regard, some archaeologists refuse the very term "archaeological culture", preferring the term "technological complex" or "technocomplex" to it, so as not to confuse archaeological culture with a similar term of sociology.

When archaeologists use the term "culture", they assume that their finds testify to a certain way of life of people who left certain monuments of the past. When it comes to the same type of tools or other artifacts, the term "industry" is also used. The term "archaeological culture" is the main one in describing the prehistoric era, about which there are no written sources. The mechanisms for the spread of archaeological culture can be different. The theory of diffusionism considers, for example, such options as the resettlement of culture carriers or the transfer of technology through trade. Sometimes, during excavations in the same place, signs are found that are characteristic of different cultures, which may mean a clash or coexistence of their carriers, or maybe the evolution of one culture into another.

Cultural-historical community - cultural associations of a certain era, the common name for groups of close archaeological cultures.

The type of monuments is the listed classification of archaeological material. It often happens that monuments combine the functions of different categories. For example, mounds can carry not only the function of burial (funeral), but also perform certain cult functions.

6. Early Paleolithic.

Lower (early) Paleolithic - a period in the history of mankind that began at the end of the Pliocene era, in which the first use of stone tools ancestors of modern man Homo habilis. These were relatively simple tools known as cleavers, spheroids (roughly cut stones) and flakes. Homo habilis developed stone tools during the Olduvai era, which were used as axes and stone cores. This culture got its name from the place where the first stone tools were found - Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. The people living in this era subsisted mainly on the meat of dead animals and the gathering of wild plants, since hunting was not yet widespread at that time. About 1.5 million years ago, the more advanced human genus Homo erectus appeared. Representatives of this species (Synanthropes) learned to use fire and created more complex chopping tools from stone, and also expanded their habitat through the development of Asia, which is confirmed by finds on the Zhoukoudian Plateau in China. About 1 million years ago, man mastered Europe and began to use stone axes.

The social organization of people was at the stage of a primitive herd (unstable, formed for the purpose of hunting, for protection from enemies, animals, elements). Tools of work - in general, the most primitive stone, wooden, bone tools. The economy consisted of gathering and hunting, people led a nomadic lifestyle.

Cultures of the Lower Paleolithic

Africa: 2.5-1 million years ago

Olduvai culture 2.5-1 million years ago

Acheulian culture 2.5 million - 200 thousand years ago

Europe: 1.2 million - 600 thousand years ago

Abbeville culture 1.5 million - 600 thousand years ago

MESOLITHIC. Sviderska and Grensky archaeological cultures




GREN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURE

In the 11th millennium BC. on the Dnieper and Sozh, the Grena culture began to take shape.

Grena culture- archaeological culture of the late Paleolithic and early Mesolithic (12 - 8 thousand years ago; 10 - 6 thousand BC) Upper Dnieper, distributed on the territory of Northern and Central Belarus.

There are 2 stages: final Paleolithic (early); early Mesolithic (late).

As the last ice sheet in Scandinavia parted, at the turn of the Pleistocene - Holocene, the tribes from which the Grenskaya and Sviderskaya cultures were formed moved from the Middle Dnieper region to the north into the Belarusian Polissya, developing new territories.

The Pleistocene is the epoch of the Quaternary period, which began 1.806 million years ago and ended 11.5 thousand years ago. The Pleistocene epoch is preceded by the Pliocene epoch, and the successor is the Holocene epoch.

The Holocene is the epoch of the Quaternary period, which lasts for the last 10 thousand years until the present. The beginning of the Holocene refers to the end of the last ice age (9600 BC).

The most ancient monuments of the Grena culture on the territory of Belarus: Borovka, Koromka, Khvoynaya (11,800 -10,800 thousand years ago).

The second stage in the development of the Grensk culture is represented by the monuments: Grensk, Dalnee Lyado, Rekord.

At the turn of the early and late Mesolithic, the Gren culture was replaced by the monuments of the Sozh culture.

The settlements of the Grena culture are represented by seasonal camps of hunters on the banks of rivers, often on sand dunes. At this time, bows and arrows were widely used, which made it possible to improve the methods of hunting reindeer and other animals.

A feature of the Grensk culture is the distribution of asymmetric arrowheads (Grensk type), processed along one edge with a steep retouch along the entire length of the blank and a notch on the other edge.

Among other tools there are scrapers and chisels on blades and flakes, blades and flakes with the end cut off by retouching, piercers, scrapers, chopping tools. At the second stage ( 7-5 millennium BC) the dimensions of the tools are somewhat reduced, a large number of liners, trapeziums, and microcutters appear. At the second stage of the existence of the Grenskaya culture, there is a close connection with the Mesolithic monuments of the Desna (Sand Ditch) and the Ienevskaya culture of the Volga-Oka interfluve.

archaeological culture mesolithic neolithic

SWIDER ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURE

In 10 - 7 millennia BC. on the territory of Western Polissya, Volhynia, in the basins of the Neman and the Vistula lived the tribes of the Svider culture.

The Svider culture is an archaeological culture at the turn of the Paleolithic and Mesolithic, distributed mainly in Poland and Belarus (the basins of the Vistula, Neman, and Pripyat rivers). The name comes from the monument Swidry-Velkie, found on the territory of Poland, at the confluence Vistula and Svidera.

Most Polish archaeologists attribute the Svider culture to the end of the Late Paleolithic. Geological dating is late glacial, radiocarbon dating is somewhat older (11-10 thousand years ago; 9 - 7 thousand BC).

The Svider culture is represented by the remains of small seasonal hunting camps on sand dunes. The dwellings were rounded buildings, the roof of which was arranged on a pole frame made of animal skins. Only flint products have survived: two-platform cores, the so-called. Svider leaf-shaped arrowheads with petioles, scrapers and incisors.

The tribes of the Svider culture lived in the tundra. The main occupation is reindeer hunting. Bows and arrows were widely used.

The Svider culture of seasonally nomadic reindeer hunters is characterized by 5 types and 11 shapes of arrowheads with a well-defined and weakly expressed petiole, willow, rhomboid and lanceolate arrowheads. These tips are culturally-defining. Usually a monument where 2-3 types of such arrows are found is declared to be Svider.

Roughly chipped specific axes, flint saws, staples for arrow shafts, knives on knife-like plates, drills, and chisels are also culturally defining.

According to some researchers, the Lipa culture had a great influence on the development of the late Svider culture.

Cultures related to the Svider culture, as well as those influenced by it, are common on the territory of Belarus and further east - to the Oka basin and the Upper Volga.

The population of the Sviderskaya culture became the genetic basis of the Sozhskaya (Dnepro-Desninskaya) culture, the Nemanskaya, Butovskaya and Kundskaya Mesolithic cultures of the forest belt of the European part of the former USSR.

There is a version that representatives of the Svider culture spoke the so-called. "Eurasian" (boreal) language (N.D. Andreev), i.e. were the ancestors of the Indo-European, Uralic and Altaic language families. (N.A. Nikolaeva, V.A. Safronov in the book "The origins of Slavic and Eurasian mythology").

According to N.A. Nikolaev and V.A. The Safronov area of ​​the Eurasian ancestral home (the ancestral home of the early Proto-Indo-Europeans), according to linguistics, was located between the Northern Carpathian region and the Baltic. The main part of this area in the IX millennium BC. e. occupied by only one archaeological culture - the Svider culture, coexisting in the west with the related Arensburg archaeological culture.

ON THE. Nikolaev and V.A. Safronov also claims that it was the bearers of the Svider culture who invented the ax and domesticated the wolf, breeding a breed of dogs.




ARCHEOLOGICAL CULTURES OF THE NEOLITHIC




NARVEN CULTURE(4 thousand -2300 BC) - named after the place of discovery on the Narva River. It was distributed on the territory of the eastern part of the modern Baltic, from the Southern Ladoga region to Belarus, a cultural monument - a village Osovets(Beshenkovichi district, Vitebsk region). The parking lots were located near the water, the dwellings were semi-dugouts, and in some places already ground quadrangular buildings with wooden structural elements. Finds: Figurines of animals and people made of bone and wood, a figurine of an elk, a snake, a bearded man, a duck's head, a man's face, the first musical instrument in Belarus - a bone zhaleyka (pipe). There were not many tools made of flint and stone, more of bone and horn, with wooden handles.

NEMAN CULTURE(4.5 - 2 thousand years BC) is common in the Neman basin (as well as in northeastern Poland and southwestern Lithuania). The area of ​​culture extended south to the upper reaches of the Pripyat. The culture was characterized by land dwellings. Monuments: village Krasnoselsk(mines for the extraction of flint, discovered in 1920) (Volkovysk district, Grodno region, Ros River), the remains of a miner, a pot, a piercing needle were found; village Stone(Pinsk district, Brest region), a flint sickle was found. Pottery of the Neman culture had a pointed bottom and was made from clay mixed with other organic material or ground quartzite. The surface of the walls was leveled by combing with a comb. Later artifacts had flat bottoms and were decorated with a thin layer of white clay and rows of small impressions along the top edge, a fish net ornament, or several rows of small impressions, cord or herringbone impressions.

CULTURE OF PIT-COMB CERAMICS(4200 - 2000 BC) - a culture that existed in the northeast of Europe (Scandinavia, Russian northwest). The name was given by the way in which the ceramic finds, characteristic of this culture, are decorated, which looks like comb imprints. Monuments: Finnmark(Norway) in the north, river Calix(Sweden) and Bothniangulf (Finland) in the west and river Vistula(Poland) in the south. In the east it was distributed to the Ural Mountains. Ceramics: large pots with a capacity of 40-60 liters, rounded or pointed at the bottom. The shape of the products remained unchanged for centuries, but the applied ornaments varied. Among the many styles of Pit-Comb Ware, there is one that exploits the properties of asbestos: the Asbestos Ware Culture. The settlements were located on the sea coast or on the shores of lakes. Housing: tipis about 30 m2 ², where up to 30 people could live. Burials were arranged inside the settlement and the dead were covered with red ocher. For the culture of comb ceramics, the burial of the deceased along with objects made of flint and amber is typical. Stone tools were made from local materials such as slate and quartz. Characterized by small figurines made of baked clay and animal heads made of stone. Rock paintings are also known.

DNIPRO-DONETSK CULTURE(4300 - 2 thousand BC) is localized in eastern Polissya (basin of the lower Pripyat) and the Right Bank of the Dnieper to the Berezina. The name was suggested by V.N. Danilenko in 1956 and later adopted by D. Ya. Telegin and other archaeologists. Monuments: village Yurovichi(Kalinkovichi district, Gomel region), an engraved image of a man with a duck was found; village lake(Lublinsky district, Minsk region), a wand-like item made of an elk bone with two human figures was found. Burials in the form of inhumation, more often not in individual, but in mass graves, which were used many times, the remains were sprinkled with ocher. It is assumed that the carriers of this culture spoke the Proto-Indo-European language. Replaced by Srednestog culture. Representatives were pronounced Cro-Magnons.

BALL-LIKE AMPHORA CULTURE(4 - 2 thousand BC) The name was proposed by the archaeologist Gustaf Kossinna in connection with the characteristic ceramics, spherical vessels with 2-4 handles. Location: from the pool Elbein the west to Vistulain the east, extending south to the middle Dniesterand east to Dnipro. Globular amphoras are found over a wide area, reaching Ossetia. Finds: several globular amphorae found in megalithic burials, stone axes. Settlements: sparse, remote from each other, and usually only foundation pits are found in them. It is assumed that some of the settlements were inhabited not all year round, or were temporary. Burials: took place by placing the corpse in a sarcophagus or in a well. A large number of funeral gifts have been preserved, including animals (oxen, pigs). Cattle burial accompanied by funeral gifts. M. Gimbutas considers the placement in the graves of animals as a sustainable cultural element. It is possible that the tribes of ball amphorae are the ancestors of not only the Slavs, but also the Germans and the Baltics without any noticeable internal borders between them.

UPPER DNEPROVSKAYA CULTURE(4 - 2 thousand BC) left up to 500 known sites, of which only about 40 have been explored. At an early stage, the carriers of the culture made thick-walled pots, ornamentation was made with pit impressions and comb imprints. At a later stage, thicker-necked pots with more complex ornamental compositions began to appear. There were round and oval dwellings, at a later stage deepened into the ground. Influence on culture from the outside is observed only at the end of the Neolithic. It is assumed that the Upper Dnieper culture was associated with the Finno-Ugric peoples.




ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURES OF THE BRONZE AGE




MIDDLE NEPROVSKAYA CULTURE(32-23 centuries BC) Territory: covers the upper and middle Dnieper Middle Dnieper (the territory of Gomel, Mogilev, partly Minsk and Vitebsk regions). Researcher: Artemenko, Gorodtsov (singled out in the 27th). Monuments: Ksendzova Gora, Strumen, Luchin, Khodosovichi, Strelica, Sebrovichi. Main occupations: agriculture and animal husbandry. Settlements: lived on sand dunes, hills, river banks (1-1.5 km2). Type of dwelling: ground pillared buildings (44 sq.m.) and semi-dugouts (10 sq.m.). Finds: copper and bronze diadems, neck torcs, bronzes, temporal rings, round and oval amber pendants; axes, triangular arrowheads, scrapers, scrapers, knives, adzes, chisels, piercers, harpoons, etc. Ceramics: ball-shaped, egg-shaped, S-shaped vessels with a flat thickened bottom, decorated with cord, ornament, strokes and indentations. Sand, fireclay, fine quartz were added to the clay. Funeral rite: mound cremation, corpse laying with the head to the west in a twisted state, and ashes or ocher were poured on the side. The burial mounds are the most ancient among the Indo-Europeans, excavated in 1959 - 1962. The dominance of the cult of the sun and fire and belief in the afterlife are characteristic. The population was the first to get acquainted with bronze.

NORTH BELARUSIAN CULTURE(late 3rd - first half of the 2nd millennium BC) Territory: covered Vitebsk, north of Minsk, south of Pskov regions, as well as some neighboring areas. Monuments: Kastyki, Krivino, Osovets. Main occupations: hunting, fishing, gathering, as well as primitive agriculture and animal husbandry. Settlements: lived on the banks of lakes and small rivers. Type of housing: buildings with a double-slope roof. Finds: arrowheads, daggers, knives, piercers, harpoons, fishhooks, axes and spoons were found from horn and bone; decorations were made from teeth, bones and burshtyn; figurines of people, animals, birds, silhouettes of people on ceramics. Ceramics: pointed-bottomed and flat-bottomed vessels, crushed shells were added to clay, decorated with strokes, horizontal belts, comb marks, notches and pricks.

CULTURE OF POLESIE WIRE CERAMICS(18th - 14th centuries BC) Territory: covers most continental Europe, with the exception of the countries of the Mediterranean region. Researchers: Isaev, Kukharenko. Monuments: the villages of Ostrov, Kamen, Motal, Vladychino, Terebin (Pinsky district, Brest region). Main occupations: agriculture and animal husbandry. Settlements: lived in the uplands. Type of dwelling: semi-dugouts. Finds: flint wedge-shaped axes, heart and leaf-like arrowheads, spears and darts, hoes and grain grinders. There are items made of bronze and copper. Ceramics: pots with an S-shaped edge, with ears and oblique edges, sand and fireclay were added to the clay, smoothed with a bunch of straw and decorated with a cord. Funeral rite: burial-free corpse in a twisted state, men on the right side, women on the left, both facing south. Graves in a row.

TSTINECK CULTURE(15th - 11th centuries BC) It received its name from the village of Tshtinets (Pulovsky Pavet, Poland). Territory: covers areas of eastern Poland, western Ukraine, southern Belarus. Researchers: Kastshevsky (introduced the term in the 30th), Gordavsky (made a complete description in the 59th). Monuments: Zditov, Kamen, Khomsk (Ivanovsky district), Vostrov, Gornovoe, Grivkovichi, Soshno (Pinsky district), Priluki, Goryn. Main occupations: agriculture and animal husbandry. Settlements: lived on sandy hills on the banks of rivers. Type of dwelling: dugouts and pillared ground buildings. Finds: bronze daggers, brozolets, hairpins, pendants; stone and flint axes, arrowheads, scrapers, etc. Ceramics: pots with a thickened oblique rim, deep bowls, goblets, sieves and vase-like vessels with crossed, wavy, arcuate, jagged lines, corded onament, rollers, indentations, pearls. Funeral rite: corpses in a twisted state in barrow and ground graves, sometimes there are cremations with the remains of a fire.

SOSNITSKA CULTURE(15th - 10th centuries BC) It received its name from the settlement of Sosnitsa (Chernihiv region, Ukraine). Territory: the basins of the Disna, the upper Dnieper and the lower Pripyat. Researchers: Berezanskaya, Artemenko. Monuments: Godzilovichi, Mokhov, Presno, Romanovichi, Khodosovichi. Main occupations: agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, hunting, processing of copper and bronze. Settlements: lived on sandy hills along the banks of rivers, on capes that cut into the floodplain. Type of dwelling: pillared ground buildings and semi-dugouts (24-98 sq.m.) with 1-2 rooms (residential and utility) and a two-slope roof. Finds: bronzes with spiral-like shields, double-spiral and ocular-like brooches; flint axes, knives, arrowheads, scrapers, scrapers, sickles, stone hoes, bronze Celts, chisels, spearheads. Ceramics: puff-like vessels, flat-bottomed tulip- and S-shaped pots, decorated on top with crossed lines, cord imprints, molded beads, triangular ornaments and zigzags. Funeral rite: cremation in soil graves, sometimes laying the corpse in a twisted position in a burial mound, or on the back in an extended state in a non-kurgan burial ground. The dead, burnt remains, urns were also buried in grave pits with wooden flooring.




ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURES OF IRON




MILOGRAD CULTURE(7th - 3rd century BC) Name from the village of Milograd (Rechitsa district, Gomel region). The territory from the Berezina in the north to Ros in the south and the Western Bug in the west (the territories of Gomel, Mogilev, east of Brest, south of Minsk regions and northern Ukraine). Researchers: Melnikovskaya, Pobal, Tretyakov, Sedov, Mitrofanov, Zagorulsky. Monuments: the village of Goroshkov. The main occupations are agriculture and animal husbandry. Milogradtsy had cultural ties with the Scythians: clay figurines of horses (90 pieces) and weapons were found. The Milograd culture is often identified with the neurons of Herodotus. Finds: sickles, swords, spearheads and arrowheads of the Scythian type, hoes, axes, Celts, humpbacked knives, grain graters, pushers, awls, br. and well. bronzes, rings, ear hooks, brooches, hairpins, plaques, etc. Ceramics: spherical, egg-shaped, hemispherical pots with a rim (diameter - 10-30 cm) + ornament, strokes, pearls. Settlements: fortified settlements and settlements. Type of dwelling: ground or mostly underground (depth - 1.5 meters, 12-16 sq.m.) single-chamber rectangular pillared buildings, had a ledge in one of the walls. Funeral rite: mounds (2-22 m.) and non-mounds, there were also cremations (cleaned bones were poured into pits 0.5-1 m.). Central was the cult of the sun. The first met with iron.

ZARUBINETSK CULTURE(2nd century BC - 2nd century AD) Named after the village of Zarubintsy near Kyiv. Territories: Pripyat Polissya, Upper and Middle Dnieper (territory of western and central Ukraine, southern Belarus, and western Russia). Discovered by archaeologist V.V. Khvoyka in 1899. Researchers: Kukharenko, Kasparova, Danilenko, Pobal, Tretyakov, Petrov. Monuments: Chaplin village (Loevsky district, Gomel region). Main occupations: agriculture, cattle breeding and hunting. Blacksmithing was developed. Settlements: settlements of Milogradtsy, unfortified settlements. Type of dwelling: ground rectangular pillared buildings (10-24 sq.m.), sometimes semi-dugouts (depth 0.4-1 m, 8-24 sq.m.). Finds: spearheads, wedge-shaped axes, knives, sickles, bronzes, temporal rings, temples, rings, brooches, etc. Ceramics: stucco, without the use of a potter's wheel, flat-bottomed ornamented pots. Funeral rite: mostly cremations, pit cremations and cenotaphs(symbolic, empty grave) , urn burials and burials of skulls. There are bronze brooches in the graves. On the territory of Belarus, two varieties of this culture are distinguished - Polissyaand Upper Dvinagroups. In the late period of its existence, the Zarubinets culture underwent Sarmatian invasion.

CULTURE OF HATCHED CERAMICS(7th century BC - 4th century AD) Territory: covered the regions of eastern Lithuania, southeastern Latvia, as well as northwestern and central Belarus. Researchers: Lyavdansky (distinguished in the 20s), Mitrofanov (studied). Monuments: Lobenshchina and Malyshki (Zaslavsky district, Minsk region). Main occupations: slash-and-burn agriculture and fishing. Settlements: early settlements (0.1-0.5 ha) - weakly fortified, ramparts and ditches were erected around the later ones, increased in size. Type of dwelling: multi-chamber (3 sections) pillared buildings, later log semi-dugouts appeared, the tree was plastered with clay. Finds: iron spearheads, axes, sickles, spurs, knives, awls, bronze ornaments (fibla with multi-colored enamels), etc. Ceramics: represented by stucco pots. Funeral rite: unknown. Probably, the cult of the bear was quite widespread. There was a weaving center, metallurgy was developed.

DNEPRO-DVINA CULTURE(8th century BC - 4th century AD) Conditionally Baltic archaeological culture. Territory: distributed in the upper reaches of the Dnieper and the middle Dvina (Kaluga, Pskov, Tver, Smolensk, Vitebsk and Mogilev regions of Belarus and Russia). Researchers: Mitrofanov. Monuments: the villages of Poddubniki and Prudniki (Miory district, Vitebsk region). It differs in nothing from hatched pottery, except for backwardness and Paleolithic remnants (stone axes). Descendants - Latgalians. It is assumed that the culture belonged the selonians. Main occupations: slash-and-burn, hoe farming, animal husbandry, fishing. Settlements: fortified wooden settlements (Luzhesno, Novye Bateki, Akatovo, Demidovka) near water bodies, fenced with a palisade and rampart (0.5-2.5 km2). Type of dwelling: ground pillared buildings. Finds: an abundance of stone and bone items: wedge-shaped drilled axes, grain graters, pushers, hoes, arrows, harpoons, tool handles, needles, pipes; iron sickles. Rare bronze items (imported) are known. Ceramics: unornamented, sometimes poorly ornamented (oblique lines) and with pits. Before the turn of the a.d. were stone axes.

BANTSAROVO CULTURE(5 - 8 centuries AD) - got its name from the ancient settlement Bantsarovshchina near Minsk (Svisloch towered 20 meters). Territory: upper Dnieper and Ponyomanye, upper and middle Dvina. Highlighted by Tretyakov in the 50s. Researcher: Mitrofanov. Main occupations: agriculture, animal husbandry. The extraction and processing of iron, bronze casting, pottery, wood and bone processing were developed. Finds: clay whorls, f. knives, sickles, axes, spearheads, spurs, horseshoe-like brooches, br. bronzes, pendants, rings, etc. Ceramics: Round-sided, cylindrical, bowl-like pots, clay was added with granular sand and chamotte (crushed shards). Settlements: open settlements on hills or headlands. Type of dwelling: multi-chamber post ground structures and log semi-dugouts (depth 0.2 - 0.8 m, 7 - 20 sq.m.) Funeral rite: mound and non-kurgan cremation, sometimes bones were put in an urn. The culture belonged to the Balts.

Kyiv CULTURE(3 - mid 5th century AD) Territory: Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Gomel, Mogilev, Kursk, Bryansk regions of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. Researchers: Danilenko (singled out in the 53rd), Pobal. The main occupations are agriculture, animal husbandry and fishing, weaving, metallurgy, and pottery are well developed. Monument: the village of Adamenko and Kolochin (Bykhov district, Mogilev region). The easternmost monuments were found in the Samara Volga region.

Finds: straight-backed iron knives, sickles, drills, awls; bone needles, dead ends, knitting needles; clay pots. Sinkers, whorls; glass beads and bronze tweezers (testify to trade with the Roman Empire); stone grain grinders, millstones. open Obidenskie enamel. Ceramics: stucco, small vessels, but also pots 50 cm high, ornamented with notches, finger indentations or traces of a comb. Settlements: unfortified settlements (0.5-2 hectares, sometimes 6-8 hectares) on the banks of rivers. Type of dwelling: post or log semi-dugouts and ground structures (depth 0.4-1.2 m, 8-24 sq.m.). Funeral rite: cremation outside the grave, sometimes urn burials upside down. In the second half of the 5th century, it was subjected to the Hun invasion.Perhaps the carriers of the Kyiv culture were Veneti.

KOLOCHI CULTURE(6 - 8 centuries AD) - got its name from the village of Kolochin (Rechitsa district, Gomel region). Territory: the basin of the Disna, Soim, Mogilev and Gomel Dnieper regions (the territories of the Gomel, Mogilev, Bryansk and Kursk regions). Researchers: Sedov, Rusanova, Mitrofanov, Perkhavko, Tretyakov, Semenovich, Pobal, Garunov, Main occupations, agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting. Settlements: unfortified settlements (fortifications served as a repository in case of war or a Sanctuary). Type of dwelling: single-chamber quadrangular log or post semi-dugouts, often with a supporting pillar in the center. Funeral rite: cremation on burial mounds and non-kurgan graves, urn and pit burials. Ceramics: stucco, layered round-sided, tulip-like, ribbed vessels. Finds: Bowls, loops, w. knives, awls, axes, chisels, scythes, spear and arrowheads, clay whorls, grain grinders, bronzes, belt sets, pendants, finger brooches.