Caucasian Archaeology

The development of metallurgy from the later 6th millennium BC and throughout the Chalcolithic period took place in different places at different times and pace, depending on various factors such as the availability of raw materials and the command of this specific craft and knowledge. Networks of raw material circulation and schools of craftsmen’s skills developed that allowed the travelling of materials, skills and knowledge. An analysis of metal artefacts and metal processing residues can make these networks visible as patterned distributions of raw material and alloys, artefact types and craft traditions. The Southern Caucasus as a major raw material source for metals such as copper, gold, and antimony is one player in these metallurgical networks. Beyond the raw material availability, a highly skilled and original metallurgy flourished there from the onset of the Kura-Araxes period. It is the aim of this paper to compare the pre-Kura-Araxes steps of metallurgical processing in the Southern Caucasus with parallel developments in the neighbouring regions, especially in the highlands of Iran, where recent research has greatly enhanced our understanding of these early periods of metal working. It will become visible that the Southern Caucasus and highland Iran shared some aspects of metal working, while other fields of material culture and lifestyle remained on separate tracks.

One of the features of Scythian archaic blade weaponry is the use of bronze, often in the combination with iron. This technologe of Early Scythian bimetallic akinakai goes back to “Cimmerian scheme”. Within the framework of that scheme Prescythian daggers of Kabardino-Pjatigorsk type were manufactured.  The most later daggers of this type are likely were used until the middle 7th c. BC, so they could be treated as prototypes for Scythian akinakes. Bimetallic technology of Scythian smiths was inspired by previous tradition and the first exemplars of Gudermes akinakai appeared at the turn of 8th–7th c. BC in the Caucasus. In the Carpathian basin archaic Scythian akinakai made wholly or partly from bronze are also well-known. These akinakai of Posmuş type are closely related to the next tradition — of Kelermes type — which also penetrated to Northern Pontic region from the territory of Caucasus region. Posmuş type was probably an intermediate combining old technology of bronze casting and new morphology. A number of features shows a genetic link between Gudermes and Kelermes types. Among them are: three-part handle and the bight under the pommel. So, the bimetallic akinakes is the product of the further evolution of bladed weaponry producted by “Caucasian laboratory” and it could be assumed that for a while it was coexisting with Kabardino-Pjatigorsk type daggers, perhaps in the 1st half of 7th c. BC. Further development of the Scythian akinakai and their distribution in Black Sea region probably provoked the renouncement of the use of bronze due to the excessive complexity of or limited access to raw materials. However, the morphology of this new product was more stable, as a result new types of swords and daggers appeared. In the Danube-Carpathian region a creative rethinking of Gudermes and Kelermes traditions is registered for Early Scythian period. These processes led to the emergence of such types as Posmuş in Transilvania and Ferigile in Wallachia — local phenomena of the Carpathian-Danube. The singularity of distribution of the first akinakai allow us to conclude that Scythian akinakes entered this region two main routes: initially, along the northern border of forest-steppe to Transilvania and later — along the southern border, to Bărăgan Plain.

Статьи сборника, посвящены истории народов Северного Кавказа в археологическом, этнографическом, культурологическом и краеведческом аспектах.
Издание рассчитано на научных работников, преподавателей, студентов, широкую аудиторию читателей.

Статьи сборника посвящены истории народов Северного Кавказа в археологическом, этнографическом, культурологическом и краеведческом аспектах.
Издание рассчитано на научных работников, преподавателей, студентов, широкую аудиторию читателей.

Статьи сборника посвящены истории народов Северного Кавказа в археологическом, этнографическом, культурологическом и краеведческом аспектах.
Издание рассчитано на научных работников, преподавателей, студентов, широкую аудиторию читателей.

Volume II of this two-volume edition
presents the results of a complex
study of the materials of the
Pashkovskaya 1 cemetery now
absorbed by the city of Krasnodar.
Grave goods, burial rites and
chronology are examined against a
broad background of Eastern European
antiquities. Cultural-historical
situation in North-Western
Ciscaucasia in the 5th–7th centuries
is analyzed. The book is supplied
with appendices dealing with
the study of glass, stone, etc. artefacts,
textile fragments and bioarchaeological
research. Volume I is
the first publication of K. F. Smirnov’s
report on his excavations of
the Pashkovskaya 1 cemetery in
1947–1949.
The book is intended for archaeologists,
historians, anthropologists,
local lore and history students and
the general public interested in the
history of the North Caucasus.

Jewellery manufacture by the Kura-Araxes and Bedeni cultures of the Late Chalcolithic– Early Bronze Age (mid 4th/3rd millennium BCE) in the southern Caucasus is defined through several analogies as well as differences. Kura-Araxes jewellery is rather modest in production, usually made of copper or arsenical copper alloy. It is found in burials of an egalitarian-based society. The transition to the Bedeni phase is characterized by major innovations, illustrating marked cultural discontinuity: jewellery is frequently made of precious metals and occurs in wealthy burials that can be associated with apparent leaders of the community. Jewellery assemblages are rich and the working of some pieces so remarkable that they are veritable works of art. At the same time new techniques, probably acquired from the south (Mesopotamia and Anatolia), were introduced. This analysis will provide a different insight into this transitional phase, concentrating on the parallels and differences in shape, technology, use and selection of materials and artisan skills for the manu- facture of jewellery. Consequently, some of the main social and economic settings of the Kura- Araxes and Bedeni cultures will be examined and compared.

В монографии содержится полная публикация материалов раннего железного века и эпохи раннего средневековья 5-ти курганных могильников (11 курганов) и одного отдельного кургана предгорной Чечни. На основе анализа археологических материалов из исследованных курганов и сравнения их с инвентарем из памятников горцев Центрального Предкавказья, а также сведений из Нартовского эпоса и данных этнографии исследуются процессы взаимодействия местной и кочевой культур в V в. до н.э. – IV в. н.э., их результаты и значение в исторических судьбах населения Затеречья в позднескифский и сарматский периоды. Большое внимание уделяется различным аспектам материальной и духовной культуры автохтон¬ного населения и кочевых племен, этнополитическим и экономическим связям региона.
Адресована научным работникам, студентам, широкому кругу читателей.

The goal of the present study is to present a general catalogue followed by a discussion of metal horse bits found in Transcaucasia, mostly from the Iron Age. Starting from the earliest evidence dating to the last stage of the Late Bronze Age, all types of metal bits attributable to indigenous cultures are considered. Urartian and Scythian metal bits are not included , since they have already been widely studied, thus keeping the range of this analysis from the Late Bronze Age to the Achaemenid period.

For late Roman time archaeologists note the emergence in the material
culture of Abkhazia some German elements and connect this fact with
the expansion of the Germans. It is believed that the German influence is
evident in the armor, suit and funeral rites of ancient Abkhazian population.
Some of these features are not relevant to the Germans, as they are known
on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus before the arrival of the Germans.
It concerns the cremation rite, known in the West Caucasus already in the
early Iron Age. The custom of ritual burial weapon damage is also well
known among the population of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus
already in I–II centuries. That probably goes back to the North Caucasian
burial traditions of the early Iron Age. Some types of weapons taken for
German, distributed among different peoples. In reality, no doubt to the
German traits in the material culture of the Roman period of Abkhazia and
the Great Migration period include certain types of umbo and handles of
shields and certain types of spears. Also German in origin are some metal
and amber pendants female attire. Later appear discoid amber beads with
threaded linear decoration, for the same time is awarded only one find of
German brooches. No other specific features of German culture in Abkhazia
have been detected, and the weapons and ornaments German appearanceat this time is widely distributed in the late Roman Empire, particularly
in the military environment. Apparently, the appearance of “Western”
cultural elements in Abkhazia should soon see the impact of Roman army
occupying the coastal bases on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, or the
impact of the Roman army veterans, who settled in Abkhazia.

The Province of Ardahan lies on the northeastern border of Turkey to Georgia and has an important geographical position that conjoins Eastern Anatolia with Transaucasia. An archaeological field survey has begun in this landscape in 2013 by a team mainly consisted of academics from the University of Ardahan. So far the city borders of Ardahan represent a zone that has been studied scholarly at the very least. The landscapes of Ardahan are important especially for the Bronze
and Iron Ages and archaeological surveys in 2013 and 2014 have revealed that there are still undiscovered archaeological finds belonging to these periods in central district of Ardahan. At the same time the region seems to be quite rich of Medieval archaeology.

Ancient and medieval cultures of Central Asia (the formation, development and interaction of urbanized and cattle-breeding societies): Proceedings of the international scientific conference dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of Doktor Nauk in Historical Sciences Anatolii M. Mandelstam and the 90th birth anniversary of Doktor Nauk in Historical Sciences Igor’ N. Khlopin (10–12 November 2020, St. Petersburg)

Volume I of this two-volume edition
is the first publication of
K. F. Smirnov’s excavations of the
Pashkovskaya 1 cemetery now absorbed
by the city of Krasnodar that
belonged to the Proto-Adyg population
of the Lower Kuban valley
in the 5th–7th centuries AD. The
excavator’s report is supplied with
appendices including N. V. Anfimov’s
report on the excavations of
the site in 1936, a catalogue of pertaining
artefacts kept at the State
Historical Museum in Moscow, a
catalogue of all the burials as well
as a facsimile reprint of papers by
M. V. Pokrovski, N. V. Anfimov
and K. F. Smirnov first published in
1936–1951. Volume II of this edition
contains the results of a complex
study of the materials of the
Pashkovskaya 1 cemetery.
The book is intended for archaeologists,
historians, anthropologists,
local lore and history students and
the general public interested in the
history of the North Caucasus.

Volume II of this two-volume edition
presents the results of a complex
study of the materials of the
Pashkovskaya 1 cemetery now
absorbed by the city of Krasnodar.
Grave goods, burial rites and
chronology are examined against a
broad background of Eastern European
antiquities. Cultural-historical
situation in North-Western
Ciscaucasia in the 5th–7th centuries
is analyzed. The book is supplied
with appendices dealing with
the study of glass, stone, etc. artefacts,
textile fragments and bioarchaeological
research. Volume I is
the first publication of K. F. Smirnov’s
report on his excavations of
the Pashkovskaya 1 cemetery in
1947–1949.
The book is intended for archaeologists,
historians, anthropologists,
local lore and history students and
the general public interested in the
history of the North Caucasus.

В книге впервые вводятся в научный оборот материалы гробниц склепового могильника «Вербовский», изучавшегося в 80 – 90 гг. XX в. Публикуется описание строительных особенностей склепов и инвентаря 7-ми погребальных и культовых сооружений. Судя по выявленному набору предметов вооружения, керамических сосудов, различных категорий украшений и др., вероятная дата функционирования могильника кон. IV – III в. до н.э. Материалы могильника «Вербовский» представляют значительный интерес и дополняют современные представления о религиозных традициях и повседневной жизни населения Ставропольской возвышенности в переходный период смены финальной фазы существования в Предкавказье миксированного скифо-кобанского населения ранним этапом распространения в регионе сарматских племен.
Адресована научным работникам, студентам, широкому кругу читателей.

The topic of the study is a cultural spatial analysis of iron axes occurring as one of the types of striking weapons at the beginning of the Early Iron Age on a relatively wide area, above all in eastern parts of the Carpathian Basin and on the Lower Danube, in the inventory of cultures and cultural groups with nomadic elements, such as the Vekerzug culture and Ciumbrud group, partly also the Ferigile culture. Important comparative material is represented by the finds of iron battleaxes from the Early Iron Age grave units in the North Caucasus and partly also Transcaucasia (Koban culture, proto-Maeotian group of sites, Early Maeotian culture).

Recent studies on the Anatolian archaeology in this volume shows the great importance of the cultural and archaeological heritage of the Turkey. This volume includes data from surveys and excavations, in addition to the analysis of unpublished materials preserved in local museums. The geographical region covered in by the papers included in this volume covers the whole of Asia Minor, from the west coast to the central and northern part, up to the east. The temporal coverage ranges from the Neolithic to the nineteenth century. Scholars from various parts of the world, but especially young and promising Turkish researchers, have contributed papers to this volume which discuss the important archaeological heritage of Anatolia and contribute a great deal to archaeological knowledge and practice in this part of the world.

This book is about the results of the mining excavations at the copper mines in Derekutugun near Corum, that are dated to the Early Bronze Age. Here copper ores were exploited about 5000 years before our time. Der Band I beinhaltet die Forschungsergebnisse der montanarchäologischen Grabungen in den frühbronzezeitlichen Kupferbergwerken in Derekutugun, Provinz Corum. Dort wurde vor gut 5.000 Jahren gediegenes Kupfer bergmännisch abgebaut.