Early and Middle Bronze Age Pottery from the Volga-Don Steppe: A catalogue of pottery from the Volgograd Regional History and Cultural Museum 9781841710129, 9781407351230

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
List of Maps, Figures, Tables, and Charts
TRANSLITERATION NOTE
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chapter One: INTRODUCTION
Chapter Two: THE VOLGA-DON STEPPE IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
Chapter Three: THE POTTERY
Chapter Four: SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF POTTERY AND OTHER GRAVE GOODS
Chapter Five: CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER QUESTIONS
CATALOGUE OF CERAMICS
PLATES
Bibliography
Index of Catalogue Items
General Index

Citation preview

Early and Middle Bronze Age Pottery from the Volga-Don Steppe A catalogue of pottery from the Volgograd Regional History and Cultural Museum

Karlene Jones-Bley

BAR International Series 796 1999

Published in 2019 by BAR Publishing, Oxford BAR International Series 796 Early and Middle Bronze Age Pottery from the Volga-Don Steppe © Karlene Jones-Bley and the Publisher 1999 The author’s moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher. ISBN 9781841710129 paperback ISBN 9781407351230 e-book DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781841710129 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This book is available at www.barpublishing.com BAR Publishing is the trading name of British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd. British Archaeological Reports was first incorporated in 1974 to publish the BAR Series, International and British. In 1992 Hadrian Books Ltd became part of the BAR group. This volume was originally published by Archaeopress in conjunction with British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd / Hadrian Books Ltd, the Series principal publisher, in 1999. This present volume is published by BAR Publishing, 2019.

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PUBLISHING BAR titles are available from:

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In memory of Marija who sent me, and for Vladislav who received me.

Contents List of Maps, Figures , and Tables

ii

Transliteration Note

iv

Preface

V

Acknowledgments

V

Chapter 1: Introduction

l

Chapter 2: The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context

5 5 5 5

Yamna Culture Background and Antecedents The Neolithic The Eneolithic General Characteristics of the Yamna Culture

12

Catacomb Culture

13

Poltavka Culture

16

Chapter 3: The Pottery

17

9

Background

17

The Volgograd Pottery Size Decoration Basal Motifs

20

Typologies

27

Y amna Typology Shape Decoration

27 27 29

Catacomb Typology Shape Decoration

31 31 36

Discussion of the Vessel Types

52

22

22 26

Chapter 4: Social Significance of Pottery and other Grave Goods

58

Chapter 5: Conclusions and Further Questions

70

Catalogue

73

Plates

149

Bibliography

159

Index of Catalogue Items

165

General Index

167

List of Maps, Figures, Tables, and Charts Map Map Map Map Map Map

1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6:

Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig . Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig . Fig.

1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31: 32: 33: 34: 35: 36: 37: 38: 39: 40: 41: 42: 43: 44: 45: 46: 47 : 48 : 49: 50: 51:

Pontic-Caspian Area. Area of the Yamna Culture. Catacomb and Poltavka Cultures . Major East European Neolithic Cultures . Eneolithic Cultures and Major Sites. Location of Volga-Don Sites with Yamna, Catacomb, and Poltavka Pottery. Typical Y arnna Burial Positions. Typical Catacomb Graves. Typical Catacomb Burial Positions. Typical Poltavka Burial Positions . Pottery from the earliest Dniester-Bug Pottery Neolithic I and II, 6000-5500 BC. Dnieper-Donets Pottery. Vessels from the Sursko-Dnieper culture. Early Eneolithic Pottery. Eneolithic Vessels. Three Stages of Pottery from Lower Mikhailovka. Simplified Cucuteni Pottery Typology. Yamna Design Elements. Poltavka Design Elements. Catacomb Design Elements. Vessels with Basal Motifs. Yamna Vessel Parts. Schematized View ofYamna Neck Typology. Schematized View ofYamna Base Typology. Yamna-Neck Type YN-I. Yamna-Neck Type YN-I-1. Yamna- Neck Type YN-II-2. Yamna-Neck Type YN-III. Yamna-Neck Type YN-IV. Yamna Vessels Base Types. Yamna Vessels of Decoration Type 0. Y amna Vessels of Decoration Type A 1• 3 Yamna Vessels of Decoration Type A • 1 Yamna Vessels of Decoration Type B • 3 Yamna Vessels of Decoration Type B a. 3 Yamna Vessels of Decoration Type B d. 1 Yamna Vessels ofDecoration Type C • Yamna Vessels of Decoration Type D. Catacomb Vessel Parts. Schematized View of Types I, II, and III Profiles. Profiles of Vessels Without Necks-Type I Vessels. Short Necked Vessels -Types II-I and II-2. Short Necked Vessels Type II-3a. Short Necked Vessels - Types II-3b-d and II-4. Long Necked Vessels -Types III-I and III-2 Vessels. Type III-2bi (slanted body, high shoulder) . Type III-2bii (slanted body, low shoulder) . Type III-2c Vessels. Schematized View of Decoration Typology. Catacomb Pots without Decoration. Catacomb Ceramics without Decoration. 1 A Vessels. Type A2 Vessels . 3 Type I A Vessels. 3 Type A Vessels. 4 Type A Vessels . 1 Type B Vessels. ii

2

3 3 8 10 21 12 14 15 16 17 17 17 19 19 19 20 23

24 24 26 27 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 29 30 30 30 30 30 31 31 31 32 32

33 33

33 34 34 35 35 35 38 38 39 39 40 40 40 41 41

Fig. 52: Fig. 53: Fig. 54: Fig. 55: Fig. 56: Fig. 57: Fig. 58: Fig. 59: Fig. 60 : Fig. 61 : Fig. 62: Fig. 63: Fig. 64: Fig. 65: Fig. 66: Fig. 67: Fig. 68 : Fig. 69: Fig. 70: Fig. 71: Fig. 72: Fig. 73: Fig. 74: Fig. 75: Fig. 76: Fig. 77: Fig. 78: Fig. 79: Fig. 80:

Type B2 Vessels. Type B 3a Vessels. 3 Type II and IV B ai Vessels. 3 Type B aii Vessels. Type B 3b Vessels. Type B3c Vessels. 3 Type B d Vessels. 1 Type C Vessels. 2 Type C Vessels. 3 Type C a Vessels. 3 Type C b. 4 Type C Vessels. 4 Type C Vessels. 1 Type D Vessels-Anomolous Vessels. 2 Type D Vessels -Anomolous "Narrative" Vessels. Type IV Vessels-Bowls. Type V Vessels-Jars. Type VI Vessels - Vessels with Handles. Type VII- 1, 2, and 3 Vessels. Type VII-4 Vessels. Type VIIl-1/0 Vessels. Type VIII-I/A, B, and C Vessels . Wall Braziers without rims - Type VIII-2a. Wall Braziers with rims- VIII-2b. Pot Fragments. Type X - Miscellaneous Ceramics. Plan of Berezovskiy 10/1. Plan of Srubnaya Grave. Comparison of Catacomb and Beaker Vessels.

41 42 42 42 43 43 43 44 44 45 45 45 46 46 46 47 48 48 49 49 50 50 51 51 51 52 58 58 69

Table 1: Cultural Sequences of the V-D Steppe and Adjacent Areas (4500-2500 BC Cal.). Table 2: Tripolye/Cucuteni Chronology. Table 3: Comparison of Volga Steppe and Volga Forest-Steppe Pottery . Tables 4a, 4b, and 4c: Overall Pot Sizes. Table 5: Yamna Design Elements and Design Techniques. Table 6: Poltavka Design Elements and Design Techniques. Table 7: Catacomb Design Elements and Design Techniques. Table 8: Storage Vessel Sizes. Table 9: Bowl Sizes. Table 10: Jar Sizes. Table 11: Amphora Sizes. Table 12: Jug Sizes. Table 13: Cup Sizes. Table 14: Overall Censer Sizes. Table 15: Base Brazier Base Measurements. Table 16: Funnel Measurements. Table 17: Animal Remains in Catacomb and Poltavka Graves. Table 18: Types ofYamna Grave Goods. Table 19: Number of Y amna Vessels Paired with Number of Grave Items and Number of Graves. Table 20: Number of Catacomb and Poltavka Vessels Paired with Number of Grave Items and Number of Graves. Table 21: Types ofCatacomb/Poltavka Grave Goods and Number of Richest Graves with Grave Goods. Table 22: Number of Grave Items and Number of Graves. Table 23: Vessels in Graves with Six or More Grave Goods - listed by quantity. Table 24: Vessels with High Quality/Low Quantity Goods. Table 25: Primary Graves from 31 Wealthiest Graves with Sex and Age plus graves from Table 24 []. Table 26: Catacomb/Poltavka Graves with Five or More Astragali. Table 27: Kurgan Sizes. Table 28: Kurgan Sizes of the Three Wealthiest Graves.

6 7 18 22 23 24 25 53 53 53 54 54 54 55 55 56 59 61 61 61 61 61 62-63 64

Chart 1: Chart 2: Chart 3: Chart 4: Chart 5: Chart 6:

24 24 24 25 25 25

Y amna Design Element Frequencies. Y amna Design Technique Frequencies. Poltavka Design Element Frequencies. Poltavka Design Technique Frequencies. Catacomb Design Element Frequencies. Catacomb Design Technique Frequencies.

iii

64

65 66 66

1RANSLITERATIONNOTE In general, I have used the transliteration system found in the American Heritage Dictionary . I have modified it only slightly by using the simple letter [y] for both the Cyrillic [bI] and [H] as done by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names.

a

a b

K

k

X

6

n

I

g

B

C

M

q

r

g d e

H

m n

w

0

0

I.Y

p r s t u f

1,

II

bI

y

ZI

e

n p

)I(

zh

C

3

z

T

e

e H V H

=

=

y y

=

q>

iv

kh ts ch sh shch

l:,

e

3

10 SI

=

yu ya

PREFACE In March of 1990 Marija Gimbutas showed me the invitation from V. I. Mamontov who had invited her and her students to join him in his excavation on the Volga-Don steppe. Marija was ill at the time and had to decline, but she asked me if I wanted to go. Without hesitation, I said yes. Four months later I arrived in Volgograd with a Russian vocabulary of only a few words, but I was received with tremendous warmth, friendship- and a translator. I was invited to return the following year, the next and the next. During that time I learned a great deal more about Russian archaeology first hand, particularly that of the steppe. As my knowledge of Russian improved, I was able to read the many articles and books that had been given to me by my Russian colleagues. Because of the dearth of infonnation in western languages about this area, I thought a good way to present a large amount of material would be to catalogue the pottery in the Volgograd museum. This I began in August of 1992. What started to be a simple catalogue of pottery turned into a much larger project due to the amount of material available to me. My aim has been to provide not theory, but a tool for western archaeologists in the fonn of an overview and to show the range of ceramics of the Volga-Don Steppe during the Early and Middle Bronze Age. The ultimate goal is to further understand the cultural context of the ceramics and their makers in this important but complex area.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work could not have come about without the cooperation and generosity of my many Russian colleagues and friends . First and foremost is Vladislav Ivanovich Mamontov who gave me full access to all of his work, encouraged me, helped me, guided me, taught me, and became my very good friend. I also learned so much from his many students who worked on the excavations especially Leonid Gurenko and Alexander Kiyashko. The skill with which Nicholai Borisovich Skvortsov ran the camps was a marvel. My thanks go to the directors of the Volgograd Regional History and Cultural Museum whose staff showed me more than just hospitality and helpfulness . They went out of their way to assist me in numerous matters as well as serving me splendid teas. I am especially grateful to Nataliya Khabarova Kraevedcheskaya, Chief of Antiquities, who was always cheerful and never lost her patience with my constant inquiries. The archaeologists attached to the Volgograd museum A. N. D'yachenko, V. M. Klepikov, E. P. Mys'kov, and I. V. Sergatskov, showed extreme generosity in allowing me to have access to their reports. Prior to his death, V. P. Shilov had also graciously given me permission to use his reports. This work would have been less complete without their extraordinarily generous cooperation. My debt to Vladislav Anatolievich Kharkovskiy cannot be measured. His work as translator during my early visits to Volgograd allowed me to learn and work. Our friendship continues. I have imposed on numerous colleagues outside of Volgograd to read this manuscript at various stages. Igor Manzura of Kishinev and Alexander Smimov of Moscow read the manuscript in detail and offered excellent advice and encouragement but also pointed out errors. I am forever in their debt. Nataliya Shishlina made suggestions about my typology which were quite valuable. Viktor Anatolievich Trifonov and N. A. Kacholava of St. Petersburg, were particularly helpful with the Yamna and Poltavka sections. My American colleagues Miriam Robbins Dexter and Martin E. Huld read the manuscript for continuity and cohesion, and Martin's many questions and suggestions helped me clarify my thoughts. I am extremely fortunate to have such a tolerant family who have endured this lengthy project. My two sons, Christopher and Andrew, and my husband Kenneth Bley have shown great forbearance. Most recently, my daughter-in-law Elizabeth has brought encouragement from a new source. To these and all others who have helped and encouraged me in this project, I owe my deepest gratitude and sincerest appreciation, but all the errors are mine. Travel support was given to me by a grant from the International Research and Exchanges Board with funds provided by the US Department of State (Title VIIQ and the National Endowment for the Humanities. None of these organizations is responsible for the views expressed.

V

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION The Volgograd Regional History and Cultural Museum houses a large collection of prehistoric objects excavated in the Volgograd Region ( oblast) over the past fifty years. This region, of 113,900 square kilometers (approximately the size of Pennsylvania), is centered around Volgograd but extends east across the Don River covering the area of the Volga-Don steppe (Map 1). The museum has nearly all of the items which have been excavated by Soviet and Russian archaeologists in the past three decades, and much of what was excavated prior to that time although some items have found their way to local museums. This catalogue, which includes the pottery excavated up to 1991, is designed for those archaeologists and prehistorians interested in the Early and Middle Bronze Age in the steppe of southern Russia as represented primarily by the Y amna and Catacomb cultures, and it presents a large number of examples of the pottery of these periods, particularly from the Catacomb period. There is a third smaller component, the Poltavka culture, and while it is considered a separate cultural group, it shares many characteristics with both Yamna and Catacomb. There are only twenty-two (possibly twenty-three) Poltavka vessels in this collection, and therefore, less emphasis is placed on it. The south Russian steppe is an area that, with the exception of a very few publications in English and German, is little known outside of the fonner Soviet Union. While the area of the North Pontic and Azov areas has been somewhat better served in English, the Volga-Don area has been almost totally neglected. The vast majority of material in this catalogue has come from Russian sources which are necessary in order to place this catalogue in context with Russian and Ukrainian archaeology which is changing so rapidly. Wherever and whenever possible, I have used English references as well as Russian ones. The original intention in compiling this work was to present only the pottery. However, with the extraordinary generosity of the excavators, I have included information regarding other grave goods and the graves themselves from which this pottery came. By having this much material available in one place for the first time in English, it is hoped the understanding and interest in the steppe will be increased. Still, the emphasis in this work is on the pottery itself, and other grave goods as well as the graves themselves are referred to in order to better understand the context of the pottery. A more comprehensive study, in English, comparing all grave goods and the graves and their occupants would be of great importance for the study of the Bronze Age of the Russian Steppe. There are major limitations to this work. I have made little attempt to analyze the pottery in terms of chronology,

geographic distribution, or cultural influence. These are very complex problems which are far better served by my Russian and other fonner Soviet colleagues. English translations of their works I believe would be extremely useful. One great advantage to the Volgograd collection is that it encompasses forty-four cemeteries. (Pervomayskiy is represented by six sub-cemetaries, I, VII, VIII, X, XII, and XIII; and Podgomyy has two - one a flat cemetery.) Some of the cemeteries are quite large, such as Sidory and Oreshkin, and others that are quite small, including Petropavlovka and Sarepta. By having a number of cemeteries, it is possible to compare the differencesand similarities of the pottery from these cemeteries both within themselves and to each other. Most graves during the Yamna and Catacomb periods lack grave goods completely, and it, therefore, needs to be remembered that here, because we are looking at ceramic remains and the graves in which they were found, we are not dealing with the poorest graves. During the Yamna period, graves with grave goods constitute only about ten percent of the burials. This percentage is higher during the Catacomb period but still is probably no more than about twenty-five percent. 1

I have concentrated on the Yamna and Catacomb cultures because it is with the Yamna culture that copper and bronze items are found much more frequently than during earlier periods on the steppe, and it is by Catacomb times that we have a fully developed Bronze Age. It is also with the Yamna culture that we have a fairly clear change in the archaeology, particularly the burial rite, from the earlier Neolithic which is neither well-known nor well represented in this area of the steppe. Furthermore, the Yamna culture also represents what many believe to be the earliest Indo-European speakers (Mallory 1989; Gimbutas 1991 and 1997). Although there is no way to prove this hypothesis conclusively due to the lack of texts, it can be shown that there is cultural continuity from the Yamna period in terms of steppe burial rite and what is found in the literature of undoubted Indo-European cultures (Gimbutas 1974; Mallory 1989; Jones-Bley 1997a).

1

1 have choosen to use the Russian form to designate this archaeological entity and not translate the term into Pit Grave as has often been done in some English sources, e.g., Ecsedy (1979) , Chemykh (1992) . My intention is to prevent any possible confusion with the unrelated Pit-Comb or Pit-Marked cultures or even the merely descriptive term "pit grave." Moreover , it is preferable , and less confusing, to leave local designations of archaeological types untranslated . This same reasoning applies to the Late Bronze Age Srubna culture which is often translated Timber Grave . The Catacomb culture is transparent from the Russian Katacombnaya . On this point also see Mallory (1976) . Yamnaya and Jarnna are alternative transliterations of Yamna .

Introduction The Y amna culture extended over much of Eastern Europe (Map 2) including a wide area of Russia , Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria , and the former Yugoslavia. Merpert recognized nine regional groups which stretched from the Ural and Emba rivers in the east to the Bug and Dniester rivers in the west (Merpert 1974; see also Mallory 1976 for a survey in English and 1989:211). Because the Yamna culture (some might say horizon) existed in such a wide area and over such a long time period , differences should be expected. The

earlier period saw its growth from the Volga to Moldova . The earliest pit graves to appear in Romania are at the end of the Usatovo culture ca. 3200 BC. The later period extends from around Orenburg, south of the Urals, to as fur west as the Middle Danube (Merpert 1974; Dergachev 1989:796) . The penetration into Eastern Hungary appears, according to Escedy , to have begun at the end of the Baden period but was continuous from Tripolye BI, ca. 4500-4200 (see Table 1).

Map 1: Pontic-Caspian Area changes of the Yamna culture itself but also clear mixtures with other cultural groups. For example , in Moldova , vessel s from the Globular Amphora culture can be found in Yamna graves (Dergachev 1986:42-48).

As to the character of the relationship , it appears that a change took place following the Cucuteni B-Cernavoda I phase, and the former, well-balanced connections were replaced by the penetration of the pit-grave [Yamna] folk. This wave , which we have tried to explain only as fur as its early phase is concerned indicates a period of the 'extension' of the steppe zone in such a way that its shepherds gradually took over the neighbouring territories (Ecsedy 1979:50).

The Catacomb culture (Map 3) also has a number of geographical variants, for example, the middle Don, Donets, and Manych cultures (or variants). I have included some of these variants where they are most obvious and pertinent to the material , but these descriptions should not be considered definitive.

This situation is, however , much more complex since what is considered "typical Yamna" burial position (supine, legs up) and individual bur ials can be found in earlier LBK graves. What does seem to distinguish these early individual burials from the Y amna type is that the earlier type have not left any permanent markings such as kurgans. Even in the early Yamna period in the western region there were not only

Because there are only two radiocarbon dates for this collection , an absolute chronology is impossible ; thus early, middle , and late are the only chronological indicators. I have very loosely modelled my typologies after Merpert (1974) for Yamna vessels and Bratchenko (1976) for Catacomb vessels.

2

Introduction

Map 2: Area of the Yamna Culture

~

Map 3: Catacomb and Poltavka Cultures Catacomb Culture

~

3

Poltavka Culture

~

Area of overlap

Introduction

The Volga-Don area was not a principal m1mng or metal production center, but it sits within the triangle of the Ural, Caucasus, and Carpathian areas (cf. Chemykh 1992:fig. 3), copper but the cultural evidence found in ancient mines dates to after the Yamna period (Chemykh 1992:85). The Catacomb culture has produced many metal objects and they have been thoroughly studied and have been found to be approximately 90% arsenical bronze and contain additional elements that aretypical of Caucasian metal products (Chemykh 1992: 130). The metal artifacts from the Volgograd burials include copper or bronze knives, awls, beads, bracelets , pendants , and earrings. A few silver ornaments in the form of earrings and pendants have also been found, but gold items have not been found for this time period (V. I. Mamontov , per . comm.). There is one instance of a possible tin item. Nevertheless, it is the pottery which might be considered the archaeologist's best friend since it is the most diagnostic of grave goods, and outside of animal bones , the most basic grave good which habitually survives. I have described and illustrated the ceramics but no technical analysis was done. While such analysis would have added an important dimension to this work , it was not possible in the amount of time available to me in Volgograd. Still, it is hoped that this work will prove useful. The vessels are listed numerically by kurgan and grave and each vessel has been given a catalogue number which is referred to in the text, e.g., Pervomayskiy VII 39/8, #164. Before we turn to the pottery itself, however, we should first put the Yamna and Catacomb cultures into an historical and geographical context.

4

Chapter Two

THE

VOLGA-DON

STEPPE IN

The earliest Y amna culture dates to around the middle of the fourth millennium BC with Catacomb appearing roughly at the end of the fourth millennium BC. The Poltavka culture, which overlaps the Catacomb area on the right bank of the Volga but is primarily found on the left bank as fur as the Ural River, also appears at about the end of the third millennium BC or approximately the same time as the Catacomb culture. While Poltavka shows characteristics of the Catacomb culture and is contemporaneous, it is considered a separate group (see Table 1).

YAMNA CULTURE Background and Antecedents The vast majority of our knowledge of the Yamna culture has 1 come from the thousands of burial mounds, or kurgans, that have been excavated. These kurgans, generally grouped together in cemeteries, cover the steppe area and number in the many thousands. Unlike burial mounds in Western Europe during the Neolithic, kurgans were designed solely as burial places. There is no evidence that on-going ritual, such as that foondat the great mounds of Newgrange in Ireland, Maes Howe in the Orkneys, or Gav'rinis in Brittany, took place. While these great mounds, and smaller ones of the same type, contained communal burials, burial may not have been their primary purpose (O'Kelly 1982; Eogan 1986; Henshall 1985: 113). The ritual of the western European tombs is, for the most part, not clear, but one example is well documented. Above the entrance to the passage tomb of Newgrange is an opening, known as the roof-box, that does not appear to have a purpose until the winter soltice. Then, for about a week before and after December 21, at sunrise, the sun shines through the opening and lights up the long passage and the cruciform chamber. It is also apparent that the roof-box was opened and closed numerous times by two quartz blocks (O'Kelly 1982: 123-124 ). Aside from this unique aspect of Newgrange, Newgrange shared with many tombs the feature of a closing stone. At Maes Howe,2 the closing stone can be pushed into a recess in the wall (Henshall 1985: 107), much like a modem pocket door. Not only was it not uncommon to have a closing stone to be used when a tomb was not being used, but when the final entombments had been made, sometimes after several centuries, a special blocking of the tomb entrance was made. Sometimes this closure took the form of deliberate infilling with rubble as found at several tombs in the Orkneys and at West Kennet in southern England 1

Again , the Russian word kurgan will be used because this is the term used throughout most of Eastern Europe. 2 For a current discussion of the long controversial subject of the orientation of Maes Howe, see MacKie (1997) .

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT (Henshall 1985; Piggott 1962) and sometimes as deliberate concealment of the tomb's entrance as at Gav'rinis (Le Roux 1985:186). Communal burial was characteristic of the Neolithic megalithic tradition in Western Europe, and these communal burial chambers were used for successive burials some for periods of several hundred years. There was certainly variety within this tradition and this is well illustrated from the megalithic tombs of the Orkneys. Some tombs such as Midhowe had benches on which articulated skeletons were laid out as well as piles of bones and sometimes just skulls. The remains of thirty-seven individuals were found at Midhowe. At Isbister all the bones were disarticulated and only a few bones from each individual was present. Still the remains of at least 312 individuals were accounted for - adults, adolecents, children, and newborns. At Quanterness most of the remains were just jumbled broken bones, but occasionally a complete inhumation was found. At Quanterness it is estimated that the remains of 394 people were found but no infants under eight months (Henshall 1985). Despite these differences the tombs were alike in the important aspect of being reopened and reused over long periods of time. The kurgans of the Yamna culture, on the other hand, were built for individual burial - or perhaps better put one time burial. This is clearly seen by the central placement of the earliest burial and no evidence for repeated entry into the burial chamber. Later burials were often inserted into the kurgans but all were burial entities unto themselves . Kurgans were not infrequently enlarged (see Gimbutas 1965:436, fig. 322; Ecsedy 1979:23, figs. 13 and 14) and sometimes two kurgans were consolidated into a third creating one large kurgan (Sinitsyn 1966:34, fig. 8). This type of consolidation can be seen at the cemetery of Gornyy in this collection (Mamontov 1990:12-14; see also #44 in the Catalogue). The building and use of kurgans continued on the steppe and other parts of nonChristian Europe, such as Lithuania, down to the medieval period. Moreover, the tradition of circular mounds used solely for burial became the dominate mode of burial during the Bronze and Iron Ages throughout Europe. The idea of individual burial remains with us to this day.

The Neolithic While a number of cultures have been recognized by Russian and Ukrainian archaeologists in the Pontic-Caspian region during the Neolithic period, many are not well known to Western students. Nevertheless, in order to view the Yamna and later Catacomb and Poltavka cultures in a better perspective, it is important to know the most salient points of the Neolithic cultures of the steppe and surrounding areas.

The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context

BC

PrutDniester

Dnieper-

Northern AwvSea

Bue:

Volga

Don

North Caucasian/ Dolman Culture

2500

3000

A

C

y 3600

T

C

A

M

A

M

0

u C u

A

I

4000 T R I p 0 L y E

R E p I N

Tripolye C2-g2

n Cucuteni B

s

R Tripolye C 1-g 1 E D N y Cucuteni A/B Tripolye B2

s

Cucuteni A

T 0 G

Poltavka B

N

C

T E N I

4500

Northwestern Caucasus

Lower Mikhailovka

E A R

L y

K

y A M

H

N

u

Maikop

A

T 0 R

Kuro-Araxes

N ovodanilovka

Tripolye Bl Khvalynsk

I

Samara Pre-Caspian Esovka Orlovka Seraglazovo

5000 Dnieper-Donets 5500

Dniester-Bug

6500 Table 1: Cultural Sequences of the V-D Steppe and Adjacent Areas (4500-2500 BC Cal.)

Eastern Europe , particularly the area of southeast Europe, produced a number of quite sophisticated cultures during the Neolithic (Gimbutas 1977 and 1991; Chapman 1981; Whittle 1985; Renfrew, Gimbutas, and Elster 1986; Gimbutas, Winn, and Shimabuku 1989; Tringham 1971; Tringham and Kr~tic 1990) (Map 4). The best known and most widely studied is the Cucuteni/Tripolye group. This cultural complex bears a dual name due to the fact that it was first found in Romania (Cucuteni) in 1884 and later in Ukraine 3 {Tripolye) in 1899.

3

Unless otherwise specified , an area will be used .

the current

political designation

While there are some differences between the two, there are sufficient similarities to regard them as the same , or at the vety least, variants of a single tradition . The chronology has been worked out in great detail, and Cucuteni/Tripolye artifacts found in a foreign context are extremely useful as a basis for dating as the culture lasted for over 1500 years between ca. 4800-3200 BC (Table 2). Contacts between the highly developed Cucuteni/Tripolye culture and the steppe cultures date to Cucuteni A/Tripolye B 1. However, the earliest evidence of contact between Tripolye and the steppe cultures comes from a Sredny Stog vessel fragment found at Luka Vrublevetskaya at the end of Pre-Cucuteni III/Tripolye A. In the following Cucuteni A3, A-4/Tr ipolye BI period , contact increased (Videiko 1994:11).

of

6

The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context Tripolye Tripolye Tripolye Tripolye Tripolve

CII BII & CI/Cucuteni B(l-3) BI & 11/Cucuteni A-B(l-2) BI/Cucuteni A(l-4) A/Pre-Cucuteni I. II. III

3500-3200 4000-3500 4200-4000 4500-4200 4800-4500

chiefly of stone and bone as well as teeth of wild boar. River shells were also used for ornaments. Nearly all skeletons had ornaments, but fur fewer had tools resulting in many more ornaments than tools (Makarenko 1934: 140). These cemeteries, with their communal burial, might be thought of as comparable to the megaliths of Western Europe (Mallory [in Telegin and Potekhina 1987]:viii).

BC BC BC BC BC

Table 2: Tripolye/Cucuteni Chronology (after Videiko

1994:7)

About twenty-five of these Dnieper-Donets cemeteries have been excavated along or near the Dnieper River. Telegin and Potekhina (1987) have made a thorough study of the cemeteries and have put them into three stages. Their evolution provides an interesting contrast with the later kurgan burials. In the early Stage A, the burials are in pit-hollows containing ten to eleven skeletons. These pit-hollows develop into row trenches, and the fill is dark gray without ochre. The grave goods include deer tooth ornaments, microlithic artifacts, annular beads, and fish teeth, but no pottery. In this and all phases, the extended supine position is the most common, and the bodies may have been tightly wrapped before burial (Telegin and Potekhina 1987:129).

The sophistication of the Cucuteni/Tripolye culture was extremely high. This fact is revealed not only by its very fine pottery but also settlement sites with one and two story buildings. These settlement sites consisted of both small villages (2-9 sq. ha.) and some larger settlements which might be called towns. The villages were usually about 4-7 km from the larger settlements. During the period 4200-3500 BC these "proto-towns" were at their largest. For example, the site of Talyanki in Ukraine was 450 hectares; it had about 2800 buildings, and a population of around 14,000 (Vinecko 1994:22; see also Ellis 1984; Kruts 1989; Gimbutas 1991). The best known of the Neolithic groups east of Cucuteni/Tripolye, and the most important for our purposes, is the Dnieper-Donets culture (Map 4). The earliest evidence for this cultural group reveals an economy based on hunting/gathering/fishing, crude pointy based pottery, and a lithic industry rooted in the Mesolithic. With its expansion beyond the confines of the eponymous river valleys, domestic animals become more evident, but fishing remained a mainstay of the subsistence economy. In terms of material technology, flint was used for axes, awls, scrapers, and arrowheads while hoes were made of antler, and bone was used for fishhooks and harpoons (Gimbutas 1991:113; Mallory [in Telegin and Potekhina 1987]; Mallory and Adams 1997:166-167). Located along the Dnieper river in Ukraine as fur south as the Black Sea and east to the Donets river, the major settlements of the Dnieper-Donets culture were situated on both the left and right banks of the Dnieper in the area of the rapids. Although there are around 200 small scattered sites known, and most of these settlements, they are not well known. Nevertheless, semi-subterranean houses and surface dwellings are in evidence (Mallory [in Telegin and Potekhina 1987]. For a more up-todate discussion of this see Kotova 1994).

In Stage B, the graves are in large sub-rectangular pits which were then filled with skeletons and covered with ochre. Earlier burials were disturbed or destroyed when new burials were added . Grave goods were much more prevalent and varied than in Stage A. Large blades, knives, and scrapers are more in evidence. Annular beads become more plentiful in quantity and varied in material which now included stone, bone, and shell. Fish teeth and deer pendants become less prevalent. Boar tusks become the distinguishing feature of this stage. Although present in Stage B, ceramics were not found in quantity except at the cemeteries of Nikolskoye and Lysaya Gora. In the very late period of Stage B, gold and copper ornaments were found at Nikolskoye and Mariupol. This might be called the "classic period." According to Telegin and Potekhina, "At this time, there appeared large collective graves and the cult of ancestor veneration ...was expressed by preservation of their skulls" (1987:121). Most of the skulls lacked mandibles (Telegin and Potekhina 1987: 130). Special attention to skulls is frequently found in the Neolithic in such distant sites as at the causeway enclosure of Hambeldon Hill in England (Mercer 1980), and in the Near East at Jericho and Tell Ramad 4 (Mellaart 1975:61).

The Dnieper-Donets culture is best known for its cemeteries, but these cemeteries do not come to the fore until the second of their three periods, and they are exemplified by those at Vovnigy near Dniepropetrovsk and Mariupol on the Azov Sea. Mariupol is the best known of these cemeteries and the one for which the cemetery type is named. At Vovnigy, 130 skeletons were found lying side by side in three parallel rows. The bodies may have been tightly wrapped at the time of burial. All but one of the skeletons were oriented northwest, and the vast majority were sprinkled with red ochre. About a quarter of the skeletons had grave goods which included flint knives, scrapers, knife-like blades, trapeze flint blades and trapeze blanks, annular beads, deer tooth pendants, fish teeth, and tortoise shells (Telegin and Potekhina 1987:5ff.). At Mariupol, 120 adults and six children were found in groups. Here the bodies, like those at V ovnigy, were laid in long ditches and covered with a great deal of ochre brought from 10 km away; the bodies were laid in a strip 26 m long by 2 m wide. Most of the graves were furnished with rich, carefully made grave goods, including ornaments and tools such as knives, awls, chisels, scrapers, and maces, made

During the final period, Stage C, single graves, which appeared only occasionally in earlier stages, become more prevalent, and collective grave pits become fewer and fewer. Ochre also becomes less apparent (Telegin and Potekhina 1987:122). The Mariupol cemetery had a second group of burials that were distinctly different from those in the Group I trenches. These Group II burials were in separate pits, and two were in stone cists under cairns. The deceased lay in the contracted supine

4

This special attention to skulls is not, however , confined to the Neolithic. The Iron Age Celts placed great store in their collection of skulls and believed the skull was symbolic of divinity and the other world (see Ross 1964). Even as late as the fourteenth century AD, Prussians sacrificed human heads to the god Patulas (Usaeivoaite 1996:201).

7

· The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context

Map 4: Major East European Neolithic Cultures: I=Cucuteni/Tripolye; II=Dniester-Bug; III=Dnieper•Donets; IV=SurskoDnieper; V=Seroglazovo; VI=Agidel; VII=Esovka; VIII=Orlovka. 1) Dam Dam Chashma; 2) Djebel. 7

culture and/or from the more northerly Linear Pottery culture rather than an importation from outside more distant groups (Mallory 1989: 189). Furthermore , evidence suggests that the Dniester-Bug people were gathering wild wheat 500 years before they had contact with the Star~evo culture. Fishing and hunting appear to have always been the dominate features of their economy, however, even after domestic agriculture was established (Gimbutas 1991 :395).

position, but one grave consisted of two skeletons and a cremation. Copper ornaments accompanied three of these Group II burials (Telegin and Potekhina 1987:224). Telegin and Potekhina (1987:217) place Group I of Mariupol in association with the Dnieper-Donets culture while Group II is clearly of an entirely different nature. Another important Neolithic culture in the North Pontic area is 5 the Dniester-Bug (or Bug-Dniester) culture (see Map 4 and Table 1). Located between the Dniester and Bug rivers , it appears to have evolved from a Mesolithic hunting/gathering economy to an agricultural one beginning around the late seventh millennium BC. Pottery, however, did not begin to appear until the sixth millennium BC. Like the DnieperDonets culture , the Dniester-Bug people also had a lithic assemblage with roots in Mesolithic practices. The adoption of fanning seems to have occurred by adopting it from 6 neighboring Neolithic groups, the Balkan Star~evo (Cri~)

When we turn to the Volga area the picture becomes a bit more murky. The Neolithic culture which extended from the middle and lower Volga area and from the lower Urals to the Manych depression is the Seroglazovo culture. We know of about 100 sites, and , like Dniester-Bug and Dnieper-Donets , it has its roots in the Mesolithic which is again seen by the continuation of lithic types (Mallory 1989: 192). Nevertheless , the question as to where the Neolithic impulses originated in this most eastern part of Euorpe remains a difficult one, and one that continues to be under debate (see Mallory 1989) . There is evidence to suggest that these impulses may have come from the Near East by way of the area east of the Caspian Sea. While this view presents problems of it own, not the least of which is the vast desert tha t covers the area, it must be conceded that egg-shaped pottery with shell temper which resemble s that of the Seroglazovo and the later Y amna culture can also be found in the southeast Caspian area (Dergachev

5

Overlap is due to chronological differences , e.g., Dniester-Bug is earlier than Cucuteni/f ripolye. See Table 1. 6 This is another case of multiple names for variants of the same culture . Stareevo is used as the name for the Neolithic culture found in the former Yugoslavia, except for the Adriatic coast, and southern Romania ; Cri§ is used in the remaining part of Romania and is named for the Cri~ river . In Hungary the Cri~ river is called the Koros river and thus is yet another name for the same cultural assemblage. Thus, Stareevo, Cri~, and Koros are local names for what is essentially the same culture.

7

8

Also known as Linearbandkeramik or LBK .

The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context 1989:794). The amount of Neolithic pottery found in the Volgograd area is very small - only a dozen or so sherds and no reconstructable vessels. They do, however, belong to the two local late Neolithic groups of Esovka and Orlovka (Map 4).

simplified chronology used here which more easily suits the material in question is based on Manzura (Table 1). Still, some familiarity with the complexity is necessary in order to have a basic understanding of the period. The eastern most of Y amna antecedents, the Khvalynsk culture (ca. 4900-3500 BC), is located along the central and lower Volga river (basically the same area as the earlier Samara culture) and provides the essential links between the cultures of the steppe and forest zones. The Khvalynsk cemetery located in the district of Saratov on the banks of the Volga (Map 5), contained 158 skeletons in mostly single graves, but some graves contained two or more skeletons. The graves were pits, and the skeletons were in contracted supine position with their knees up. Twelve of these graves were covered with stone cairns. Grave goods included metal rings, large boar's tusk pendants, beads made of shell and bone, flint points and daggers, stone adzes, perforated and polished stone lugged axes, bone harpoons, and what is considered a schematized horse head sculpture (Vasil'ev 1981; Mallory 1989; Agapov, Vasil'ev, and Pestrikov 1990; Gimbutas 1991:356; Mallory and Adams 1997:328-329).

The Eneolithic While small copper items such as beads and awls have been found in cultural contexts which are considered Neolithic, the Eneolithic, which has a beginning date of ca. 4800 BC in the North Pontic area, saw the earliest use of copper, gold, and silver on a more widespread basis. Moreover, it is only with the Eneolithic that "it [is] possible to speak with certainty about the early forms of productive economy and the general cultural progress of the communities of the steppe zones" (Dergachev 1989:794). This period also ushers in the appearance of metals in many societies [which] has often [been] correlated with the emergence of widespread exchange relations, a more ranked social system and, at least in a European context, also a rise in warfare, defensive architecture, increased dependence on the pastoral component of the economy, horse domestication and wheeled vehicles (Mallory 1989: 195).

While the early Y amna culture, particularly the Volga-Ural group, is closely related to the Khvalynsk culture, there are also close similarities with the Sredny Stog group of the lower Dnieper area which has caused these groups to be linked (Dergachev 1989; Mallory 1989; Gimbutas 1991; Mallory and Adams 1997:540-541). Like Khvalynsk, the Sredny Stog culture exhibits large numbers of copper ornaments, evidence of horse sacrifice, and very similar burial practices. A comparison of the artifactual material makes clear these similarities (see Vasil'ev 1981:table 38; Mallory 1989:fig. 111).

It is these changes that signal a shift in a number of aspects in the archaeology and lead to new cultural groups. Most of the earlier Eneolithic cultural groups with which the Yamna culture can be connected are also known primarily from burials. According to Dergachev The Middle Volga and southern Urals was a focus of culture genesis that also emerged in the forest-steppe during the Neolithic-Eneolithic period to play a significant part in the development of the eastern European and western Siberian communities (1989:794) .

The Khvalynsk and Sredny Stog cultures also exhibit the lack oftumuli over their graves (Chernykh 1980:317-318; Vasil'ev 1981; Telegin 1986). Although not completely absent, they are rare. The earliest kurgans seem to come from the Sredny Stog cemeteries ofYama and Koisug, each of which produced a burial under a kurgan (Chernykh 1992:43) and date to around the second quarter of the fourth millennium as determined by Tripolye imports (Dergachev 1989:795).

Since the 1970s, excavations in the middle and lower Volga areas have illuminated the Eneolithic in the forest-steppe area of the middle Volga. The Samara culture (Map 5 and Table 1), best known from the S'ezzhee cemetery (Vasil'ev and Matveeva 1976), which dates to the first half of the fifth millennium, has been shown to be the successor of the Neolithic Seraglazovo culture in this area (Mallory 1989:206). The Samara culture, and its successor the Khvalynsk culture, have also shown to be, along with the Sredny Stog culture (discussed below), the direct antecedents of the Y amna culture. It is with Yamna that the post-Neolithic steppe cultures began to come into focus and the pattern of steppe burial was established and remained essentially the same down to the Medieval period.

Even later, some kurgans are barely distinguishable in the landscape. This feature is seen even as far west as the Carpathian basin in Hungary. An early discovery of a Sredny Stog burial at Csongrad-Kettoshalom was found dug into the loess soil where "there was no trace of an earth barrow" (Ecsedy 1979: 11). Many kurgans are not at all high, and this can be seen in the height of some kurgans in this collection. These kurgans range from a high of 4.21 meters (Baranovka k10) to as low as 0.25 meters (Sidory k-21). Graves in the Khvalynsk group were more often covered by stone cairns rather than turf mounds. The earthen barrow could, however, have begun at this time and existed along-side the flat graves of the forest-steppe area. Once into the Y amna and Catacomb periods, however, flat cemeteries become quite rare. In the Volgograd collection of graves, flat cemeteries were found only at Lozhki and Podgornyy.

The period of the Eneolithic is one of reasonably rapid change involving a complex interaction of a number of cultural groups (Manzura 1993 and 1995). The chronologies of these groups have been worked out in some detail, and Manzura (1994) offers a reliable survey of the material in English. The

9

The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeologica l Context

Map 5: Eneolithic Cultures and Major Sites: I=Sredny Stog; II=Samara; III=Khvalynsk; IV=Pre-Caspian; V=Novodanilovka; VI=Lower Mikhailovka; VII=Maikop; VIII=Kuro-Araxes. 1) S'ezzhee; 2) Khvalynsk; 3) Dereivka; 4) Mikhailovka ; 5) Maikop. Sredny Stog is the second group that appears to share parentage for the Y amna culture. Sredny Stog, 8 which is named for one of the first recognized settlements of this culture, was found on the island of Sredny Stog on the Dnieper river. These people inhabited the lower and middle Dnieper area north of the Black Sea (Map 5) in the fifth to fourth millennia BC. They were cattle- and horse-breeding people who had pointed and round based pottery which was decorated with cord ornament. Telegin divides Sredny Stog into two periods. The earliest, Strilchaya Skela, is synchronic with Tripolye B (Cucuteni A3-4 and AB) and dates to around the last half of the fifth millennium BC, ca. 4300-3900 BC (Telegin 1986:107). This period is characterized by flat graves and large flint tools but lacks any figurines or metal objects . All the pottery has pointed bases , is tempered with crushed shell, and does not have cord ornamentation.

During this time, flint tools became smaller, and the new items that appeared include battle-axes, figurines, metal objects, and cheekpieces made of antler. The latter 9 unequivocally attest to the domestication of the horse. The changes in pottery include the replacement of other forms of decoration by cord ornament and the cord ornament takes the fonn of geometric designs, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal ornamentation. The making of cord, and by extension rope, would have been crucial to the handling of horses (Telegin 1986:83). Flat-based vessels and the amphora shape appear at this time, particularly in the area of the Don. Also in this period, the rich Novodanilovka type burials increase and kurgans begin to appear (Mallory 1976:276ff.). By the last quarter of the fourth millennium BC , the Sredny Stog culture comes to an end. The end of the fourth millennia BC also coincides with the disappearance of the Tripolye culture.

Telegin's Dereivka period is named for the large settlement site on the Dnieper and coincide s with Tripolye C-2 (Cucuteni B), the first halfo f the fourth millenn ium BC (Telegin 1986:107).

While Telegin's chronology can still be useful for a broad picture , Rassamakin has refined the chronology and has broken Sredny Stog into four cultural groups :

8

9

Here we are concerne d with Sredny Stog Sredny Stog I represents a level of the Dnieper-Do nets culture .

II from this site. earlier Neolithic

That the questioned

people of Dereivka by Levine ( 1990).

we re

horsebreeders

has been

"The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context 1) The Skelanska culture (ca. 4500-4100 BC) , found in the steppe and forest-steppe of the Dnieper and Don river valleys.

In addition to the human burials at Dereivka, a ritual burial of a horse was found within the settlement. The importance of the horse as an animal on the steppe is well known, and the evidence is fairly conclusive that it was domesticated here (Bibikova 1967, 1969, and 1970; Gimbutas 1977; Boykonyi 1978 and 1980). However, the time period for domestication 10 has become a matter of dispute. Nevertheless, it would have been impossible to control even a small herd of horses unless on one (Telegin 1986:82). The importance of the horse is also well established as a preeminent element in Indo-European culture (Puhvel 1970 and 1987; Gimbutas 1977; Mallory 1981 and 1989; Maringer 1981; Mallory and Adams 1997:273-279). Some of the earliest evidence of the social importance of the horse comes from the Samara culture , the precursor of the Khvalynsk culture. Here a horse sculpture made of bone was found in 1973 at the Samara culture's S'ezzhee cemetery on the bank of the Samara River, a tributary of the middle Volga. This sculpture was found in a child's burial which contained numerous other rich gifts including a flint dagger (Vasil'ev 1981; see also Mallory 1989; Gimbutas 1991 ). Similar sculptures have been found in Romania, Dagestan , Moldova, and Bulgaria (Gimbutas 1977). Evidence for the importance of the horse, while not great, does appear in the graves of this 11 work. At Tsatsa 1/5, forty horse skulls were found piled on top of one another (Shilov 1985). This grave certainly produced the most evidence for the horse in the area and is an indicator that the horse was probably quite prevalent. Horse remains, most frequently skulls , were also found at Oreshkin 16/3, Khutor Ostrov 5/3, and Podgomyy 3/2. While there is little doubt that the horse played an important role on the 12 steppe, the remains vaiy greatly . At Dereivka more than 60% of the animal bones were horse; at the Y amna settlement site of Repin Khutor , on the Don, approximately 80% of the 13 bones were from horse (Bibikova I 969: 171); but at Mikhailovka only about 17% (Chemykh 1992:85) were horse bones. The high percentage of horse bones at Repin and Dereivka probably indicates that the horse was used as a food source.

2) The Stogovska culture (ca. 4100-3600 BC) , found in the steppe area of the Dnieper region . 3) The Kvitanska culture (ca. 3600-3000 BC), found in the steppe and partly forest-steppe areas on the right and left banks of the Dnieper and to the northern Donets and Ingulets rivers. 4) The Dereivka culture (ca. 3700-3150 BC), found south of the forest-steppe part of the Dnieper basin, on the Northern Donets and Oskol rivers (Rassamakin 1994). Sredny Stog burials differ from other Eneolithic burials in that they are much less well known than the settlements. The best known settlements are Dereivka and Aleksandriya on the River Oskol in the Seversky Donets basin. Our best mortuary material comes from three cemeteries: five burials at Chapli; thirty-one burials at Aleksandriya (Mallory 1976:274); and Dereivka where a total of fourteen burials were uncovered in the Eneolithic cemetery (Telegin 1986:37). Sredny Stog graves are generally flat or with stone cairns and sometimes found within settlements as at Aleksandriya (Telegin 1986:42). Grave goods include large flint knives or daggers, pottery, tools of bone, stone and antler, and copper and shell ornaments . Like the later Yamna graves, Sredny Stog graves are in pits, usually elongated ovals, or in cists, and the deceased is usually in the supine position with flexed legs. Well over 75% of the excavated burials have been found in this position, but occasionally the body was placed in a sitting position. Although E-N/E orientations are dominant, other orientations are frequently exhibited. Individual burials are most typical, but there are also a few double burials (Mallory 1976:276). The Dereivka cemetery, although small, is typical of Sredny Stog cemeteries. At Dereivka the skeletons were poorly preserved, but most of the graves, which were undefinable pits, contained single skeletons except for two pairs. The majority of the fourteen burials were adults although there were also three children and one or two adolescents. Two of the children were paired , and the third child was with the adult who was in a half sitting position (No . 11). This half sitting position was also seen in the Khvalynsk culture (Vasil'ev 1980 quoted in Teleiin 1986:42) and in the Carpathian basin at CsongradKettoshalom (Ecsedy 1979: 11). Three skeletons showed signs of ochre; No. 11 was among them . Three burials were accompanied by grave goods and again No. 11 was among them. Burial No. 11 was equipped with a mattock or hammer made of antler which is analogous to many others found in the habitation site. Other grave goods were copper beads and a small red clay bowl dating to Tripolye B2 (Cucuteni AB), ca. 4000 BC. Orientation varied from E-S/E, N-N/E, and one SS/W (Telegin 1986).

Although it is clear that the Y amna culture is closely linked to both Sredny Stog and Khvalynsk, it is still a matter of debate as to which is the closer ancestor. Vasil'ev and Gimbutas believe Yamna is more directly connected to Khvalynsk while Telegin opts for Sredny Stog. Merpert says they were all closely connected tribes . In relation to the Indo-European question, Mallory points out that "If the inhabitants of the regions also shared a broadly similar language at this time , this would no doubt have assisted in the rapid diffusion of common cultural traits, and the creation of a broadly similar 14 cultural horizon" (Mallory 1989:215) .

°

1

For further discussion of this subject see Bibikova 1967, 1969, 1970; Bokonyi 1980; Anthony 1986; and Levine 1990 and 1999. Anthony and Brown (1991) used the Dereivka horse as evidence for horseback riding but the date of their sample has come under serious question and may not date to the 4000 BC as they claim. Additional radiocarbon dates of the single horse skull on which this hypothesis is based, places it at ca. 2915 BC more than 1000 years later than most Dereivka dates (Levine 1999). 11 Designation of cemetery, kurgan/grave . If a particular cemetery has more than one group of kurgans, each group is given a Roman numeral, e.g., Pervomayskiy VII 39/8. 12 For a list of published horse remains from the Pontic-Caspian region up to 1977 see Mallory ( 1981). 13 This number has been called into question by Rassamakin (1994 :55-56). 14 While not the central focus here, the Indo-European question is one that has great relevance to this study. For the most objective view see Mallory

Like other Sredny Stog cemeteries , the burials at the Dereivka cemetery had large distances between burials . Telegin suggests that even though the graves were flat, there is a possibility that during this time small mounds began to appear and would result in the wide spacing of graves. He further suggests that where graves were clustered this may indicate families (Telegin 1986:37).

11

The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context

General Characteristics of the Yamna Culture (ca. 38002200 BC)

N...,___

The complexity of the Y amna culture is becoming more and more evident. However, the standard work on the Y amna culture is still Merpert (1974), and in it, he divides Yamna into nine variants (197 4:fig. 1; see also Mallory 1989:fig. 112). Within Merpert's nine variants are additional groups, the most important for our purposes being the Volga-Ural, which Merpert considers the earliest, and Don variants (Map 2).

a

The earliest Y amna graves are deep pits with a great deal of ochre. The deceased was laid supine with flexed legs or knees upright (Fig. 1), much as is seen in the Sredny Stog cemeteries. According to Sulimirski this "Yamna" position is "seldom observed in graves of other cultures" (1970: 127). The body orientation in the early period is E/NE but later W /SW (Dergachev 1989:797) . The graves themselves are subrectangular and usually one to two meters long .

b N

N

Q

:i

Quite frequently kurgans of Y amna origin are less symmetrical than later kurgans (V. I. Mamontov per. comm.), as for example those of Sidory 2 and 4, and they will be higher on one side and slope off on the other. Bronze Age kurgans are clearly distinguished from Iron Age Scythian kurgans which are high, straight, and more symmetrical.

g

I~

'(Pi..~· d

C N

!t

Merpert divides the burials of the Volga-Ural area into three groups: Lower Volga, Middle Volga, and Ural, and into three time periods (1974:fig. 2). The first period, which dates ca. 3800-3200 BC, holds the earliest burials, which are in rectangular pits with floors covered with branches, bark, or wood. These burials are in the supine position with legs flexed, anns to the side, and oriented east (Fig. 1/a and e). Ochre is frequently found all over the body, but grave goods are few and poor; only a few shell beads, dress ornaments, and egg-shaped pottery which is often decorated in zones, suggesting forest-steppe connections (Merpert 1974:fig. 11).

~

e Fig. 1: Typical Yamna Burial Positions

The second period, ca. 3200-2700 BC, is much the same, but there is less ochre, hands are now placed on the pelvis or chest (Fig. 1/b-d), and although the variety and quantity of grave goods increases, they are still found in only about 40% of the graves. These grave goods include copper items such as knives and awls, which indicate Caucasian connections, as well as rings and beads. Pottery and stone tools also continue. Some of the pottery now has globular bodies, wide mouths, but no necks. These innovations are limited to the Volga-Ural area, but the egg-shaped vessels also continue. In the Don-Donets area these egg-shaped vessels have defined necks and cylindrical mouths. Both types are made with crushed shell temper and are decorated in the same manner: cord ornament, incised herringbone pattern, alternating horizontal and vertical lines, and fingernail impressions (Merpert 1974:figs. 13-14).

15 and 17; Mallory 1976). In the Volgograd collection of the fourteen Y amna burials where orientation could be determined, eleven are easterly and six westerly. Merpert's third period also shows a strong influence from the Catacomb culture, including flattened-based pottery, all over cord ornament, horizontal and vertical cord ornament, and channeling motifs (Merpert 1974:fig. 15). Tsatsa 3/1 presents a good example of Catacomb influence. A funnel, which is usually considered a Catacomb item, was found in a pit grave with a copper knife and a late Y amna pot. The skeleton was in Y amna position (Mamontov 1967; Shilov 1985:107-110, figs. 8 and 20). Another example comes from Ust'-Pogozh'e 1/8 which held a male and an infant in a niche grave but with two vessels that had characteristics of both Y amna and Catacomb . Merpert finds the origins of the Y amna culture in the Caspian area based on the similarity of pottery, stone tools, and individual burial. This is reinforced by an economy based on ovicaprids. He gives primacy to the Volga-Ural variant and sees the Y amna expansion as a result of new pasturage (Merpert 1974; Mallory 1976:273) .

The third period, ca. 2700-2100 BC, contains burials much like the first two periods, but in addition , they show changes in orientation N, S-E, or even W/S-W (Merpert 1974:figs. 11-

(1973, I 976, 1989, and 1996) and for an extensive view of lndo-European culture see Mallory and Adams (1997).

12

The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context Ochre was used heavily in Y amna graves, less so in Catacomb times, but still so common that when it was not present, excavators commented on its absence, e.g., Sidory 37/7. Ochre was so prevalent in Y amna graves that German scholars, in fact, use the term Ochergrabkultur for the Y amna culture (see Hausler 1967). While the predominate ochre color is red, yellow is also found (Ecsedy 1979). Ochre was not only sprinkled on the body and in the grave, it was also used as paint in striping on the wood boxes which often enclosed the deceased (Ecsedy 1979:15, 18). The use of ochre is, however, a widely spread phenomenon throughout the world from Palaeolithic times on, and as we have seen, it was also used extensively in the Neolithic cultures which preceded Yamna on the steppe and the Dnieper area. This can clearly be seen at the Mariupol cemetery discussed above. Therefore, although the use of ochre is still a diagnostic feature of the Yamna 15 culture, the tenn Ochergrabkultur should be discouraged.

phenomena found amongst the later Scythians who occupied a similar portion of the steppe. Smaller settlements also existed, and there are undoubtedly more settlements which now lie beneath the waters of rivers which were dammed to create reservoirs, such as the Tsimlyansk on the Don. In the area covered in this work there is only one settlement, Lozhki (see Catalogue #86). The end of the Neolithic also saw a clear change in burial rite and what has been called an "ideological revolution" which created new concepts of afterlife and a cult of the dead. Thus "... extolling the ancestors and a relatively complex fimeral ritual became obligatory" (Chemykh 1992:84). It is with the Y amna culture that this change in burial rite comes into focus, and it is this burial rite that continues for millennia not only on the steppe but spreads throughout Europe.

Although overall uniformity in burial rite persisted throughout the period, local variations did exist in the Y amna tradition including the construction of stone-faced burial shafts covered by large stones and the presence of stone circles (or cromlech) built around the central burial. Sometimes anthropomorphic stelae were used as roofs for the graves. Anthropomorphic stelae may have originated in the Crimea with the Kemi Oba culture, ca. 4000-3000 BC (see Mallory and Adams 1997:327328), which seems to have had a tradition of stone working (Novitskiy 1990 and 1998; Telegin and Mallory 1994). When these stones are found in graves they are of secondary use and may originally have had a different purpose than grave markers (see Telegin and Mallory 1994). However, the practice of placing anthropomorphic stelae on burial mounds became a steppe practice which continued for millennia and was particularly prevalent during the Scythian period (see Ol'khovskiy and Evdokinov 1994). Stone stelae are also found in Celtic contexts in Western Europe at such sites as Hirschlanden and other sites in western Germany (Cz.ametzki 1985; Jones-Bley 1998) as well as southwest Iberia (Harrison 1988:29-34). On the steppe, the stelae continued as grave markers well into historic times and this use of stelae as grave markers was continued by the nomadic Turkic steppe peoples (Vainshtein 1989:55). However, in Ukraine these stelae also evolved into what appears to have been markers for sanctuaries for the Slavic and Polovtsian people (Telegin and Mallory 1994).

CATACOMB CULTURE (ca. 3000-2200 BC) There is no general agreement as to the origins of the Catacomb culture, but two well known and somewhat contradictory views are summarized by Ecsedy (1979:fn 234). The first - that it is a locally generated culture evolving out of the Y amna culture - was first put forward by KrivtsovaGrakova (1938). This view is followed by Popova (1955) and supported by Shilov (see 1985). This view sees the North Caucasian Y amna variant evolving into the Catacomb culture within the Volga area. This hypothesis can be supported by graves that contain burials with characteristics of both groups. Tsatsa 3/1 presents a good example of this situation since the funnel, which is a Catacomb item, is found in a pit grave with a copper knife and Yamna pot. Also Pervomayskiy X single kurgan/6 has two Yamna pots in a catacomb (niche grave). The second view sees Catacomb as a complete change and is advocated by Berezanskaya and Shaposhnikova (1957), Kleyn (1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1970), and Mamontov (1967). They would have Catacomb origins further west. Ecsedy emphasizes the similarity of Catacomb censers with Vu~edol vessels and says this points to common Balkan roots (1979:48, fn. 234). A third view, and one widely believed is that the Catacomb culture evolved out of the Y amna culture but with strong North Caucasian influence (Dergachev 1989:798). This view can be supported by the similarity in pottery, which becomes simpler in decoration on the steppe, and the presence of catacombs in Caucasian tombs. Perhaps more telling is that some early Catacomb graves in the steppe contain evidence of collective burial and tombs that were reused although is may best be seen in more southern Caucasian kurgans (Kushnareva 1997:35). This could also account for the prevalence of single use burials containing several skeletons. If indeed this latter theory is correct, it might also account for some of the linguistic features shared by Indo-European and North Caucasian languages such as specific three way sex gender (Huld 1992). This theory could also account for such graves as the Tsatsa and Pervomayskiy graves mentioned above. Whatever the case, classic Catacomb with elaborate pottery is found much less frequently on the VolgaDon steppe than in the more southern areas around Rostov and in the North Caucasus around Stavropol.

At the end of the Neolithic there is a clear indication that there was a change in the economy of the steppe (Chemykh 1992:84). The result may be seen in that there are far fewer settlements in the Early Bronze Age Yamna period than there had been in the earlier Neolithic period. Those that are present, such as Mikhailovka, Skelya Kamenolomnya, and Aleksandriya, seem to be cultural centers with fortifications (Dergachev 1989:796) or were in inaccessible spots. The Mikhailovka settlement is the best known of these settlement sites. It contained middle and late Y amna levels as well as a pre-Y amna level. The site eventually reached 1.5 hectares and consisted of small oval huts and large rectangular buildings with pise floors and stone foundations. The site had a massive defensive wall system which went on for 45 meters (Lagodov'ska, Shaposhnikova, and Makarevich 1962). These fortified cultural centers might be compared to the same 15

The confusion ofnames is discussed by Mallory (1976).

13

The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context What is clear is that there are very few Catacomb graves on the left (or east) bank of the Volga and none further east. Thus we can see that whether Catacomb first developed in the North Caucasus, the Kalmyk Steppe, or the Balkans, it is primarily a steppe phenomenon limited by the Volga on the East and the Prut in Moldova on the West (Map 3).

might expect, deformed skulls are found on both adult and sub-adult skeletons. At Khutor Ostrov 2/2 the grave contained two adults both of whom had deformed skulls, and a child , the skeleton of which was , unfortunately , badly preserved so that the shape of the skull could not be determined. This phenomenon is also well documented in Manych (Sinitsyn 1978). This same phenomenon is seen with the Iron Age Sannatians in the area east of the Don and in the Caucasus (Abramova 1995:180; Moshkova 1995:152). Based on the analogy of the Sannatians in the Manych , Han~ar (1945:76-77 [reported in Gimbutas 1956:82]) suggested that this was a custom to distinguish the upper class, and Gimbutas reminds us that this was practiced during the Greek classical period as described by Hippocrates (II, 14) and as far back as Late Minoan III. Claims are also made that the Egyptians practiced skull deformation as early as the 18th Dynasty. Furthermore , the practice is known in the Early Iron Age Andronovo culture of southern Siberia (Gimbutas 1956:82) .

Like Y amna, the Catacomb culture has a number of variants e.g., Donets, Middle Don, and Volga Steppe, but the central link for the Volga-Don area is the Donets group, which is located in the Seversky Donets river basin (Dergachev 1989:798). Early Catacomb is a distinctive cultural group which spread from the Dnieper area to the Lower Don and eastern Azov region. The Lower Don and Donets basins have ceramic traditions of their own which survived into the successive Donets group (Smimov 1996). The Catacomb culture has several distinctive characteristics which clearly separate it from Y amna , but there are also characteristics which appear to be continuous. It is this conflicting evidence that has caused some scholars to say it is a separate culture from Y amna and others to claim it to be a continuation. The distinctive characteristics are plain. The first and most obvious is the catacomb, or niche, which forms the actual burial chamber and which is used to name the culture. Despite the name, however, as early as 1966 Fisenko (1966:64) observed that slightly fewer than (48.9%) of graves studied by Iesusalimskoy (1958) were in catacombs (niches). Of the 166 Catacomb graves in this work only 59 (about 36%) are found in niches. The architecture of the Catacomb grave consists of a shaft and the burial chamber, or catacomb, was dug into a side wall of the pit (Fig. 2). Earlier Catacomb graves have larger chambers and less deep shafts while later graves have deep shafts with smaller chambers. The deepest shafts are in the Donets basin. These shafts have, in rare cases, been known to reach 12 m deep (V. A. Trifonov pers. comm.). The entrance of the chamber was closed after the burial of the deceased, usually by wood , stones, or a stone slab (Fig. 2/a). The graves themselves take a variety of shapes. The chambers are flat on the bottom with a domed ceiling, and there can be one or more stairs (Fig. 2/b ). The social significance of these stairs is a matter of question (see Mallory 1990). Occasionally, double niches will occur as with Vodyaskiy single kurgan 1/4 and 5, but these are fairly rare (see Kleyn 1961:fig. 3) . Here the entrances abutted one another with the two chambers on the outside (Fig. 2/c). The burial chamber, however, is not always in the form of a niche but may be a simple square or rectangular shape , often with rounded corners. When the burial chamber is not a niche, the body position takes on added importance for identification purposes, particularly when no grave goods are supplied. While Y amna skeletons are usually laid on their backs with knees up, the Catacomb people most frequently chose to place their dead on the side in a crouched position, knees bent , arms along the trunk, and hands often on the pubic area (Fig. 3/b , c). The orientation is more varied than in Y amna graves.

C Fig. 2: Typical Catacomb Graves. a) Typical niche with blocking stones; b) niche with stairs; c) double niche . Additional attention to the head can be seen with the evidence of trepenation, modelled clay masks, and the infilling of head orifices with clay, all of which have also been found in Catacomb graves. In at least one case in the area of the Crimea all three features were found on the same skeleton (Danilova and Korpusova 1981 ). These facial treatments are often found in graves which included other prestige items such as wheeled vehicles and stone scepters, and they are most often found in male graves although not exclusively . The burials in which the masks have been found have been interpreted as possible priest burials (Shishlina 1989; Pustovalov 1994:9798; Mikhaylov 1995:172, fig. 4); Mallory and Adams 1997:92) .

Another practice , not uncommon , is that of head deformation (Fig. 3/e) . This practice seems to be found only in Catacomb graves, both in the Volga-Don area and in other areas where both Yamna and Catacomb graves exist side by side. As one

Ochre , while not as prominent as in Y amna graves, is frequently used during the Catacomb period , and when not present , it is noted by the excavator , as at Vertyachiy Marinovka 2/3, Khutor Ostrov 9/1, and Zakanal'nii 6/2.

14

still it is 7/9 , It is

The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context

often sprinkled all over the grave or corpse or may be placed as a layer under the corpse. Not infrequently, only parts of the body of the deceased will be covered with ochre. When this occurs it is usually a part that might normally be exposed, such as feet, hands, or head. Sometimes large pieces of ochre will be found. At Oreshkin 24/1, a piece of ochre 11.5 x 9 x 7 cm was found at the head of the skeleton. This piece was decorated with rows of fingernail impressions (D'yachenko 1992:fig. 3/8).

there are traces of partial cremation (Gorodstov 1905:223-225). Another variation found primarily in the Catacomb culture is the frequency of cenotaphs as illustrated in this Catalogue at Baranovka I 0/7, Gomyy 2/2, Il'evka 6/8, and Podgomyy 4/2. As during the Yamna period, there are few settlements attributed to the Catacomb culture, and some, such as Perun and Bayda, an island on the Dnieper, are fortified (Dergachev 1989:798; Pustovalov 1994:113-115). No Catacomb settlements are known from the area covered by this work, but as with Yamna settlements, they may have been submerged. This catalogue has only one vessel (#86) from one small Yamna settlement site. There was nearby, however, a flat cemetery which produced a Catacomb grave with two Catacomb storage vessels (#s 87 and 88).

In addition to ochre being found on the bottom of the grave, it is also common to find layers of chalk, charcoal, or organic matter such as wood or reeds. At Proletarskogo Korenobskogo 4/21 a reed mat with decoration in a chevron pattern made with charcoal and ochre had been laid under a child. Although the mat decayed completely, the pattern remained (Uraykii 1993: 14, fig. 4/IV). It is clear that significant care was taken in the burial rite.

N....----

N4--

b

a

d

The inventory of ceramic types is much larger during Catacomb times than Yamna, although during the early Catacomb period it was much the same. Yamna ceramics are confined to pots and occasional braziers. The Catacomb repertoire, however, consists of pots (which are ahnost always flat based), braziers, funnels, cups, amphorae, jugs, bowls, censers,16 and some miscellaneous objects, including wheels and offering pots. The range of artifacts belonging to the Catacomb culture is also quite broad. Aside from ceramic vessels, stone artifacts include maceheads, millstones, whetstones, arrowheads (both triangular and leaf shaped), daggers, hammer-axes, arrow straighteners, arm rings, and beads. The variety of stone is also broad and includes flint, diorite, quartzite, carnelian, porphyry, sandstone, serpentine, and petrified wood.

C

Animal bones are quite common, particularly ovicaprids and cattle. Horse bones are also found, but they are not as common. Much more rare are the bones of fox and camel. Additional parts of animals such as snake skins and egg shells are also found. Aside from artifacts that were fashioned from animal bones, such as rings and beads, some animal parts, including boar tusks, bull horns, and astragali, are found in an artifactual context, rather than what might be considered the remains of a piece of meat or as a straight offering (see Krasnovskiy 1/2, Pervomayskiy VII 36/11, and Berezovskiy 10/1).

e

Fig. 3: Typical Catacomb Burial Positions

Metal ob4ects placed in Catacomb graves include tools, 1 weapons, and ornaments made of copper or bronze, such as 18 knives, awls, pendants, and beads. While much more rare and clearly imports, are silver earrings and pendants (Mallory and Huld 1984). One metal item that is considered by the excavator to be possibly tin comes from the cemetery of Oreshkin (see #109). No gold objects have been found in the Volgograd area in the Yamna, Catacomb, or Poltavka

The similarities between Y amna and Catacomb are much more subtle. While Y amna and Catacomb burials are both considered individual burial, Catacomb graves often contain more than one skeleton, but multiple skeletons in a Yamna grave is not usual. In fact, Catacomb graves with two skeletons are quite common and sometimes there will be as many as four or even five. This may appear to be a contradiction to the idea of individual burial when one sees the number of graves that contain more than one skeleton, but the important point to keep in mind is that all the bodies were buried at the same time and not in successive reuse of the burial chamber (Jones-Bley and Della Volpe 1991 and 1997a). Still, the burial practices of the Catacomb people were much more complex than those of the Yamna. While most Yamna burials are simple burials in a pit, the niche for the catacomb required a great deal more effort. Also, Catacomb burials will not infrequently show signs of mutilation of the corpse. There is, in addition, evidence that at least some corpses were exposed prior to burial (Mel 'nik 1991; Trifonov 1991), and

16

An interesting but unexplained phenomenon is that censers do not appear in the subsequent Srubna culture but are found again in a slightly varied shape in Iron Age Sarmatian graves. This is also true of niche graves which are absent during Srubna times but reappear with the Sarmatians (see DavisKimball et al. 1995). 17 Weapon is a somewhat misleading but useful term; it is understood that most "weapons" could just as easily be used primarily or even solely as tools (see Huld 1993 for a discussion of weapon terms). 18 A knife made of the rare combination of copper (with arsenic) and iron was found in a typical Catacomb grave in the basin of the Seversky and Donets rivers. The iron was of smelted ore, but the technology was primative (Shramko and Maslikov 1993).

15

The Volga-Don Steppe in Archaeological Context context. However some gold items from these cultural periods have been found in other areas.

Nevertheless, arsenical bronze ornaments are also found suggesting imports from the Caucasus (Chernykh 1992: 133). Other Caucasian connections can be seen in silver and gold rings as well as bronze axes, which reflect those found in the Maikop culture (Mallory and Adams 1997:439-440).

Organic remains in the graves include reeds or grasses that were used under the deceased and also wood. The remains of wood "sarcophagi," platforms, and posts have been found in a number of graves , as well as the occasional remains of wooden bowls.

Ceramics are the primary grave good. The early vessels have egg-shaped bodies with flattened or flat bottoms. Vessels are also can-shaped or bulbous shape. The early vessels often lack necks and if there is a neck it is not very long, and usually the transition to the body is fairly smooth. The vessels are more elaborately decorated than Yamna vessels, and the "step-comb" pattern is a frequent motif (Mamontov 1986:44). The temper is usually chamotte or fmely crushed shell. Usually ornament is confined to the upper portion of the vessel but sometimes herringbone or the step comb ornament covers the body. Although it has previously been thought that the step-comb pattern was not characteristic of Poltavka pottery in the Lower Volga area, the appearance of a number of vessels, including a late Yamna vessel from Kolpachki (#73), seems to contradict this idea (Mys'kov 1987:240; see also Mamontov 1971:210, fig. 1/15 and Shilov 1975:53, fig. 41/3) .

Because ochre, chalk, and charcoal are found so frequently in graves, they must have played an important part in the burial ritual. But for the most part, we are left to speculation about the meaning of these items. Artifacts and grave architecture have been used as a basis for an attempt at an analysis of social structure. Mallory (1990) looks at age, sex, and social status according to grave goods and grave architecture, and Pustovalov (1994) places the deceased in the social positions of priests, warriors, weavers, painters, etc. according to grave goods.

POLTAVKA CULTURE (ca. 3000-2000 BC) M_..__

M...----

The Poltavka culture was identified as a separate cultural group 19 in 1967 by N. K. Kachalova. In this article, Kachalova gave quite a detailed analysis of the Bronze Age materials on the Lower Volga related to the Poltavka type and showed the existence of the independent Poltavka culture. However, there are still those who reject it as a cultural group (see Morgunova 20 1991 and Shilov 1991). Poltavka, like Catacomb, dates to ca. 3000-2000 BC. Unlike Catacomb, however, it is generally agreed that the Poltavka culture arose out of Late Yamna (Merpert 1974; Shilov 1975; Mamontov 1986), and that they were more settled than the Catacomb people. Nevertheless, settlement sites are still extremely rare. The Poltavka cultural group also covered a smaller area than Catacomb, centering around the Volga north of Volgograd and to the east as far as the Ural River and north to the foreststeppe zone near Samara. Only a few sites are west of the Volga (Map 3). Just as with the Yamna and Catacomb cultures, the vast majority of our information about the Poltavka cultural group comes from graves. The burial rite shows characteristics of both Y amna and Catacomb. Skeletons are found both on their backs and sides - the earlier being on their backs (Mys'kov 1987:240), with hands between the legs or at the side of the trunk (Fig. 4). The orientation is north, east, or northeasterly . The deceased was placed in a pit, often with ochre but with less than that found in Yamna graves. The ochre is found on the bottom of the pit and sometimes the deceased had been painted with it. Chalk is also found on the bottom of the pits (Mamontov 1986:43-44). As in the Catacomb culture, head deformation is also prevalent (Mallory 1976:284) .

_

d

Fig. 4: Typical Poltavka Burial Positions There is not the variety of ceramics in the Poltavka repertoire as in Catacomb. For example, censers are not found in the Poltavka context but braziers are. It is from Poltavka that the later Srubna culture develops in the north (Kachalova 1978; Mamontov 1986) at about the 21 beginning of the second millennium BC.

Poltavka metal objects are often pure copper, such as that found in the western Ural copper-bearing sandstones .

What makes the Volga-Don Steppe so important is that it is here that the interaction of these various groups occurred.

19

Kachalova has done a great deal of research on the Poltavka Culture (see for example 1978, 1983). Her assistance to me in this area has been invaluable . 2 For a survey of the problem see Mel'nik ( 1990); Otroshchenko ( 1990); Pyatykh (1990) ; and Potemkina (1990).

21

An interesting connection , not fully explained , is a group of Srubna burials in the Middle Volga area of Saratov along the Eruslan river. Here the burials were placed in niches much like some Poltavka burials (Lopatin and Malov 1988).

°

16

Chapter Three

THEPOTTERY BACKGROUND The pottery of the Y amna, Catacomb, and Poltavka cultures can find its ancestry in the previously existing traditions of the Pontic-Caspian steppe. The earliest Yamna pottery is eggshaped with a pointy base much like that of the Sredny Stog pottery, which points to a forest-steppe origin (Mallory 1989:200; also cf. Vasil'ev 1981; Bader et al. 1987) (Table 3). This same pottery shape, however, can be found in the Dniester-Bug culture (Fig. 5), one of the earliest Neolithic people in the North Pontic area, and is also found over much of Russia and Ukraine. The best known of these Neolithic peoples belong to the Dnieper-Donets culture, whose pottery was vegetable tempered and originally pointy based but flat bottomed bulbous vessels appeared in later phases. Early Y amna vessels have horizontal and vertical line decoration made with stamps or incisions and this same type of decoration can be seen on Dnieper-Donets pottery (Fig. 6). Later Y amna vessels often have broad rims and are decorated not only with stamps and incisions but also cord impressions (Figs. 26-32) (Merpert 1974; Gimbutas 1991:113).

Don area, both the Seroglazovo of the lower Volga or PreCaspian region and that of the Agidel culture of the southern Urals, also had egg-shaped pottery. Parallel to the PreCaspian culture were the Esovka and Orlovka groups, which were local to the Volgograd area. The earliest type of ceramics found in the southeast Caspian at sites of Djebel and DamDam-Chashma (see Map 4), which date to the 7th millennium, was this same egg-shape (Mallory 1989:190193). B

A

I

II

Fig. 6: Dnieper-Donets Pottery. A) Middle period (ca. 5000 BC); B) Late (ca. 5000-4500 BC. (After Telegin 1968)

A

Fig. 5: Pottery from the earliest Dniester-Bug Pottery Neolithic I and II, 6000-5500 BC. I) Baz'kov Island, lower; II) Sokolstsy, lower, southern Bug Valley. (After Danilenko 1969)

Another Neolithic group, the Sursko-Dnieper culture (Map 4, is found on islands in the Dnieper, and while the group is not well known, they also produced pointy-based vessels made of both stone and clay (Fig. 7). The SurskoDnieper ceramic ware was shell tempered, the decoration was limited to the upper third of the vessel and consisted of pit and comb ornament (Mallory 1976:281). Closer to the Volga-

B

Fig. 7: Vessels from the Sursko-Dnieper culture. B) stone. (After Artemenko et al. 1985)

A) clay;

The Early Eneolithic cultures continued to produce pointybased pottery, as seen in the Pre-Caspian culture (Mallory 1989:207), which is otherwise not well known. The PreCaspian culture is synchronous with both the Neolithic Dnieper-Donets and the Eneolithic Samara cultures. Like the Samara ceramics (Fig. 8/B), both the somewhat later Khvalynsk and Sredny Stog groups also had both round and pointy-based vessels (cf. Vasil'ev 1981; Telegin 1986) (Table 3 and Fig. 9).

Cal. Cl4

Volga Forest-Steppe

Volga Steppe

dates

Middle

Bronze

2nd Millennium

Age

V

Early

Bronze Age

3rd Millennium

Late Eneolithic

Middle En eolithic

4th

Millennium

Early Eneolithic

• I

.

Neolithic \

I

I

5th

D

Millennium

Table 3: Comparison of Volga Steppe and Volga Forest-Steppe Pottery.

(After Vasil'ev 1981)

as temper, in some areas limestone or chalk, as well as chamotte, or ground sherds, became widely used during Catacomb and Poltavka times.

Lower Mikhailovka (see Map 5) ceramics differed from that of Sredny Stog and Y amna in that they had flat bottoms and more pronounced necks. This seems to resemble more closely Catacomb pottery despite Lower Mikhailovka remains being found under those of a Yamna settlement at the Lower Mikhailovka site. Another possible Catacomb connection is the low censer found at Lower Mikhailovka (Gimbutas 1970:fig. 20; Mallory 1989:203-4, fig. 106) (Fig . 10/III).

The earliest cord ornament, about 4000 BC, is found on Sredny Stog pottery and only appears somewhat later in the Eneolithic in the Volga area (Telegin 1986:61). Cord decoration becomes quite common and remained in the repertory of pottery decoration throughout Europe foc millennia. Cord ornamented pottery was completely absent from Khvalynsk ceramics (see Vasil'ev 1980:47, 1981:48-49; and Agapov, Vasil'ev, and Pestrikova 1990). While Yamna ceramics vary according to region , cord and toothed stamp ornament remained in many areas. Both of these methods

Unlike the Neolithic Dnieper-Donets people who used vegetable matter for temper in their ceramics , the people of the Sredny Stog and Samara cultures both used ground river shells. This method of temper continued into the Khvalynsk and then into the Y amna tradition. Although shell remained

18

The Pottery

of ornamentation are found on the Volgograd pottery and the cord ornament comes in a variety of types.

which are not unusual in the Volgograd collection, but only in Catacomb context, only appear in the Repin repetoire in the later stages (see Sinyuk 1981:fig. 6/29).

The design techniques of channeling, fingernail impressions, and vertical strokes on the rim, seen on pottery from Dereivka (Fig. 9/B), were not found in earlier ceramics east of the Dnieper but were found extensively in the GumelniJa-Tripolye ceramics (Telegin 1986:63). Nevertheless, Cucuteni/Tripolye pottery, and to a lesser degree GumelniJa pottery, is completely different from Neolithic and £neolithic pottecy from the steppe area (cf. Fig. 11).

A

A

B

B

1

2

Fig. 9: Eneolithic Vessels. A) Khvalynsk (After Vasil'ev 1981); B) Sredny Stog (Dereivka) (After Telegin 1986)

III 4

Fig. 8: Early Eneolithic Pottery. A) Pre-Caspian; B) Samara vessels from the S'ezzhee Cemetery (After Vasil'ev 1981)

Yamna pottery is usually round or pointy bottomed, although, as noted by Merpert (I 974 ), toward the later periods the bottoms are flattened (see Dergachev 1986:25-87 and #s 120, 176, and 270 in the Catalogue here). There are some round bottomed pots in Catacomb graves (see Popandopuls 1995: 140, fig. 7/7), but not in this collection.

II

r·····-

j / (\

.,, \

The pottery of the Rep in culture has important similarities to Sredny Stog, which include shell temper, relatively tall necks, the composition of the decoration, and the occasional burnishing. Repin pottery is also closely connected to the Yamna culture although Sinyuk (1981) singles out Repin from Yamna. The main features ofRepin pottery which we see in Yamna pottery in this collection are shell temper, a groove between the neck and the body, and rounded bottoms. The decorative elements of the pearl, zigzag, and cord impressions are quite prevalent on both Repin and Yamna pottery. About 75% of the pearl element on Repin pottery is made from the outside in, and there is a strong relationship between the pearl element and cord impressions (Sinyuk 1981). The Volgograd collection has only one vessel with the distinctive high Repin neck (#164) and two with the pearl element with cord impressions (#s 149 and 266). Bowls,

I

Fig. 10: Three Stages of Pottery from Lower Mikhailovka (After Lagodov'skaet al. 1962)

19

The Pottery

view of the profiles of these vessels, both Catacomb and Poltavka, can be seen in Figs. 35-42. A brazier is defined as either the bottom of a large pot or the side wall of a vessel and usually has evidence of burning inside (Figs. 72-75). Unfortunately, there is no report of the substance that was burned. A bowl is a vessel with a very wide rim , but the height measures only from about half but less than threequarters of the diameter of the rim (Fig. 67).

Ill

While pots, bowls , and even braziers might be thought of as ordinary vessels used for daily living, censers are special vessels and well attested in Catacomb graves (see :Sratchenko 1978; Sinitsyn 1978; Sinitsyn and Erdniev 1966). Censers usually stand on three or four legs that are fused together , often creating a cruciform-shaped base; they most often have a small inner compartment (Figs. 70-71). The larger compartment of the censers almost always has evidence of burning. This is so frequent that the Russian term for these vessels is kuril 'nitsa which means smoking pot. The censers are considered ritual vessels although the ritual is undefined. One suggestion for the use of the censers is that they were used to burn some sort of hallucinogenic substance . While the remains in the vessels have not been analyzed, the remains of hemp seeds have been found in Early Bronze Age burials in the North Caucasus (Ecsedy 1979:45 [Markovin 1963:98]). Even today cannabis grows wild near the shores of the Volga near the city of Volgograd.

II

I

Fig. 11: Simplified Cucuteni Pottery Typo_Iogy: I) Early (excised); II) middle (bichrome, trichrome pamted); Ill) late (brown/black on orange-red, painted). (After Gimbutas 1992)

The Volgograd collection also has one unique vessel, referred to as an offering vessel, (#13) (Fig. 77/c) which is oval and stands on four well-defined legs. It, too, is thought to be associated with some unknown ritual. This vessel was found in the only grave of a kurgan that held a young adult, 18-20 year old, p~rhaps female, and a baby (see Chapter 4, Fig. 78). I have found no exact analogy to this vessel. The other grave goods were a censer, brazier, jaw of a cow, and 118 astragali which were spread all over the grave (Kiyashko and Mamantov 1982).

THE VOLGOGRAD POTTERY The pottery in the Volgograd collection comes from forty-four sites (Map 6), all but one vessel come from cemeteries. All but five pots and two braziers were from kurgans - two pots from Lozhki; three pots and the two braziers were from Podgomyy flat graves. Flat cemeteries are very rare. A few of the kurgans were set by themselves and cannot properly be called part of a cemetery. These single kurgans (S/K) are, however, sometimes included within a cemetery group such as Pervomayskiy (Map 6).

The last group of ceramics are not vessels but funnels (Fig. 77/a). There are only three in this collection and while some funnels are found in Yamna graves (Shilov 1985:143), they are most often found in a Catacomb context. One ceramic wheel model is also in this collection (#271, Fig. 77/d).

There is a total of 288 ceramic vessels in this catalogue; all are hand made . Each vessel is numbered and referred to in the text by its catalogue number , e.g., #164. All vessels have at least two designations - one for shape and the other decoration. The Y amna vessels have two shape designations (neck and base). The Y amna vessels, where possible, are also referenced according to Merpert's (1974) typology of early, middle, and late. By far the greatest number of vessels ~n.the collection are from the Catacomb period, and they are d1v1ded into nine categories. The twenty-three Poltavka vessels are included in the Catacomb typology due to their similarity in form and decoration .

A small amount of pottery was imported from the Caucasus or was influenced by Caucasian ware (#254). One vessel is_ a Maikop import (#150, Fig. 78/b), and one vessel (#15, Fig. 44) is considered a locally made imitation of a Maikop vessel; otherwise all vessels appear to be locally made. The vast majority of these vessels came from graves in kurgans although some vessels came from the embankments around the kurgans. Only one vessel was recovered from the single settlement site of Lozhki (#86) and seven vessels from the five flat graves. Settlement sites are rare in the extreme, undoubtedly due not only to the lack of permanence of the population, 1 but also to the damming of many of the

The major vessel types of the Catacomb period are pots , braziers, bow ls, and censers . The greatest number of vessels are pots , and they are divided into three groups defined by neck lenoth : I = without necks , II = short necked, and III = long necked or beakers. The Poltavka vessels all fall within types I and II . While there are only a few vessels with han~les, they are designated amphorae , jugs , and cups . A schematized view of vessel types 1-111is given in Fig. 34 and an overall

1

While the steppe people at this time seem to have engaged in a pastoral economy, I have avoided using the terms "pastoral" and "nomadic" becau_se of the debate over them. See Koryakova ( 1998) for the debate with references , Baltic-Pontic Studies (1994) for various aspects of steppe pastoralism, and Cripps (1991) and World Archaeology (1972 and 1983) for an overall view of nomads.

20

38

• kurgan cemetery ■ Oat cemetery A settlement site

~

o.__.,.__....._ _ _.__~75 km

Map 6:

Location of Volga-Don Sites with Yamna, Catacomb, and Poltavka Pottery: 1-Baranovka; 2-Berezovskiy; 3Oreshkin; 4-Sidory; 5-Podgornyy; 6-Glazunovskiy; 7-Vetyutnev; 8-Pisarevka; 9-Petropavlovka; 10-Ust'-Pogozh'e; 11Chelyuskinets; 12-Pichuga; 13-Stepen Razin; 14-Verkhne Progromnoe; 15-Volzhskiy; 16-Leninsk; 17-Vinovka; 18-Vertyachiy; 19Malyy Nabatov; 20-Bol'shoe Nabatov; 21-Gornyy; 22-Khutor Ostrov; 23-Krasnovskiy; 24-ll'evka; 25-Marinovka; 26-Dmitrievka; 27Novyy Rogachik; 28-Ezhovskiy; 29-Sarepta; 30-Khimkombinat; 31-Zakanal'nii; 32- Shelygan; 33-Kolpachki; 34-Lozhki; 35Pervomayskiy; 36-Chir; 37-Ivanovka; 38-Tsatsa; 39-Gromoslavka; 40-Tormosin; 41-Nizhegnutov; 42-Generalovskiy; 43-Vodyanskoy; 44-Zhutovo.

21

The Pottery

rivers in order to create reservoirs which were part of the Soviet electric program. This damming flooded the river banks and and thus the most likely areas for settlements. At Lozhki, on on the left bank of the Tsimlyansk reservoir (Map 6), many sherds were found, but only one vessel was 2 reconstructable.

considerable range and while there are many vessels that have similar motifs, as well as shapes, there are a number of motifs that are unusual or even unique. One such vessel is from Oreshkin and has a design which the excavator suggests is a calendar (#108, Fig. 66a). Analogous vessels have been found in Ukraine (Kovaleva 1989:figs. 12 and 13).

In the two flat graves found at Lozhki , large storage vessels were uncovered (#87, Fig. 46, and #88, Fig . 44). Another large vessel was found at Pervomayskiy VII, 15/10 (#159, Fig. 52/A). This last vessel is of particular interest because it shows traces of having been repaired. There is a series of small holes which go through the vessel which were made after it had been fired . It is believed that these holes were used for sewing on a piece of leather. V. I. Mamontov excavated a vessel from the Late Bronze Age Srubna culture where the leather and bronze studs that had been used to repair the pot were still attached (per. comm.).

There are twenty design elements for Yamna (Table 5) and twelve design techniques. For Catacomb there are twenty-five design elements and twenty-four design techniques (Table 7). For Poltavka there are nineteen design elements and nine design techniques (Table 6). Some design elements are frequently paired with a particular design technique. For example, the herringbone design element is quite common on Catacomb vessels and is most frequently executed with a toothed stamp technique (Figs. 50 and 54). However, the herringbone design was also carried out with a larva stamp, cord, or a stick. These techniques create a varied look (Figs. 50 and 51). Some design elements are often allocated to a specific area of the vessel. Again taking the herringbone as our example, it is most commonly found on the body of the vessel and frequently will cover the entire body below the shoulder (Figs . 49 and 50). The absence of any decoration is considered a design element but smoothing with grass, straw, or a toothed stamp is not. The differencebetween grass and straw smoothing was determined by the excavator, and generally, straw smoothing is an indication of a rougher smoothing.

Although most graves and vessels come from a clearly defined cultural period, there are cases when it is either not completely clear or the vessel has characteristics of two periods . This is particularly the case with some of the vessels which may be Catacomb or possibly Poltavka. There are also a few cases where the vessels are of one period and the grave shape another. Such is the case of Pervomayskiy X, S/K g-6, where a Yamna brazier and pot were found in a Catacomb niche grave. This was the grave of an adolescent, and it also contained a ram's skull and a large piece of ochre. In Tsatsa 3/1 an adult (perhaps female) was laid in a rectangular pit in Yamna position and was accompanied by a Yamna pot, copper knife, and a funnel, which are most commonly found in a Catacomb context (Mamontov 1967; Shilov 1985). One particularly unusual case is Podgornyy 6/27, where a Catacomb vessel (#203) was found in a Srubna grave along with four Srubna pots. This is the only antique vessel in the collection .

Table4a largest smallest average mean 28 examples

Si7.e

Rim 20.0 cm 6.0 12.31 11.7

Height 20.3 cm 7.6 12.96 12.2

Table4b

There are 157 vessels in Types I-ill and all were measured at the rim, base, and height. I have used only the rim and height measurements as a guide to size comparison. Braziers were not included in these numbers due to their fragmentary condition. The base measurement for base braziers is, however, an indicator of the size of the original vessel. Usually , but not always , these were large vessels (see Table 13).

largest smallest average mean 134 examples

Rim 30.0 cm 5.8 14.0 13.9

Height 41.0 cm 4.5 14.5 13.5

Table 4c

Table 4a shows the rim diameter and height sizes for all Y amna vessels, and Table 4b shows sizes of Catacomb vessels from Types I, II, and III including vessels from embankments, settlements, and the one antique vessel. Table 4c shows the Poltavka vessels Types I and II.

largest smallest average mean 23 examples

Rim 19.2 cm 10.4 13.7 14.0

Height 16.1 cm 7.0 12.6 12.8

Decoration Tables 4a, 4b, and 4c: Overall Pot Sizes. 4a) All Y amna Vessels; 4b) Catacomb Types I-III; 4c) All Poltavka Vessels.

Design Elements and Design Techniques The decoration of the vessels is composed of design elements (Tables 5-7) which are used to form motifs . There is a

Fingernail imprints and finger pinches are listed under both Design Elements and Design Techniques because they serve both purposes. For example, on the single Yamna vessel (#242) where the fingernail imprints are found, these imprints do not form any coherent motif but were applied by this

2

Another unfortunate consequence of the damming is the rise of the water table which has caused great damage and threatens the preservation of graves .

22

The Pottery technique. This is also the case with some Catacomb vessels, but there are also Catacomb vessels where they do in fitct create a particular motif such as a horizontal row. The finger pinches, although more usually creating a particular motif, by their very nature alter the shape of the motif. For example, Y amna vessel # 120 has finger pinches around the rim which might be called just a horizontal row, but the pinches create something more than just a row.

instance where the decoration on a Y amna vessel is identical to a Catacomb, or possibly Poltavka, vessel; #s 176 and 64 are the best examples (Figs. 31 and 60b ). Zigzag, chevrons, and triangles are similar, but chevrons have only two sides, triangles are usually larger than chevrons, and zigzags are less even than either chevrons or triangles. Round holes, o-points, and pearls are really only differentiated by examination of the vessel. Here, I have tried to indicate the difference in the drawing .

The design elements are executed by the design techniques. Cord ornament is far and away the most prevalent design technique. Moreover, there are several kinds of cord - single, double, triple, double and triple braided, and imitation made with a small toothed stamp.

Several Yamna vessels in the element found so frequently in 1981 ). The pearl element is inside (or outside) of the vessel

These design techniques were employed on vessels in burials for both adults and sub-adults, and there does not seem to be a technique limited to one age group, even though infants have farfewer design techniques (Jones-Bley 1996). Because there are more vessels found with adults in the Catacomb period, there are more design elements and design techniques. However, an element or technique will sometimes be on only one vessel, for example, the spiral circle on # 131 *. The frequency of the design elements can be seen in Charts 1, 3, and 5. See Charts 2, 4, and 6 for design technique frequencies.

Design Elements 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

On several vessels, particularly #s 41, 42, 192, and 193, there

are drip stains which appear to have been created when the vessels were upside down. The source of these stains are unknown and too random design.

collection exhibit the "pearl" the Repin pottery (see Sinyuk an impression made from the creating a boss or "pearl" on

horizontal rows vertical rows inclined rows herringbone concentric circles vertical lines diagonal lines towel wavy lines chevron

11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

zigzag fingernail imprints finger pinches step-comb hanging triangles filled triangles round holes o-points pearl no decoration

Design Techniques

to be considered a purposeful 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Quite often there is a decorative relationship between multiple vessels found in a single grave, and there are incidences when the relationship is quite close. The best example is Podgornyy 2/1 which had three vessels that are almost identical in shape. The decoration is also extremely close, particularly on two vessels (#s 192 and 194). The major differenceamong the three is the size and even here it is not great: #194 (Rl4.5 cm, B 9.5 cm, H 18.5 cm); #192 (R 17 cm, B 10.5 cm, H 19.5 cm); and #193 (R 13 cm, B 9 cm, H 15.6 cm) (Fig. 53). Perhaps the most interesting example of close decorative relationship is from Pervomayskiy VII, 36/11. In this grave there was one very small vessel (#163) measuring only R 6.9 cm, B 5 cm, H 8.8 cm and a large funnel (#162) R 18.2 cm, H 20.4 cm (Figs. 64 and 77/a). Despite these being two very different ceramic types, the decorative motifs are quite similar. Many of the vessels from the cemetery of Oreshkin have similar enough motifs so that one might regard it as an Oreshkin style (#s 97-99, 105, 106, 127, 130). Moreover, the overall quality of the vessels from this cemetery is quite high, suggesting either a pottery specialist or at least a high regard for pottery. Other cemeteries show similarity in sty le but none to the extent of Oreshkin.

single cord incisions o-point incision channel (carved) V incisions small toothed stamp (imitation cord)

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

4-toothed stamp inclined toothed stamp finger pinches fingernail imprints double braided cord large toothed stamp

Table 5: Yamna Design Elements and Design Techniques.

1 5

-#1#•1•1•••-••• ... -

@

@)

2 6

Ifl \ IJ;:.. 't

~ t

':

~ vv-....//"-./\ 10

9 r,.l""',r'/\ V VV

V

13

,f;; ~~~ ~ ~. ,,,,./ '•".i,:•.,.

14

18

((,,' ,'

J/1/:,:,'I

7 //

J) ?~ ~

I

1;'/1 #II

4 '-~-----

8

Ill /II Ill I/Ill (((((((

11~!

12

)00000
') ,'// /2' ¼ ,,._._'>))})

1/J/,❖?

I'"'\ /"'I""'

u 10

e n

flii ~ I II..ii s Ill /r/ 2

~

3

100 90 F r e q u

Design Elements 14. a-circles horizontal rows 15. supra triangles vertical rows 16. supra filled triangles inclined rows 17. step-comb herringbone 18. lanes vertical lines diagonal lines 19. concentric ovals 20. scallop hanging triangles filled hanging triangles 21. zigzag 22. wavy lines semi-circles 23. lozenge towel 24. spiral circles finger imprint 25. no decoration chevrons concentric circles

e

n

C

y

80

70

60 50 40

30 20 10 0 ,-

~

~

~

~

-

~

~

~

~

,-

,-

,-

,-

C\I

~

~

C\I

C\I

Catacomb Design Elements

Chart 5: Catacomb Design Element Frequencies.

Design Techniques 13. shell imprints single cord 14. o-point - small double cord 15. finger pinches triple cord 16. channel braided cord twisted cord 17. fingernail imprints imitation cord 18. larva stamp 19. concentric circle stamp incisions stick point incisions 20. v or /\ incisions small toothed stamp 21. double braided cord large toothed stamp 22. triple braided cord 23. molding semi-circle stamp oval impressions 24. fine toothed comb

45 40 F 35 r e 30 q u

25

e 20 n C

15

y 10

5 0

Table 7: Catacomb Design Elements and Design Techniques.

,-

M

~

~

m ,,-

M

~

~

,-

,-

,-

m ,-

M C\I

C\I

Catacomb Design Techniques

Y amna, Catacomb, and Poltavka pottery are not painted in the manner of pottery found in the Cucuteni/Tripolye culture (see Fig. 11), but occasionally ochre was rubbed on vessels as on Oreshkin #s 113 and 115. While most of the vessels are a grey, black, brown, or beige, there are a number of vessels with a range of color due to the clay and firing, e.g., red - #s

Chart 6: Catacomb Design Technique Frequencies. 11, 29, 83, and 228; red brown - #29; pinkish - #s 96, 248, and 259; and bright orange #288. The Maikop import vessel (#150) is a light orange. A few vessels are also

25

The Pottery burnished, e.g., #288 (a Catacomb vessel) and #177 (a Yamna vessel), but this is not common.

generalization, perhaps resulting from little first-hand knowledge of the Catacomb vessels. Some of the vessels in the collection are quite beautiful, e.g., Oreshkin #115* and #131 *, Ivanovka #62, and Podgomyy #s 192, 193, and 194. Bratchenko (197 6) and Smimov (1996) illustrate numerous Catacomb vessels that are not only interesting but also aesthetically pleasing.

There is a considerable range in the aesthetic quality in both Catacomb pottery in general and in this collection specifically, but the description given by Coles and Harding that the pottery "is not very informative and certainly not aesthetic, but it may be said in general to be rather coarse and heavy... ." (1979: 126) is something of an exaggerated a

ID 0 .

.

t

u..u

#167

#161

#8

b

C

' #

•

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~ •'

.................

- ••I

.

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·. .,-:-': . .·.

I

· ~ A

Measurements: Bowl dia. 29.0 cm; depth 7.5 cm; Th. 1.01.5 cm; small compartment 9 .0-8.0 cm; H of base 7.5 cm; Wd. of section 13.7 x 12.0 cm; dia. of base (top) 10.8 cm; H 16.5 cm. Material: Black clay with chamotte Description: This is a very large censer with a separate compartment and cross-like base. The outside of the vessel is decorated with horizontal rows of single cord imprints, and the space between them is filled with rows of oval imprints of a small toothed stamp. The base is ornamented in the same way. On the lower part of the bowl there are three modeled bulges which are decorated with inclined incisions. The upper edge of the small compartment and part of the large rim are also decorated with incisions. The inside of the bowl is undecorated. The vessel is badly preserved .

Associations: 1) Bronze drop-like pin (L 1.6 cm; Wd. 0.4 cm; Th. 0.3; hole 0.2); 2) silver earring with 1.5 revolutions (dia. 1.1 cm; section 0.25) ; 3) charcoal; 4) ochre. Grave Details: An adult lay on its left side, head SW facing N; it was sprinkled with ochre and charcoal. The bones were badly preserved. The grave had "shoulders" and was the only grave in the kurgan. Source: Excavator's Report 1989:42, figs. 121 and 123. D'yachenko 1992:82-83, fig. 2/7.

120.

v~r--

Associations: None Grave Details: A male, 50-56 years old, lay on his left side, head E, facing S. This was a niche grave; it had a stair, was central, and the only grave in the kurgan.

Oreshkin K-16, g-3

Figures: 20, 24/d, 30 Vessel Type: Pot- YN-II/YB-IV/D Museum No.: 27502/34 Kurgan: 56 m dia. x 1.72 (3 graves)

Source: Excavator's Report 1989:48, figs. 136, 138. Analogies: Bratchenko 1976:fig. 9/VIII/G and fig. 50/2.

Cultural Period: Very late Yamna/Very early Catacomb Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989

122.

Oreshkin K-18, g-1

Figure: 67/b Measurements:

R 20.0 cm; B 5.0 cm; H 20.3 cm; body 22.0 cm; Th. 1.0 cm. Material: Black clay with chamotte and shell temper. Description: This is a wide-mouthed vessel with a slight shoulder and a rounded bottom. The edge of the rim is ornamented with finger pinches. The inner and outer sides are smoothed on the neck, and the outer neck is decorated with carved wavy lines. The body is ornamented with horizontal lines and diagonal imprints made with an inclined toothed stamp. Imprints of o-points are on the neck and body in irregular places. The same ornament is on the lower part of the vessel.

Associations: 1) Small bones; 2) wood; 3) organic material. Grave Details: The bones of an adult were cut and positioned in the center of the niche grave. Source: Excavator's Report 1989:46, D'yachenko 1992:83-85, fig. 3/1. Analogies: Smirnov 1996:fig. 5/10 . 121.

figs.

130-131.

Vessel Type: Bowl - IV Museum No.: 27502/38 Kurgan: 36 m dia. x 0.73 m high (4 graves) Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989 Measurements: R. 15.5 cm; B 9.2 cm; H 9.0 cm; rim Th. 0.65 cm. Material: Black clay with chamotte and sand. Description: The vessel was found under the knees of the skeleton, where it stood upside down. It has a flattened bottom, is bowl shaped, and lacks a neck. The upper part is decorated with three horizontal rows of double cord impressions. Above the first row and between the second and third rows are vertical imprints made with a small toothed stamp. Beneath the third horizontal row there are five vertical zones which go to the bottom of the bowl. These zones are composed of vertically carved lines interspersed with lines of small toothed stamp imprints.

Oreshkin K-17, g-1

Associations: 1) Brazier (#123); 2) fragment of vessel ; cylindrical pin .

104

3)

Catalogue Grave Details: An old male lay on his right side, head NW.

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Source: Excavator's Report 1989:49, figs. 143-146. Analogies: Bratchenko 1976:fig. 9NWA/3.

123.

Base Brazier-VIII-I/A 27502/40

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989

Oreshkin K-18, g-1

B dia. 11.1 cm; H 8.5 cm; Th. 0.8 cm; Th. of bottom 1.1 cm. Material: Grey clay with sand Description: The brazier is the base of a large vessel decorated with a herringbone pattern made with a toothed stamp. The bottom of the vessel is ornamented with rows of vertical imprints made with a round stick. The vessel was found in the northern wall of the chamber; it contained charcoal. Measurements:

Figure: 74 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Wall Brazier- VIII-2a/? 27502/36

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989

Associations: 1) Sheep bones (ribs, leg, shoulder blade); 2) tubular bone of ram; 3) ochre Grave Details: The skeleton of an old male lay on his right side, head S. This niche grave had a stair.

Measurements: 32.0 x 24.0 cm; Th. 0.8 cm. Material: Clay Description: The brazier is the side wall of a large turnipshaped vessel. On the upper part there are three molded bulges which are decorated with finger pinches. Between the two lower bulges the surface is decorated with vertical rows of fingernail imprints. Scratchings are on the lower part. The brazier is a light brown color.

Source: Excavator's Report 1989:53, figs. 149/2 and 152.

126.

Oreshkin K-19, g-2

Associations: Grave Details:

See #122. See #122.

Figures: 70/b, Plate IX/7 Vessel Type: Censer- VI-2/A Museum No.: 27502/41 Kurgan: 38 m dia. x 1.01 m high (5 graves)

Source: See #122.

124.

Oreshkin Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989

K-18, g-3

Figures: 39/b, 44/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Wall Brazier- VIII-2b/0 (ill-2ai) 27502

Measurements: Dia. of bowl 13.7 cm; H 9.3 cm; Hof base 4.0 cm; Wd. of base in section 6.3 x 5.6 cm; Th. of bowl 1.2 cm; compartment 9.0 x 4.0 cm. Material: Clay Description: The censer was found in the niche under the southwest wall. The base is square. The bow 1 has an oval inner compartment. The inner and outer edge of the rim is decorated with vertical imprints of a large larva stamp. The upper edge of the small compartment is also decorated with the larva stamp, as is the bottom of the bowl and base's sides.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989 Measurements: 13.5 x 12.8 cm. Material: Clay Description: The brazier consists of the rim and partial side wall of an undecorated vessel. The rim turns out sharply from a round-bodied vessel.

Associations: None. Grave Details: A child, 7-10 years old, lay in this secondary niche grave. There was a ditch around the graves.

Associations: Ochre Grave Details: Some human bones were present; thus, this was not a cenotaph. It is unclear which grave is primary, possibly g-4. This was a niche grave.

Source: Excavator's Report 1989:55, figs. 160-161.

Source: Excavator's Report 1989:fig. 149/1

127.

Oreshkin K-19, g-4

125.

Oreshkin Figures: 39/c, 61/c, PlateVI/4

K-18, g-4

Figure: 73/b

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

105

Pot- III-2aii/C3a 27502/42

Catalogue Cultural Period: Catacomb, Middle Don variant Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989

Kurgan: 42 m dia. x 1.09 m high (7 graves) Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989

R 14.0 cm; B 8.5 cm; H 17.0 cm; body dia. 16.0 cm; neck 12.0 cm; Th. 0.7 cm.

Measurements:

Material: Clay Description: The vessel has a flattened bottom, round body and funnel-like neck. The edge of the rim is decorated with imprints of a small toothed stamp. The neck and upper part cf the body are ornamented with horizontal lines of single cord impressions and by a row of inclined imprints of cord, some of which create supra triangles. From just above the shoulder to near the bottom, the vessel is decorated with a herringbone pattern made with a large toothed stamp. The bottom edge has a horizontal row of vertical imprints made with a round stick.

R. 14.3 cm; B 9 cm; H 15.2 cm; RTh. 0.75 cm. Material: Clay with sand and chamotte Description: This is a grey clay vessel with a flattened bottom and funnel-like neck. On the transition between the neck and on the middle part of the vessel is a molded bulge decorated with finger pinches which create a horizontal scallop design. The outer and inner surfaces have soot. Measurements:

Associations: I) Base Brazier [27502] (not illustrated). This is the bottom of a large vessel which had charcoal inside . The outer surface is light brown and the inside walls are smoothed. There is no decoration. 2) Piece ofunworked flint . Grave Details: An adult lay on its right side, head SW; this was possibly the primary grave. The vessel was found in front of the fuceof the skeleton. The brazier was found behind the skull.

Associations: None Grave Details: The jumbled bones of a child's skeleton lay in this secondary niche grave. The grave had a stair. Source: Excavator's Report 1989:57, figs. 158, 162, 164165. Analogies: Bratchenko 1976:fig. 8/IIIN.

128.

Source: Excavator's Report 1989:67, figs. 184,189/1, and 185/2 and 4. Analogies: Bratchenko 1976:fig. 8/111/B/2.Shape and design Smimov 20/2. Design only Smimov 1996:21/3.

Oreshkin K-19, g-5

130.

Figures: 54/b, 67/a, Plate VIW3 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Bowl-IV 27502/43

Figures: 41, 60/c

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

..

.

L..LI..J

R 11.8 cm; B 6.2 cm; H 13.3 cm; body 13.4 cm; neck dia. 10.3 cm; Th. 0.6 cm. Material: Clay with chamotte Description: The vessel has a funnel-like neck and a flat bottom. The neck and lower third part of the vessel are decorated with inclined lines of double cord impressions. A horizontal double cord impression circles the vessel at the base of the neck. Beneath this, the same cord is used to create filled hanging triangles, points down. Measurements:

Associations: Three astragali. Grave Details: Two skeletons: 1) A female, 30-40, and 2) a child, 7-10, lay on their right sides, heads S facing E. Astragali were found around the child's head. This primary niche grave had a stair.

Associations: 1) Bronze knife, double bladed, lay at the left shoulder of the skeleton; 2) ochre pieces; 3) wood. Grave Details: An adult lay crouched on its left side, head E/NE, facing S. An organic decayed layer was under the body. This is a pit grave with shoulders.

Source: Excavator's Report 1989:58, figs. 166-167.

Oreshkin K-22, g-4

Source: Excavator's Report 1989:67, figs. 187, 189/2 and 3, and 190. Smirnov Analogies: Bratchenko 1976:fig. 8/III/B/3. 1996:fig. 43/12.

Figures: 39/c, 47/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot- III-2bii/C2 27502/48

() .

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989

R 14.2 cm; B 7.5 cm; H 9.1 cm; body dia. 15.5 cm; Th. 0.7 cm. Material: Grey clay Description: This round-bodied vessel has a rim that turns inward. It is ornamented with horizontal rows of cord imprint. The space between is filled with a "larva" stamp. On the inside surface there are traces of horizontal smoothing. Charcoal was found inside the vessel. Measurements:

129.

Oreshkin K-22, g-5

Pot - III-2aii/A2 27502/46

106

Catalogue

131 *.

Oreshkin K-24, g-1

one on the widest part of the body. Between these rows are inclined lines made with a larva stamp. The rows alternate direction. Below the bottom row of cord there is a short herringbone pattern made with the larva stamp. A plain section then circles the lower body and then there is another short band of herringbone pattern. Beneath this herringbone, a row of short horizontal impressions of the larva stamp circles the base. It was placed at the feet of the male skeleton.

Figures: 40, 65/b, Table 23/8, Plate X/2 1

Vessel Type: Pot-III-2bi/D Museum No.: 27502/49 Kurgan: 48 m dia. x 1.25 m high (1 grave)

Associations: 1) Vessel (#134); 2) base brazier (#135); 3) tiny pot (#133) (called a censer but really a tiny pot); 4) bronze pendant with several revolutions (dia. 1.5 cm) at left temple of female; 5) small pieces of charcoal in the brazier; 6) crystal of gypsum; 7) pieces of river shell; 8) vessel; 9) small pieces of ochre before the face of the child; 10) chalk; 11) ochre. Grave Details: Three skeletons: 1) a male, 2) female, and 3) a child were in the grave. The male lay in the center on his right side, head NE. The skull was slightly deformed and painted with ochre and chalk. The female was behind the male's back and on her right side, head NE. Both had legs bent under. His hands were on his pelvis. Her right hand was on the male's pelvis; her left hand was on her thigh. The skull was also deformed. A child 4-5 years old, badly preserved, lay in front of the male's chest and was covered with ochre. This was a secondary grave.

Cultural Period: Catacomb, Donets variant Excavator: A. N. D'yachenko Date of Excavation: 1989 Measurements: R 15.5cm; H 14.0 cm; B 8.0 cm; body 18.5 cm; Th. 0.8-0.9 cm. Material: Clay with sand and chamotte Description: The vessel has a flat bottom with rounded sides, a marked neck, and a rim that turns out. The edge is ornamented with inclined incisions of a small toothed stamp. The neck is ornamented with four rows of triple cord impressions and the space between them is filled with short inclined incisions. The body is decorated with large overlapping spirals made of imitation cord. The bottom edge is pinched, creating a foot. Associations: 1) A piece of ochre decorated with fingernail impressions; 2) bronze knife with double blade and leaf:. shaped, found near the left shoulder. 3) Bronze awl, square in section, wooden handle stuck onto sharp tang; 4) bronze pin or perhaps awl; 5) massive bronze pendant; 6) three bronze beads which were stuck to semi-globular, empty inside, 7) pendant of a well-polished mineral; 8) wood. Grave Details: An adolescent or (woman) lay on the left side, crouched, head NW. This pit grave was the only grave in the kurgan. Source: Excavator's Report 1989:70, figs. 193 and 197/1. D'yachenko 1992:86-90, figs. 3/2-8. Analogies: Bratchenko 1976:fig. 8/III/A/1. Shape only (without foot) Smimov 1996:fig. 44/10. Design only Smirnov 1996:fig. 44.13.

KHUTOR OSTROV

132.

Khutor Ostrov K-2, g-2

Figures: 38/a, 58/b, Table 23/5 3

Vessel Type: Pot- II-3b/B d Museum No.: 14152/16 Kurgan: 25 m dia. x 1.8 high (3 graves) Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1974 Measurements: R 15 cm; B 10 cm; H 15 cm. Material: Clay with sand Description: The vessel has a straight neck and the clay was well kneaded. Four rows of triple braided cord impression circle the vessel - two on the neck, one on the shoulder, and

Source: Excavator's Report 1974:35, fig. 68/7. Analogies: Design only Smimov 1996:fig. 18/1.

133;.

Khutor Ostrov K-2, g-2

Figures: 36/d, 58/b, Table 23/5, Plate 111/5 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

3

Pot - II-2c/B d 14252/10

I...--'---'

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1974 Measurements: R 5.8 cm; B 3.5 cm; H 4.5 cm. Material: Clay with shell Description: This is a well kneaded tiny vessel found at the left shoulder of the male skeleton. The bottom is lightly concaved. The rim flares slightly above the straight neck, which transfers to a very smooth shoulder. The neck and most of the body are decorated by a larva stamp in a herringbone design. The same stamp was used to create vertical lines along the base and rim. The Excavator's Report calls it "probably a child's toy." Associations: Grave Details:

See #132. See #132.

Source: Excavator's Report 1974:35, fig. 68/8. Analogy: D'yachenko and Zhelezchikov 1995: 153, fig. 3/4.

134.

Khutor Ostrov K-2, g-2

Figures: 37, 49/a, Table 23/5

107

Catalogu e Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot -II -3a/A3 Unavailable

decorated with short nail imprints . The body bears traces of rough smoothing. It is unequally fired .

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1974

Associations: Horse skull. Grave Details: An adult skeleton lay on its left side, head E, legs slightly bent , hands on thighs. This was a secondary grave.

Measurements: R 14 cm ; B 10 cm ; H 13.5 cm. Material: Clay with chamotte Description: This is a flat-bottomed vessel with an outward turned rim , rounded sides, and flaky fracture. The body ornament is herringbone made with a larva stamp . This vessel stood at the feet of the male skeleton .

Source: Excavator' s Repor t 1974:40 , fig. 67/13 . Analogy: Shape: Manzura , Klochko , and Savva 1992:43 , fig. 18/2. This vessel was in a Y amna grave.

137;. Associations: Grave Details:

See # 132. See # 132.

Khutor Ostro v K-9, g-1

Figure: 76 Source: Excavator 's Repor t 1974:36, fig . 68/6. Analogies : Design only Smirno v 1996 :fig. 39/12.

135.

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot Fragment - IX Unavailable

Kurgan : 20 m dia. x 0.9 m h igh (1 grave)

Khutor Ostrov K-2, g-2

Cultural Period: Catacomb Date of Excavation: 1974 Excavator: V. I. Mamontov

Figures: 73/b , Table 23/5 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Base Brazier- VIII-1/B Unavailable

Measurements: R 26 cm. Material: Dark clay with sand and chamotte Description: The vessel consists of flaky fragments. The edge of the rim and shoulder are decorated with finger pinches creating a scallop design. The globular body has traces of rough smoothing and a tall abruptly turned-out neck. The outer surface is decorated with a large toothed stamp in a herringbone pattern. The vessel was unreconstructable.

Cultural Period: Catacomb , Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1974 Measurements: B 9 cm ; H 8 cm. Material: Clay Description: The brazier is the base of a large vessel decorated with a herringbone design made with a large toothed stamp. It was found at the feet of the male skeleton and filled with charcoal and ochre. Associations: Grave Details:

Associations: None. Grave Details: Two skeletons: 1) An adult lay on the right side fallen onto its back , head E, hands on thighs , legs bent at a 45° angle. 2) A child , 2-3 years old, was on the stair . Fragments of the vessel were spread over the chamber . There was no ochre in this niche grave.

See #132. See #132 .

Source: Excavator's Report 1974:36, fig . 68/4 .

Source: Excavator's Report 1974:42, fig. 68/1 .

136.

138;. Khutor Ostrov

Khutor Ostrov

K-10, g-2

K-5, g-3

Figures: 42/a, 46/c

Figures: 37, 49/a, Plate III/I

Vessel Type: Pot - III-2ci/ A 1 Museum No.: 14252/14 Kurgan: 18 m dia. x 0.8 high (3 graves)

Vessel Type: Pot - Il-3a/A Museum No.: 14252/8 Kurgan: 25 m dia . x 1.2 m high (4 graves)

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1974

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1974

Measurements: R 13 cm ; B 10 cm ; H 15.5 cm . Material: Black clay in fracture w ith chamotte Description: This is a large fragment of a tall narrow vessel with a neck that turns out slightl y. The rim and neck are

Measurements : R 14.5 cm ; B 9.5 cm; H 12 cm. Material: Clay Description: The clay of the vessel was badly kneaded and badly fired but well -preserved . Th e rim is turned-outward and on the rim edge are finger pinches creating a scalloped effect

3

108

Catalogue The neck to the shoulder is free of ornament and burnished. Below the shoulder is a herringbone design made with a small toothed stamp; this design covers the rest of the vessel.

parallel lines hang below the row of single cord. made with the same single cord as the other lower part of the body has what seems to be a step-comb and smoothing. This appears to be create a step-comb design made by incisions.

Associations: Piece of ochre 3 x 4 cm. Grave Details: An adolescent, 10-12, was crouched on its right side, head W, knees bent under, arms bent at elbows, and head pointing south. The vessel stood on the palms of the skeleton's hands. This was a secondary grave, lightly sprinkled with ochre.

Associations: 1) Bronze pendant one and a half revolutions made from wire with a round section; 2) bronze awl, square in section (L 5.5 cm), under the chest of the skeleton 3) ram astragalus; 4) piece of red sandstone 7 x 11 cm at the hip bones near the north comer; 5) three pieces of chalk 8 x 14 cm; 7 x 16 cm; 8 x 12 cm - two pieces at the right shoulder and at the hip bone. Grave Details: An adult lay on its left side, head E, but it had fallen onto its back. The legs bent backward, the right hand was on its pelvis, and the left was on the thigh. The vessel stood at the west wall. This was a secondary grave with two stairs.

Source: Excavator's Report 1974:43, fig. 67/12 Analogies: Design and possibly shape Smimov 1996:fig. 39/1. 139.

Khutor Ostrov K-10, g-3

Source: Excavator's Report 1974:44, fig. 69/2.

Figure: 72 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

They, too, are designs. The cross between an attempt to

Base Brazier - VIIl-1/0 Unavailable PERVOMAYSKIY

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1974

141.

Measurements: B 14.5 cm. Material: Clay with chalk Description: The brazier is the bottom of a large clay vessel which is smoothed on the outside. It was unevenly fired and has no decoration.

Figures: 36/c, 50/a, Table 23/3 4

Vessel Type: Pot - Il-2a/A Museum No.: 22365/21 Kurgan: 16 m dia. x 0.47 m high (5 graves)

Associations: 1) A small piece of metal of unknown use; 2) charcoal; 3) bark; 4) reeds. Grave Details: An adult lay on its left side on a bed of bark and reeds. Its head was oriented E, legs lightly bent, right hand on the thigh, and left on pubic bone. The vessel was in the north comer and filled with charcoal. This was a secondary grave.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1984 Measurements: R 16 cm; B 10 cm; H 14 cm. Material: Dark clay without temper Description: This is a straight-necked vessel with an abrupt shoulder. Beginning at the shoulder, there is a herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp which extends over most of the body. The ornament stops near the base. After a short gap without decoration, there are short lines of the same stamp on the lower part of the vessel. The vessel lay near the right forearm of the deceased .

Source: Excavator's Report 1974:43, fig. 69/1. 140.

Khutor Ostrov K-10, g-4

IJ .

Figures: 35/b, 59/a, Table 23/24 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot - I-2a/C 14952/7

Pervomayskiy I K-4, g-4, plan 2

'

Associations: 1) Sheep bones - legs, shoulder blade, and ribs; 2) fragment of a bone scepter combined length 53 cm, dia. of lower part 2 cm; upper 2.4 cm; dia. of head 4.8 cm; H of head 3 .4 cm. An unfinished hole is at the base center and two holes are at the lower end which served for hanging; 3) big squarish millstone or anvil (15.6 x 14.4 x 5.8 cm); 4) small abrasive stone - rectangular in shape, triangular in section, L 11.6 cm; W d. 7 .4 cm; Th. 2.2 cm. It shows signs of use. 5) Bronze awl L 9.4 cm square section, Wd. 0.4 cm, and both ends sharpened; 6) blunt bronze leaf-shaped knife (L 8.3 cm; Wd. 3.3 cm; Th. 1.5 cm) found below the waist near the heels; 7) several flint flakes, of different measurements, the largest measurement is 5.8 cm x 4.4 cm x 3.2 cm; 8) two astragali lay at the ·right shoulder; 9) chalk; 10) ochre; 11) fragments (Th. 3.6 cm) ofa clay vessel of unidentified usage (L 8.9 cm; Wd. 5.2 cm; Th. 3.6 cm); 12) sherds of vessel

1

Cultural Period: Poltavka? Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1974 Measurements: R 15.7 cm; B 9 cm; H 13.2 cm. Material: Clay with chamotte Description: The vessel has a slightly pronounced shoulder coming from a neck that slants inward. A row of semi-circular arches, and two horizontal rows of single cord are on the neck. One row of herringbone is on the shoulder, followed by another row of single cord, and triangles filled with inclined

109

Catalogue [6520/18nb] (R 16 cm; B 10.2 cm; L 13.4 cm) lay near the right forearm of the skeleton. It has a straight neck and abrupt shoulders. The widest part of the body is decorated with a herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp. Slanting short lines of the same stamp are on the lower part of the vessel (p. 53 ofreport). Note: These final two vessels are not included in this catalogue. Grave Details: A large male, 40-45 years old , lay on his left side, head NE facing S, covered with a thick layer of chalk; red ochre was under the body. This grave is over a fragmented Yamna grave (g-5) which was central to the kurgan. This niche grave is primary in the secondary kurgan and with this grave (g-4) the kurgan was enlarged.

of three rows of nail pinches. This was probably used as a brazier.

Associations: 1) Black clay vessel (#144); 2) two large bronze beads (dia. 1.1 cm; hole 0.3 cm; L 0.8 cm); 3) small bead; 4) bone rings (five pieces made from tubular bone averaging dia. 1.8 cm L 0.5 cm); 5) flint flake (5.6 x 3.3 cm); 6) sheep leg bone; 7) flat piece of chalk (3.8 x 4.5 x 19 cm). Grave Details: A child, 3-4, had been laid on its left side but had fallen onto its back, head S, legs bent to the right, right arm straight , and left crossed over the trunk . This secondary niche grave had two stairs . Source: Excavator's Report 1985:7, figs. 15 and 17/1.

Source: Excavator's Report 1984:53, figs. 104 and 108/8. 144.

Pervomayskiy I

K-8, g-4 142.

Pervomayskiy I K-5, g-3

Figures: 36/b, 44/a, Table 23/16

Figures: 35/d, 48

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Vessel Type: Pot - l-2c/A3 Museum No.: 22365/27 Kurgan: 20 m dia. x 0.50 m high (8 graves)

Pot - Il-2a/0 23320/9

ID L-.L-J,..J

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Cultural Period: Late Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1984

Measurements: R 11 cm; B 8.2 cm; H 11.2 cm. Material: Black clay, dark fracture with white substance Description: This vessel has a short straight neck and the body is round with traces of parallel smoothing but no decoration. On the transition between the neck and body there is a kind of bulge. The vessel lay near the brazier.

Measurements: R 9.6 cm; B 6.6 cm; H 9.8 cm. Material: Dark clay without temper Description: The vessel has a small, rough, uneven rim, which varies from no neck to a very small straight neck. It is an uneven globular shape with a flattened bottom. A herringbone design made with a small toothed stamp covers the body. The inner surface is smoothed.

Associations: Grave Details:

See #143. See #143.

Source: Excavator's Report 1985 :7, fig. 17/2. Associations: None Grave Details: A baby lay on its left side, head NE. The skeleton was badly preserved. This was a secondary grave in a pit.

145.

Pervomayskiy I K-12, g- 7, plan 4

Source: Excavator's Report 1984:59, figs. 112/1 and 116/2.

Figures: 40, 53/c

143.

Vessel Type: Pot - IIl-2bi/B3a Museum No.: 23320/24 Kurgan: 30 m dia. x 1.59 m high (8 graves)

Pervomayskiy I

K-8, g-4, plan 1

Cultural Period: Late Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Figures: 73/c, Table 23/16 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Base Brazier- VIIl-1/C 23320/8

Measurements: R 16 cm; B 10 cm; H 15.4 cm. Material: Clay Description: The neck turns outward. Below the rim the neck has a row of short inclined rows made by single cord impressions. Below these are three parallel horizontal rows also of single cord. Below this is another row of inclined lines of cord, and beneath this another set of three parallel rows. The remainder of the body is decorated with herringbone , made with a small toothed stamp.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985 Measurements: B 10.2 cm; H 11.6 cm. Material: Red clay with chalk Description: This is a fragmented vessel which lay in the southern part of the chamber. It has no rim and on the wide part of the body there are traces of ornament which consists

110

Catalogue Associations: 1) Pieces of ochre- behind head and heels; 2) diorite pestle with conical handle thickening at the end (20.6 cm L; 2.8 x 2.5 cm Wd. [handle]; 3.8 x 5 cm Wd. [base]); 3) fragments of bronze which are shaped like parentheses (2 cm L; 2.5 mm Wd.). Grave Details: A male, 45-50, lay on his right side but had fallen onto his back. His head was SW, knees bent, and arms slightly bent in front. The pot had been placed upside down at the knees. This is a secondary grave in a pit.

Cultural Period: Catacomb, Donets variant Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985 Measurements:

Material: Clay Description: The rim of the vessel turns out slightly . On the inner and outer rim surfaces are rows of inclined imprints made from a tightly wrapped thread or cord. The neck is short and transfers into a turnip-shaped body. The neck decoration has four parallel lines of braided cord. From the lowest row to the bottom of the vessel are triangles with points down made with braided cord. Each angle is divided into two parts by two vertical lines of braided cord and between them are short diagonal lines creating a stalk of wheat design made with the same short stamp that was on the rim. The vessel is horizontally smoothed.

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:24, figs. 44 and 45/1.

146.

Pervomayskiy I K-13, g-5, plan I

Figures: 69/b, Table 23/4; Plate Vll/1 Vessel Type: Amphora - VI- I/? Museum No.: 23320/32 Kurgan: 24 m dia. x 1.78 m high (9 graves) Cultural Period: Catacomb, Manych type Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985 Measurements: R 11.5 cm; B 7 cm; H 15.6 cm. Material: Clay Description: The amphora has two handles, one of which is broken . The neck is straight, and it has twelve parallel lines of single cord. On the transition and on the neck and body are two parallel lines of semi-circles made of single cord. Beneath there are "towels" made by the short lines of cord impressions. Between them are lines made with the same cord. The space between the "towels" is covered with smoothing scratches. The lower part at the bottom is decorated with stick points and between them short inclined imprints of cord. The looplike handles are covered with the same single cord. Associations: 1) Leg bones of a small animal; 2) fishing line weight with hole (5 x 4.2 x 2.7 cm); 3) cylindrical piece of natural sandstone 9 cm L, 2.1 cm dia.; 4) several bronze beads; 5) round bead of horn, 0.4 cm dia.; 6) two joined balls, 0.9 cm L; 7) three balls joined 1.3 cm L. 8) Pieces of chalk; 9) bronze temple pendant in two revolutions made from a plate that is 0.3 cm Wd.; 1 cm dia.; 10) pieces ofrealgar; 11) ochre. Grave Details: An infant, 1-2 years old, had been placed on a layer of chalk, which is faintly evident, and ochre laid on its right side but had fallen onto its back. The skeleton was in a flexed position, head S, knees bent to the right; it was in bad condition. The amphora lay on its side behind the skull . This was a secondary grave in a niche.

Pervomayskiy I K-13, g-8

Figures: 37, 63/a, Table 23/2, Plate VI/6 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot - Il-3a/C 23320/37

4

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:37, figs. 59, 60/5, and 61/1. Analogy: Smimov 1996:11/1; Korpusova and Lyashko 1990:70-71, fig. 2/1. Decoration : Sanzharov, Litvinenko, Evglevskiy, and Prokopenko 1992:85, fig. 25/6.

Pervomayskiy I K-13, g-9, plan I

Figures: 15/c, 23, 24/c, 28 Vessel Type: Pot - YN-VNB-III/B 1? Museum No.: 23320/44 Cultural Period: Late Y amna Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985 Measurements: R 10.8 cm; H 9.4 cm. Material: Black clay Description: This vessel is partly reconstructed from fragments. There is no rim, the clay is friable , and the bottom is round. From the broken edge down are zones of short, small, toothed stamp impressions in a zigzag "towel" pattern. It appears that there is a basal design in the fonn of a star created from a double chevron design. However, the very bottom of the vessel is missing, and it is not clear if the design is truly a basal motif or just near the base. This design is done by a small toothed stamp.

C) '

Associations: 1) Bone ring; 2) bronze leaf-shaped knife lay at the side of the adult; 3) bronze beads; 4) half a stone macehead; 5) two fragments of a cylindrical shaft; 6) piece of bone; 7) five flint flakes; 8) flint arrowhead blank; 9) bronze awl; 10) three short shaft straighteners; 11) bronze knife; 12) pieces of ochre; 13) pieces of chalk; 14) fragment of a bronze temple pendant; 15) flint disk-like scraper; 16) small disk-like bead made of shell . Grave Details: Two skeletons: 1) an adult, 20-25 , crouched on its left side, head E, and 2) an adolescent, 10- 15, also crouched on its left side, head E. Both were badly preserved. There were three stairs in the grave which were covered with chalk. This was a secondary grave in a niche.

148.

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:33, figs. 55/49 and 57. Analogy: There is a slight resemblance to the decoration of vessel #79 from Krasnovskiy in this collection.

14 7.

R 18.2 cm; B 11.4 cm; H 15.8 cm, largest dia. 22.6 cm.

.

.

....... '

111

Catalogue Associations:

1) Egg-shaped vessel (#149); 2) chalk; 3)

Grave Details: The bones of a badly preserved possible adult

Grave Details: An infant, less than one year, lay on its back

lay on its left side, legs bent, head SE. The bottom of the grave was sprinkled with chalk and ochre. This was a secondary pit grave.

ochre. on chalk and ochre, head E; it was in very bad condition. This was a secondary grave

Source: Excavator's Report 1986:49, fig. 96. Analogy: Trifonov 1991:fig. 6/9.

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:39, figs. 62/1 and 63/7. 149.

Pervomayskiy I K-13, g-9, plan I

{)

Figures: 19/b , 24/a, 29 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot-YN-I-2/YB-I/B Unavailable

151.

Figures: 38/c, 49/a

.

3

a

Pervomayskiy I K-14, g-3

.

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

~

Pot-Il-3d/A 24100/5

3

Cultural Period: Yamna Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986

Measurements: R 10 cm; H 10.6 cm. Material: Dark clay with shell temper Description: This is an egg-shaped vessel with a rim that turns slightly inward. It is ornamented on the upper portion with parallel lines of single cord impressions. In the middle

Measurements: R 20.4 cm; B 11.2 cm; H 18.6 cm. Material: Clay with sand and chalk Description: The body of the vessel has cracks and soot spots. It has a wide rim , the neck is thick , and the base is concaved. There are inclined incisions on the rim made with a

part of the upper part are double imprints made by a o-point (inside surface has semi-globular bulges.) The remaining surface is covered with close parallel rows of single cord impressions.

narrow stick. The neck is smooth; it turns out slightly and transfers into a wide body. From just above the widest part cf the body to the bottom, the vessel surface is decorated with nine parallel rows of slanted point incisions. The inner surface bears traces of smoothing.

Associations: Grave Details:

See #148. See #148.

Associations:

1) Vessel (#152); 2) flanges and astragali of sheep; 3) a well-polished piece of horn, probably a pin, 2 cm dia., two holes - rectangular at opposite ends, L 19 cm; 4) bone beads - one complete and half of another. They are well-polished and barrel- shaped (L 1.3 x dia . 1.4 cm); ochre. Grave Details: A male skeleton lay on his right side, head N, legs bent at the knees, sprinkled with ochre; an organic layer was beneath the skeleton. This was a secondary grave in a pit.

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:39, fig. 63/6. Analogy: Kiyashko 1989: fig. 2/4. 150.

Pervomayskiy I K-14, g-2

Figures: 45, Plate X/5 Source: Excavator's Report 1986:51, fig. 98/1 Vessel Type: Pot-X-2 Museum No.: 24100/2 Kurgan: 38 m x 34 m dia. x 3 m high (5 graves)

152.

Pervomayskiy I K-14, g-3

Cultural Period: Catacomb, Maikop import Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986

Figures: 38/a, 51/a Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Measurements: R 15.2 cm; H 15.2 cm; largest dia. 18.6 cm. Material: Dark clay with sand Description: The body of the vessel was broken before

Pot- II-3b/ A 24100/6

4

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986

deposition . The rim of this thin-walled globular vessel turns out slightly and is chipped. It has a short straight neck that transfers into a rounded body with flattened, but not flat, bottom. The surface is light orange and burnished . The inner surface has traces of rough smoothing. There is no decoration .

Measurements: R 15.8 cm; B 9 cm; H 14 cm. Material: Dark clay with sand Description: The vessel is fragmented, but it has a tall neck,

Associations: 1) Quartzite flake (6 x 4 cm) ; 2) astragali in the pot and behind the skull; 3) two flat smoothed pieces of chalk; 4) ochre.

a slightly turned-out rim, and pronounced shoulders. The base is slightly concaved in the center. The shoulder is decorated with parallel rows of inclined imprints made by a larva stamp, which creates a herringbone pattern. After a short

112

Catalogue gap without decoration, the same ornament runs to the bottom. The neck and space between ornamented zones bear horizontal, smoothing traces . Associations: Grave Details:

triangles also made of cord impressions. The triangles are filled with parallel diagonal cord lines. The remaining part of the surface bears traces of smoothing from the rib to the bottom . There is evidence of food residue inside.

See #151. See #151.

Associations: Sheep bones. Grave Details: A child, 9-12 years old, lay on its left side, head S. The vessel stood at a distance of 0.2 m from the face bones of the skull. This was a secondary grave in a niche.

Source: Excavator's Report 1986:51, fig. 98/2. Analogy: Mamontov 1994:fig. 11/5.

153.

Source: Excavator's Report 1984:9, figs. 21/1 and 22. Analogy: Similar decor Sanzharov 1988:fig. 1/8.

Pervomayskiy VII K-5, g-6

Figures: 41, 58/c Vessel Type: Museum No.:

155. 3

Pot - III-2bii/B d 21000/9

Pervomayskiy VII K-12, g-9, plan 1

Figures: 40, 51/c Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1983

Pot-III-2bi/B 22365/41

GJ .

1

.

Cultural Period: Catacomb, Middle Don and Donets variant, Bakhmut (culture) group Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1984

Measurements: R 12 cm ; B 7 cm; Hof neck 3.5 cm; H 14 cm. Material: Clay Description: This is a tall necked vessel with a rim that turns outward. The body is biconical. The edge of the rim is decorated with a row of inclined A-impressions, creating a row of chevrons. Below this row are two rows of double braided cord parallel to each other then another row of A-impressions. The upper part of the body is decorated with two parallel rows ofv-impressions , creating "birds," and four rows of "birds" fill the space from the rib down to the bottom. The A-impressions and the "birds" are made with double braided cord.

Measurements: R 12.8 cm; B 8.2 cm ; H 16.4 cm. Material: Black clay Description: The vessel has a wide funnel-like neck. On the rim are hollows made with a point. The neck transfers into a smoothed shoulder. The neck is ornamented with three parallel horizontal lines of single cord impressions. Between these rows are inclined rows of imprints of the same cord. The lower surface of the body has a herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp and there are traces of soot.

Associations: 1) Ochre; 2) lump of sulfur. Grave Details: An adult skeleton lay on its left side with legs crouched and sprinkled with ochre. The head was E facing S. The black vessel fragments were 26 cm from the knees of the corpse. This secondary grave was in a pit.

Associations: Sheep bones. Grave Details: A male, 45-50 , lay with his head E. This fragmented vessel lay before the fuce bones of the deceased. This was a secondary grave in a pit with a stair.

Source: Excavator's Report 1983:24, figs. 46/3 and 64.

Source: Excavator's Report 1984:10, figs. 21/4 and 23.

154.

156.

Pervomayskiy VII K-12, g-7

Pervomayskiy VII K-14, g-4

Figures: 49/c, 67/a

Figures: 41, 59/c 1

Vessel Type: Pot - IIl-2bii/C Museum No.: 22365/40 Kurgan: 18 m dia. x 0.75 m high (10 graves)

Vessel Type: Bowl - IV Museum No.: Unavailable Kurgan: 20 m dia. x 0.98 m high (4 graves)

Cultural Period: Catacomb , Middle Don variant Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1984

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1984

Measurements: R 13.6 cm; B 7.6 cm; H 15.8 cm. Material: Dark clay with sand Description: This ornamented vessel is a tall necked vessel with a rim that turns outward. Beneath the rim on the neck are six parallel rows of single cord pattern. Below them , occupying the wide part of the body, are seven filled hanging

Measurements: R 22 cm; B 10.5 cm; H 14 cm. Material: Gray clay with sand Description: The bowl consisted of fragments of a widemouth vessel with the bottom concaved in the center. The vessel is ornamented all over with a herringbone made with a small toothed stamp.

113

Catalogue Associations: None. Grave Details: A female lay on her left side, head NINE. The skeleton was badly preserved. This was a secondary grave in a niche. Source: Excavator's Report 1984:21, fig. 54/1. Analogies: Bratchenko 1976:table XII/4. Shape: Dergachev, Borzsyak, and Manzura 1989:34, fig. 9/5.

Source: Excavator's Report 1984:23, figs. 42/7 and 46. 159.

Pervomayskiy VII K-15, g-10, Plan I

Figures: 41, 54/a, Table 23/21, Plate X/4 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

157.

Pervomayskiy VII K-15, g-2, plan 1

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1984

Figures: 41, 47/b 2

Measurements: R 22.2 cm; B 13 cm; H 32 cm. Material: Clay Description: This large fragmented vessel has a wide rim which turns outward and a tall neck which transfers into the turnip-shaped body. The entire surface is decorated . The rim's edge is decorated by short incisions of a small toothed stamp. The remainder of the body is covered in inclined lines of a small toothed stamp, creating a herringbone design. On the transition from the neck to just below, the widest part of the body and a bit lower, horizontal rows of finger pinches circle the vessel. The vessel bears traces of having been repaired. From the wide part of the body down to the circle there is a row of penetrations (all the way through). There are traces of soot on the outside. The inner surface has traces of rough smoothing. [NOTE: The vessel would have then been used for storage. It is believed that the vessel was repaired with leather and the holes used for sewing. This assumption is based on a Srubna vessel found with leather and bronze used in repair. It was also found by V. I. Mamontov. (Per. comm.)]

Vessel Type: Pot-III-2bii/A Museum No.: 22365/51 Kurgan: 19 m dia. x 0.65 m high (10 graves) Cultural Period: Catacomb , Kalmyk Steppe variant Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1984 Measurements: R 12.4 cm; B 8.9 cm; H 16 cm. Material: Clay Description: The vessel has a tall neck which transfers into the wide body. The ornament consists of two rows of finger pinches which circle the body . One row is on the transition between the neck and the rib, and the other is on the widest part of the body. Associations: Skull of female goat. Grave Details: An infant lay in this secondary pit grave. The vessel lay on its side on the bottom of the pit close to the southern pit wall.

Associations: I) Fragments of a bronze pendant - two round disks of twisted wire 2.3 and 2.1 cm in dia., section 5 mm; 2) two small fragments of a silver pendant; 3) three fangs of a small predator - probably a fox; 4) chalk; 5) cane; 6) charcoal. Grave Details: A male, 20-22, lay on his back, knees bent, hands at side, on the bottom of a large pit covered with cane, chalk, and charcoal. The vessel lay in the NE comer of the pit. This was the primary grave in a pit.

Source: Excavator's Report 1984:22, figs. 49/7 and 51.

158.

Pervomayskiy VII K-15, g-3

Figures: 40, 59/c Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot - III-2bi/C 22365/54

Pot (Storage Vessel) - III-2bii/B 3ai 22365/53

1

Source: Excavator's Report 1984:25, fig. 54/5. 160.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1984

Pervomayskiy VII K-31, g-3

Figures: 36/c, 44/a Measurements: R 9 cm; B 4.8 cm; H 9 cm. Material: Dark clay with ground shell Description: This small vessel has a tall straight neck with a wide body. The neck and body are decorated with a double braided cord impression of chevrons on the neck. Below the neck are irregular diagonal lines. The inner surface is covered with traces of smoothing.

Vessel Type: Pot- II-2b/0 Museum No.: 24100/33 Kurgan: 20 m dia. x 0.59 m high (5 graves) Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986

Associations: Bones of sheep - leg and astragalus. Grave Details: A child, possibly as old as a teenager, lay in a crouched position on its right side, head NE. The grave was partly destroyed. This was a secondary pit grave.

Measurements: R. 12.8 cm; B 7.6 cm; H 11.6 cm. Material: Dark clay with sand

114

Catalogue Description: The vessel has a friable surface and short straight neck which transfers into a small shoulder. There are traces · ~

.

.

Figures: 41, 52/b, Plate V/4 Pot - III-2bii/B 19000/38

2

Measurements: R 14.5 cm; B 9.5 cm; H 18.5 cm. Material: Clay Description: This vessel is very similar to vessel # 193 but larger. The same larva ornament is on the rim and neck . On the upper neck are the same three parallel lines of double cord. The transition bulge between the neck and shoulder also has the larva decoration. The shoulder has three rows of double braided cord. The rib bulge is ornamented with larva imprints. The lower part of the body is smoothed, and the bottom is a bit concaved. There are also soot marks and pale stains of a dripped substance .

Measurements: R 17 cm; B 10.5 cm; H 19.5 cm. Material: Clay Description: The vessel was reconstructed from fragments. The tall neck turns out slightly and is decorated with one row of vertical larva imprints and one row of slightly inclined imprints of the same stamp. Between these rows are horizontal rows of triple braided cord. The transition from the neck to the shoulder and on the widest part of the vessel are bulges decorated with larva imprints. Between the two bulges are two rows of triple braided cord. The lower part of the vessel is smoothed. Above the bottom buldge the vessel is dark and dark dribbles go on to the lower body.

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1981

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1981

Associations: Grave Details:

Pot- III-2bii/B 19000/39

t3 .

Figures: 41, 52/b, Plate V /2

'

Figures: 41, 52/b, Plate V/3

Podgornyy K-2, g-1

V'

·. . .

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1981

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1981

123

.. ·

' . .

Catalogue Measurements: R 19; small compartment 5.5 cm; B 6.1 x 6.0 cm; H 15.5 cm. Material: Black clay Description: The censer has a wide bowl with a small compartment. The underpart of the bowl breaks into four legs but is joined again at the bottom, creating a square base. The edge of the rim has short vertical incisions made with single cord. The outer surface of the vessel and the small compartment are decorated with inclined parallel lines also of single cord which create angles and, at times, cross.

Description: The brazier consisted of fragments of the bottom of a large clay vessel. It lay close to the northern part of the niche with the bottom up. The inner and outer surfaces show traces of rough smoothing , but there is no decoration. Associations: Can-shaped vessel (#198). Grave Details: Fragments of adult and baby bones were in this secondary niche grave which had two stairs. Source: Excavator's Report 1985:59, figs. 107/9 and 108/1.

Associations: 1) Horse skull; 2) sheep bones. Grave Details: An adult female lay on her left side, head E, hands on her pelvis . The vessel lay 80 cm behind the skull. The horse skull lay above the human skull with ram bones in between. This niche grave had a stair.

198.

Figures: 37, 49/a Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Source: Excavator 's Report 1981:48, figs. 67/3, 71, and 73. Analogy: Shape of pedestal, Nechitaylo 1970:fig. 3/42. Decor: Popova 1957:fig. 11/9.

196.

Podgornyy K-4, g-2, plan 2

3

Measurements: R 12.6 cm; B 8.4 cm ; H 12.4 cm. Material: Clay Description: This can-shaped vessel stood in the southern part of the niche at the entrance. The short neck turns out and is smoothed. The bottom is slightly concaved. The entire surface from the shoulder to the base is covered with close rows of herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp. The surface also bears traces of smoothing.

Vessel Type: Base Brazier- VID-1/0 Museum No.: 23200/7 Kurgan: 30 m dia. x 2.48 m high (4 graves) Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Associations: Grave Details:

Measurements: B 12 cm; H 0.6 cm Material: Dark clay with sand and chamotte Description: The brazier is made from the bottom of a thickwalled vessel. Both the outer and inner surfaces are roughly smoothed, but there is no decoration.

See #197. See #197.

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:59, figs. 107/7 and 108/2.

199.

Associations: 1) 29 astragali; 2) heavily corroded bronze knife, rectangular in section, and flat blade, length 11.1 cm; tang length 3.3 cm. Grave Details: There were no bones, and this was probably a cenotaph. It was a secondary pit grave.

Podgornyy K-4, g-4, plan 2

Figures: 76, Table 23/22 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

hq

--·-··\

~

Pot Fragment - IX 23200/10

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:58, figs. 106 and 107/6.

Podgornyy K-4, g-3, plan 1

Measurements: B 10 cm; H 10 cm. Material: Clay with sand Description: The vessel was reconstructed from fragments, but the rim was broken before it was placed in the grave. The vessel is thin-walled, and the surface is well-smoothed with some traces of burnishing . There is no decoration. The fragments were discovered at the base of the stair.

Figure: 72 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot-II-3a/A 23200/9

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Figure: 72

197.

Podgornyy K-4, g-3, plan 1

Base Brazier- VID-1/0 23200/8

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Associations: 1) Vessel fragments (#200); 2) charcoal behind occipital bone and lower heel of the deceased ; 3) a wooden pot at the palms of the skeleton with 4) a piece of bronze metal. The bronze is shaped like an unused staple, rectangular in

Measurements: B 14.5 cm; H 12.6 cm. Material: Dark clay with sand

124

Catalogue section, and 2 mm average; 5) small fragments of a second wooden bowl; 6) several small sheep bones . Grave Details: An adult (from illustration) lay on left its side, head N, hands on thighs, knees bent upward. This primary grave was in a niche with a large pit and one stair.

Grave Details: A male, 40-45 , lay on his left side, head NW , anns bent at the elbows, and not well-preserved. This primary grave was in a slight niche. Source: Excavator's Report 1985:65, figs. 115 and 117.

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:60, figs. 109/2 and 115/2. 202. 200.

Podgornyy K-4, g-4.

Figures: 40, 53/c Vessel Type: Pot-IIl-2bi/B Museum No.: 23200/18

Figures: 39/c, 59/c, Table 23/22 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot - III-2aii/C 23200/11

1

3

a

Cultural Period: Late Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Measurements: R 12.7 cm; B 7.25 cm; H 12.5 cm. Material: Clay Description: Inclined incisions decorate the thick lip of the turned-out rim of the vessel. There are three to four rows of double cord impressions around the neck. Beneath these horizonal rows is a horizontal row of vertical incisions. The remainder of the body is decorated with a herringbone pattern done with a small toothed stamp. The vessel is very well made.

Measurements: R 12 cm; B 7 cm; H 16.8 cm. Material: Clay Description: This fragmented vessel was found near the canshaped pot at the northern part of the stair base. This vessel has a tall neck slightly turned-outward, round body, and narrow bottom. The rim's edge is · decorated with inclined incisions . Modeled bulges are at the juncture of the neck and body and on the widest part of the body. These bulges are decorated with inclined incisions. The zones between the rim and neck bulge and the neck and body bulge are filled with hanging triangles. These triangles are filled up with diagonal parallel lines. The body bears traces of smoothing. Associations: Grave Details:

Podgornyy K-5, g-4

Associations: 1) 26 astragali; 2) chalk; 3) pieces of ochre. Grave Details: A child, 8-10 years old, lay on its right side, head E, head and knees stained with ochre, on a layer of chalk. This was a secondary pit grave. Source: Excavator's Report 1985:66, figs. 116 and 118/3. Analogy: Tikhonov and Matveev 1981:fig. 6/4.

See #199. See #199.

Podgornyy K-6, g-27

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:60, figs. 109/1 and 115/1.

203.

201.

Figures: 42/b , 57/b, Plate III/2

Podgornyy K-5, g-3

3

Vessel Type: Pot - lII-2cii/B c Museum No.: 23200/65 Kurgan: NE-SW 30 m x NW-SE 22.7 m x ca . 1 m high (27 graves)

Figures: 38/a, 75 Vessel Type: Wall Brazier- VIII-2b/?? (II-3b) Museum No.: None Kurgan: 30 m dia. x 1.2 m high (4 graves)

Cultural Period: Catacomb vessel in a Srubna grave Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Measurements: R 19 cm; B 11.5 cm ; H 18.2 cm. Material: Clay Description: This vessel has a slightly curved neck which transfers easily to an inclined body. There are seven rows of cord impressions which circle the neck. Beneath the bottom row is a row of short opposing diagonal line incisions , / \ made either with cord or a small toothed stamp . Beneath this row is another horizontal row of cord impressions and beneath this, a row of short vertical impressions of a small toothed stamp. The remainder of the body is covered with a herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp

Measurements: 13.6 x 17 cm. Material: Clay Description: This is a sherd of a vessel ornamented on the base of the neck with inclined incisions and on the widest part of the body with inclined stabs of a point. Below the bulge is a row of thick incisions The inner surface has traces of rough smoothing and residue. Associations: I) Stone pestle; 2) millstone; 3) leg and shoulder blade of sheep; 4) wood.

Associations:

125

Four Srubna vessels .

Catalogue Grave Details: An adult male lay on his left side, head NINE . This grave was central in this kurgan but was later enlarged. This vessel is clearly an "antique ." All twentyseven graves in this kurgan are Srubna , but the graves seem to be groups of graves without any real central grave. This was a typical Srubna pit grave.

was found before the entrance of the chamber at the base of the stair in the north part of the outer chamber .

Associations: Grave Details:

See #204. See #204 .

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:88. Source: Excavator' s Repor t 1985:84, figs . 119 and 160. Analogy: Smirnov 1996:fig . 18/6. 206. 204.

Podgornyy K- 7, g-2, plan 2

Figures: 4 1, 52/b, Plate V/5 2

~ ~

Podgornyy , Flat cemetery,g-1, plan 1

Figures: 41 , 59/c Vessel Type : Museum No. :

Vessel Type: Pot - III-2bii/B Museum No. : 23200/54 Kurgan: 16 m dia . x 0.73 m high (2 graves )

Pot-III-2 bii/C 23774 /1

1

Cultural Period: Late Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation : 1985 Measurements: R 15.4 cm ; B 9.6 cm; H 17.6 cm . Material: Dark clay probably with sand added Description: On the edge of the rim there are slightly inclined incisions. The neck of the vessel is decorated with six parallel horizontal rows of double braided cord. On the transition between the neck to the body the decoration is made with a larva stamp, creating a row of chevrons that circle the neck. Beneath these chevrons are an additional six parallel horizontal rows of double braided cord. This fragmented vessel lay before the face bones of the child . Associations: 1) Base brazier; 2) astragalus near the brazier; 3) organic layer 4) charcoal. Grave Details: Two skeletons: 1) an adult lay on its right side, hands on the pelvis area , head N, knees bent back; and 2) a child, in the same position. Both skeletons were badly preserved. This secondary niche grave had a stair, and an organic decomposed layer .

Measurements : R 10.4 cm ; B 7.6 cm ; H 13.2 cm . Material: Clay Description: This is a tall necked vesse l with thin wall s. The body is chipped . On the edge of the rim there are straight incisions. The space from the base of the neck down to the widest part of the body is covered with zigzag ornament creating chevrons made from stick points. The space inside the zigzags is a pricked (dot) design. There is a total of five zigzag lines - three with dots and two incised . The whole body is covered with traces of smoothing. Associations: Brazier (#207). Grave Details: An adult lay on its right side , head E; was in very bad condition. This was a pit grave. Source: Excavator's Report 1985 :89, fig. 168/1. 207.

Podgornyy Flat cemetery, g-1

Figure: 74 Source: Excavator's Report 1985:88, figs. 166/1 and 167. Analogy: Bratchenko 1991:52-53 , fig . 3/3. Similar in shape and decoration to Smimov 1996:figs . 18/6 and 34/18 . 205.

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Podgornyy K-7, g-2, plan 2

Figure: 72 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Wall Brazier - VIIl-2a/C? 23744/2

Measurements: 14 x 10.4 cm . Material: Clay Description: This brazier has a straight neck with separate rows of shallow round imprints made with the end of a stick . There is a bulge on the transition between the neck and body decorated with inclined incisions. The wide part of the body is covered with triangles made of round imprints . One side of each triangle has a parallel line. The points of the triangles are directed to the bulge and beneath them are two parallel lines also made by imprint s of a stick end .

Base Brazier - VIII-1/0 Unavailable

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985 Measurements : B 10.8 cm ; H 10.2 cm . Material: Dark clay , probabl y with sand added . Description: The brazier is the bottom part of a large vessel , and charcoal was inside . There was no decoration . The brazier

Associations: Grave Details:

126

See #206 . See #206 .

Catalogue Source: Excavator's Report 1985:89, fig. 168/2.

208.

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:91, figs. 168/3.

210.

Podgornyy

Figure: 73/b

Figures: 40, 47/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot-lII-2bi/A 23774/3

Podgornyy Flat cemetery, g-4, plan 3

Flat cemetery, g-2, plan 1

2

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Base Brazier - VIII-1/B 23774/8

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985

Measurements: R 14 cm; B 9.4 cm; H 13.2 cm. Material: Clay Description: The vessel was reconstructed from fragments, and the rim and body have chips. The rim flares outward with a well- pronounced shoulder. On the shoulder and edge of the bottom, the vessel is decorated with one row of herringbone pattern made with a larva stamp. There are traces of horizontal smoothing.

Measurements: Wd. 22 cm; B 13 cm; H 6 cm. Material: Clay Description: The brazier consists of the base and fragments of a large vessel. It has a herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp that covers the vessel. Burned residue was found inside the brazier. Associations: Grave Details:

Associations: Vessel (#209) Grave Details: Three skeletons: 1) an adolescent, 2) female, and 3) male. The adolescent was on its right side in a flexed position, head SE; in the northern part of the pit. The vessel was at its feet. The female was on her right side in a flexed position, hands around her thighs, head S, in the southern part of the pit. Vessel (#209) was near her head. The male was on his back, head S, hands on his pelvis, legs bent and to the right side. He was in the western part of the pit grave.

1) Seven astragali; 2) sheep bones. A child lay on its left side, head NW.

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:92, fig. 168/5.

SAREPTA 211.

Sarepta K-1, g-6

Figure: 46/b

Source: Excavator's Report 1985:90, fig. 168/4.

1

209.

Vessel Type: Wall/Base Brazier- VIII-2b/A (Il-3b) Museum No.: Unavailable Kurgan: 18 m dia. x 0.69 m high (at least 8 graves)

Podgornyy Flat cemetery, g-2, plan 3

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1983

Figures: 40, 51/c Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot- lll-2bi/B 23774/4

1

Measurements: R 30 cm; B 14 cm; H 41 cm. Material: Dark clay without noticeable temper Description: The brazier consists of fragments of a tall vessel with a neck that turns outward. On the transitionto the shoulder there is a modeled wavy bulge. There is no other decoration.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1985 Measurements: R 14.6 cm; B 8.6 cm; H 15 cm. Material: Clay Description: This is a well-preserved vessel with a slightly flared lip which tops a straight neck and bulbous body. There are three sets of double cord impressions around the neck. The first set is just below the lip, the second in the center, and the third just above the shoulder. In between the sets and just below the third set are short inclined rows made with a toothed stamp. There are also short inclined lines of the toothed stamp at the base. There are soot spots on the outside of the vessel. Associations: Grave Details:

Associations: 1) Skull ofram; 2) reeds; 3) ochre. Grave Details: Adult bones were jumbled due to a later grave. The vessel was found in the in filling of the pit on the ochre spot in the NE comer. This was a secondary grave. Source: Excavator's Report 1983 :6, figs. 9 and 11/2. Mamontov 1989:81-86.

See #208. See #208.

127

Catalogue 212.

Sarepta K-1, g-7

SHELYGAN

214. Figures: 38/a, 57/a Vessel Type: Museum No.:

3

Shelygan K-?, g-2b

87

Figures: 35/d, 46/a, Table 23/25

Pot - II-3b/B c Unavailable

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Cultural Period: Poltavka Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1983

Pot-I-2c/A Unavailable

~

1

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1976

Measurements: R 15 cm; B 10 cm; H 14 cm. Material: Black clay Description: The rim of the vessel is straight but slightly turned inward. The neck transfers into an abrupt shoulder, and the bottom is flat. The ornament above the shoulder consists of two rows of double braided cord and one of single cord between them. On the shoulder there is a row of round, almost circular, imprints in the shape of a snail. Below the two lines of double braided cord, the remainder of the vessel is covered with a herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp. The inner surface has horizontal smoothing.

Measurements: R 11 cm; B 6.4 cm; H 9 cm. Material: Clay with shell Description: This thin-walled vessel stood before the jaw of the skeleton. It is a bulbous shaped vessel with nine horizontal rows of single cord impressions beginning below the rim and going to the mid-body . Associations: 1) Three bone plaques lay at the hip bones, 3.5 - 3.7 cm, holes 0.3 cm; 2) small bone pendant made of animal bone; 3) bones of small animal perhaps sheep; 4) piece of shell; 5) small piece of ochre at the thigh, dia. 1.5 cm, L 0.2 cm. Grave Details: Child

Associations: None. Grave Details: The grave was destroyed by treasure seekers. Fragments of the vessel were spread over the bottom of the grave.

Source: &cavator's Report 1976:9, fig. 18/1. Source: Excavator's Report 1983 :7, figs. 11/4 and 12/2. Mamontov 1989:81-86. SIDORY

213.

Sarepta K-1, g-8

215.

Sidory K-1, g-9

Figures: 35/c, 51/a Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot-I-2a/B 21700/8

Figures: 20, 24/d, 29

1

Vessel Type: Pot- YN-IINB-IV/B 3a ..._.__._, Museum No.: 5901/10 Kurgan: W-E 25 m x N-S 30 m dia. x 1.5 m high (10 graves)

Cultural Period: Poltavka Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1983

Cultural Period: Yamna Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1959

Measurements: R 11.5 cm; B 7.8 cm; H 12.6 cm. Material: Black clay Description: This is a small flat-bottomed can-shaped vessel. The edge of the rim turns inward. The outer edge of the rim is decorated with a row of inclined incisions. Below the rim are four horizontal rows of single cord impressions; sometimes the rows are horizontal and sometimes they change to diagonal lines. Below these rows are another four rows of short horizontal imprints. There is a row of imprints made by the same stamp at the edge of the bottom. The upper part of the body is burnished.

Measurements: R 9.2 cm; H 9 cm; body dia. 11 cm. Material: Clay with shell temper Description: The vessel is a light brown color and the neck turns slightly inward. There are three rows of inclined incisions in a herringbone pattern. Below this are two rows of point pricks made with the edge of a small < shaped stick, then four rows of inclined incisions in a herringbone pattern and two rows pricks.

Associations: None. Grave Details: Several bones of an adolescent . The vessel lay IO cm from the narrow pit wall.

Associations: None. Grave Details: An infant, 1-2 years old, lay crouched on its back, head SE-E. The skeleton was in very bad condition, and the skull was destroyed. This pit grave was primary in the kurgan.

Source: &cavator's Report 1983:7, figs. 13 and 12/1. Mamontov 1989:81-86.

128

Catalogue Source: Excavator's Report 1959:13, fig. VIl/2.

218.

Sidory K-2, g-4

216.

Sidory K-2, embankment

Figures: 38/c, 53/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Figures: 40, 56/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

3

3

a

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1959

Pot- IIl-2bi/B b 5904/13

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1959

Measurements: R 12.5 cm; B 9 cm; H 16 cm; Bd. dia. 18 cm. Material: Black clay with chalky limestone, temper Description: The rim has a pronounced lip, and the neck is decorated with two to three horizontal rows of single cord imprints. The remainder of the body is completely covered with a herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp. The vessel was broken before deposition, and inside there is a residue of an unknown substance.

R 15.7 cm; B 10 cm; H 13.5 cm; Bd. 16 cm; Material: Black clay with chalky limestone temper Description: The vessel has a pronounced rim, shoulder, and rib. The neck has two to three rows of spiral imprints (probably made by a shell); below, there are two rows cf inclined incisions imitating a cord. Below these rows is a row of the spiral design, then again another double row cf incisions. The body is decorated with a herringbone design made with a small toothed stamp. There is residue inside. Measurements:

Associations: Grave Details:

Pot-II-3d/B 5916

Associations: Chalk. Grave Details: An adult, crouched on its back, lay with its head NW in this secondary grave. Source: Excavator's Report 1959:17, fig. X 4.

None. Not applicable.

219.

Source: Excavator's Report 1959:19, fig. X/5.

Sidory K-2, g-5

217.

.

K-2, g-3

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Figures: 19/b, 24/c, 31 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

.

Figures: 41, 56/b

Sidory

Pot- YN-I-2NB-III/C 5910/1

1

() .

Pot - III-2bii/C 5909/24

'

1

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V.P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1959

Cultural Period: Yamna Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1959

Measurements: R 20.5 cm; B 13.5 cm; Bd. dia. 27 cm; H 24.4 cm. Material: Clay Description: The vessel has a vertical straight rim, rounded sides, and is sooted. The rim is ornamented with eight lines of single cord impressions. The shoulder has a row of inclined parallel double braided cord impressions, creating hanging triangles ending in chevrons. The open portions are filled with diagonal lines also of double cord. The bottom has a row of diagonal lines made with a small toothed stamp. It is smoothed inside and outside.

Measurements: R 9.5 cm; H 7.5 cm; Bd. dia. 10 cm. Material: Clay with chalky limestone temper Description: The vessel has a flattened bottom with a neck that turns inward. On the shoulder there are three parallel horizontal lines of cord impressions. Below is a row of chevrons and inside hanging triangles all made of single cord impressions. The surface is brown, sooted, and ochered. The vessel is smoothed and there is residue. Associations: Bronze awl. Grave Details: An adult lay, crouched, on its back, head W. A fragment of the skull and foot bones was covered with a thick layer of ochre. The pot lay between the legs of the skeleton. This was the primary grave.

Associations: Ochre. Grave Details: The badly preserved bones of a male, crouched on his right side, head NE/E, lay in this secondary grave. Source: Excavator's Report 1959: 19, fig. X/3.

Source: Excavator's Report 1959:20-1, fig. X 1. Analogy: Merpert 1974:fig. 15/21 (3rd group). 1991:fig. 9/11/24.

..

Trifonov

129

Catalogue

220.

Sidory K-4, g-1

head to feet. This secondary grave was in a niche and had a stair.

Figures: 38/a, 58/b

Source: Excavator's Report 1959:27, fig. XV/5. 3

Vessel Type: Pot - Il-3b/B d Museum No.: 5906/26 Kurgan: N-S 17 m x E-W 25 m dia. x 0.9 m high (8 graves)

222.

Figures: 41, 63/b

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1959

.

,

u....J

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1959 Measurements: R 18 cm; B 10.5 cm ; H 20.7 cm ; Bd. dia. 23 cm. Material: Black clay with chalky limestone temper Description: A vessel with rounded sides and high funnellike neck. Rows of finger pinches go around the rim, on the middle of the neck, and the shoulder. Between them are two sets of three to four rows of double braided cord. From the shoulder to the base are eight sets of triple bulges of vertical and diagonal lines made of finger pinches, creating large V's. At the edge of the base there is also a row of pinches. There is residue inside the vessel and the body is smoothed.

Associations: 1) Bone rings; 2) piece of ochre. Grave Details: A female lay on her left side, head E, knees slightly bent, right hand on the pubic area and left on her hip. The skeleton was in a secondary pit grave; it was in bad condition. Source: Excavator's Report 1959:23, fig. XVI/I.

Associations: Brazier (#223). Grave Details: A male lay crouched on his right side, head W in this secondary pit grave.

Sidory K-4, g-8

Figure: 70/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

() .

4 Vessel Type: Pot-ill-2bii/C Museum No.: 5906/3 Kurgan: N-S 12 m x E-W 10.25 m xl.5 m high (3 graves)

Measurements: R 15 cm; B 9.8 cm; Bd . dia. 17.5 cm; H 15.8 cm. Material: Black clay with chalky limestone temper Description: The vessel has a pronounced rim and lip and the neck turns outward. There are three horizontal single cord lines below the shoulder, and the body below these lines is decorated with fingernail imprints in a rough herringbone pattern. It is a light brown color. The inside of the vessel has residue.

221.

Sidory K-15, g-1

Source: Excavator's Report 1959:43, fig. XXXV/1. Censer - IVII2alB 5898/1

223.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1959

Sidory K-15, g-1

Figure: 72 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Measurements: R 14.8 cm; H 4.8-5.7 cm; base sides 6 x 7 cm; H 2.3 cm; holes 1.5 x 4.3 cm; depth 0.7-0.9 cm; bottom cavity 2.9 x 3.5 cm; depth 1.2 cm. Material: Black clay with chalky limestone temper Description: This is a low censer on a square base with four rectangular deep impressions on the sides and square shape at the bottom. The edge is decorated with seven rows of single cord impressions. In five places, sets of diagonal lines are incised with four to five rows. The inner surface of the vessel is divided into four parts by inclined cord impressions. The outer surface is decorated with five rows of cord. All cord is single cord. It is sooted and is a light brown color on the surface.

Base Brazier- Vill-1/0 5919/38

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1959 Measurements: B 11.5 cm; H 11.5 cm. Material: Black clay with chalky limestone temper Description: The brazier is the bottom of a large vessel. It is light brown and has vertical rough smoothing. Associations: Grave Details:

See #222 . See #222.

Source: Excavator's Report 1959:43, fig. XXXV/4. Associations: None Grave Details: Two skeletons: a female lay on her left side, head SW and a male on his right side, head NE. They lay

130

Catalogue

224.

Sidory K-17, g-1

of animal lay near the chalk; 5) quartzite flakes; 6) flat abrasive stone 6 x 6 x 0.6 cm; 7) two astragali lay before the skull; 8) part of a boar's tusk; 9) cane; 10) ochre. Grave Details: The skeleton lay on his right side, crouched with arms to hips, head oriented SE. A layer of cane was below the skeleton and sprinkled with ochre. This was a secondary pit grave

Figures: 41, 59/c 1

Vessel Type: Pot- III-2bii/C Museum No.: 5895/4 Kurgan: 20 m dia. x 0.6 m high (2 graves)

Source: Excavator's Report 1972:3, fig. 3/5. Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1959

226.

Measurements: R 15.3 cm; B 8.5 cm; H 16.8 cm; Bd. dia. 18 cm. Material: Clay Description: This is a globular vessel with a turned-out neck. The inner side of the neck is decorated with a row of vertical single cord imprints. The outer side is decorated with five horizontal rows of double cord circling the vessel, equidistant from one another. The spaces between these rows are filled with alternating rows of vertical and inclined imprints of single cord. The shoulders are ornamented with zigzag-like lines made with triple cord, creating hanging triangles. The triangles are filled with diagonal rows of single cord. Below that, a zigzag-like line is framed by a row of fingernail imprints. The surface is brown with soot spots.

Figures: 40, 61/c Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot-III-2bii/C 10216

3

a

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1972 Measurements: R 13.5; B 8 cm, H 14 cm; Hof neck 3.5 cm. Material: Clay Description: This is a thin-walled vessel with a rim that turns outward and a biconical body. It lay in the east comer of the pit. The vessel has modeled bulges that circle the vessel on the neck and body transition. The bulge has inclined imprints made with a short single cord stamp. Between the two bulges are triangles made by double cord impressions. Triangles with points up are filled with inclined parallel lines of double cord. Triangles with points down are filled with four horizontal rows with short vertical rows creating squares. The remainder of the surface is decorated with short /\incisions made with the end of a stick.

Associations: None. Grave Details: A male was crouched on his right side, head W/NW. The upper part of the skeleton was destroyed by g-2. This grave was primary. Source: Excavator's Report 1959:60, fig. XXXIX/1. Analogies: Design: Bratchenko 1976:Table 11/2,fig. 29/3.

225;.

Sidory K-28, g-JA

Sidory K-21, g-2

Associations: None. Grave Details: This was a complex and unusual grave. The remains of six skeletons were found. Grave IA was a big pit with destroyed secondary graves. The skeleton's head was SSW, arms crossed, and elbows on stomach area. ]li was a bit above A on the N wall and contained an infant on its right side, head S/SW, arms at its hip bones. There was a thick layer of ochre. IB contained only right arm bones in the grave. Ir adult hand lay at the same level as A. Jll the jaw of a large mammal lay at a man's hand.~ an oval pit deeper than the level of A, held an adult. I }K held a fragment of an adult as well as animal fragments and a pot. These were all secondary graves in a pit.

Figures: 37, 57/a, Table 23/6 3

Vessel Type: Pot-II-3a/B c Museum No.: 12384 Kurgan: 21 m dia. x 0.25 m high (2 graves) Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1972 Measurements: R 20 cm; B 11 cm; H 21.5 cm. Material: Clay Description: The vessel was reconstructed from fragments and plaster. Fragments of this ornamented vessel lay before the chest of the skeleton. The vessel is deeply pinched on the rim, creating a scallop design which turns outward. The shoulder is pronounced. The neck is ornamented with parallel horizontal and vertical lines as well as zigzags, all made of triple cord impressions. The rest of the body is ornamented with a herringbone pattern, made with a small toothed stamp.

Source: Excavator's Report 1972: 11, fig. 19/6.

227.

Sidory K-28, g-JZ

Figures: 41, 61/c

Associations: 1) Millstone; 2) rectangular stone with a hole 8.5 x 6 x 1.5 cm, hole 2 cm; 3) piece of chalk; 4) flaked bones

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

131

3

Pot- III-2bii/C a Unavailable

Catalogue Cultural Period: Catacomb

Museum No.: Unavailable Kurgan: 11 m dia. x 0.8 m high (2 graves)

Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1972 Measurements: R 16 cm; B 10.5 cm; H 18 cm. Material: Clay Description: The neck has some diagonal lines made of double cord. There are molded bulges at the base of the neck and at the widest part of the body. The bulges are decorated with inclined imprints of single cord. The vessel is analogical to the vessel found in K-28, g- lA, but it is a little larger and has the short incisions on the rim and diagonal lines on the neck, both of double cord impressions . Associations: Grave Details:

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1972 Measurements: R 18 cm ; B 11 cm ; H 16.5 cm. Material: Clay Description: This is a turnip-shaped vessel decorated with vertical scratches (slight incisions) from the rim to the shoulder and horizontal scratches from the shoulder to the bottom. Associations: Sherci Grave Details: The jumbled bones of an adult lay in this primary pit grave .

See #226. See #226.

Source: Excavator's Report 1972:12, fig. 19/5.

Source: Excavator's Report 1972:16, fig. 23/4.

228.

230.

Sidory K-29, g-1

Figure: 71/b

V

Sidory K-35, g-3

Figures: 38/b, 49/a

.

.

Vessel Type: Censer-VII-4/B Museum No.: 10209 Kurgan: 27 m dia. x 0.88 m high (1 grave)

3 Vessel Type: Pot-lI-3C/A Museum No.: 12378 Kurgan: 30 m dia. x 1.2 m high (3 graves)

•

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1972

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1972

Measurements: R 20 cm; H 11 cm; small compartment 7.5 cm. Material: Clay Description: The base is cross-shaped with four feet. The small inner compartment is oval-shaped and the edge of the rim of it and the large compartment are decorated with impressions of a short larva stamp, made by a tightly wrapped cord. The inner cavity has traces of horizontal smoothing and traces of residue and ochre. The outer surface is decorated with two horizontal parallel lines of double cord which circle the body. Between these lines are inclined imprints of the short larva stamp which is the same as that on the rim. Below this are points made with double cord imprints. The points are filled with parallel lines. The surface is red and has black soot spots.

Measurements: R 11.08; B 8.5 cm; H 10 cm. Material: Clay Description: The vessel has a wide neck, a rim that turns out, and a pronounced shoulder. It is ornamented with a herringbone pattern made with a large toothed stamp from shoulder to base. The upper part of the vessel is smoothed, and the inner part is also smoothed with horizontal lines . Associations: Pieces of ochre in the palms. Grave Details: The skeleton of an infant lay crouched on its right side, head SE. This was a secondary niche grave. Source: Excavator's Report 1972:19, fig. 31/8. 231.

Associations: Several astragali lay in the NW comer. Grave Details: An adult crouched on the left side, head E. This was a pit grave and the only one in the kurgan.

Figures: 76, Table 23/17

Source: Excavator's Report 1972:13 , fig. 19/13. 229.

Vessel Type: Pot Fragment - IX Museum No.: Unavailable Kurgan: 34 m dia. x 1.8 m high (7 graves)

Sidory K-32, g-2

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1972

Figures: 38/a, 56/a Vessel Type:

Sidory K-37, g-7

3

Measurements: B 8.5 cm ; H 11 cm.

Pot - II-3b/B b

132

Catalogue Material: Clay Description: The probable rim was covered with straight parallel lines carved by the end of a stick. Between the lines are imprints of round stick points. From the shoulder to the bottom, the vessel is covered with a herringbone pattern made with a large toothed stamp.

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot- YN-I-1/YB-III/B3a 5786

Cultural Period: Yamna Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1957 Measurements: R 13 cm; H 12.5 cm. Material: Clay Description: This round-bottomed vessel has inclined cord impressions along the straight rim. Beneath these impressions is a row of horizontal double braided cord, then inclined short imitation cord impressions, and then another row of doublebraided cord. Beneath this are inclined rows of short imitation cord run at an angle almost to the base.

Associations: 1) Point of bronze dart, (length of point 7 cm, length of tang 3 .5 cm); 2) bronze plug, 1 cm; 3) can-shaped wooden vessel, probable dia. of rim 16 cm. The wood was decomposed. 4) Bronze awl, square in section at W wall of niche behind the back of the first skeleton. Some remnants of wood fiber were on the handle, 3.8 cm long. 5) Piece of a wooden plug ( 17 cm long) with some traces of carving by a sharp tool; 6) ochre. Grave Details: Two skeletons. On the right side of the niche was a larger person crouched and covered with ochre, head SW. At its legs was the second skeleton, this of a female. There was no ochre on these bones. She faced the N wall. This was the primary grave in a niche with a stair.

Associations: Grave Details:

Unavailable. Unavailable.

Source: Excavator's Report unavailable. Analogy: Merpert 1974:figs. 14/19 and 6/6.

Source: Excavator's Report 1972:23, fig. 31/12

234. 232.

Stepen Razin K-5?, g-5?

Sidory

Figures: 36/c, 49/a

K-38, g-3

Figures: 23, 24/b, 29

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

3 ._.__.___. Vessel Type: Pot-YN-VNB-II/B a? Museum No.: Unavailable Kurgan: 21.5 m dia. x 0.8 m high (3 graves)

Pot-II-2b/A 5878/76

3

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1958

Cultural Period: Yamna Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1972 Measurements: H 12 cm. Material: Dark clay with shell Description: A thin-walled, egg-shaped, straight-necked vessel lay on the L side of the skull. There is a row of "pearls" made from the inside but not penetrating below what would be the rim if it were present. The outer swface is covered with inclined incisions which circle the body and are made with a stick and create a rough herringbone design. The inner surface has traces of smoothing. Associations: 1) Chalk; 2) ochre. Grave Details: A child, head SE, lay supine with knees tumbled down. The skeleton was sprinkled with chalk and ochre lay in this secondary grave.

Measurements: . R 16.3 cm; B 8 cm; H 13 cm. Material: Clay Description: This is a bulbous vessel with a body that abruptly transfers to a short straight neck. There are vertical short lines on the edge of the lip about 3-4 mm apart. At the shoulder, a herringbone pattern made with a large toothed stamp begins and continues to the base of the vessel. Much of the bowl is missing, but what is left was reconstructed from sherds and plaster. Associations: Grave Details:

Unavailable. Unavailable.

Source: Excavator's Report unavailable. Analogy: Bratchenko 1976:fig. 16/4.

Source: Excavator's Report 1972:24, fig. 31/17.

TORMOSIN

235i.

Tormosin K-4 g-1

STEPEN RAZIN

Figures: 39/c, 63/b

233.

Stepen Razin 4

K-3, g-3

Vessel Type: Pot- III-2aii/C Museum No.: 25802/22 Kurgan: 32 m dia. x 0.8 m high

Figures: 19/a, 24/c, 29

133

Catalogue Cultural Period: Catacomb, Middle Don variant Excavator: V. M. Klepikov Date of Excavation: 1983

(#238), (#239) were between the side bones of B and the feet bones of A. This was a secondary pit grave.

Source: Excavator's Report 1962:86, fig. 30/2. 1985 :94-98, fig. 23 .1.

Measurements: R 13.2 cm; B 8.1 cm; H 14 cm; Bd. 14 cm. Material: Clay Description: The vessel was reconstructed from fragments. The surface is cracked and chipped. The body is round, the neck is funnel-shaped, and the entire outer surface is ornamented. The upper rim of the neck has small pinches which circle the rim, creating a scallop design. The neck is decorated with four horizontal parallel bands of triple braided cord impressions. The impressions are not sharp. Between the horizontal rows are three rows of vertical incisions. The bulbous body is ornamented with groups of cord imprints which create hanging filled triangles. The surfaces between the triangle are filled with circle-shaped impressions made by the end of a hollow-end tube. On the bottom are traces of rough smoothing by grass. The bottom is slightly concaved.

237.

Tsatsa K-1, g-2

Figures: 40, 44/c, Table 23/12 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot- III-2bi/0 Unavailable

Shilov

~ o....L,....J

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V.P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962 Measurements: R 7.2 cm; B 5 cm; H 8.4 cm;. Material: Clay with chalk Description: This is a small undecorated pot. It has a straight neck that flares slightly and a slightly bulbous body.

Associations: None. Grave Details: An adult lay on its right side, head N, facing W. This was a secondary pit grave.

Associations: Grave Details:

Source: Excavator's Report 1983:8, fig. 40/2 Analogies: Shape: Bratchenko 1976:figs. 35/2 and 7. Smirnov 1996:fig. 18/4.

See #236. See #236.

Source: Excavator's Report 1962:86, fig. 30/3. Shilov 1985: 115, fig. 23.2. Analogies: Sinitsyn 1978:fig. 60/4, 68/6, and 100/3.

TSATSA

238. 236.

Tsatsa K-1, g-2

Tsatsa K-1, g-2

Figures: 41, 44/c, Table 23/12 Figures: 59/c, 69/f, Table 23/12 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Vessel Type: Cup- VI-3/C? Museum No.: 6066/1 Kurgan: N-S 57.5 m x E-W 60 m x 2.75 m high (6 graves). In the center of the cemetery of ten kurgans .

Pot-III-2bii/0 6066/2

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962

Measurements: R 9.6 cm; B 6.1 cm; H 10.1 cm. Material: Clay with chalk Description: A small vessel with a bulbous body was reconstructed from fragments. An abrupt shoulder transfers to a straight neck and has a turned-out lip. There is no decoration.

Measurements: R 11.6 cm; B 7 cm; H 12.4 cm; handle 3.5 cm; handle hole 1.7 cm. Material: Clay with chalk Description: This cup with a loop handle has a straight neck, a thick turned-out lip, and a bulbous body. A row of imitation cord and crude hanging triangles with extended ends circle the lower part of the lip and neck. The decoration is faint.

Associations: Grave Details:

See #236. See #236.

Source: See #236, fig. 23.4. Analogy: Vlaskin and Ilyakov 1992:fig. 5/9.

Associations: 1) Vessel (#237); 2) vessel (#238); 3) vessel (#239); 4) ram tooth with Skeleton B; 6) two astragali were back of the head of Skeleton B; 6) horse tooth with Skeleton

239.

Tsatsa

A.

.

Grave Details: Two skeletons of infants, 1-2 years old, both lay on their right sides and heads NE one meter from center. Skeleton A oriented NE and skeleton B, NE/E. Vessels

Figures: 44/d, 69/e, Table 23/12 Vessel Type:

134

u .

K-1, g-2

Cup-Vl-3/0

Catalogue Museum No.:

6066/3

Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962

Measurements: R 8.5 cm; B 5.8 cm; H 11 cm; handle 3.1 cm; hole 1 cm. Material: Clay Description: The high neck of the vessel slants inward but the thick molded lip flares outward. The shoulder is abrupt and a loop-like handle is on the side of the neck and sits on the shoulder. The handle has a biconical hole. The surface is light brown with some soot spots. The rim is partly broken off. This is a classic Manych type cup without ornament.

Measurements: R 6.7 cm; B 3.2 cm; H 7 cm; handle 1.6 cm. Material: Clay with chalk Description: This is a small cup with a lug handle but no hole. The body is conical with an abrupt shoulder halfway down the vessel. The straight neck has a thick turned-out lip. There is no decoration; it is well-preserved. Associations: Grave Details:

Source: Shilov 1985:104, fig. 30.2. Analogies: Sinitsyn 1978:fig. 100/2 and plate 48.4.

See #236. See #236.

Source: See #236, fig. 23.3. 242. 240.

Tsatsa K-1, g-5

Figures: 19/b, 24/b, 28

3

Pot- II-3b/C a 6069/1

~

w

Vessel Type: Pot- YN-I-2NB-Il/B 1 Museum No.: 6076/1 Kurgan: W-E 17 m x N-S 16 m x 0.6 m high (3 graves)

Figures: 38/a, 61/b, Table 23/31 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Tsatsa K-3, g-1

.........,

Cultural Period: Y amna Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962

Measurements: R 11.4 cm; H 12.2 cm; widest dia. 13.7 cm. Material: Black clay with shell temper Description: The vessel lay at the legs of the skeleton. It is egg-shaped and has a pronounced rim . Below the rim is a row of pearls made from the inside of the vessel. One side of the vessel has six lines of inclined incisions which do not create a regular design. They are made by a large toothed stamp. On the opposite side there is a row of four fingernail imprints. The surface is light brown. One side is sooted.

Measurements: R 14.3 cm; B 8 cm; H 14.1-15.3 cm; widest dia. 15 cm. Material: Black clay with chalk Description: This vessel has rounded sides and the rim turns out. The inner and outer surfaces of the rim are decorated with inclined incisions, made with a small toothed stamp. Below these lines on the neck and shoulder are three rows of inclined lines made with a small stick which alternate direction, creating chevrons. On the shoulder is a row of inclined lines made with a stick and, after a short gap, rows of herringbone, also made with stick incisions, cover the remainder of the vessel.

Associations: 1) Funnel (#243); 2) copper knife with widened tang L 14.8 cm; 3) ochre. Grave Details: A female skeleton lay crouched on her back, head NE/E, and hands at her side. The pot lay at her feet, the knife to the right of the skull, and the funnel above the skull. Ochre was on the leg and hand bones. This primary grave was in a pit.

Associations: 1) Forty horse skulls; 2) pieces ofochre; 3) bones of sheep; 4) gritty pebble stone (whetstone?); 5) broken piece of bronze knife. Grave Details: A male skeleton lay on his left side, crouched, head NE/E. This was a secondary grave.

Source: Shilov 1985:107-110, fig. 20.1. Source:

Shilov 1985:99-102, fig. 21.4.

243. 241.

Tsatsa K-2, embankment 1

Tsatsa K-3, g-1

.

Figure: 45 Figures: 44/d, 69/e Vessel Type: Museum No.:

w .

.

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Cup-VI-3/0 6071

Funnel - X-1/0 6076/2

Cultural Period: Yamna Excavator: V. P. Shilov

Cultural Period: Catacomb, Manych type

135

Catalogue Date of Excavation:

1962

Measurements: H 11.5 cm; dia. of wide rim 14.9 cm; dia. of narrow end 4 x 4.5 cm; hole dia. 2.9 x 3.3 cm. Material: Dark clay with ground cockle shell and lime temper Description: The funnel is unornamented, but the surface is light brown with dark spots . The inner and outer surfaces are smoothed with a toothed stamp. On the edge of the wide rim there are two holes made from the outside. Associations: Grave Details:

See #242. See #242.

Also on the shoulder are three lines made with a sharp point. Between each row are inclined lines made with a small toothed stamp, which create a kind of herringbone pattern. On the lower third of the body are three rows of a herringbone pattern made with the same stamp. The surface is light brown with soot spots .

Associations: Grave Details:

None Not applicable

Source: Shilov 1985:128, fig. 21.2.

246.

Tsatsa K-6, g-1

Source: See #242, fig. 20.2. Analogy: Sinitsyn 1978:97:5.

Figures: 38/b, 46/b 1

244.

Vessel Type: Pot -lI -3c/A Museum No.: 6107 Kurgan: N-S 65 m x E-W 56 m x 4 m high (5 graves)

Tsatsa K-4, embankment 8

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962

Figures: 37, 58/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

3

Pot-II-3a/B d 6078/7

Measurements: R 13.5 cm; B 9.7 cm; H 14.5 cm; widest dia. 15 cm. Material: Black clay with limestone Description: The vessel stood at the right shoulder of the skeleton. It has round sides and the rim turns out. The upper part of the vessel, beginning from the shoulders, is decorated with two rows of herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp. The surface is dark brown with dark soot spots. The outer surface of the pot on its lower part and bottom are vertically smoothed with a toothed stamp.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962 Measurements: R 12.4 cm; B 7.8 cm; H 13.5 cm; widest D 12.25 cm. Material: Black clay with lime Description: The vessel has a pronounced shoulder and rounded sides. The surface is light brown with dark spots and is smoothed with a toothed stamp inside and out. From the shoulder and to the base the vessel is decorated with three rows of a herringbone pattern. The row that covers the shoulder is made with incisions and the remaining rows with a small toothed stamp .

Associations: 1) Bronze ring in 2.5 revolutions, 1.5 cm dia.; 2) pieces of ochre. Grave Details: A male on his left side 2.5 m from center, head SE/E. This was a secondary grave.

Source: Shilov 1985: 116-17, fig. 21.1. Analogy: Bratchenko 1976:37, fig . 14.8

Source:

247. 245.

Tsatsa K-5, embankment I

Shilov 1985:131-32, fig. 21.5.

Tsatsa

'

'

Figures: 20, 24/b, 26

'

.

Figures: 37, 58/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

V '

K-6, g-3

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

3

Pot- II-3a/B d 6097/1

Pot-YN-II/YB-WA 10206

1

Cultural Period: Yamna RC Date: (UCLA 1270) 4210±80 > 4850 BP > 2814-2629 BC calibrated .

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962

Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962

Measurements: R 10.5 cm; B 7.7 cm; H 10.4 cm; widest dia. 12. Material: Dark clay with limestone Description: The rim of the vessel turns outward and there is a pronounced rim. Under the rim are imprints of twisted cord.

Measurements: R 16 cm ; H 23.5 cm ; widest dia. 21.5 cm. Material: Black clay with much shell

136

Catalogue Description: At the right knee of the skeleton was an eggshaped round bottom vessel with a pronounced rim. The surface, light-brown with dark spots, is smoothed with a toothed stamp. There is residue inside. Beneath the rim is a row of deep round holes. The penetration was done from the inside. Associations: Three pieces ofred ochre Grave Details: A male skeleton lay on his back with legs crouched, head NE/E. Red ochre was painted on the feet, knees, and elbows.

is filled with triangles made by double cord imprints. At the base, the vessel has a few rows of herringbone made with a small toothed stamp. The entire body has traces of horizontal smoothing. Associations: None. Grave Details: A male, 18-20 years old, lay in this secondary niche grave which had one stair. Source: Excavator's Report 1986:57, fig. 118. Analogy: Bratchenko 1976:fig. 35/1.

Source: Shilov 1985:132, fig. 20.3. Gimbutas 1991:496. Analogy: Merpert 1974:fig. 13/16 (2nd group.)

250.

248.

Figures: 35/a, 51/a

Tsatsa K-11, embankment 3

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Figures: 38/d, 46/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot-II-4a/A 6127/3

1

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1962 Measurements: R 17.2 cm; B 16 cm; H 18.5 cm. Material: Black clay with chalk Description: This is a large turnip-shaped vessel with a short neck and flattened turned-out lip. There is a molded bulge, which has inclined incisions, circling the vessel above the shoulder. The vessel is a light pinky beige color with soot spots. Source: Excavator's Report unavailable. Analogies: Bratchenko 1976:84, fig. 43.3, 44; Sergatskov 1992:101, fig. 2.2 (see this volume #2). Vlaskin and Ilyukov 1992:fig. 5/2; Trifonov 1991:fig. 20/III/50.

UST'-POGOZH'E

249.

Ust'-Pogozh 'e I K-1, g-8

Ust'-Pogoz/1 'e I K-1, g-7

Pot-I-l/B 24102/2

1

?

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986 Measurements: R 14.2 cm; B 9.0 cm; H 12.2 cm. Material: Black clay with ground shell Description: This is a thin-walled can-shaped vessel. There are breaks on the surface, but they have been reconstructed. The top of the rim slants inward, and on the edge of the rim are short inclined rows made with a small toothed stamp. The upper part of the vessel is decorated with the point of a stick in parallel horizontal lines (three lines at the rim, two lines beneath, and two lines beneath that). The lines sag in three places, creating a cross between wavy lines and chevrons. Diagonally-incised lines are between the sets of horizontal lines, and they alternate direction. At the bottom of the vessel are two rows of herringbone design made with a small toothed stamp. The surface has traces of smoothing and burnishing. Associations: 1) Vessel (#251); 2) sheep bones - legs, ribs, and several astragali. Grave Details: Two skeletons: 1) a male, 30-35, flexed his on the left the side, head NE, hands along the side of his trunk, legs bent back behind the pelvis. 2) A baby up to one year old on left side, head NE at the legs of the male. Astragali lay before the left shoulder of the deceased male. This was a secondary grave in a niche.

Figure: 76 Source: Excavator's Report 1986:58, fig. 121/1. Vessel Type: Pot fragment-IX Museum No.: 24102/1 Kurgan: 20 m dia. x 0.89 m high (11 graves)

251.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986

Ust'-Pogozh 'e I K-1, g-8

Figures: 36/b, 46/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Measurements: No rim; B 9.2 cm; H 15.4 cm. Material: Dark clay in fracture without noticable temper Description: On the shoulder are two relief modeled bulges. The upper bulge is probably at the junction where the neck would begin if it were present. The space between the bulges

Pot-lI-2a/A 1 24102/3

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986

137

V . .

.

Catalogue Measurements: R 12.1 cm; B 4.5 cm; H 11.7 cm. Material: Clay with a small amount of ground shell Description: A thin-walled egg-shaped vessel with a flattened bottom. The rim is straight and curves slightly into the shoulder . Beneath the rib of the vessel are triple parallel single cord lines which circle the body. These lines have three sags much like vessel #250. The inside surface of the pot has traces of smoothing . The outer surface is covered with inclined lines of smoothing. Associations: Grave Details:

Material: Black clay with shell tempe r Description: The upper part of the rim has a herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp. The short straight neck turns outward at the rolled edge and transfers into a smooth shoulder . The whole surface of the body from the shoulder down is decorated with a herringbone pattern made with a small toothed stamp. Some places of the body are burnished to a shine. The vessel is a light brown color with dark spots. Associations: Flint flake before the chest (2.5 x 1.4 cm). Grave Details: A badly preserved skeleton of a child , 3-4 years old, lay on its right side, head E, and hands on the thighs. This was a secondary niche grave with a stair.

See #250. See #250.

Source: Excavator's Report 1986:59, fig. 121/2 252.

Source: Excavator's Report 1986:65-66, fig. 141. Analogies: Bratchenko 1976:64, fig. 4-6 . Mamontov 1994 :fig . 11/1. Sinitsyn 1959: 18, fig. 3 8/6 .

Ust'-Pogozh 'e I K-2, g-2

Figures: 38/a, 47/a 2

254.

L...LLJ

Ust'-Pogozh 'e I K-3, g-8

Vessel Type: Pot-lI-3b/A Museum No.: 24102/6 Kurgan: 22 m dia. x 0.72 m high (6 graves)

Figure: 69/b

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986

Vessel Type: Amphora - VI- I/? Museum No.: 24102/12 Kurgan: 17 m dia. x 0.6 m high (8 graves)

Measurements: R 11. 7 cm; B 6.8; H I 0.3 cm. Material: Black clay with sand Description: The vessel was reconstructed, and there are breaks in the surface. The rim is thickened and turns out. The short neck goes into a broad body. On the edge of the rim are ochre spots . Beneath the shoulder are three parallel rows of concentric circles made with a stamp . Another row of the same stamp is at the bottom of the vessel.

Cultural Period: Catacomb, Manych type Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986 Measurements: R 17.4 cm; B 9.8 cm ; H 19 cm . Material: Dark clay with sand Description: The vessel was reconstructed from fragments. It has a round body with a narrow bottom, tall neck, and a rim that turns out. On opposite sides of the vessel on the upper part of the body are thick handles. On the edge of the rim is a row of short imprints made with a three-toothed stamp. Made by the same stamp are two rows of imprints , one on the upper edge of the handles, and another at the base. These rows point opposite to each other (the upper goes to the right and the lower to the left) . The shoulder is decorated with single cord impressions. Beneath this are chevron-like points. The sides of these chevrons were formed by parallel , slightly curved lines. The lower part of the body bears traces of smoothing.

Associations: None . Grave Details: Two skeletons: 1) An adolescent lay on its right side, head NE, in a crouched position; it was in bad condition. 2) A baby , of undetermined age , lay possibly on its back, head E at the adolescent's legs. This was a drop-shaped secondary pit grave L I.I m, W 0.55 m . Source: Excavator's Report 1986:63, figs. 133, 134. Analogies: Bratchenko 1976:table XII/3. Sanzharov 1992:fig. 5/4 .

253.

Associations: None Grave Details: A female , 55-60 , lay on her left side , head N , legs bent with heels back , left arm straight to the thigh , and right arm bent upward. This was a secondary niche grave with a stair (grave 0.18 m deep).

Ust'-Pogozh 'e I K-2, g-4

Figures: 38/a , 50/a Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot -Il -3b/A 24102/10

4

Source: Excavator's Repor t 1986:71-72, fig. 157. Analogies: Ierusalimskaya 1958 :fig. 1/42 . Bratchenko 1976:41 , fig. 18/2. Shape : Trifonov 1991:fig. 20/III/44.

u...w

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986

255.

Measurements:

Figures: 36/c, 50/a

R 10.7 cm; B 5.6 cm ; H 10.4 cm .

138

Ust'-Pogozh 'e I K-4, g-7

Catalogue 4

Vessel Type: Pot - II-2b/ A Museum No.: 24102/22 Kurgan: 17 m dia. x 0.63 m high (12 graves)

Museum No.: 5884/87 Kurgan: 50 m dia. x 2.5 m high (12 graves) Cultural Period: Yamna Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1958

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986

Measurements: R 10.5 cm; B 3 cm; H 12.8 cm; body dia. 12 cm. Material: Clay Description: The vessel is egg-shaped with a thick pronounced rim and slightly flattened bottom. The shoulders are decorated with cord impressions which go around the body in an irregular manner. The body beneath the shoulder is smoothed at a diagonal with a large toothed stamp. The surface is brown with dark soot spots and residue.

Measurements: R 15.5 cm; B 10.2 cm; H 14.6 cm. Material: Dark clay with chamotte Description: This is a fragmented vessel with a straight short neck which transfers into a shoulder on which there is a band of four horizontal incision lines made with a stick point. There are three lines of the same incisions at the bottom. Associations: 1) Fragments of two bronze pendants found with pot sherds near the skull - I 1/2 revolutions, dia. I cm; 2) sheep bones before the face; 3) ochre. Grave Details: A child, 10 years old, lay on its left side in a flexed position, anns bent in at elbows, head NE. The skeleton lay on an organic layer of bedding covered with ochre. This was a secondary pit grave.

Associations: Ochre. Grave Details: An infant was crouched on its back. The skull was smashed but pointed NE. There was ochre in this secondary grave. Sources: Excavator's Report 1958:114, fig. XLIV/1. 1974: figs. 7/4 and 13/13 (2nd group).

Source: Excavator's Report 1986:78, figs. 169 and 170.

256*.

Ust'-Pogozh 'e I K-4, g-12

IJ

Pot-Il-3a/B 6868/20

Verkhne Pogromnoe K-19, g-11

z

Figures: 37, 54/a Vessel Type: Museum No.:

258.

.

Merpert

3

Figures: 21, 24/a, 29

L.U..I

ai

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

3

Pot- YN-III-YB-I/B a 5881/82

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1986

Cultural Period: Y amna Excavator: V. P. Shilov Date of Excavation: 1958

Measurements: R 14 cm; B 8 cm; H 11 cm. Material: Dark clay with shell Description: This is a decorated can-shaped vessel with a foot. The neck is ornamented with three rows of single cord imprints. The body has a herringbone decoration also made with single cord. Three lines of cord circle the pot at the bottom.

Measurements: R 12 cm; H 15.8 cm; body dia. 15.9 cm. Material: Black clay with shell temper Description: This egg-shaped vessel has a pronounced thickened rim. Under the rim is a row of punches made with a stick; some are pearls and others are o-points. Beneath this is a row of shovel imprints crossed by diagonal lines made by the same inclined toothed stamp. The body is decorated with vertical, horizontal, and inclined lines made from a large toothed stamp and it bears the traces of rough smoothing by a toothed stamp. The surface is light brown with dark soot spots.

Associations: None. Grave Details: The skeleton was completely jumbled. This was a secondary niche grave with two stairs. Source: Excavator's Report 1986:83, fig. 182. 1959:55, fig. 9/6.

Sinitsyn

Associations: Ochre Grave Details: The jumbled bones of an infant skeleton lay in this secondary grave. Sources: Excavator's Report 1958:115, fig. XLIV/2. Merpert 1974:figs. 7/6 and 13/14.

VERKHNE POGROMNOE

257.

Verkhne Pogromnoe K-19, g-9 VERTYACHIY

Figures: 21, 24/b, 26 259. Vessel Type:

Pot- YN-III/YB-WA

1

139

Vertyachiy K-7, g-8

Catalogue Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Figures: 38/a, 50/a Vessel Type: Pot-II-3b/A Museum No.: 21040/3 Kurgan: 30 graves

4

Pot-II-2b/A 21040/6

1

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1979

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1979

Measurements: R 11.8 cm; B 7.7 cm; H 12.2 cm . Material: Dark clay Description: The vessel is thin-walled with a straight neck. There are three rows of inclined oval incision which circle the body, creating a short herringbone design. From the shoulder down to the bottom are slanting lines of smoothing made from grass.

Measurements: R 9.5 cm; B 5.7 cm; H 9.2 cm. Material: Clay Description: The rim is broken and part of the surface is flaked on this vessel. The neck turns outward and is undecorated. Beneath the shoulder there are four rows of a small toothed stamp which create a herringbone pattern. There is a horizontal row of inclined imprints at the bottom of the vessel made by the same stamp . The bottom is lightly concaved. The surface is burnished and is a pinkish color .

Associations: 1) Sheep leg bones; 2) astragalus; 3) two small silver pendants which are round disks with a relief of concentric circles to which a loop is stuck (dia. 0.6 cm; dia. ofloop 0.3 cm; common length of the pendant 0.9 cm) ; 4) piece of ochre at the heel bone of the left leg. Grave Details: An infant skeleton lay on its left side, head E , the left arm bent at the elbow and laid on the right thigh . This was a secondary pit grave with two stairs .

Associations: 1) Animal leg bones ; 2) bronze pendant ; 3) spindle whorl of a sandy brown color ; 4) ochre . Grave Details: The skeleton of a child lay on its left side, head NW, and was slightly covered with ochre . This was a secondary pit grave.

Source: Excavator's Report 1979:15, figs. 3/2 and 7. Analogies: Sinitsyn 1978: 19-20, table 30/2.

Source: Excavator's Report 1979:10, figs. 3/1 and 12/2. Analogies: Bratchenko 1979:33, fig. 16/6. Aleshina et al. 1985:35-36, fig. 43/1.

262.

Vertyachiy K-7, g-16

260.

.._

Vertyachiy K-7, g-9

Figure: 71/b

~

Figure: 73/c Vessel Type: Museum No.:

l

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

u...u

0

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1979

Base Brazier - VIII-1/C Unavailable

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1979

Measurements: R 15.5 cm; H 10.4 cm. Material: Dark flaky clay Description: The base is square with concaved sides, which creates four legs. Inside the large bowl is a smaller compartment. The upper part of the smaller cavity and the whole outer smface of the larger bowl is covered with a herringbone design made with the end of a stick with tightly wrapped thread on it, creating a larva stamp. At the juncture of the large and small section there are two penetrations that are 0. 7 cm in dia. On the opposite side of the vessel are two holes. The legs are decorated with imprints of the same stamp and are parallel to the base.

Measurements: B 9.5 cm; H 9.7 cm. Material: Dark clay Description: This is the bottom of a large storage vessel with an even bottom, decorated with dense rows of parallel fingernail imprints. Associations: None. Grave Details: An adult skeleton lay on its right side, head SE, and hand bones at bottom of the pelvis. There was no ochre. This was a secondary grave in a slight niche with a stair .

Associations: Thirty-nine astragali. Grave Details: Only the skull of a child remained. The skeleton was completely decomposed, but it apparently lay on the right side with head N. This was a secondary pit grave with one stair.

Source: Excavator's Report 1979:11 , figs. 5 and 19/5.

261.

Censer - VII-4/B 21040/7

Vertyachiy

Source: Excavator's Report 1979:17, figs . 19/3 and 28. Analogy: Sinitsyn and Erdniv 1966: 165, fig. 4.

K-7, g-12

Figures: 36/c, 46/b u...u

140

Catalogue 263.

Vertyachiy

Museum No.:

21040/12

K-7, g-22

Cultural Period: Yamna Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1979

Figure: 78 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Base Brazier - VIII-1/0 Unavailable

Measurements: R 14.0 cm; H 15.2 cm. Material: Dark clay with ground shell Description: The vessel was reconstructed from sherds but the surface is flaked. It is egg-shaped with a straight thick neck melding into a slight shoulder. At the rim the transition is a row of pearl imprints. From the shoulder down to the bottom are oblique scratches of a large four-toothed stamp and over the scratches at equal distances from each other are straight lines.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1979 Measurements: Widest dia. 21.2 cm; B 13 cm; H 10.3 cm. Material: Dark clay Description: This is the base of a large vessel reconstructed from sherds. It is smoothed inside and out and is without decoration. Associations: 1) Fragment of a bronze knife with double blade (blade L 8 cm; tang 4 cm L); 2) bronze awl with four facets (L 8.5 cm; tang 3 cm); 3) pieces ofred ochre. Grave Details: Small pieces of bone of an adult were mixed in this secondary pit grave.

Associations: 1) Vessel (#266); 2) ochre. Grave Details: The badly preserved bones of a child lay in this secondary grave. The bones were covered with ocher, and the head was oriented E. Source: Excavator's Report 1979:25, fig. 3/11, 27/1. Analogies: Sinitsyn 1959:71, fig. 17/5.

Source: Excavator's Report 1979:21, fig. 18/4. 266.

Vertyachiy K-7, g-28

264.

Vertyachiy

Figures: 20, 24/a, 29

K-7, g-23

() .

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Figures: 38/a, 46/b Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Pot-Il-3b/A 21040/11

1

Pot-YN-II/YB-I/B 21040/13

'

Measurements: R 8.0 cm; H 12.0 cm Material: Dark clay with ground shell Description: The vessel was reconstructed from sherds and the rim of the mouth is flaked. The vessel is egg-shaped, and the body is decorated with parallel rows that circle the vessel and executed by the impression of a tightly twirled cord. These rows begin just below the neck and cover three-quarters of the body. On the rim, beneath the slightly turned-out rim, are pearl impressions made from the inside; they do not go through the vessel.

Measurements: R 17.4 cm; B 9.0 cm; H 12.6 cm. Material: Dark clay Description: The rim of this vessel turns outward, and the transition of neck to shoulder is smooth. The body is covered with traces of smoothing. On the edge of the bottom are rows of inclined small toothed stamp, but the vessel is otherwise without decoration. Associations: 1) Human baby tooth; 2) tiny decay level of bones of a child; 3) cane. Grave Details: A female skeleton lay on left side, head NW, hands on thighs. Cane was on the bottom of the grave. This was a secondary niche grave with a stair.

Associations: Grave Details:

See #265. See #265.

Source: Excavator's Report 1979:26, fig. 3/12 and 27/2. Analogies: Sinitsyn 1959:71, fig. 17/8.

Source: Excavator's Report 1979:22, fig. 18/7. Analogies: Sinitsyn 1978:82, table 75/2. 267.

Vertyachiy K-9, g-29

Vertyachiy K-7, g-28

Figures: 38/b, 50/a

Figures: 20, 24/a, 29 Vessel Type:

a

Cultural Period: Yamna Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1979

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1979

265.

3

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

3

Pot- YN-II/YB-I/B a

141

Pot- II-3c/A 21040/14

4

Catalogue Kurgan: 31 m dia. x 1.83 m high (7 graves) Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. M . Klepikov Date of Excavation: 1990

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1979 Measurements: R 14 cm; B 10.6 cm; H 12 cm. Material: Dark clay Description: This is a thick-walled vessel that has a turnedout neck. The neck transfers into a short almost, turnipshaped body . The ornament of the upper two-thirds of the body is a herringbone design made with a larva stamp. The herringbone ornament is interrupted about two-thirds of the way down the vessel but begins again at the bottom with the same stamp .

Measurements: R 17 cm ; H 9 .5 cm ; Height of base 3 .3 cm; Wd. 7.7 cm ; Th. 0.8 cm; inner compartment 4.5 x 5.2 x 3.5 cm . Material: Clay Description: The vessel has a small separate compartment and sits on a cross-like base that have vertical lines on the underside. All four legs are formed together . There are two sets of holes , one on each side of the small compartment, and also two holes crossing the base. The surface is decorated inside and out. The edge of the rim is ornamented with inclined incisions of imitation cord. The outer surface has nine rows of cord impressions. Between rows one and two , three and four , and six and seven, are rows of double pricks . Under this ornament , above the legs, is a band of angles made from cord. The inner surface is decorated with chevrons , with points toward the rim , also made from cord, creatin g a crude star-like pattern . The inner space between the chevrons is taken up with inclined lines. Th e separate compartmen t is ornamented with pricks on the rim and horizontal imprints of cord.

Associations: 1) Leg bones of an animal, possibly a bull; 2) two bronze beads; 3) piece of ochre . Grave Details: A female skeleton lay on her right side, head SW, right hand on the right knee , left hand on the left thigh . This was a secondary pit grave . Source: Excavator 's Report 1979:27 , fig . 12/ 1 and 19/4. Analogy: Sinitsyn 1978:98, table 91/6 .

Associations: Pieces of ochre . Grave Details: The skeleton of an old male lay on his right side in a crouched position; it was oriented east with the face N . The hands were at the body and palms on the hips. The censer was before his face. Fragments of bones of a teenager, 12-14, were also present. This was a secondary grave.

VETYUTNEV 268.

Vetyutnev K-2, g-4

Figure: 72 Vessel Type: Base Brazier- VIII-1/0 Museum No.: Unavailable Kurgan: 42 m dia. ·x 1.07 m high (4 graves)

Source: Excavator's Report 1990:28, figs. 75, 77, and 78. 270.

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. M. Klepikov Date of Excavation: 1990

Figures: 15/b, 19/b, 24/d , 27 3

Measurements: Dia . 21.5 cm ; B 12.4 cm; H 7 cm; Th. 0.8 cm. Material: Clay Description: The surface of this vessel is roughly smoothed horizontally by a bunch of grass . The bottom is slightly concaved and on the inside there was a residue .

Vessel Type: Pot- YN-I-2NB-IV/A Museum No.: 28052/66 Kurgan: W-E 29 m x N-S 23 m dia. x 1.13 m high (7 graves) Cultural Period: Y amna Excavator: V. M. Klepikov Date of Excavation: 1990

Associations: 1) Sheep bones; 2) charcoal; 3) ochre. Grave Details: An adult skeleton lay on a wooden layer , on its right side, head facing SW. The brazier was in the south comer with charcoal inside. This pit grave was primary.

Measurements: R 9.2 cm; H 8.8 cm; Th. 0.5 cm. Material: Black clay with shell Description: The vessel has a globular body with a slightly formed rim. The surface is completely covered with horizontal rows made with a small toothed stamp (imitation cord) . The bottom is decorated with parallel rows of a small toothed stamp. The walls are very thin and this vessel is delicately and beautifully made.

Source: Excavator's Report 1990:15 , figs. 46 and 47.

269.

Vetyutnev K-4, g-5

Associations: 1) Three lower animal jaws , probably fox; 2) wood ; 3) ochre. Grave Details: An infant, 1-2, lay on a wooden base , 1.5 m NE of the center of the kurgan , head SW . The pot lay at the

Figure: 71/b Vessel Type: Museum No. :

Vetyutnev K-10, g-2

Censer - VII-4/B 28052 / 18

142

Catalogue Source: Excavator's Report 1990:74, fig. 241-44. Analogy: Bratchenko 1976:fig. 29/1. Shape: Merpert 1974:fig. 15/3 (3rd group) .

same method, triple chevrons with points down circle the vessel. This is a rather crude vessel. Associations: None. Grave Details: An infant up to one year lay on its back in a crouched position, head NE, and knees to the R.

VINOVKA 271.

Vinovka K-1, g-4

Source: Excavator's Report 1988:25, figs. 74-76. Analogy: Decoration and shape but without foot Aleshina et al. 1985:table 16/9.

~:

Figures: 45, 77/d, Table 23/26

\~ 273.

./:,~/~i ·/ -r:

Vessel Type: Clay wheel model - X-4/0 Museum No.: 18400/8 -- ..·.·,..·'· Kurgan: 15 m dia. x ca. 0.8 m high (4 graves) ;,:.-. •

Vodyanskoy Single kurgan 1, g-5

Figures: 72, Table 23/11 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Cultural Period: Catacomb Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1980

Base Brazier- VIII-1/0 26103/8

Cultural Period: Classic Early Catacomb grave Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1988

D 10 cm; L of shaft 7.5 cm; hole dia. 1.1 cm. Material: Dark clay with sand Description: The wheel is reconstructed. It has hubs on both sides. There is no decoration but the swface is light brown and well smoothed. Measurements:

Measurements: B 10.4 cm; highest point 4.5 cm. Material: Dark clay in fracture Description: The inner part of the vessel has traces of rough smoothing, but there is no decoration.

Associations: 1) Fragment of brazier; 2) pieces of blunt flint; 3) a large piece of charcoal; 4) ribs and fragments of bones of large animal; 5) astragalus. Grave Details: No skeleton. The wheel was in the SE part on the bottom of this pit grave. Three graves had been previously excavated by a local archaeological club, and it is not clear which was primary.

Associations: 1) Skull of a ram; 2) bones of a small animal at the left elbow; 3) large pieces of ochre; 4) seven bronze beads round in section 0.4 cm dia.; 0.3 cm H; 5) three bone barrel-shapped beads 0.8 cm L; 0.6 cm H; 6) four bone ribbed pins - two long 4.1 and 4.2 cm L; 0.5 and 0.6 cm dia.; two short 2.2 and 2 cm L; 0.6 cm dia. carved circularly; 7) cane; 8) ochre. Grave Details: A male, 25-30 years old, lay on his left side; he had fallen on his back. His head was S, legs bent, and hands on his thigh. This was a secondary niche grave which had two stairs and a layer of cane and ochre.

Source: Excavator's Report 1980:50, figs. 87, 88/4, and 88/5. Analogies: Korenevskiy 1990:fig. 4 7/14; Derzhavin 1991 :fig. 17/19.

Source: Excavator's Report 1988:25, figs. 82/1, 2.

VODYANSKOY 274.

272.

Vodyanskoy Single kurgan 1, g-4

Figures: 19/b, 24/d, 31 Vessel Type: Museum No.:

Q)

Figures:

Vodyanskoy Single kurgan 1, g-6 19/b, 24/a, 29

Vessel Type: Museum No.:

YN-I-2/YB IV 26103/2

3

Pot - YN-I-2/YB-I/B a 26103/9

L....L..LI

Cultural Period: Y amna Excavator: V. I. Mamontov Date of Excavation: 1988

Cultural Period: Yamna Date of Excavation: 1988 Excavator: V. I. Mamontov

Measurements: R 10.6 cm; H 11.2 cm. Material: Dark clay in fracture Description: The vessel is egg-shaped, and the rim turns in. Below the rim is a row of inclined incisions which circle the undefined neck. Below this, o-points, which do not penetrate the vessel fully, are spaced around the vessel. Beneath these,

Measurements: R 7.0 cm; H 7.0 cm. Material: Dark clay in fracture Description: The rim of this vessel turns in. The body is round, and there is a thickened base which is slightly flattened. Beneath the rim are two parallel rows of cord design. Beneath this a circular line of