Combining Relative Chronology and AMS 14C Dating to Contextualize ‘Megasites’, Serial Migrations and Diachronic Expressions of Material Culture in the Western Tripolye Culture, Ukraine

Scholarship regarding the Eneolithic Cucuteni-Tripolye cultural complex of Romania, Moldova and Ukraine has recently focused on ‘megasites’ of the Western Tripolye culture (WTC) in Central Ukraine. However, in order to properly contextualize such unusual phenomena, we must explore the broader typo-chronology of the WTC, which is suggestive of a high degree of mobility and technological transfer between regions. We report 28 new AMS 14C dates from sites representing diagnostic types and propose a high-resolution chronological sequence for the WTC’s development. Our results support the relative chronology and offer an opportunity to propose a new chronological synthesis for the WTC

A unique find of a cast of a nose from a grave of the Pit Grave culture, the Molochnaya River region (Ukraine)

A burial of a young woman belonged to the Pit Grave culture revealed a cast of a nose made of a resinous substance on the face of a badly crushed skull; the cast was covered with a layer of bright red ochre. It had been formed as a result of the fact that shortly before her burial a nose of the deceased, below the bridge, was carefully covered with a thin layer of liquid resin and painted over with red ocher. The cast retains well-defined details that perfectly reflect the natural shape of the deceased’s nose: its shape, size, nostrils, transition into the upper lip and to the nasal bridge. Due to the decomposition of soft tissues and hardening of resin, the shape has been slightly deformed but, nevertheless, it reflects anatomical features of one of the bearers of the local Pit Grave culture. A short resin plaque clamped between the teeth of the deceased is less informative. It shows the prints of several teeth and a fold which, probably, delineates the imprints of closed lips. In connection with these finds the author discusses other cases of presence of resinous substances in graves of the Early Bronze Age (burials of the Pit Grave culture and burials of the early Catacomb type); also cited are examples from the burials of the earlier Late Eneolithic period. Analysis of resinous substances from the latter defined them as tar. Therefore, the author suggests that in the late Eneolithic and the Early Bronze Age the population used resinous substances for therapeutic and magical purposes

Eneolithic Burial Mounds in the Black Sea Steppe: from the First Burial Symbols to Monumental Ritual Architecture

1. First of all, it is important to define the term “mound” in the case of the Black Sea steppe. The term “kurgan” is used in Russian and “mohyla” in Ukrainian. These terms have no scientific differences. In reality there are differences between the contemporary use of the term “kurgan” and its application to the original constructions. Therefore, it is important today to aim at producing a scientific definition of “Kurgan” as a class of ritual monumental architecture and to assess the dynamics of its development. 2. The first period of development (Early Eneolithic, 4750-4100 В.С.) can be described as a period of emergence of the first burial symbols. During this time burials were marked on the ground surface by simple, small, stone constructions. 3. The second period of development in ritual architecture (Middle Eneolithic, 3800/3700-3500/3400 В.С.) shows a new system in which different cultures display various burial traditions. The first monumental architecture originates in this period. The construction of monuments includes a standard set of building elements: stone circles, ditches and mounds with complex combinations of black earth and clay. 4. The third period of development of ritual monumental architecture (Late Eneolithic, 3500/3400-3000/2900 В.С.) can be considered a direct continuation of the second period but at the local level a separate cultural phenomenon is already identifiable. This period can be considered to be one of full dependence on the Northern Pontic steppes in two agricultural regions: the Trypillia and Maikop-Novosvobodnaia unity.Rassamakin Yuri Yakovlevič. Eneolithic Burial Mounds in the Black Sea Steppe: from the First Burial Symbols to Monumental Ritual Architecture. In: Ancestral Landscape. Burial mounds in the Copper and Bronze Ages (Central and Eastern Europe – Balkans – Adriatic – Aegean, 4th-2nd millennium B.C.) Proceedings of the International Conference held in Udine, May 15th-18th 2008. Lyon : Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, 2012. pp. 293-305. (Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée. Série recherches archéologiques, 58

Differing modes of animal exploitation in North-Pontic Eneolithic and Bronze Age Societies

This paper presents new results of an interdisciplinary investigation of the diet and subsistence strategies of populations living in the North-Pontic region during the Eneolithic and the Early Bronze Age (ca. 3800 BC to the 2500 BC). New organic residue analyses of >200 sherds from five Eneolithic sites and two Early Bronze Age settlements are presented. The molecular and stable isotope results are discussed in relation to zooarchaeological evidence. Overall, the findings suggest that each community relied on either a hunting- or a husbandry-based subsistence strategy dependent upon the ecosystem in which they settled; horses and wild animals dominated subsistence in the forest-steppe communities in contrast to ruminant husbandry in the steppe