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5. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SOUTHERN URALIAN AND FOREST-STEPPE VOLGA VARIETIES OF THE SINTASHTA AND POTAPOVKA CULTURES, MIDDLE TO LATE BRONZE AGE TRANSITION

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SOUTHERN URALIAN AND FOREST-STEPPE VOLGA VARIETIES OF THE SINTASHTA AND POTAPOVKA CULTURES, MIDDLE TO LATE BRONZE AGE TRANSITION

Khokhlov Alexander (1), Kitov Egor (2)

1) State Academy of Social Sciences and Humanities, Samara, Russia; 2) Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Kitov Egor, e-mail: kadet_eg@mail.ru.

Аннотация

The study of the Bronze Age sites in the Southern Uralian and Volga steppes is crucial for addressing many issues of Eurasian prehistory. The discovery of a number of archaeological sites dating to the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age, and in particular of a series of fortified settlements of Arkaim type, resulted in a revision of the existing periodization of the archaeological cultures in the region, and of the views concerning their origins. It was immediately suggested that people who lived in these settlements and left kurgan graveyards with remains of early battle chariots, abundant animal sacrifices, and very specific burial practices, were Indo-Iranians. We have had an opportunity to study skeletal materials from the Sintashta-Arkaim sites in Southern Urals and from the forest-steppe Potapovka sites of the Volga region, which are culturally related (materials are stored at the Volga State Socio-Humanitarian Academy in Samara). Various analytical methods were utilised, and close relationship between the two neighbouring populations was revealed. At the same time, the considerable heterogeneity of these groups, which has no parallels among preceding or succeeding Bronze Age populations, was noted. Almost all anthropological series demonstrate features that could indicate either steppe or northern forest affinities. Some series could represent a result of a mechanical mixture while others attest to incipient hybridization. Despite the evidence of military activity in the society (fortified settlements, chariots, weapons), a small number of injuries suggests that Sintashta and Potapovka populations were involved in conflicts only occasionally. It should be emphasized that despite the apparent cultural homogeneity of the cemeteries, the buried people were not necessarily related to each other. The central and elite graves often contain individuals of a hypermorphic European type, perhaps of steppe origin. We therefore conclude that one must concentrate on elite burials to identify the founders of the Sintashta and Potapovka traditions in this archaeologically homogenous and, at the same time, biologically heterogeneous group.

Ключевые слова

Bronze Age, Southern Urals, Sintashta-Arkaim, Potapovka, Indo-Iranian origins

Цит.: Khokhlov Alexander, Kitov Egor ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SOUTHERN URALIAN AND FOREST-STEPPE VOLGA VARIETIES OF THE SINTASHTA AND POTAPOVKA CULTURES, MIDDLE TO LATE BRONZE AGE TRANSITION // Вестник Московского университета. Серия XXIII. Антропология, 2014; 3/2014; с. 72-73