Suchergebnisse

In the article we present new results of the study of the child skull found in a burial at the Upper Paleolithic site of Kostenki 15 (Gorodtsov site). While the CT analysis of the earlier reconstructed skull revealed high level of destruction of the morphologically important landmarks which prevents from using the conventional cranial metric characteristics of the individual in population studies, the analysis of its dental morphology was shown to be much more informative. Our study revealed that the upper incisors and lower molars of the sample display a specific complex of non-metric traits which combine European (4-cusped first molars) traits with such Asian characteristics as shovel-shaped upper lateral incisors, odontoglyphic patterns on the first lower molars, and morphology of the second lower deciduous molars. The results of the statistical analysis of the dental metrics does not match with the hypothesis on close biological affinities of the Kostenki 15 child with Předmostí and Dolní Věstonice populations put forward by Yakimov but again revealed intermediate European-Asian position of the Kostenki 15 sample. Several European samples including those from the Pavlov, Cap Blanc and Grotte de la Balauzière sites and one Siberian sample from the Malta settlement demonstrate the highest level of similarity with the Kostenki 15. Apparently, it can be argued that the results of our study suggest long distance migrations in Eurasia as early as the Upper Paleolithic.

The paper addresses the results of the study of a rich Middle Sarmatian female burial (end of the 1st century BC — first half of the 1st century AD) discovered in the Sal-Manych steppe, on the border between the Rostov Oblast and Kalmykia. The funerary rite and goods are typical for elite burials of the Middle Sarmatian culture (diagonal burial in a large rectangular pit with a recess, two cast bronze cauldrons, clothes with golden elements, imported fibulae, a gem). The authors have conducted the comparative and typological analysis of chronological indicators found among the grave goods, as well as radiocarbon dating, which allowed to narrow down the chronological interval for the burial. Study of strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes ratio from the buried woman's dental enamel and background samples from the studied region have showed that the Sarmatian woman buried in the Peschany IV barrow group was of local origin. The interdisciplinary approach allowed to reconstruct the life story of the buried woman and her grave goods.

The article is devoted to the study of one of the types of Keilmessers, the Volgograd-type knife, from the Micoquian/KMG assemblage of the Sukhaya Mechetka site. For the first time, 3D geometric morphometrics method is used to study the morphology of stone artifacts within the framework of the structural approach, combined with the analysis of flaking systems. The methods used are aimed at highlighting the seriality of individual elements in the structure of artifacts. It allows to offer an up-to-date approach to comparing assemblages with bifacial tools, regardless of their cultural and chronological attribution. In the course of the work it was possible to Point our the seriality of structural elements of the keilmessers of the Sukhaya Mechetka type and to determine their characteristic features. This work represents a stage of research that aspires to identify typological features within the Keilmesser era (Late Auchelian — Early Upper Paleolithic) and, finally, to better understand the cultural and temporal variability of the Middle Palaeolithic Micoquian/KMG unity/technocomplex of North Eurasia.

Artificial cranial deformation is known among the steppe Bronze Age population. This tradition again pervaded in the steppes of Eastern Europe burials in the first centuries AD after thousands of years. The authors investigate the sagittal contours of deformed skulls using geometric morphometric methods. The skulls from sites located in the Northwest Caspian dated by the Early and Middle Bronze Age have been analysed. In addition, the authors investigated deformed skulls from the northeastern periphery of the Catacomb culture (the Bronze Age) and from the Late Sarmatian sites (Late Antiquity). It has been established that low variation of the occipital-parietal cranial flattening had characterized population of the Yamnaya, Yamnaya-Catacomb and Early Catacomb cultures of the Northwest Caspian. Other type of cranial deformation, more variable, occurred among the population of Vostochnomanychskaya Catacomb culture: neurocranium was increased in height and reduced in length. This tradition was widespread on the southern territories of the Catacomb cultural historical community, it was also observed in its northeastern periphery, but less often and not quite the same. A comparison showed distinct differences between the sagittal contours of the deformed skulls of the Catacomb and Late Sarmatian cultures.

Various kinds of postmortem manipulations with the bodies of the dead were widespread in the ritual practice of the Scythian tribes of Eurasia. One of the evidences of such practice is finds of isolated skeletal bones or skulls buried in an unusual context. One of the sites where such finds was discovered is the Bystrovka-2 burial ground of the Kamenka archaeological culture in the Novosibirsk Ob region. In the kurgan 9 of this site, a ritual complex containing the burial of three human skulls, previously displayed on stakes or poles was excavated. In this article we present the results of recent anthropological analyzes of these skulls and discuss the question concerning the origin of the sacrificed people. The analyzed data allow us to say that in the Kamenka society, putting heads on poles rather had an apotropic function than was connected with military cults. The sacrificed people were selected from the strongest and healthiest young people. The condition of the bones of the skull and dentition of the examined individuals definitely indicates a relatively low level of biological stress. Comparison of the skulls from Bystrovka-2 with the skull found at the Kulayka settlement of Bolshoi Log in Omsk showed the possibility of coincidence of some mythical and ritual practices among the Kamenka and Kulayka archaeological cultures. The intentional lesions found on the skulls from these two sites are functionally and anatomically fully identical. The first group of injuries observed at the base of the skull are traces of postmortem decapitation, the second found on the cranial vault is technological holes for fixing the head on a pole. The central element of the ritual in both cases was precisely placing the head on a pole and thus creating an apotrope indicating the border of the "clean" territory.

The Late Upper Palaeolithic of Kostёnki and adjacent territories (~21—12 ka uncal BP/~27—14 ka cal BP) remains the period least well-documented with absolute dating evidence. During this study, 19 samples were collected from the cultural layers of ten sites and submitted to the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) for radiocarbon dating. The results obtained significantly advance our knowledge of these sites' ages and of the development of the Palaeolithic in and around Kostёnki. The new data suggest a unique refugium in Kostёnki during the peak of Late Glacial Maximum (~21—18 ka uncal BP/~27—22 ka cal BP), represented by sites of the Zamyatninskaya culture, which has a specific lithic industry. Sites for that period are extremely rare outside Kostёnki. Similar refugia during the LGM have been recorded in Central Europe in Moravia and the Carpathian Basin. At the time of deglaciation, in the period of ~15—16 ka uncal BP (~20—18 ka cal BP), Late/Typical Epigravettian sites appear on the Middle Don, which seems to be relatively synchronous across wide areas of Central and Eastern Europe. Also worthy of note are sites with a cultural attribution different from the Late Epigravettian (Byki 7, Samotoevka) in the period of ~18—16 ka uncal BP (~22—19 ka cal BP) in the Center of the Russian Plain.