Prehistoric Russia: an outline

509 Pages·1970·16.957 MB·English

by  Tadeusz Sulimirski

Prehistoric Russia
AN OUTLINE

Silver beaker from barrow grave
in Trialed.
P r e h isto r ic
R u ss ia
AN OUTLINE
Tadeusz
Sulimirski
JOHN BAKER
HUMANITIES PRESS
O 1970 Tadeusz Sulimirski
First published in 1970 by
John Baker (Publishers) Ltd
5 Royal Opera Arcade
Pall Mall, London S.W.l
S.B.N. a 12 99831 5
Humanities Press Inc
303 Park Av South
New York, N. Y. 10010
Printed and bound in the Republic of Ireland by
Hely Thom Looted, Dublin
Contents
Illustrations xi
Preface xix
THE DAWN i
Introduction i
The Pleistocene Age 6
The Lower Palaeolithic 8
The Mousterian Period 8
The Upper Palaeolithic 13
Stages in Evolution and Chronology 21
The Mesolithic 27
The Pontic Province 34
The Caucasus 34
The Crimea 35
The Lower Dnieper 37
Other Pontic Mesolithic Groups 38
Podolia 40
The Forest Zone 41
The East 44
The Shigir Culture 45
The North-West and North 48
The Kunda Culture 49
Summary 52
References 54
THE NEOLITHIC (The Fourth and Third
Millennia B.C.) 55
Neolithic Revolution 55
The Early and Middle Neolithic in the South 59
The Danubian I Culture 61
The Southern Bug Culture 64
143232
VI CONTENTS
The Tripolye Culture 66
Further Development 71
The Ancient Pontic Province 74
Transcaucasia 74
The Crimea 79
The Valley of the Dnieper 80
The Early and Middle Neolithic in the Forest
Zone 84
The Comb-Pricked Ware Culture 86
East-Baltic Cultures 90
The Valdai Culture 92
The Volga-Oka Assemblage 93
The Neolithic in the East 98
Soviet Central Asia 98
The Kama-Ural Province 102
The South Urals 106
The Late Neolithic in the South 107
The Tripolye Culture 108
The Dnieper-Donetz Culture 109
The Valley of the Dnieper 113
The Caucasus 116
The Maikop Culture 117
The Abkhasian Dolmen Culture 125
The Steppe Country 127
The Yamnaya Culture 127
Steppe Settlements 133
The Settlement of Mykhailivka 134
The Late Neolithic in the Forest Zone 136
The Kargopol Culture 138
The Karelian Culture 138
The East Baltic Area 140
Summary 141
References 145
3. THE BRONZE AGE (From 2000 to 1200 B.C.
approximately) 147
The Age of Western Predominance 147
The Two Main Agents 150
The Corded Ware Cultures 150
The Sub-Carpathian Barrow Graves 156
The Komarôw Culture 158
The Trzciniec Culture 160
The Globular Amphora Culture 162
CONTENTS vü
The South-West 170
The Tripolye Culture 170
The Middle Dnieper Culture 176
The Vykhvatyntsi Group 179
The Usatovo Culture 180
The Gorodsk Culture 184
The Evminka-Sofiivka Groups 186
The Voytsekhivka and Marianivka Cultures 188
The Forest Zone 190
The Dnieper-Desna Culture 190
The Fatyanovo Culture 195
The Balanovo Culture 199
The Native Population 204
The Volosovo Culture 205
The Riazan and Balakhna Cultures 208
The North 209
The Boat-axe Cultures 209
The Kargopol Culture 212
The Karelian Culture 213
The White Sea Culture 215
Northern Art 216
The South East 221
The Catacomb Culture 222
The Caucasus 230
The Trialeti Barrow Graves 237
Summary 238
References 242
THE SHADOW OF THE RISING EAST (The
Second Millennium B.C.) 244
The Country East of the Volga and the Urals 244
The Kazan Culture 245
The Turbino Culture 249
The Gorbunovo Culture 252
The Steppe 254
The Poltavka Culture 254
The Srubnaya Culture 256
The Andronovo Culture 261
The Role of Trade 266
The Sea-borne Trade with the Aegean 270
Early Metallurgy in the Kama-Ural Region 276
The Seima-Turbino Bronze Industry 281
CONTENTS
The Origin of the Seima- Turhino Industry 284
The Expansion of the Eastern Bronze Industries 287
The Abashevo Culture 289
The Abashevo Metal Industry 295
West Siberia 298
The West Siberian Bronze Industry 298
The Karasuk Culture 305
The Consequences of Karasuk Expansion 308
The Account by Aristeas of Proconnesus 310
Summary 313
References 314
THE LATE BRONZE AND EARLY IRON AGES
(The Thirteenth to Seventh Centuries B.C.) 317
The Forest Zone 317
The Gorbunovo Culture 317
The Turbina and Kazan Cultures 320
The Country North of the Middle Volga 322
The Volosovo Culture 323
The Galich Culture 325
The Arctic Cultures 328
The Scandinavian Trade 331
The East European Steppe Country 335
The Srubnaya-Khvalinsk Culture 336
The Pozdniakovo Culture 339
The County West of the Don 340
The Sabatynivka Culture 343
The Cimmerian Bronze Industry 346
The South-Western Borderland 352
The Noua Culture 352
The Holihrady Culture 353
The Wysocko Culture 355
The Caucasus 358
The Koban Culture 359
The Kayakent-Khorochoi and Late Kuban Cultures 362
Koban Trade 365
The Central Transcaucasian Culture 367
The Colchidic Culture 370
The Pontic Lands at the End of the Prehistoric
Era 372
The Crimea 372
The Bilohrudivka Culture 375