Abashevo culture

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Abashevo culture
Age : Bronze age
Absolutely : 2500-1800 BC Chr.

Relative : Bz A2 - B ( Reinecke )

expansion
South: Southern Urals
West: Volga
East: Tobol
Leitforms

Barrows

The archaeological Abashevo culture existed between 2500 and 1800 BC. In the Bronze Age of Central Russia. It became known for the burial mounds and their settlements equipped with grave goods . The Abaschewo cultural area influenced other cultures in the Eurasian region.

General

Prehistoric cultures of Russia
Mesolithic
Kunda culture 7400-6000 BC Chr.
Neolithic
Bug Dniester culture 6500-5000 BC Chr.
Dnepr-Don culture 5000-4000 BC Chr.
Sredny Stog culture 4500-3500 BC Chr.
Ekaterininka culture 4300-3700 BC Chr.
Fatyanovo culture around 2500 BC Chr.
Copper Age
North Caspian culture
Spa culture 5000-3000 BC Chr.
Samara culture around 5000 BC Chr.
Chwalynsk culture 5000-4500 BC Chr.
Botai culture 3700-3100 BC Chr.
Yamnaya culture 3600-2300 BC Chr.
Afanassjewo culture 3500-2500 BC Chr.
Usatovo culture 3300-3200 BC Chr.
Glaskovo culture 3200-2400 BC Chr.
Bronze age
Poltavka culture 2700-2100 BC Chr.
Potapovka culture 2500-2000 BC Chr.
Catacomb tomb culture 2500-2000 BC Chr.
Abashevo culture 2500-1800 BC Chr.
Sintashta culture 2100-1800 BC Chr.
Okunew culture around 2000 BC Chr.
Samus culture around 2000 BC Chr.
Andronovo culture 2000-1200 BC Chr.
Susgun culture around 1700 BC Chr.
Srubna culture 1600-1200 BC Chr.
Colchis culture 1700-600 BC Chr.
Begasy Dandybai culture around 1300 BC Chr.
Karassuk culture around 1200 BC Chr.
Ust-mil culture around 1200–500 BC Chr.
Koban culture 1200-400 BC Chr.
Irmen culture 1200-400 BC Chr.
Late corporate culture around 1000 BC Chr.
Plate burial culture around 1300–300 BC Chr.
Aldy Bel culture 900-700 BC Chr.
Iron age
Baitowo culture
Tagar culture 900-300 BC Chr.
Nosilowo group 900-600 BC Chr.
Ananino culture 800-300 BC Chr.
Tasmola culture 700-300 BC Chr.
Gorokhovo culture 600-200 BC Chr.
Sagly bashi culture 500-300 BC Chr.
Jessik Beschsatyr culture 500-300 BC Chr.
Pazyryk level 500-300 BC Chr.
Sargat culture 500 BC Chr. – 400 AD
Kulaika culture 400 BC Chr. – 400 AD
Tes level 300 BC Chr. – 100 AD
Shurmak culture 200 BC Chr. – 200 AD
Tashtyk culture 100–600 AD
Chernyakhov culture AD 200–500

The eponymous site Abaschewo is located south of the upper Volga, about 100 km west of Kazan , near Cheboksary . Here is a burial place of this cultural area. Many of the art elements of this culture are reminiscent of cord ceramics . Various Yamnaja and catacomb grave groups influenced the culture.

Settlement areas

The Abashevo culture extended over the western slopes of the Urals , partly as far as the Trans-Urals. The settlements were mainly found in areas with little forest; There are also indications of settlements in the wooded estuary of the Wetluga and in mountainous regions of the Urals. The approximately 1000 km × 300 km settlement area of ​​the Abashevo culture can be geographically divided into three groups:

  • the Don Volga Group ,
  • the Middle Volga variant between the Volga and Southern Urals as well
  • the southern Urals variant between the southern Urals and the Tobol River.

Related peoples of the same cultural area lived in the area of ​​the central Volga and the watersheds of the Don and Volga. The Balanbasch, who also belonged to the Abashevo culture, were native to the Urals. However, they showed significant differences to the classical Abashevo culture and belonged to a larger cultural group.

Chronological order

The latest research assigns the entire early metallurgy of the Ural region to the Abashevo culture. To this end, the scientists compared the peculiarities of individual groups living in the Ural and Volga region with the population living there earlier and later. It was found that both the groups living on the Volga and the Urals were followed by other groups without a break in time. So there were no time interruptions in the settlement.

Archaeological traces

Settlements

A total of around 50 settlements were discovered, but only ten have usable finds in evaluable numbers. The settlements of the Ural-Abashevo culture are mostly located in the front area of ​​the first level of a river terrace or in higher valleys. In two cases, a simple defensive facility was found in settlements. The largest settlement had an area of ​​a few thousand square meters. Archaeological research has shown that an average settlement consisted of one to three houses. Archaeologists assume that the number of houses was probably larger, as many buildings are no longer recognizable due to missing finds.

Abashevo buildings were made of wood. Its availability limited the construction. Residential houses had dimensions between 6 X 6.5 and 13 X 14 meters. It is noticeable that all buildings have a similar construction despite their different sizes. Since more metallic objects were found in the smaller buildings, it can be assumed that the difference in size indicates different uses. In some cases, fireplaces and hollows, which may have been storage rooms, can be made out on the floor of individual houses.

Typical finds from the Abashevo culture are pottery shards and animal bones. Jugs, bowls, jugs and vessels with sharp shoulders were found. The special shape of the outer zone is characteristic of these objects. It has an internal grid. With the exception of a few unique pieces, the vessels found were decorated. Usually these are imprints or lines that were created by combs. Some have indentations, geometric shapes, or lines. Presumably these are decorations that were attached to clothing.

In addition to clay objects, metal articles can be found in the settlements. This includes pestles, grinding equipment and crucibles. Appliques in the form of rosettes that could be attached to clothing or hair also seem to have been typical of the culture. In addition there were rings, pendants and bracelets. It must be taken into account here that the available literature often exaggerates the wealth of metal implements and metal jewelry of individual finds. What is certain is that the Abashevo culture was an important center of metallurgy in the southern Urals. The region's copper-containing ores helped her to achieve this .

Gravesites

The burial places are better known and for many archaeologists more informative than the settlements. These mostly consist of "cemeteries" with up to ten burial mounds. The highest number of grave mounds discovered in one area was 25. The majority of the grave mounds examined contained male corpses. Numerous graves, probably of high-ranking personalities, contained grave goods. This is particularly noticeable in graves from the Don area: Filatowka and Vlasowo cemeteries .

The dead were usually buried in the supine position with knees bent. A burial mound usually contained several graves. Sometimes the residents even buried their dead in burial mounds from other cultures. Traces of a birch wood floor can be seen in some graves . The walls and ceilings may have been covered with wood. Some graves also had an enclosure that was either made of stone or wood. The graves were hardly decorated; only in a few cases were vessels with ground mussels, animal bones or, in exceptional cases, metal objects (bracelets and rings, chisels , daggers , sickles, eyes or hooks) placed in the grave.

The grave of Pepkino is a spectacular find. 28 men who had died a violent death were buried in it. Some had traces of ax blows on their heads.

Social life

The animal bones discovered allow conclusions to be drawn about the diet of the residents. Between 68 and 79% of the bones were from cattle, followed by sheep and, to a lesser extent, pork bones. In contrast to many other cultures of the Bronze Age, archaeologists found few horse bones in the Abaschevo culture, although harnesses were discovered. From this they derive an indication of a stable, balanced way of life, as can be expected, for example, in a winter storage facility with supplies. The archaeologists explain the proportion of pork bones by the primitive farming of the settlers. A special feature is that an increased proportion of pig bones is only observed in the area of ​​the Cis-Urals, as only here were oak forests. Acorns served as pig feed.

Influence on other cultures

The Abashevo culture influenced numerous other cultures of the Middle Bronze Age in Eurasia. The way in which this influence took place has not yet been finally clarified. For example, the Seima-Turbino immigrated to the area that was inhabited by members of this culture. There is no evidence of armed conflict. In contrast, the Pepkino burial mound has clear indications of a military conflict between the Abashevo and the forested Balanovo cultures .

The Abashevo culture was assimilated by the Srubna culture , which it later replaced.

literature

  • Philip L. Kohl: The Making of Bronze Age Eurasia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-84780-3 , p. 146.
  • Ludmila Koryakova, Andrej Vladimirovich Epimakhov: The Urals and Western Siberia in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-82928-1 .
  • Elena E. Kuzmina: The Prehistory of the Silk Road. Edited by Victor H. Mair. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia / PA 2007, ISBN 978-0-8122-4041-2 , pp. 46-49.
  • James P. Mallory , Douglas Q. Adams (Eds.): Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, London 1997, ISBN 1-884964-98-2 , pp. 1 f.

Individual evidence

  1. The dates in the table are taken from the individual articles and do not always have to be reliable. Cultures in areas of other former Soviet republics were included.
  2. Abashevo Map - Satellite Images of Abashevo
  3. Indo-european & kurgan origins [Archive] - Skadi Forum . Forums. skadi.net. October 25, 2003. Retrieved July 3, 2010.