The Indo-Aryan attribution of the Kuban-Terek culture steppe variant, based on kurgans near Terskaya. Mozdok district, North Ossetia

Aim. To refine the ideas on Bronze Age ethno-cultural processes in the steppe-foothills borderland, based on newly introduced landmarks.

Methodology. A description of previously unknown Bronze Age mounds in the steppe regions of North Ossetia is provided. Using the stratigraphic method, the relative chronology of burials in wooden boxes relative to the Middle Bronze Age catacombs of the Pre-Caucasus is established as well as the synchrony of the studied Steppe sites with the periods of the foothill Kuban-terek culture of the North Caucasus. Based on a comparative typological analysis of bronze ornaments from wooden boxes, a conclusion is made that they had been imported from the foothills of North Ossetia.

Results. Based on the study findings, the chronological position and linguo-cultural attribution of the newly introduced Middle Bronze Age sites in the Kuban-Terek watershed is defined.

Research implications. The model of ethno-cultural processes in Bronze Age North Caucasus was supplemented with new details, and the previously proposed hypothesis about their European origin, multiculturalism and heterogeneity of the Middle Bronze Age population of the North Caucasus was confirmed.

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