This paper presents the data obtained in 1984-1985 during feldwork in the the Gumelniţa settlement near the town of Taraclia in the Budzhak Steppe in Southern Moldova. As a result of the excavations, the general stratigraphy of the monument was established. Two ground dwellings, a half dogout and a complex of household pits were discovered. The finds are represented with ceramics, tools made of flint, stone, bone and clay, as well as devotional articles. The monument enabled experts to preliminary study the defensive ditch, which is a unique structure of the Gumelniţa culture in the southern part of the Pruto-Dniester interfluve. The article presents the results of palynological and osteological investigations. The conclusion is made that the findings indicate the livestock-agricultural nature of the settlement and, most likely, a short period of its existence.

This paper sets out to confirm the existence of sea trade routes and cultural links between the Caspian Sea coast and the developed cultures of the Balkan-Danube region during the Eneolithic Period. According to the authors, these communications became possible after the opening of the waterway between the Black and Caspian Seas, which resulted in the formation of the dried-up Kumo-Manych depression. This hypothesis was confirmed by the discovery of similar copper products, anthropomorphic moulding and shell ornaments in various areas of the Balkans, the North-Western Black Sea area and the Caspian Sea coast. In addition, the mutual cultural influence was investigated, which was reflected in megalithic structures, rock carvings, religious cults and funeral rites of the Eneolithic Period cultures. On the basis of the obtained data, the conclusion is made about the existence of active trade and cultural relations between the Varna culture and synchronous cultures of the Northern Black Sea area, Azov and Volga regions, as well as the existence of navigation between the Black and Caspian Seas and developed shipbuilding in the Chalcolithic times.

The paper is devoted to the historiography of the Lower Mikhaylovka culture of the Eneolithic Period in the Lower Dnieper and Northern Black Sea areas. The author reviewed all available publications devoted to this problem, as well as assessed various characteristics of the monuments of the Lower Mikhaylovka culture. The historiography under study was considered in chronological order, taking into account changes in the views of the authors over time. As a result, it was shown that D. Telegin's concept of the Lower Mikhaylovka culture not only has chronological priority over other concepts, but also possesses a considerable potential for further clarification and transformation. The paper provides recommendations concerning how archaeological cultures can be distinguished. The presented materials can be considered as the most exhaustive collection on the topic of the Lower Mikhaylovka culture of the Late Eneolithic Period.

This paper presents data on unique burials discovered in a burial mound near the village of Bursuceni in Central Moldova. The paper is focused on the description, preliminary characterization and cultural identification of three main burial complexes related to the construction of the ancient burial mound. These complexes, which were created simultaneously during the Eneolithic era, differ significantly from those previously discovered in the region. In the center of the group, a collective burial 21 was found, which contained the bones of an adult and three children. Two more burials contained individual bones of children. With the exception of one child, all of the buried lay curled up on their right side in the pose of devotion. The interments and diverse burial inventory allowed the central burial of the mound to be related to the group of Zhivotilovka monuments distinguished by I. F. Kovalyova in the Dnieper region.

This paper presents barrow 4 near the village of Talmaz located on the right bank of the Dniester river. The monument was excavated in 1989. The results of the conducted investigations indicated that its construction was connected with burial 1 of the Yamnaya culture. The barrow is characterized with a cromlech and a trench associated with the Yamnaya culture, as well as with the discovery of a Catacomb culture trizna. Inlet burials were made in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, as well as by medieval nomads.

This paper presents the results of the author’s archaeological research, conducted in the 70s of the 20th century in the south of Donbass, Sverdlovsk district of the Luhansk region, Ukraine, and in the Gukovo district of the Rostov region, Russian Federation. The paper represents the results obtained during the excavations of 2 burial mounds, in which 39 burials of various archaeological cultures were discovered: dated from the Early to Late Bronze Age. Both mounds were erected in the Yamnaya culture period; however, the abundance of inlet burials was noted. The excavations showed that both mounds represented small burial necropolises, which served as a sacred place for the local pastoralist population for a long time.

This paper presents data on a unique burial of the Catacomb culture, which was discove-red in 1984 near the Sokolovka village, the Nikolaev region, Ukraine. In this burial, two children's bones and three stucco vessels were discovered. The conducted analysis showed that one of the vessels had overlapped the skull of the older child. The outer surface of the vessel featured dents, which were likely made to imitate a human head. The conducted study allowed the author to conclude that the discovered burial belongs to the Ingul Catacomb culture of the North-Western Black Sea area and is associated with the ideology of the Bronze Age cattle breeders.

This study aims to describe 8 so-called secondary burials discovered in the territory of the Azov-Kuban Plain. These burials represent a rare type of interments corresponding to the Middle Bronze Age. The conducted analysis confirms that this type of interments was rarely used in the Early Catacomb Period and acquired a mass character in the period of the Baturin culture. The spread of this unusual type of interments can be explained by the specific economic conditions involving seasonal cattle grazing, as well as by the tradition of final and obligatory burying in barrows.

This paper set out to analyze and present the results of a spectral analysis of ornaments from the Shushuk burial ground dolmens. Another objective was to approximately estimate the dates of the burial ground on the basis of the obtained data. The paper presents the excavations sources, their analysis, as well as the spectral analysis of 65 objects from the burial ground dolmens. It is established that the burial ground belongs to the Late Dolmen Culture Period, more presisely, to the Late Bronze Age. In particular, this explains the use of tin as the main additive in the vast majority of jewelry finds. Similar to the Late Bronze Age steppe cultures, these dolmens can be dated back to the 19-17th centuries B.C.

In this work, we investigated anthropological materials from warrior burials of the Karashamb burial ground. The monument is located on the territory of the Kotayk province in Armenia. The article provides a comprehensive analysis in terms of integrative anthropology and represents consolidation of its two sections: physical anthropology and paleopathology. A macroscopic research method was used for describing and diagnosing the pathological changes. The analysis showed that individuals were characterized by features of the Southern European type. According to the average module of the crown, individuals clearly tended to microdontism. Judging by the osteometric characteristics, individuals were featured as heavily-built and of medium height. The specific character of a bony and muscular relief is associated with horse riding. All damage detected is antemortem and military-directed in the absence of traumatic injuries of a fatal nature. The health status of individuals can be characterizedas good.

This paper is aimed at describing the original bronze objects of the Late Hallstatt Period found in the North Thracian area of Eastern Europe. These artefacts are most likely to be of local origin and to have been used as pommels for pins. However, a study of such devices with three blades suggested that they had been associated with a quiver and had been attached to the front of the arrow to intimidate the enemy and their horses. According to the conducted analysis, these devices were divided into two groups: the first included massive and earlier-dated items (7-5 centuries B.C.), which the second - small and later-dated items (4-3 centuries B.C.). In general, the objects under study can be dated back to the period from the middle of the 4th to the middle of 3rd centuries BC.

The aim of this paper was to describe the means of transportation used by nomadic peoples in the Northern Black Sea area. To this end, a series of observations was carried out to investigate traditions of constructing dwellings, which are maximally adjusted to the nomadic life conditions. Following a review of numerous publications, the author comes to the conclusion that the transition to a nomadic lifestyle and extensive cattle breeding was impossible without a number of technical achievements: perfectly developed riding horse reins, widespread iron implementation and, consequently, the emergence of high-tech and robust weapons. A tilt cart covered with felt became such kind of a nomadic dwelling. It is likely that, along with tilt carts, Scythians used removable yurts (nomadic tents) installed on a platform basis. When camping, these yurts could have resembled a real town from a distance. An analysis of the design of 4th century B.C. Scythian catacombs suggested that these burial chambers recreated nomads’ habitual dwellings - tilt carts, where a nomad lived his whole life from birth to death. In this case, the hemispherical shape of Scythian mounds could represent a yurt, another dwelling of cattle breeders.

This paper sets out to describe and characterize the terracotta production in the ancient Greek city of Kallatis located in the territory of modern Romania. Many of the figurines found here reflect the high level of the development of applied art, which was achieved by this Dorian colony in the second half of the 4th - early 3rd centuries B.C. The author summarizes and classifies almost all the finds of terracotta and also shows the role played by Kallatis in the production and distribution of these products typical of the ancient Greek world. The emergence of artistic workshops in the western Pontic cities was analyzed as a necessity for the newcomers to continue their traditional religious practices, to surround themselves with the faces of the gods that protected them, from birth to beyond the grave. The paper presented the synthesis and cultural osmosis processes, the interferences and the specific tastes of a province that had its own workshops and multiple clients, comparable to that of a metropolis. The conducted analysis confirmed that a large number of discovered terracotta, the remains of a ceramic furnace and other finds indicate the existence in the city of a wide local production of figurines, such as Tanagra - masterpieces of Hellenistic coroplasters.

In this paper, we present the results of comprehensive archaeological investigations of a monument belonging to the Migration period - the Verkhnegostagaevskoye settlement (Krasnodar Krai). The study was mainly devoted to characterizing the monumental structure in the upper fortified part of the settlement. We describe the construction remains of the building in order to determine its probable functions and specific features. On the basis of the findings, it is assumed that the construction was characterized by an elitist nature. The functional purpose of the construction reflects ancient constructing traditions and barbaric influence.

This text is the first translation into Russian of a report presented by the English archaeologist and historian Arthur John Evans (1851-1941). The report entitled “The Minoan and Mycenaean element in Hellenic life” was presented to the Hellenic Society in June, 1912, no. 32, pp. 277-287. This speech is of undoubted interest to archaeologists and historians dealing with the problems of the Bronze Age and ancient civilizations. Many of the presented findings found development in the author’s subsequent works. The translation was made by Y. Yu. Moiseenko, Junior Researcher, Institute of Philosophy and Law, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.