Aim. To show the symptoms of the socio-economic crisis in Central Europe (2nd part of the 4th millennium BC) and the accompanying cultural mechanisms. Methodology. The author uses the tools of the globalization theory (network connectivity etc.) and the theory of culture (hetreogenization, hybridization etc.) to analyze the effects of a long-term crisis. Results. Attention was drawn to the probable correlation of the crisis and the accompanying cultural changes with the increasing migrations from the steppes and their positive impact on deep cultural changes, i. e. the formation of the Corded Ware Culture. Research implications. The described situation finds structural analogies in late antiquity (the fall of Rome in the conditions of the growing strength of early Christian network communities) and today according to Oswald Spengler’s idea of the fall of the West (Untergand des Abendlandes).

Aim. The purpose of this work is to determine the role of the Neolithic and Bronze Age in the population history of the Caucasus between the Paleolithic and Modernity. Methodology. Comparison of published data from literature sources obtained by different bioinformatics methods is the main approach. Results. The period during the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age was the second period of population rearrangements after the Late Paleolithic in the mountainous zone of the Caucasus. A model of the populations’ genesis in different areas and the connections with other regions has been created. Research implications. The ideas about genetic continuity in the Caucasus population history, their population homogeneity in the Bronze Age, and one-sided conduction from south to north are disputed by the author. The research postulates that real population heterogeneity and its connections with Upper Mesopotamia must be further studied. The arguments for existence of separate Kuban-Tersk culture and possibility of highlanders impact on the Lola culture population are presented.

Aim. To elaborate the cultural and chronological context of two eponymous multilayered prehistoric sites in southeastern Serbia, in order to understand the eneolithisation process in the Central Balkans. Methodology. The research is based on the methods of comparative analyses and synthesis, as well as the interpretation of the existing and fresh data acquired through archaeological excavations at the sites of Bubanj and Velika Humska Čuka near Niš. The following factors have been taken under consideration: geographic setting, resources, mutual spatial relations, stratigraphic characteristics, chronology, character of settlements during the Eneolithic, and other relevant data. Results. The presented cultural and chronological contexts of the two researched sites, as well as other contemporary sites, compared to the pattern of the preceding Vinča settlements, indicated the character of changes that have occurred during the mid-5th millennium BC. Research implications.The results of the research contribute to the perception of transformation processes within the Late Neolithic communities and the process of eneolithisation in the territory of the Central Balkans.

Aim. To show the decisive importance of the Early Bronze Age in the development of Eurasian civilization as a system of interconnected, interdependent and intensely interacting societies that arose during the Early Bronze Age I (late 4th millennium BCЕ) and flourished during the Early Bronze Age II-III (3,000 BCЕ). The Balkans became one of the centers of the Circumpontic cultural system, integrated during the Early Bronze Age to varying degrees with the northwest of Anatolia and the northwest of the Black Sea, as well as with Central Europe and the Aegean cultures. Methodology. The cultural and social characteristics of the communities / chiefdoms of the Balkans of the Early Bronze Age are given from diachronic perspectives. Results. In the early Bronze Age, a system of equal partners emerged in the Balkans, based on a common economic platform, including the chiefdoms of Ezero, Yunatsite, Sitagroi in the south, as well as the conglomeration of dispersed sedentary and semi-mobile communities of Coţofeni without a clear centralized political power on the Lower Danube, the chiefdom Vucedol, etc. The presence of an exchange of prestigious items (jewelry from Dubenе-Balinov Gorum) controlled by the elite, together with the absence of archaeological traces of conflicts indicate the Early Bronze Age was a peaceful period in the Balkans. Research implications. It was found that the standards of the chiefdoms of the Western Circumpontic region corresponded to the benchmarks of the Trojan chiefdoms, although the material markers of these standards were different.

Aim. A brief exposition of the results of Yamnaya culture site excavation and research in the Lower Dnieper region Methodology. Elements of ceramic ornament were analyzed by means of comparative and typological methods using microphotogrammetric technologies. Results. The article presents the main results of the study of the monument of pit culture Generalka 2. The main part is devoted to the description of architectural components, ceramics and the chronology of the complex monument of Generalka 2. Selected groups of ceramics make it possible to supplement the characteristic of the main types of dishes of pit culture settlements. Comparing the monument of Generalka 2 with the Mikhailovsky settlement made it possible to form a chronological and cultural-chronological attribution of the monument. Research implications. The theoretical and practical results of the study can be used in lectures on the Ukraine history and in further research of Generalka 2 site.

Aim. Consideration, analysis and verification of the conclusion about the existence of local territorial centers of Yamnaya culture in the North-Western Black Sea region. Methodology. The article presents a cultural and chronological analysis of the Budzhak (Yamnaya) culture in the Northwestern Black Sea region. Comparative typological and chronological-stratigraphic methods were used, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the funeral rite and the inventory of burials of the Early Bronze Age were given. Results. Based on a comparison of quantitative and qualitative characteristics, it is proved that when identifying local variants of pit culture in the region, preference was given to qualitative methods, which led to erroneous conclusions. Verification of the evidence and their analysis showed the monolithic nature of the complexes of the pit culture of the Dniester-Prut interfluve and the objective absence of smaller territorial centers. Research implications. The paper shows that attempts to identify “local” centers within various variants of the Yamnaya cultural and historical region eventually lead to the emergence of new virtual cultures. According to the proposed scheme, they can be created by dozens and finally confuse the historical process in the era of paleometallic.

Aim. Cultural and chronological analysis of the burial complexes of a single badly destroyed mound near Goncharovka village on the right bank of the Krasnaya river in the Middle Podontsovye. Methodology. The article provides a cultural and chronological analysis of the corpus of the identified burial complexes. Using the comparative typological method and analogies, the funeral rite, material complexes kurgan stratigraphy and relative chronology are analyzed. Results. As the result of the research, it was established that most of the burial belong to the middle and late periods of the Bronze Age. Probably one complex dates from the Early Bronze Age. The performed analysis of the stratigraphy allows us to assume the initial existence of two independent burial mound belonging to burials of different periods. Research implications. The article introduces new Bronze Age materials of the Don-Donets region into scientific circulation. Extraordinary situations encountered in the funeral mound make it possible to introduce new ideas about the complex burial rituals of the ancient population.

Aim. Reconstruction of the process of changes in the Kuban-Terek culture (North Caucasian cultural and historical area with catacomb monuments) and periodization of the catacomb culture in North Ossetia. Methodology. Stratigraphy and description of the grave goods in Bronze Age catacombs in the kurgans near Chicola village. Comparative analysis of ceramics of the Kuban-Terek and Catacomb cultures of North Ossetia as the basis for the Catacomb culture periodization. Results. Establishment of three stages of Catacomb culture in North Ossetia and the transition model from the Kuban-Terek culture to the Catacomb culture, as changing the shape of burial structure, while preserving the grave goods of the previous culture. Research implications. Confirmation of the conclusions about the genetic relationship of the Kuban-Terek and early Catacomb cultures in the territory of North Ossetia.

Aim. The article considers Bronze Age archaeological materials from N. N. Palmov National Museum of the Republic of Kalmykia. The collection wa formed as a result of burial sites excavations in the territory of the republic. Methodology. A review and analysis - including with statistical analysis - of archaeological finds was carried out. The methods of observation, comparative comparisons and synthesis of the findings were applied to the study. Results. The work done identified exact number of archaeological finds, the number of burials from which they originate and the number of burial sites. The qualitative characteristics of the collections were assessed. Research implications. For the first time, all archaeological objects from the Bronze Age are identified. In addition, conclusions are drawn on further measures to improve the collection, recording and storage of archaeological objects.

Aim. To clarify a number of aspects of population change in the Central Caucasus in the era of the middle bronze end - the beginning of the late Bronze Age. Methodology. The work uses a methodology typical of archaeological research, a complex and comparative historical method. Results. During the study, parallels were revealed in the rites of the Central Caucasian monuments of the early formation of Koban culture (Koban period 1 a-b) on the periodization of V. I. Kozenkova and the Early Kolkhid, as well as later monuments of the Eastern Black Sea region. Research implications. The article presents new, previously unknown features of the funeral rite of the tribes of the Koban archaeological culture of the Caucasus. The results of the study can be used in the preparation of scientific papers on the ancient history of the Caucasus, for the scientific work of students and teachers of historical faculties, graduate students.

Aim. The systematic analysis and identification of nishan-signs of the Sasanian shahanshahs and nobility in various aspects of their perception and usage by contemporaries and immediate descendants. Methodology. The complex of author’s methods of study of the nishan/tamga type sign systems was developed after 1995 and is internationally recognized. Results. The main features of the Sasanian nishans on the material of the Imperial nobility, as well as their proximity to the signs of the Iranian world, are defined. 22 signs of shahanshahs have been identified. The personalities of the reformers who changed the principles of usage and appearance of elite signs are clarified. Research implications. For the first time the complex of clan, family and personal emblems of the aristocracy of one of the biggest empires of the Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages has been comprehensively studied.

Aim. To consider various aspects of the scientific activity of the director of the Kuban Regional Scientific Museum Anton Faddeevich Leshchenko. Methodology. The analysis of archival materials and documents from the funds of the Krasnodar Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve named after E. D. Felitsyn is carried out. During the research, comparative-historical and problem-chronological methods of studying the processes of formation of Kuban archeology were used. Results. The article attempts to collect scattered facts about the life and work of a scientist who stood at the origins of Kuban archeology, was among the first researchers of dolmen monuments of the Western Caucasus in the post-revolutionary period. Along with biographical information, the article shows the results of his scientific research and presents for the first time previously unpublished materials from expeditions, in particular excursions by employees of the Kuban Regional Scientific Museum to dolmens of the Abina Valley in 1925. The result of the study was identification of the stages of scientific activity of A.F. Leshchenko. Conclusions were made about the significance of the analyzed aspects of his scientific activity in the study of monuments of the Bronze Age of the Caucasus. Research implications. The results of the study contribute to the history of archeology of the Caucasus. This work is of undeniable interest to researchers of the Bronze Age of the Caucasus, since one of the first archaeological expeditions to study dolmen after the October Revolution is published. The materials presented in the article can be used in courses on the history of Russian archeology and archeology of the Caucasus, as well as in the study of certain aspects of the Bronze Age of the Caucasus.

Acquaintance with the results of excavations conducted by non-Russian archaeologists seems essential for Russian specialists in the archaeology of the Black Sea region. We present a Russian translation of a report on French excavations in Apollonia Pontica and its vicinity (modern Bulgaria) conducted in 1904. The expedition researched ancient tumuli near Apollonia, remains of Byzantine buildings at the island of St. Johannes, and the ancient Greek site at the island of St. Kyriakos, where the most ancient part of Apollonia had been situated.