fbpx
Wikipedia

Samara culture

February 16, 2024

Not to be confused with Samarra culture.

The Samara culture was an Eneolithic[1] (Copper Age) culture that flourished around the turn of the 5th millennium BCE,[note 1] at the Samara Bend of the Volga River (modern Russia). The Samara culture is regarded as related to contemporaneous or subsequent prehistoric cultures of the Pontic–Caspian steppe, such as the Khvalynsk, Repin and Yamna (or Yamnaya) cultures.[2]

Samara culture
Geographical rangeMiddle Volga
PeriodEneolithic
Dates5th millennium BCE
Preceded byMiddle Volga culture, Afontova Gora, Mal'ta
Followed byKhvalynsk culture

Place and time edit

The Samara culture was an Eneolithic culture of the early 5th millennium BCE[note 1] at the Samara bend region of the middle Volga, at the northern edge of the steppe zone.[3] It was discovered during archaeological excavations in 1973 near the village of Syezzheye (Съезжее) near Bogatoye. Related sites are Varfolomeyevka on the Russian-Kazakh border[4] (5500 BCE), which has parallels in Dzhangar (Kalmykia),[5] and Mykol'ske, on the Dnieper. The later stages of the Samara culture are contemporaneous[3] with its successor culture in the region, the early Khvalynsk culture (4700–3800 BCE),[6][note 1] while the archaeological findings seem related to those of the Dniepr-Donets II culture[3] (5200/5000–4400/4200 BCE).[7]

The valley of the Samara river contains sites from earlier cultures as well (including the Elshanka culture), which are descriptively termed "Samara cultures" or "Samara valley cultures". Some of these sites are currently under excavation. "The Samara culture" as a proper name, however, is reserved for the early eneolithic of the region.

Artifacts edit

Pottery edit

 
Materials from the Sjezheye burial ground, Samara culture.[8]

Pottery consists mainly of egg-shaped beakers with pronounced rims. They were not able to stand on a flat surface, suggesting that some method of supporting or carrying must have been in use, perhaps basketry or slings, for which the rims would have been a useful point of support. The carrier slung the pots over the shoulder or onto an animal. Decoration consists of circumferential motifs: lines, bands, zig-zags or wavy lines, incised, stabbed or impressed with a comb. These patterns are best understood when seen from the top. They appear then to be a solar motif, with the mouth of the pot as the sun. Later developments of this theme show that in fact the sun is being represented.

Sacrificial objects edit

The culture is characterized by the remains of animal sacrifice, which occur over most of the sites. There is no indisputable evidence of riding, but there were horse burials, the earliest in the Old World.[9] Typically the head and hooves of cattle, sheep, and horses are placed in shallow bowls over the human grave, smothered with ochre. Some have seen the beginning of the horse sacrifice in these remains, but this interpretation has not been more definitely substantiated. We know that the Indo-Europeans sacrificed both animals and people, like many other cultures.

Graves edit

 
A typical hill at the Samara bend of the Volga
 
Steppe landscape in the Samara region

The graves found are shallow pits for single individuals, but two or three individuals might be placed there.

Some of the graves are covered with a stone cairn or a low earthen mound, the very first predecessor of the kurgan[citation needed]. The later, fully developed kurgan was a hill on which the deceased chief might ascend to the sky god, but whether these early mounds had that significance is doubtful.

Grave offerings included ornaments depicting horses. The graves also had an overburden of horse remains; it cannot yet be determined decisively if these horses were domesticated and ridden or not, but they were certainly used as a meat-animal. Most controversial are bone plaques of horses or double oxen heads, which were pierced.

The graves yield well-made daggers of flint and bone, placed at the arm or head of the deceased, one in the grave of a small boy. Weapons in the graves of children are common later. Other weapons are bone spearheads and flint arrowheads.

Other carved bone figurines and pendants were found in the graves.

Middle Volga culture edit

The Samara culture was preceded by the Middle Volga culture that flourished in the 6th millennium BCE.

Archaeogenetics edit

Genetic analyses of a male buried at Lebyazhinka, radiocarbon dated to 5640-5555 BP, found that he belonged to a population often referred to as "Samara hunter-gatherers", a group closely associated with Eastern Hunter-Gatherers. The male sample carried Y-haplogroup R1b1a1a and mitochondrial haplogroup U5a1d.[10][11][12]

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c There are several datings available.
    • Gimbutas dated it to 5000 BCE.
    • According to V.A. Dergachev (2007), О скипетрах, о лошадях, о войне: Этюды в защиту миграционной концепции М. Гимбутас, ISBN 5-98187-173-3, dates Samara culture at cal. C-14 5200–4500 BCE, with possible continuation into first half of 5th millennium, while the Khvalynsk culture is dated at ca. 4600–3900 BCE. These data are based on synchronisation, not radiocarbon dating or dendrochronology of Samara culture sites itself. The synchronisation to the west: Samara equal to Mariupol equal to Tripolie A equal to Vinča - Turdas (Vinča B, C); Khvalinskaya equal to Sredni Stog 1 equal to Tripolie B1 equal to Pre-Cucuteni equal to Gumelnita; Maykop equal to Yamna equal to Sredni Stog II equal to Tripolie B2 equal to Cerna Voda I equal to Salcuta IV equal to Bodrogkeresztur.
    • Mallory and Adams, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, gives the bare date "fifth millennium BCE", while the Khvalynsk culture, its reported successor, is dated at 4900–3500 BCE.

References edit

  1. ^ Morgunova, N. L.; Khokhlova, O. S. (2020-09-24). "Development of ancient cultures and paleoenvironment during the Eneolithic Period and the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Cis-Urals steppe (Russia)". Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 12 (10): 241. doi:10.1007/s12520-020-01197-w. ISSN 1866-9565. S2CID 221885294.
  2. ^ Wang, Chuan-Chao; Reinhold, Sabine Reinhold; Kalmykov, Alexey; Wissgott, Antje; Brandt, Guido; Jeong, Choongwon; Cheronet, Olivia; Ferry, Matthew; Harney, Eadaoin; Keating, Denise; Mallick, Swapan; Rohland, Nadin; Stewardson, Kristin; Kantorovich, Anatoly R.; Maslov, Vladimir E.; Petrenko, Vladimira G.; Erlikh, Vladimir R.; Atabiev, Biaslan C.; Magomedov, Rabadan G.; Kohl, Philipp L.; Alt, Kurt W.; Pichler, Sandra L.; Gerling, Claudia; Meller, Harald; Vardanyan, Benik; Yeganyan, Larisa; Rezepkin, Alexey D.; Mariaschk, Dirk; Berezina, Natalia Y.; et al. (2018). "The genetic prehistory of the Greater Caucasus". bioRxiv: 322347. doi:10.1101/322347. hdl:21.11116/0000-0001-E59B-E.
  3. ^ a b c Anthony 2007, p. 189.
  4. ^ "Местонахождение Варфоломеевка". February 2018.
  5. ^ "Мезолит и неолит Северо-Западного Прикаспия". 2005.
  6. ^ Anthony 2007, p. 182.
  7. ^ Anthony 2007, p. 175.
  8. ^ Morgunova, Nina L. (17 December 2015). "Pottery from the Volga area in the Samara and South Urals region from Eneolithic to Early Bronze Age". Documenta Praehistorica. 42. doi:10.4312/dp.42.22.
  9. ^ Kuzʹmina, Elena Efimovna (2007). The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. ISBN 9789004160545.
  10. ^ Haak, W.; Lazaridis, I.; Patterson, N.; Rohland, N.; Mallick, S.; Llamas, B.; Brandt, G.; Nordenfelt, S.; Harney, E.; Stewardson, K.; Fu, Q.; Mittnik, A.; Bánffy, E.; Economou, C.; Francken, M.; Friederich, S.; Pena, R. G.; Hallgren, F.; Khartanovich, V.; Khokhlov, A.; Kunst, M.; Kuznetsov, P.; Meller, H.; Mochalov, O.; Moiseyev, V.; Nicklisch, N.; Pichler, S. L.; Risch, R.; Rojo Guerra, M. A.; et al. (2015), "Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe", Nature, 522 (7555): 207–211, arXiv:1502.02783, Bibcode:2015Natur.522..207H, doi:10.1038/nature14317, PMC 5048219, PMID 25731166
  11. ^ Mathieson 2015.
  12. ^ Mathieson 2018.

Sources edit

External links edit

  •   Media related to Samara culture at Wikimedia Commons
  • The Horse in Mortuary Symbolism...
  • Mitochondrial DNA and the origins of the domestic horse
  • Widespread Origins of Domestic Horse Lineages
  • Factual archaeological description of Samara culture (in Russian)

February 16, 2024
samara, culture, confused, with, samarra, culture, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers,. Not to be confused with Samarra culture This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Samara culture news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Samara culture was an Eneolithic 1 Copper Age culture that flourished around the turn of the 5th millennium BCE note 1 at the Samara Bend of the Volga River modern Russia The Samara culture is regarded as related to contemporaneous or subsequent prehistoric cultures of the Pontic Caspian steppe such as the Khvalynsk Repin and Yamna or Yamnaya cultures 2 Samara cultureGeographical rangeMiddle VolgaPeriodEneolithicDates5th millennium BCEPreceded byMiddle Volga culture Afontova Gora Mal taFollowed byKhvalynsk culture Contents 1 Place and time 2 Artifacts 2 1 Pottery 2 2 Sacrificial objects 2 3 Graves 3 Middle Volga culture 4 Archaeogenetics 5 Notes 6 References 7 Sources 8 External linksPlace and time editThe Samara culture was an Eneolithic culture of the early 5th millennium BCE note 1 at the Samara bend region of the middle Volga at the northern edge of the steppe zone 3 It was discovered during archaeological excavations in 1973 near the village of Syezzheye Sezzhee near Bogatoye Related sites are Varfolomeyevka on the Russian Kazakh border 4 5500 BCE which has parallels in Dzhangar Kalmykia 5 and Mykol ske on the Dnieper The later stages of the Samara culture are contemporaneous 3 with its successor culture in the region the early Khvalynsk culture 4700 3800 BCE 6 note 1 while the archaeological findings seem related to those of the Dniepr Donets II culture 3 5200 5000 4400 4200 BCE 7 The valley of the Samara river contains sites from earlier cultures as well including the Elshanka culture which are descriptively termed Samara cultures or Samara valley cultures Some of these sites are currently under excavation The Samara culture as a proper name however is reserved for the early eneolithic of the region Artifacts editPottery edit nbsp Materials from the Sjezheye burial ground Samara culture 8 Pottery consists mainly of egg shaped beakers with pronounced rims They were not able to stand on a flat surface suggesting that some method of supporting or carrying must have been in use perhaps basketry or slings for which the rims would have been a useful point of support The carrier slung the pots over the shoulder or onto an animal Decoration consists of circumferential motifs lines bands zig zags or wavy lines incised stabbed or impressed with a comb These patterns are best understood when seen from the top They appear then to be a solar motif with the mouth of the pot as the sun Later developments of this theme show that in fact the sun is being represented Sacrificial objects edit The culture is characterized by the remains of animal sacrifice which occur over most of the sites There is no indisputable evidence of riding but there were horse burials the earliest in the Old World 9 Typically the head and hooves of cattle sheep and horses are placed in shallow bowls over the human grave smothered with ochre Some have seen the beginning of the horse sacrifice in these remains but this interpretation has not been more definitely substantiated We know that the Indo Europeans sacrificed both animals and people like many other cultures Graves edit nbsp A typical hill at the Samara bend of the Volga nbsp Steppe landscape in the Samara regionThe graves found are shallow pits for single individuals but two or three individuals might be placed there Some of the graves are covered with a stone cairn or a low earthen mound the very first predecessor of the kurgan citation needed The later fully developed kurgan was a hill on which the deceased chief might ascend to the sky god but whether these early mounds had that significance is doubtful Grave offerings included ornaments depicting horses The graves also had an overburden of horse remains it cannot yet be determined decisively if these horses were domesticated and ridden or not but they were certainly used as a meat animal Most controversial are bone plaques of horses or double oxen heads which were pierced The graves yield well made daggers of flint and bone placed at the arm or head of the deceased one in the grave of a small boy Weapons in the graves of children are common later Other weapons are bone spearheads and flint arrowheads Other carved bone figurines and pendants were found in the graves Middle Volga culture editThe Samara culture was preceded by the Middle Volga culture that flourished in the 6th millennium BCE Archaeogenetics editGenetic analyses of a male buried at Lebyazhinka radiocarbon dated to 5640 5555 BP found that he belonged to a population often referred to as Samara hunter gatherers a group closely associated with Eastern Hunter Gatherers The male sample carried Y haplogroup R1b1a1a and mitochondrial haplogroup U5a1d 10 11 12 Notes edit a b c There are several datings available Gimbutas dated it to 5000 BCE According to V A Dergachev 2007 O skipetrah o loshadyah o vojne Etyudy v zashitu migracionnoj koncepcii M Gimbutas ISBN 5 98187 173 3 dates Samara culture at cal C 14 5200 4500 BCE with possible continuation into first half of 5th millennium while the Khvalynsk culture is dated at ca 4600 3900 BCE These data are based on synchronisation not radiocarbon dating or dendrochronology of Samara culture sites itself The synchronisation to the west Samara equal to Mariupol equal to Tripolie A equal to Vinca Turdas Vinca B C Khvalinskaya equal to Sredni Stog 1 equal to Tripolie B1 equal to Pre Cucuteni equal to Gumelnita Maykop equal to Yamna equal to Sredni Stog II equal to Tripolie B2 equal to Cerna Voda I equal to Salcuta IV equal to Bodrogkeresztur Mallory and Adams Encyclopedia of Indo European Culture gives the bare date fifth millennium BCE while the Khvalynsk culture its reported successor is dated at 4900 3500 BCE References edit Morgunova N L Khokhlova O S 2020 09 24 Development of ancient cultures and paleoenvironment during the Eneolithic Period and the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Cis Urals steppe Russia Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 12 10 241 doi 10 1007 s12520 020 01197 w ISSN 1866 9565 S2CID 221885294 Wang Chuan Chao Reinhold Sabine Reinhold Kalmykov Alexey Wissgott Antje Brandt Guido Jeong Choongwon Cheronet Olivia Ferry Matthew Harney Eadaoin Keating Denise Mallick Swapan Rohland Nadin Stewardson Kristin Kantorovich Anatoly R Maslov Vladimir E Petrenko Vladimira G Erlikh Vladimir R Atabiev Biaslan C Magomedov Rabadan G Kohl Philipp L Alt Kurt W Pichler Sandra L Gerling Claudia Meller Harald Vardanyan Benik Yeganyan Larisa Rezepkin Alexey D Mariaschk Dirk Berezina Natalia Y et al 2018 The genetic prehistory of the Greater Caucasus bioRxiv 322347 doi 10 1101 322347 hdl 21 11116 0000 0001 E59B E a b c Anthony 2007 p 189 Mestonahozhdenie Varfolomeevka February 2018 Mezolit i neolit Severo Zapadnogo Prikaspiya 2005 Anthony 2007 p 182 Anthony 2007 p 175 Morgunova Nina L 17 December 2015 Pottery from the Volga area in the Samara and South Urals region from Eneolithic to Early Bronze Age Documenta Praehistorica 42 doi 10 4312 dp 42 22 Kuzʹmina Elena Efimovna 2007 The Origin of the Indo Iranians BRILL ISBN 9789004160545 Haak W Lazaridis I Patterson N Rohland N Mallick S Llamas B Brandt G Nordenfelt S Harney E Stewardson K Fu Q Mittnik A Banffy E Economou C Francken M Friederich S Pena R G Hallgren F Khartanovich V Khokhlov A Kunst M Kuznetsov P Meller H Mochalov O Moiseyev V Nicklisch N Pichler S L Risch R Rojo Guerra M A et al 2015 Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo European languages in Europe Nature 522 7555 207 211 arXiv 1502 02783 Bibcode 2015Natur 522 207H doi 10 1038 nature14317 PMC 5048219 PMID 25731166 Mathieson 2015 Mathieson 2018 Sources editAnthony David W 2007 The Horse The Wheel And Language How Bronze Age Riders From the Eurasian Steppes Shaped The Modern World Princeton University Press Marija Gimbutas The Civilization of the Goddess HarperSanFrancisco 1991 ISBN 0 06 250368 5 or ISBN 0 06 250337 5 J P Mallory Samara Culture Encyclopedia of Indo European Culture Fitzroy Dearborn 1997 Mathieson Iain November 23 2015 Genome wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians Nature Nature Research 528 7583 499 503 Bibcode 2015Natur 528 499M doi 10 1038 nature16152 PMC 4918750 PMID 26595274 Mathieson Iain February 21 2018 The Genomic History of Southeastern Europe Nature Nature Research 555 7695 197 203 Bibcode 2018Natur 555 197M doi 10 1038 nature25778 PMC 6091220 PMID 29466330 External links edit nbsp Media related to Samara culture at Wikimedia Commons The Horse in Mortuary Symbolism Mitochondrial DNA and the origins of the domestic horse Widespread Origins of Domestic Horse Lineages Factual archaeological description of Samara culture in Russian Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Samara culture amp oldid 1193971713, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.