THE OLDEST ROCK ART SITES OF THE KARATAU RANGE: PETROGLYPHS OF KARASUYIR

Статья посвящена новому памятнику наскального искусства хребта Каратау, открытому в урочище Карасуйир. Приводится краткое описание памятника, публикуются наиболее важные изображения. Сюжеты и стилистические особенности основной чaсти петроглифов памятника Карасуйир связаны с эпохой бронзы, остaльные рисунки отнесены к эпохе рaннего железа и, возможно, к эпохе камня. Для некоторых из них предложена предварительная интерпретация. The article is devoted to a new rock art site of the Karatau Range, discovered in the Karasuyir Area. A brief description of the site is provided, and the most important images are published. Subjects and stylistic features of the main part of Karasuyir petroglyphs are associated with the Bronze Age, and other engravings are related to the early Iron Age and, perhaps, to the Stone Age. A preliminary interpretation is proposed for some of them.

RESCUE EXCAVATION OF THE ABAKAN-7 BURIAL GROUND IN 2018

Статья посвящена итогам исследований археологического памятника «Курганный могильник Абакан-7», проведенным в 2018 г. в рамках охранно - спасательных работ в центре г. Абакан. Несмотря на разрушение большей части культурного слоя, произошедшего в результате разновременного освоения городской территории, под техногенными напластованиями удалось обнаружить нетронутый участок, включавший частично сохранившийся курган раннего железного века с более поздним впускным погребением. В результате раскопок выявлены конструкции четырех погребений, содержавших 18 изделий из бронзы и кости (ножи, шилья, вток чекана, наконечник стрелы, украшения) и 8 фрагментарно сохранившихся керамических сосудов. Выявленный курган относится к подгороновскому этапу тагарской археологической культуры (8-9 вв. до н. э.), а впускное погребение - к тесинской археологической культуре (2-1 вв. до н. э.). The article is devoted to the results of the research of archaeological site “Abakan-7 burial ground”, which was conducted in 2018 within the rescue operations in the center of Abakan. Despite the destruction of most of the cultural layer, caused by the development of the urban area at diff erent times, under technogenic layers, researchers could fi nd an intact deposit, which included a partially preserved barrow of the Early Iron Age with a later inlet burial. As a result of the excavation, the structures of four burials were revealed, which contained 18 items made of bronze and bone (knives, awls, a handle spike of a pickaxe, arrowheads, jewelry) and 8 fragmentary preserved ceramic vessels. The discovered barrow belongs to the Podgornovo stage of the Tagar archaeological culture (8th-6th centuries BC), and the inlet burial belongs to the Tes archaeological culture (2nd-1st centuries BC).

Mesolithic Sites in the Upper Tobol

The article introduces prehistoric artifacts from the sites of Karasor-5, Karasor-6, and Karasor-7 obtained in 1998. The archaeological site of Karasor is located in the Upper Tobol region, near the town of Lisakovsk. Stone tools, pottery fragments, a ceramic item, and a bronze arrow head were collected from a sand blowout, which had destroyed the cultural layer. The paper gives a detailed description of the pottery. The stone tools were examined using the technical and typological analysis, which featured the primary splitting, the morphological parameters and size of plates, the ratio of blanks, plates, flakes, and finished tools, the secondary processing methods, and the typological composition of the tools. The nature of the raw materials was counted as an independent indicator. The pottery fragments, the bronze arrow head, and the ceramic item belonged to the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. The stone industry of the Karasor archeological cluster proved to be a Mesolithic monument of the Turgai Trough. The technical and typological analysis revealed a close similarity with the Mesolithic sites of the Southern and Middle Trans-Urals, as well as the forest-steppe part of the Tobol-Irtysh interfluve. The stone artifacts were dated from the Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age.

Stable Isotope and Radiocarbon Analysis for Diet, Climate and Mobility Reconstruction in Agras (Early Iron Age) and Edessa (Roman Age), Northern Greece

In this article we present an isotopic analysis of human bone collagen (δ13Ccol, and δ15Ncol) and bone apatite (δ13C) for diet reconstruction, as well as δ18Oap of human bone apatite for climate reconstruction, using samples from Northern Greece. Radiocarbon dating analysis was conducted on three of the Agras samples and the results (from 1000 to 800 BC) correspond to the Early Iron Age. Isotopic values for δ13Ccol range from −20.5‰ to −16‰ and for δ15Ncol from 6‰ to 11.1‰—a strong indication of a C3-based diet, with contributions by C4 and freshwater fish elements. The results were compared to the ones from Roman Edessa, and Alexandreia (a contemporary city near Edessa), as well as to other Early Iron sites in Greece and wider Europe. In general, the results from Agras are in good agreement with the results from Northern Greece, with the exception of the Makriyalos site, and are quite close to those of Croatia’s and Hungary’s sites. Additionally, from the δ18Oap results we calculated the oxygen isotopic composition of consumed water for Agras (from −9.6‰ to −10.9‰) and for Roman Edessa (from −9.6‰ to −11.2‰) for the palaeoclimate and palaeomobility reconstruction.

Handles of Early Iron Age Cauldrons from Southwestern Siberia

Handles of Early Iron Age bronze cauldrons from southwestern Siberia are described with reference to their ritual meaning. Typological features, such as knobs, arcuate, or square shape, are relevant for dating. Two chronological groups are established: the Tagar (second half of the 1st millennium BC) and Xiongnu-Xianbei (late 1st millennium BC to early 1st millennium AD). The interpretation of handles depends on the context. At settlements (Turunovka-4) and in certain hoards (First Dzhirim) of the Late Bronze Age, they can belong to foundry scrap. However, handles occur in long-term ritual sites such as Aidashenskaya Cave, suggesting a different interpretation. Indeed, at Eastern European forest-steppe sites of the Xiongnu era, handles of cauldrons had been intentionally buried, most often near water sources, where the summer camps of nomadic herders were situated. A similar situation is observed in southwestern Siberia, from the Baraba forest-steppe to the Middle Yenisei valley.