Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 39 (1) 2011

Annotation:  Three Scenarios of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition. Scenario 2: The Middle to Upper Paleo Chronology and Periodization of the Neolithic in the Upper and Middle Kama Region Paleolithic Art of the Carpathian-Dniester Region Raw Materials and Paste from Wheel-Thrown Ceramics from the Gnezdovo Burial Ground The Origins of Lead Archaeological Artifacts Using Mass Spectrometry Analysis Kelteminar Arrowheads from the Altai Dagger from the Late Bronze Age Settlement on the Lyuskus River The Archekas Celt and the Issue of the Seima-Turbino Period in the Kuznetsk Basin and in the Achins Bone Anthropomorphic Sculpture from the Ust-Polui Sanctuary Images in Bronze from the Sarovka Ritual Complex: Reconstructing Semantics Information-Theoretical Database Management System in the Context of Monuments Dating to the Pre-Sc Ritual Complexes of the Bolshoye Storozhevoye Fortifi ed Settlement in the Middle Don Area Erlik Khan in the Traditional Worldview of the Khakas Copper Casting in the Daily Life and Ritual Practices of Komi Old Believers Dogs in the Traditional Worldview of the Chuvash People A Proximal Pedal Phalanx of a Paleolithic Hominin from Denisova Cave, Altai Secular Dental Changes in the Populations of the Armenian Highland: Evolutionary and Ecological Asp A Nonmetric Cranial Study of the Andronovo Series from the Altai   

Ritual Complexes of the Bolshoye Storozhevoye Fortifi ed Settlement in the Middle Don Area

N.N. Voropayeva.

The Bolshoye Storozhevoye fortifi ed settlement is located in the Middle Don basin and is attributed to the Scythian period. In 2009, while research was conducted by the Don Archaeological Expedition RAS, materials dating from the 5th–4th centuries BC were discovered and utility and ritual complexes were examined. The article focuses on the ritual objects from this site: votive ceramics, miniature vessels, zoomorphic clay fi gurines, and a cylinder-shaped platform representing an altar. The examined ritual objects are paralleled by fi nds from the Dnieper-Don forest-steppe. They represent a part of a single ritual and mythological tradition that was formed in that region.

Keywords: Scythians, fortifi ed settlements, forest-steppe, Don basin, altar, ritual ceramics, clay fi gurines.