Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 43 (1) 2015

Annotation:  The Lower Paleolithic of Iran: Probing New Finds from Mar Gwergalan Cave (Holeylan, Central Zagros) The Mesolithic of the Forest-Steppe Don Area: Retrospective and Prospective Reviews Morphology and Decoration of Ceramics from Novoilyinka III—A Chalcolithic Settlement in Northern Kul Two New Finds of the Chalcolithic–Bronze Age from the Fars River in the Northwestern Caucasus Late Bronze Age Burial Complexes of the Pakhomovskaya Culture, Eastern Variant (Site of Grishkina Za Weaponry, Adornments, and Garment Accessories from the Krasnyi Stroitel Site in the Chuy Valley of K Pendant Cross from Fort Albazin: Problems of Attribution Kholyato-1 Ritual Complex on the Yamal Peninsula The Medieval Metal Face from Novosibirsk Region as an Item of the Transcultural Material Complex in Johann Georg Gmelin and Tomskaya Pisanitsa (to the Three Hundred and Fifth Anniversary of the Resear Vegetation Reconstruction in the Ufa II Fortifi ed Settlement and in Adjacent Landscapes According t Stable-Isotope Analysis as a Method of Taxonomical Identifi cation of Archaeozoological Material Siberian Folklore and the Na-Dené Origins “As the Measure and Beauty Suggest”: Traditional Principles of Geometry in Russian Orthodox Churches The Burial at Ak-Alakha-3 Mound 1, Gorny Altai: New Findings   

The Mesolithic of the Forest-Steppe Don Area: Retrospective and Prospective Reviews

I.V. Fedyunin.

Mesolithic cultures from the forest-steppe Don area are analyzed with respect to the East European archaeological context. The author reviews the historiography of this issue, available sources, and the potential for cultural reconstructions. The role of the forest-steppe Don area sites in the East European Mesolithic is determined, and the existing concepts of the cultural attribution, periodization and chronology of the sites, as well as dispersal areas of certain Mesolithic cultures of this region, are revised. Available sources suggest that the origin and historical development of these cultures are not related to either the local terminal Paleolithic or Neolithic.

Keywords: Mesolithic, Zimovniki culture, Donets culture, forest-steppe Don area, Northeastern Azov area, Donets region