Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 46 (1) 2018   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2018.46.1.100-107

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A Periodization of the Timber-Grave Culture
in the Western Orenburg Region:
Archaeological and Natural Science-Based Evidence

L.V. Kuptsova¹, N.L. Morgunova¹, N.P. Salugina², and O.S. Khokhlova³

¹Orenburg State Pedagogical University, Sovetskaya 19, Orenburg, 460014, Russia

²Samara State Institute of Culture, Frunze 167, Samara, 443010, Russia

³Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institutskaya 2, Pushchino, 142290, Russia

Stages in the evolution of the Srubnaya (Timber-Grave) culture in the Orenburg region, Western Urals, are reconstructed using a multidisciplinary approach. Using the morphology and composition of buried soils, the relative chronology of burial mounds in the cemeteries was determined. The earliest paleosols indicate arid conditions, whereas the latest ones testify to greater humidity. The comparison of data from various analyses suggests that mounds contemporaneous in terms of 14C dates display resemblance in funerary rite, burial goods, and paleosol characteristics. The technological analysis of ceramics based on A.A. Bobrinsky’s approach showed that vessels from earlier mounds are more standardized, whereas those from later ones are more diverse. Based on the set of data, the evolution of the Timber-Grave culture in the region falls into three stages.

Keywords: Late Bronze Age, Timber-Grave culture, Western Urals, burial mounds, typology, periodization