Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 47 (2) 2019   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2019.47.2.024-032

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Chalcolithic and Bronze Age (4th to 3rd Millennia BC) Burials
with Gold Ornaments in the Caucasian Mineral Waters Area

S.N. Korenevskiy

Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dm. Ulyanova 19, Moscow, 117036, Russia

This article presents a brief overview of Maikop-Novosvobodnaya assemblages with gold ornaments. Special attention is paid to symbolism. Gold ring-pendants were found in four Middle Bronze Age burials, belonging to the Caucasian Mineral Waters group, Ciscaucasia. One of them (burial 4, kurgan 3 at Lysogorsky-6) is very unusual. It was arranged under a seven-meter-high mound, and contained a set of weapons and implements placed on wooden dishes. Among the stones heaped on the burial, an offering was found—two crania of bulls. Burials ofwarriors with bronze and stone axes, excavated in Central Caucasus, are discussed. The Maikop-Novosvobodnaya people (4th millennium BC) and those of the North Caucasian culture (3rd millennium BC) differed with regard to the social structure mirrored by the burials. While both those societies were in the early pre-state stage, their social models were different. The Chalcolithic society was marked by military and production symbolism (specifically, that related to carpentry), and their ranking was super-elitist, with abundant gold placed in burials. In the Middle Bronze Age society, symbols related to carpentry were still used, but along with bronze axes of the Transcaucasian (Nacherkezevi) type. Stone axes were associated with smithcraft. The highest degree of military elite stratification at that stage is revealed by assemblages with impact weapons and golden pendants attached to the headgear.

Keywords: Gold, silver, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, cemetery, kurgan