History of the Bronze Age. Bronze Age (3500–1200 BC)

BRONZE AGE - a stage in human history characterized by the spread of bronze metallurgy, bronze tools and weapons at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. (later in some regions). It was preceded by the Chalcolithic. Scientists divide it into 3 periods: early, middle, late. In B. century. Cattle breeding, agriculture, and crafts developed; writing appeared. Changed to the Iron Age.

At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the zone of cultures with metal covered no more than 8-10 million km², and by its end their area increased to 40-43 million km². During the Bronze Age, the formation, development and change of a number of metallurgical provinces took place.

Early Bronze Age

The boundary that separated the Copper Age from the Bronze Age was the collapse of the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province (1st half of 4 thousand) and the formation of ca. 35/33 centuries Circumpontic metallurgical province. Within the Circumpontian metallurgical province, which dominated during the early and middle Bronze Ages, copper ore centers of the South Caucasus, Anatolia, the Balkan-Carpathian region, and the Aegean Islands were discovered and began to be exploited. To the west of it, the mining and metallurgical centers of the Southern Alps, the Iberian Peninsula, and the British Isles functioned; to the south and southeast, metalliferous cultures are known in Egypt, Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan, all the way to Pakistan.

The place and time of the discovery of methods for producing bronze is not known with certainty. It can be assumed that bronze was discovered in several places at the same time. The earliest bronze items with tin admixtures were discovered in Iraq and Iran and date back to the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. But there is evidence of an earlier appearance of bronze in Thailand in the 5th millennium BC. e. Bronze items containing arsenic were produced in Anatolia and on both sides of the Caucasus in the early 3rd millennium BC. e. And some bronze products of the Maykop culture date back to the middle of the 4th millennium BC. e. Although this issue is controversial and other analysis results indicate that the same Maykop bronze products were made in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. e.

With the beginning of the Bronze Age, two blocks of human communities in Eurasia took shape and began to actively interact. To the south of the central folded mountain belt (Sayano-Altai - Pamir and Tien Shan - Caucasus - Carpathians - Alps), societies with a complex social structure, an economy based on agriculture in combination with livestock husbandry, were formed; cities, writing, and states appeared here. To the north, in the Eurasian steppe, warlike societies of mobile pastoralists formed.

Middle Bronze Age

In the Middle Bronze Age (26/25-20/19 centuries BC) there was an expansion (mainly to the north) of the zone occupied by metal-bearing cultures. The Circumpontic metallurgical province largely retains its structure and continues to be the central system of producing metallurgical centers in Eurasia.

Late Bronze Age

The beginning of the Late Bronze Age is the collapse of the Circumpontic metallurgical province at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia and the formation of a whole chain of new metallurgical provinces, which to varying degrees reflected the most important features of mining and metallurgical production practiced in the central centers of the Circumpontic metallurgical province.

Among the metallurgical provinces of the Late Bronze Age, the largest was the Eurasian steppe metallurgical province (up to 8 million km²), which inherited the traditions of the Circumpontic metallurgical province. Adjoining it from the south were the Caucasian metallurgical province and the Iranian-Afghan metallurgical province, which were small in area but distinguished by their special richness and variety of product forms, as well as the nature of the alloys. From Sayan-Altai to Indochina, production centers of the complex formation of the East Asian metallurgical province spread. Various forms of high-quality products from the European metallurgical province, which stretched from the Northern Balkans to the Atlantic coast of Europe, are concentrated mainly in rich and numerous hoards. Adjoining it from the south was the Mediterranean metallurgical province, which differed significantly from the European metallurgical province in production techniques and product forms.

The Bronze Age is the age of bronze products, as you probably already guessed. It replaced the Copper Age and preceded the Iron Age.

There are several stages of the Bronze Age: early, middle And late.

In the first half of the 6th millennium, the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province collapsed and the Circumpontic metallurgical province emerged. Within its boundaries, copper ore centers of the South Caucasus, Anatolia, the Balkan-Carpathian region, and the Aegean Islands were discovered and began to be used. To the west of it there were mining and metallurgical centers of the Southern Alps, the Iberian Peninsula, and the British Isles. In the south and southeast, metal-bearing cultures of Egypt, Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan, all the way to Pakistan, are known.

It is not known for certain where and when methods for producing bronze were discovered. However, there are suggestions that this happened in several places. Where were the earliest bronzes discovered? Such items with tin impurities were found in Iraq and Iran around the end of the 4th millennium BC. However, some argue that bronze was found much earlier in Thailand in the 5th millennium BC. In the 3rd millennium BC, in Anatolia on both sides of the Caucasus, bronze products containing arsenic were made.

With the beginning of the Bronze Age in Eurasia, human societies divided into two blocks. On the territory of the Sayan - Altai - Pamir and Tien Shan - Caucasus - Carpathians - Alps lived people who ran an economy based on agriculture and livestock breeding. It was here that cities, writing, and states appeared. To the north, in the steppes of Eurasia lived warlike tribes of mobile pastoralists.

Middle Bronze Age

In the Middle Bronze Age, people began to settle in the northern zones. The Circumponian Metallurgical Province remains the same.

Late Bronze Age

In the Late Bronze Age, the Circumpontian metallurgical province disintegrated and new ones formed. The largest was the Eurasian steppe metallurgical province. Adjoining it were the Caucasian metallurgical province, the products of which were very diverse, and the Iran-Afghan metallurgical province. There were several more provinces that differed from each other in bronze processing techniques and product shapes.

The Bronze Age in the Middle East began in Anatolia (modern Türkiye). There was a lot of copper and tin in the mountains of the Anatolian Plateau. Copper was also mined in Cyprus, Ancient Egypt, Israel, Iran and around the Persian Gulf. In the Early Bronze Age, city-states and writing appeared. In the Middle Bronze Age, nomadic peoples appeared in the region: Amorites, Hittites, Hurrians, Hyksos. In the Late Bronze Age, powerful states in the region competed with each other: Ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, etc.

The main cultures of the Bronze Age in Europe are Unetice, Burial Fields, Terramar, Lusatian, Belogrudov.

The Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent began with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization. From ancient excavations we see that the people of Harappa were familiar with copper, bronze, lead and tin. They developed new methods for processing and obtaining them.

In China, the Bronze Age began during the Xia Dynasty. The Erlitou culture, Shang Dynasty, and Sanxingdui culture used bronze ritual vessels as well as agricultural tools and weapons.

In America, the Incas knew the secret of making bronze. Bronze objects have been found in western Mexico.

The Ziggurat of Ur is a monument of Bronze Age Sumerian architecture.

Such golden hats were worn by Celtic priests of the Bronze Age.

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Bronze Age. General characteristics.

The Bronze Age corresponds to a dry and relatively warm subboreal climate, in which steppes predominated. The forms of cattle breeding are being improved: stabling of livestock, transhumance (yailage) cattle breeding. The Bronze Age corresponds to the fourth stage in the development of metallurgy - the appearance of copper-based alloys (with tin or other components). Bronze items were made using casting molds. To do this, an impression was made in the clay and dried, and then metal was poured into it. To cast three-dimensional objects, stone molds were made from two halves. Also, things began to be made using a wax model. Bronze is preferred for casting, because... it is more fluid and liquid than copper. Initially, tools were cast according to the old (stone) type, and only later did they think of using the advantages of the new material. The range of products has increased. The intensification of inter-clan clashes contributed to the development of weapons (bronze swords, spears, axes, daggers). Inequality began to arise between tribes of different territories due to unequal reserves of ore deposits. This was also the reason for the development of exchange. The easiest means of communication was by water.

Bronze Age

The sail was invented. Carts and the wheel appeared in the Eneolithic. Communication between countries contributed to the acceleration of economic and cultural progress.

4. Primitive communal system. The most important historical monuments in Central Asia.

To study the history of mankind, it is necessary at the very beginning to determine the origins of its occurrence. To do this, it is necessary to study the ancient history of mankind. Scientists from various branches of science do this: archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnographers, linguists and many others.

The primitive system is the very first era in the history of mankind, when all the tools of labor were common, everyone worked together and were equal. At the very beginning of human development, the most ancient people united into a collective.

Gradually, the team began to break up into groups based on related characteristics.

Human history includes the following periods:

1. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age). It is considered the longest of all three. In this connection, this period, in turn, is divided into 3 stages:

Early (Acheulean) – 800/500-100 thousand years ago. This period is characterized by the presence of ancient anthropoid sites - the Selengur cave, which was located in the Fergana Valley. A humerus, teeth, and the back of an anthropoid skull were found here. Traces of the anthropoid's habitation were also found in Kulbuk near Angren. This is evidenced by the found tools and animal bones. It is known that anthropoids lived in herds. Main activity: hunting and gathering.

Middle (Mousterian) – 100-40 thousand years ago. During this period, the external image of the anthropoid changes. A Neanderthal appears. His difference from the anthropoid was the presence of speech receptors in the brain. Neanderthal man made various tools, made clothes from skins, and hunted large animals. In the Teshiktash area, the remains of a Neanderthal boy 8-9 years old, about 30 stone tools and the remains of fires were discovered. During this period, religious ideas arose among ancient people.

Upper (late) – 40-12 thousand years ago. A representative of this period is the Cro-Magnon man. Traces of its habitat are Samarkand, the Fergana Valley and the valley of the Angren River. Excavations indicate the presence of more advanced tools during this period, which are proof that the process of human development (his evolution) was underway. His appearance changed, his thinking appeared, clan communities and tribes were formed. The first art appears - rock paintings in the Zarautsay gorge.

2. The “Mesolithic” era (Middle Stone Age) – 12-7 thousand years BC. During this period, there was a sharp change in people's lifestyle: from hunting they switched to farming and cattle breeding. The advent of hoe farming played a huge role in human development. Climate warming has made it possible to expand their habitat areas. During the Mesolithic era, there were about 100 sites in the Fergana Valley and southern Uzbekistan.

3. The “Neolithic” era (New Stone Age) – 6-4 thousand years BC. the "Neolithic revolution" takes place. Transition to a productive economy - agriculture, cattle breeding. Weaving and crafts are developing. Micrometas are being manufactured. Settled settlements of tribal communities are formed. Matriarchy is flourishing. On the territory of Central Asia, depending on the natural and climatic conditions and types of economy, 3 types of crops are distinguished: settlements of the first farmers - “Dzheitun culture” - 6-5 thousand years BC; culture of hunters and fishermen - “Kaltamiran culture” - late 5th - early 4th millennium BC); the culture of farmers in mountainous and foothill areas - “Gissar culture”.

4. In the Chalcolithic (Copper Stone Age) - 4-3 thousand years BC. The main material for tools is copper. Irrigated agriculture and cattle breeding are developing. Sedentary agricultural settlements are developing in the foothills and delta basins of large rivers (Zamanbaba in the Zarafshan River basin). The population of the Aral region is engaged in breeding domestic animals (horses, cows, sheep). Copper shortages have led to wars, and the dominance of communal ownership has hampered progress.

Primitive art .

In world history, primitive fine art, in particular, rock paintings, dates back to the late Paleolithic era. They provide a wealth of material for understanding the thinking of ancient man, his ideas about the world around him. In Central Asia, rock images appear in the Mesolithic era.

In the Neolithic era they became more refined and more complex.

Objects of fine art were discovered in the monuments of the Gissar, and especially the Dzheitun culture. In the mountainous regions of Central Asia, the following two types of rock paintings are widespread: the first type includes images made with paint (ochre); to the second - carved drawings (petroglyphs).

The most interesting on the territory of Uzbekistan are considered to be the rock paintings of Zarautsay, Sarmyshsay, Bironsay, Teraklisay, etc. Their number reaches more than 100. In these drawings you can see images of ancient and modern representatives of the animal world. These are lions, tigers, oxen, foxes, wolves, goitered gazelles and other animals. In the drawings you can see long swords, spears, traps, knives and other various hunting tools.

The images in Zarautsay (Surkhandarya region), dating back to the Mesolithic - Neolithic eras, became world famous. Some of the drawings on these rocks are done in red. Particularly attractive is the landscape called “Hunting for Wild Animals,” which depicts people hunting large-horned animals with their dogs. Some hunters can be seen wearing capes. They are armed with bows and slings. Elsewhere there is an image of a bull surrounded by two groups of hunters.

These rock carvings make it possible to judge the degree of outlook and the religious worldview of the people of this era.

Achievements of the Bronze Age.

Bronze Age-from the middle of the 3rd millennium to the middle of the 1st millennium BC.

These are sites - Janbas - Kale and in the Khorezm region. They testify to the spread and development of agriculture and cattle breeding, and to the technical achievements of people. Weapons in Central Asia were made of bronze (copper), and jewelry was made of gold. Copper mining, foundry, and jewelry making were developed. Irrigation technology and artificial canals of the irrigation system developed. Domestic and foreign trade was widely developed. Writing is born.

But the main change in the “Bronze Age” was the emergence of the state, classes, private property, money circulation (as the equivalent of trade) and the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy (due to wars, the need to protect property, and increasing the social status of men). A peculiarity of socio-economic relations is the transformation of slaves (prisoners of war) into objects of property and the emergence in Central Asia of patriarchal slavery, characteristic of ancient Eastern civilizations.

The Bronze Age - from the middle of the 3rd millennium to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. There is a separation of cattle breeding from agriculture (the first

social division of labor), social stratification of society (community members, warriors, priests, leaders) with the appropriation of lands and pastures; the appearance of surplus - surplus product leads to property inequality and the development of exchange between tribes. Patriarchy sets in, kinship through the male line (a man is a breadwinner, a protector, a warrior); slavery takes place. In the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. A proto-urban culture was formed in the regions of Bactria and Margiana with a center in Dzharkutan (signs of a city - a citadel, a temple, houses). In the 2nd millennium BC. – culture of agricultural and pastoral tribes – Tazabagyab on the territory of Khorezm; beginning of the 1st millennium BC settlements of farmers - Chust culture, writing appeared on the territory of ancient Khorezm 2.5 thousand years ago.

Achievements of the Iron Age.

The Age of “Early Iron”(from the middle of the 1st millennium BC to the 1st century AD).

These are sites in Khorezm, on the right bank of the Amu Darya (Airtam sanctuary), in the mountainous part of the Fergana Valley. In this era, a new layer of historical sources appears - written sources. One of the most ancient written monuments is “Avesta,” a collection of sacred hymns of the first monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism. Achaemenid inscriptions and Greco-Roman sources of the 6th - 4th centuries appear. BC. (Herodotus, Strabo, Ctessius, Xenophon, etc.), their own inscriptions appear on the territory of Central Asia.

Since the Bronze Age in the region in the first millennium BC. the so-called begins urban revolution, crafts and trade are developing in cities. The presence of cities and urban culture is one of the signs of civilization and a definite step towards the development of statehood.

The “Early Iron” era (late 8th century BC – 1st century BC). Metallurgy develops and iron tools are made. The most ancient urban centers (Uzunkyr, Afrosiab) are developing.

The most important historical monument of this period is the written source “Avesta” - the sacred book of Zoroastrianism. As well as Achaemenid inscriptions (VI – IV centuries BC), Greco-Roman sources (Herodotus, Strabo, Ctisius, Xenophos, etc.).

Thus, the ancient history of Central Asia suggests that Uzbekistan is one of the centers of the most ancient civilization in the East.

Written sources about early states. (Avesta)

"Avesta" is a historical source for studying the most ancient period of the history of Central Asia.

"Avesta" is a collection of religious texts of the Zoroastrians. Zoroastrianism is the most ancient religion, which is based on the eternal struggle between good and evil. It did not become global, but had a great influence on such world religions as Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The name of the religion comes from the name of the prophet Zarathushtra. "Avesta" is not only the sacred scripture of the Zoroastrian religion, but also one of the main sources on the history of antiquity, culture, social and political system of ancient peoples who once lived in our region.

Evidence of a sedentary (agricultural) population and tribes engaged in cattle breeding, the mention of the above structure of society suggests that a more acceptable point of view in determining the chronology of the Avesta is the point of view relating the Avesta to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. It was at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. on the vast territory from the northern borders of modern Uzbekistan to Afghanistan in the south, from the Fergana Valley in the east to the western borders of modern Turkestan, a community was taking shape that corresponds to the geographical concepts of Turan and Iran reflected in the Avesta. These are the following centers of cultural community: Fergana, Sogd, etc. Also Chach - Tashkent (Burliuk culture). These were early urban organisms with a complex internal organization, which arose on the basis of a settled agricultural economy based on artificial irrigation. This stage of development of society is reflected in the Avesta.

Zoroaster is the only founder of religion who was first a priest of the old pagan, proto-Zoroastrian cult religion, and then, after receiving revelation from the Almighty, a prophet of monotheistic teaching.

In the free choice between Good and Evil, an active role is assigned to the person himself. And therefore, in the time of Zarathushtra, the main duty of a person, the ethics of his behavior, came down not so much to prayers and rituals, but to a just way of life, expressed in the triad: “a good thought - a good word - a good deed.” According to Zoroastrianism, fire, earth, water and air are sacred and cannot be mixed with objects that represent evil.

The Avesta that has come down to us consists of the books: “Yasna” - “sacrifice”, “prayer”, a set of texts accompanying the main ritual ceremonies;

“Yashts” - “veneration”, “praise”, hymns to the deities of the Zoroastrian pantheon;

“Videvdat” - “law against devas (demons)”;

"Visprat" - "all rulers", a collection of prayers and liturgical texts. In addition, the Avesta includes a number of other sections of smaller volume and significance.

Of the 72 chapters of the Yasna, 17 are made up of the Gathas of Zoroaster

The Avesta contains a dualistic theory about the universe of human life.

For historians, the information from the Avesta, which characterizes the structure of Avestan society and the problem of ancient statehood in the region, is invaluable.

The most ancient parts of the Avesta determine the structure of the society of settled agricultural tribes at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. This is a hierarchical society with clearly defined subordination: family (“imana”), clan (“vis”), tribe (“zantu”), country (“dahyu”), i.e. society was four-tiered.

According to the Avesta, it is possible to characterize the social system in the territory of Wed. Asia as a transition from primitive communal to class. A territorial division has already been outlined. Small “countries” were created led by rulers (but tribal relations still existed). Many rulers were actually tribal leaders. There were other authorities - popular assemblies, and probably councils of elders. The clan nobility stood out. The smallest social unit was the patriarchal family. There were elements of patriarchal slavery. The role of military commanders grew.

Characterizing the Avesta as a whole as a single historical source, it can be noted that it contains extensive and varied material on the history of the most ancient monotheistic religion - Zoroastrianism, which over the centuries has cultivated in its adherents courage, hope for the future and a willingness to do good. In addition, “Avesta” provides very valuable information about Avestan society itself, its social structure, and the social processes that took place in the region in the first half of the 1st millennium BC.

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Bronze Age (general characteristics).

The Bronze Age is an era of human history identified on the basis of archaeological data, characterized by the leading role of bronze products, which was associated with the improvement of the processing of metals such as copper and tin obtained from ore deposits, and the subsequent production of bronze from them. The Bronze Age is the second, later phase of the Early Metal Age, which replaced the Copper Age and preceded the Iron Age. In general, the chronological framework of the Bronze Age: 35/33 - 13/11 centuries. BC e., but they differ among different cultures.

During the Bronze Age, the production development of metals, including gold, began. The emergence of new forms of pastoral farming - driving livestock to summer pastures, keeping some animals in stalls, preparing feed and a gradual transition to nomadic cattle breeding. Development of hoe farming. Agriculture in the mountainous regions of Kazakhstan was established back in the 4th millennium BC. e. The first social division of labor is born. Man mastered agriculture and cattle breeding at the same time. The development of cattle breeding and agriculture required more male labor. Because of this, the matriarchal family collapses and is replaced by patriarchal family-clan relations.

c) Metallurgy played an important role in the life of the tribes of that time. The main raw material for the manufacture of tools and weapons was bronze - an alloy of copper and tin. The main advantages of bronze compared to copper:

A) Low alloy temperature;

B) Stronger, harder

B) Beautiful golden color.

The territory of Kazakhstan is rich in mineral resources. Deposits of copper, tin, lead, gold and silver are found mainly in Central and Eastern Kazakhstan. Here are the main deposit areas:

1. Zhezkazgan, Zyryanov - copper. 100 thousand tons of copper were mined in Zhezkazgan;

2. Atasu, in the areas of the Kalba and Narym ridges - tin;

3. Stepnyak, Akzhal, Balazhal - gold. The development of these deposits was carried out during the 4th – 3rd millennium BC. e.

Andronovites used the following methods for identifying, mining and alloying ore:

By laying excavations, the locations of ore deposits were determined and mining began;

Loose ores were mined using the “picking” method using chippers and stone hammers;

Dense rocks were mined using the “fire sinking” method, in which a fire was lit on the surface of the vein, and when the rock was heated, it was cooled with water. As a result of a sharp change in temperature, the ore body began to crack.

For deep rocks, the “undermining” or mining method was used;

Near the mine, the mined ore was crushed and washed to separate it from the waste rock.

Finely crushed ore was scooped up with wooden shovels and carried in leather bags to the smelting sites. Metal smelting was carried out at settlement sites in special smelting furnaces. The remains of such furnaces were discovered during excavations of settlements on Atasu, Suykbulak, Kanai, where slags, copper ingots, and foundry molds were found near the furnaces. Tools, weapons and jewelry were made from the resulting metal. Forging, casting, embossing and chasing were used. For example, by casting - bronze daggers, arrowheads, spears, and by forging - awls, needles, paper clips for repairing dishes. The main tools of a miner are stone hammers and chippers, mortars, pestles, beaters, graters, bronze picks, wooden and bone shovels, wedges, and ore crushers.

Andronovo culture.

Andronovo culture (cultural-historical community) is the general name of a group of closely related archaeological cultures of the Bronze Age, covering in the 17th-9th centuries BC. e. Kazakhstan, Western Siberia, western part of Central Asia, Southern Urals

The name comes from the village of Andronovo near the city of Achinsk, where in August 1914 A. Ya. Tugarinov discovered the first burials.

The Andronovo culture was identified by the Soviet archaeologist S. A. Teploukhov in 1927. Research was also carried out by archaeologist K.V. Salnikov, who in 1948 proposed the first classification of monuments of the Andronovo culture. He identified three chronological stages: Fedorovsky, Alakulsky and Zamaraevsky.

Currently, the Andronovo culture includes at least 4 related cultures:

Sintashta-Petrovka-Arkaim (Southern Urals, northern Kazakhstan, 2200-1600 BC,

Fortification of Sintashta in the Chelyabinsk region, dating back to 1800 BC. e.;

The settlement of Arkaim, also in the Chelyabinsk region, dates back to 1700 BC. e.;

Alakul (2100-1400 BC), in the area between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, Kyzylkum desert;

Alekseevka (1300-1100 BC) in eastern Kazakhstan, influence of Namazga-Tepe VI in Turkmenistan

The Ingal Valley in the south of the Tyumen region, in which monuments of the Alakul, Fedorov and Sargat cultures successively replace each other

Fedorovo (1500-1300 BC) in Southern Siberia (cremation and fire cult found for the first time);

Beshkent region - Vakhsh (Tajikistan), 1000-800 BC. e.

The Andronovo culture develops on the basis of the Yamnaya. The spread of Andronovo culture was uneven. In the west, it reached the region of the Urals and Volga, where it came into contact with the timber-frame culture. In the east, the Andronovo culture spread to the Minusinsk Basin, partially including the territory of the early Afanasyevskaya culture. In the south, individual material monuments were discovered in the area of ​​the mountain systems of Kopetdag (Turkmenistan), Pamir (Tajikistan) and Tien Shan (Kyrgyzstan) - in the area of ​​settlement of Dravidian-speaking tribes. The northern border of the distribution of the Andronovo culture coincides with the border of the taiga. In the Volga basin there is a noticeable influence of the timber-frame culture. Ceramics of the Fedorovo type were discovered in the Volgograd region.

Karasuk culture.

Karasuk culture is an archaeological culture of the Bronze Age (late 2nd - early 1st millennium BC) in Southern Siberia and Kazakhstan. It was named after excavations of reference monuments on the Karasuk River (a tributary of the Yenisei) near the village of Bateni in the Bogradsky district of the Republic of Khakassia. The influence of culture can be traced from Sayano-Altai to the Aral Sea. It developed on the basis of the Okunev culture under the influence of the Andronovo culture. There are two traditions - classical and Lugavskaya (Kamennolozhskaya). Replaced by Tagar culture.

The first reports about Karasuk graves are contained in the diaries of I. G. Gmelin (XVIII century). The first excavations were carried out by I.P. Kuznetsov-Krasnoyarsky in 1884 near the village of Askiz. Based on the similarity of the burial box to the coffin, he called them tombs. In 1894, similar boxes were encountered by A.V. Adrianov during excavations on the river. Tuba and near the city of Minusinsk, but did not attach any importance to them.

S.A. Teploukhov examined burial grounds in five different points of the Khakass-Minusinsk basin. It was he who identified a new archaeological culture and gave its characteristics. After him, excavations were carried out by G. P. Sosnovsky, V. P. Levasheva, but mainly by S. V. Kiselev. In the 1950s, a series of Karasuk graves in the city of Abakan and on the left tributaries of the river. Abakan was excavated by A. N. Lipsky.

Subsequently, as a result of the work of the Krasnoyarsk archaeological expedition under the leadership of M.P. Gryaznov, a special late stage of the Karasuk culture was identified - the Kamennolozhsky one.

Main points of view on the origin:

its local origin is proven, that is, its evolutionary continuity from the Andronovo culture is traced (M. P. Gryaznov, G. Maksimenkov, Siep Dinh Hoa, etc.);

its alien character is substantiated, that the Karasuk people came from the Central Asian steppes and northwestern China (S.V. Kiselev, Novgorodova, G.F. Debets),

Middle East - N. L. Chlenova;

Central Asia, were carriers of the Caucasoid Pamir-Fergana anthropological type (V.P. Alekseev).

a number of researchers discover aboriginal (Andronovo), southern and Central Asian components in the Karasuk culture, considering it mixed and contact.

Anthropological appearance.

According to L. Gumilev, the culture was created by Mongoloid nomads (the presence of Caucasian-type skulls is explained by mixing with the Dinlins). The original distribution area was northern China.

According to other sources, the Karasuk people came from the south from the Central Asian region, since skulls of people of the Caucasian Pamir-Fergana type are found in Karasuk graves.

Some researchers (B. O. Dolgikh, A. P. Dulzon, N. L. Chlenova, E. A. Novgorodova, M. D. Khlobystin, etc.) believe that the Karasuk people are the ancestors of the Kets. AND.

van Driem considers the Pamir Burushaskis as descendants of the Karasuk culture.

Most researchers consider the Karasuk people to be representatives of a mixed type, which was based on the Caucasoid “Andronovo” anthropological type, supplemented by the Mongoloid type of aliens from the eastern regions of Central Asia (V. A. Dremov, A. N. Bagashev)

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Characteristics of the Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a special period in ancient human history, which, thanks to the archaeological data found, stands out as a period in the ancient history of mankind. The era is characterized by the main, leading role of tools made of bronze, which was caused by the improvement of the processing of copper and tin obtained from ore and the further production of an alloy from them - bronze. The archaeological study of Bronze Age cultures, together with data from comparative linguistics and toponymy of the masses, is important for solving the problem of the formation and spread of the main groups of Indo-Europeans (including the Slavs, Balts, Thracians, Germans, Iranians, etc.) and the origin of many modern peoples. Conventionally, the Bronze Age is divided into three periods: early (XXV-XVII centuries BC), middle (XVII-XV centuries BC) and late (XV-IX centuries BC).

The Bronze Age is the second, much later phase of the Early Metal Age, which succeeded the Copper Age and preceded the Iron Age. How exactly ancient man came to the idea of ​​smelting copper ores using metallurgical methods is still not known. Perhaps, humans were initially attracted by the unusual red color of the nuggets located in the upper, oxidizing zone of the ore vein. This vein also concentrates multi-colored oxidized copper minerals, such as azure azurite, green malachite, red cuprite, etc.

The Bronze Age corresponds to a dry and relatively warm subboreal climate, in which steppes predominated. The forms of cattle breeding are being improved: stabling of livestock, transhumance (yailage) cattle breeding. The Bronze Age corresponds to the fourth stage in the development of metallurgy - the appearance of copper-based alloys (with tin or other components). Bronze items were made using casting molds. To do this, an impression was made in the clay and dried, and then metal was poured into it. To cast three-dimensional objects, stone molds were made from two halves. Also, things began to be made using a wax model. Bronze is preferred for casting, because... it is more fluid and liquid than copper. Initially, tools were cast according to the old (stone) type, and only later did they think of using the advantages of the new material. The range of products has increased. The intensification of inter-clan clashes contributed to the development of weapons (bronze swords, spears, axes, daggers). Inequality began to arise between tribes of different territories due to unequal reserves of ore deposits. This was also the reason for the development of exchange. The easiest means of communication was by water. The sail was invented. Carts and the wheel appeared in the Eneolithic. Communication between countries contributed to the acceleration of economic and cultural progress.

As a rule, people of this time lived in small villages located on sand dunes in river floodplains or on high coastal capes. The wide river valleys of the Kursk region, with an abundance of feed for livestock and convenient areas for cultivating the soil, contributed to the development of agriculture and livestock breeding among local tribes. Hunting and fishing played a secondary role. Weaving, processing of bone, leather and wood, and the manufacture of clay vessels, stone and metal tools were widespread.

At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the western regions of the Kursk region were occupied by representatives of the Middle Dnieper culture, and the eastern and southeastern regions were occupied by tribes of the Catacomb culture, who received their name from a characteristic burial rite. A catacomb cave was dug in one of the walls of the grave, into which the crumpled body of the deceased, thickly sprinkled with red ocher, was placed. Vessels with food were placed next to the deceased, and tools and weapons were placed. The entrance to the catacomb was blocked with oak blocks or stone slabs, the hole was covered with earth, and a mound was erected on top. Several catacomb mounds were explored in 1891 near the village. Vorobyovka (modern Zolotukhinsky district) by professor of St. Petersburg University D.Ya. Samokvasov. In the largest mound (height 8.5 m, diameter 108 m) a wooden decay was discovered and the crumpled skeleton of a man lying on its left side, next to which were the fragments of two vessels and an animal tooth. Under the skull of the buried person was a bronze spear tip. During excavations of one of the neighboring mounds, two more catacomb burials were discovered.

Another catacomb burial was discovered in 1936 during construction work in the center of Kursk. At a depth of two meters there was a paired burial of a man and a woman. The crumpled skeletons were covered with red ocher; the grave goods included hammer-shaped pins that fastened the clothes of the buried, and a small vessel.

An interesting find related to the catacomb culture was made by peasants of the village of Skakun (modern Kastorensky district) in 1891. While extracting peat at a depth of about two meters, they came across a foundry treasure, which consisted of four massive bronze axes of a regular shape with a low socket on end, two bronze chisels and a thin bronze plate with a widened end. The items purchased from the peasants were transferred to the Imperial Russian Historical Museum (Moscow).

In the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. The Abashev tribes and, a little later, the bearers of the Srubnaya archaeological culture began to penetrate into the east of the country. The Catacombs were exterminated or expelled, and the Abashevites joined the ranks of the Srubniks and were assimilated by them. Throughout the Late Bronze Age, the neighbors of the Srubniks were representatives of the Sosnitskaya (Il, Sosnitskoe dwelling) who lived along the banks of the Seim and the tribes of the Bondarikha archaeological culture who lived on the Pslya. The building, which belonged to the Bondarikha people, was examined by M.B. Shchukin near the village. Kartamyshevo (Belovsky district). The dwelling was practically above ground, buried only 10 - 20 cm, so its outlines could only be traced by a dark spot and rows of pillar pits 20 cm deep and 20 - 30 cm in diameter. In two pits, the remains of the bases of charred wooden pillars were preserved. Two ash spots within the dwelling may have been traces of open fires. Judging by the location of the pillars, the building had a gable roof.

Eneolithic and Bronze Age of Central Asia

Eneolithic monuments of Central Asia are concentrated in the foothills of the Kopetdag, on the border of the deserts. The ruins of the settlements are multi-meter hills called tepe, tepa or depe. They are made up of the remains of adobe houses. The early complexes include the Anau 1A and Namazga 1 complexes (5th-mid-4th thousand). Development of agriculture. Fields were embanked during river floods to retain water. digging stick Wheat and barley were grown. Cattle breeding is replacing hunting. Cows, sheep, pigs. Mud brick appears and one-room houses are built from it. They find smelted copper things (third stage): jewelry, knives, awls. Copper was brought from Iran. Hemispherical and flat-bottomed bowls are painted with single-color patterns. They find female figurines and the cult of a female deity. The Namazga 2 complex (3500 BC) belongs to the middle period. The villages had a common granary and a common sanctuary with an altar. Sheep predominated, with few pigs and no poultry. Copper annealing was mastered. The processing of gold and silver was mastered. The number of stone tools decreased. Inserts, grain grinders, etc. remained flint. Ceramics were hemispherical and conical. Multicolor painting. Single burials with some differences in the wealth of grave goods. The Namazga 3 complex (2750 BC) belongs to the Late Paleolithic. Differences between Western and Eastern regions (in ceramics). Settlements of this period exist in all sizes: small, medium and large. The first irrigation canals and reservoirs appeared. Sheep farming predominates. Draft animals and a wheel appeared. Collective burials. Ceramics: biconic bowls, pots, goblets.

Bronze Age of European Russia

Srednestagovskaya culture (Don and Dnieper), ancient pit, catacomb, timber (Volga and its course), Afanasyevskaya (Altai steppes), Karasukskaya. There was livestock raising in mobile forms. Ancient Yamnaya cultural and historical community (mid 3rd – early 2nd millennium) – from the Southern Urals to the Balkan-Danube region. Features of funeral rites and ceramics. 9 variants of this culture. The ancient pit mound is a characteristic feature, an indicator of new ideological ideas, “steppe psychology.” The dead were buried in pits on their backs with their knees raised, with their heads facing east. Inventory is missing or very poor. The vessels are round-bottomed or pointed-bottomed, the ornament is zonal. The ancient Yamnaya tribes are carriers and spreaders. the most important achievements that individual agricultural centers had previously possessed. Interactions with Maykop and Trypillian cultures. Accumulation of wealth in clans and tribes, intertribal clashes. The productive economy contributed to stratification; in some mounds, carts were found (a sign of military detachments). Complete affirmation of patriarchy. Catacomb (2000-1600 BC). The bearers of this culture ousted the Yamniki from most of their territory. The territory from the Volga to the Dnieper and from the Crimea to Kursk. There are 5 or 6 distinctive cultures. They are united by burial rites, ceramics, synchronicity of development and undoubted connections. Individual cultures have different origins. The burial is a grave pit with a branch to the side (catacomb).

The deceased was placed facing the entrance in a crouched position. Inventory: dishes, jewelry, tools, animal bones. Settlements are on river capes. The basis of the economy is cattle breeding. The items are made of Caucasian arsenic bronze. Large property stratification in burials, burials of leaders.

the historical period that replaced the Chalcolithic (Copper Age). It is characterized by the production and use of bronze tools and weapons, the emergence of nomadic cattle breeding, irrigated agriculture, writing, and slave states (late 4th - early 1st millennium BC). Changed to the Iron Age in the 1st millennium BC.

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BRONZE AGE

the historical period that replaced the Chalcolithic and is characterized by the spread of metallurgical bronze, bronze tools and weapons at the end of the 4th and beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. Later in some regions. In the Byzantine century, nomadic cattle breeding and irrigated agriculture, writing, and slave-owning civilizations appeared. Changed to the Iron Age.

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BRONZE AGE

stage of human history, characterized by the spread of bronze metallurgy, bronze tools and weapons at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. (later in some regions). It was preceded by the Chalcolithic. Scientists divide it into 3 periods: early, middle, late. In B. century. Cattle breeding, agriculture, and crafts developed; writing appeared. Changed to the Iron Age.

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BRONZE AGE

one of the three centuries of general archaeological periodization (Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages). The era of the spread of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin in a ratio of 9:1). Compared to copper, bronze melts at a lower temperature, produces fewer cracks during melting, and most importantly, tools made from it are harder and more durable than copper ones. The casting of bronze tools required rare tin, which led to the development of the tin trade and the spread of technical innovations and knowledge. In Asia B. c. coincides with the emergence of civilization, so this name is practically not used here. Early B. century. in Eastern Europe it has not yet been sufficiently studied. Late B.

V. (cultures: ancient Yamnaya, Srubnaya, Abashevskaya, Andronovo, Catacomb, etc.) - the period of formation of large ethnocultural communities and migrations.

In America, bronze was used until 1000 AD. (Argentina). The Aztecs knew her, but she did not play such a big role as in the Old World. In the Near and Middle East of the 3rd millennium BC, in Europe - 2nd millennium BC. B.v. follows the Chalcolithic and predates the Iron Age.

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Bronze Age

Bronze Age, prehistory, a period characterized by the production of cutting tools and weapons made of bronze, i.e. an alloy of copper and tin. Recognition of the advantages of this alloy was slow; various types were tried. proportions before finding the optimal one (10% tin). Therefore, it is just as difficult to determine the exact time of transition from the “Copper Age” to the B.V. as from it to the “Iron Age”. It is now generally accepted that the technologist, the breakthrough in bronze production, was achieved in different places at different times: between 3500 and 3000. BC. on Bl. East, Balkans and Southeast. Asia and not earlier than the 15th century. AD among the Aztecs of Mexico. The ability to make a new alloy spread slowly and to limited areas, since tin deposits were not found everywhere. Thus, in Africa south of the Sahara, in Australasia and almost everywhere in America there was no B.v. at all. Although in the cultures of B.v. Many other metals also came into use, but it was precisely due to the high cost of tin that two important events occurred. Firstly, the international trade, and, secondly, social stratification has noticeably increased, i.e. those who could acquire or produce bronze consolidated their power over those who could not.

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BRONZE AGE

(English Bronze age, German Bronzezeit), in the system of three centuries, the second period when bronze became the main material for tools and weapons. The significance of bronze also lay in the fact that it required the organization of trade in rare but necessary tin. Such trade soon entailed the rapid spread of ideas and technological innovations, therefore, in the study of biological warfare. emphasis was placed on typology. A detailed analysis was made possible by the rapid change in types of tools and weapons, as well as their frequent finds in treasures. In Asia B. c. coincides with the period of written sources, so its archaeological name is often omitted. In Western Europe, metalworking centers were located in the Aegean basin (Minoans, Mycenaeans - the first European civilizations), Central Europe (Unetic culture), Spain (El Argar), Britain (Ireland and Wessex culture) and Scandinavia. Late B. century. - a period of major movements of peoples, which were accompanied by the spread of fields of burial urns. They end with the appearance of iron. In America, bronze was used in Northern Argentina before 1000, and shortly thereafter also in Peru. Some Mexican peoples, incl. The Aztecs were familiar with bronze, but it never played the same role in the New World as in the Old, so the term B. century. illegal for America.

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BRONZE AGE

cultural-historical a period characterized by the spread of the manufacture of tools, weapons, jewelry and utensils from bronze. Approx. chronological B.V. framework: con. 3rd - beginning 1st millennium BC e., and in various regions of the globe, due to the peculiarities and unevenness of the sources. development, B.v. arose and developed at different times. Bronze, an alloy of copper with an admixture of other metals, ch. arr. tin differs from copper in its fusibility (700-900?), higher casting qualities and significantly greater strength, which is why it is widespread. B.v. was preceded by the Copper Age (otherwise Chalcolithic or Eneolithic), when, along with stone, copper products, forged and cast, were used. Already in the Chalcolithic era, covering the 4th and 3rd millennium BC. e., in countries such as India, Mesopotamia and Egypt, the first early slave-owning societies arose. state In B. century. they have reached their highest development. The oldest bronzes. guns were found in South. Iran and Mesopotamia and date back to the 24th-23rd centuries. BC e. In Egypt, bronze. the industry spread to the beginning. 2nd millennium BC e., but penetrated into the more southern regions of Africa later. In India, ancient bronzes. the guns date back to the early 2nd millennium BC e. In China, bronze began to be widely used in the Yin era (from the 18th century BC). In America B. c. had self-sufficiency. history: arose much later (in the 1st millennium AD) and ended with the arrival of Europeans. To the Center and Yuzh. America in B. c. there were slave owners. state The turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. e. was a time of widespread distribution of bronzes. industries in M. Asia, Syria and Palestine, Cyprus and Crete, where slaveholding also arose at this time. states. In the 2nd half. 2nd thousand slave owners. states developed in a number of regions of Greece. At the same time, the slave owner. the system strengthened in India and China. In other parts of the Old World in the Middle Ages. Major changes took place in the structure of primitive communities, which moved from matriarchal relations to patriarchal ones with the development of domestic slavery. B means. parts of countries with a primitive communal system in the Middle Ages. Tribal alliances formed, many of which reached the highest form of politics. organization of primitive society, characterized by F. Engels and V. I. Lenin as a system of military democracy. An important feature of B. century. is the fact that bronze. industry nowhere completely replaced stone, from which they continued to make cutters, arrows, teeth for sickles, flat and drilled axes, and many others. etc. Therefore, in B. century. in plural districts in northern Europe, Asia and Africa, remote from the advanced centers, the old Neolithic was preserved. way of life, archaic matriarchal orders. primitive communities of hunters and fishermen (see Neolithic), but metallic ones also penetrated them. tools and weapons that to a certain extent changed their lives. Changes and differences in societies. structure and culture of tribes and states in B. century. were due to the diversified development of production. forces - metallurgy, p. farming (with the introduction of arable farming and pastoralism), crafts and trades - in different historical sources. conditions that gave different socio-political. results, but everywhere causing much faster arrival. movement compared to previous ones. time. A major role in accelerating the pace of economic activity. and societies. development department regions played in B. c. establishment of exchange ties, especially between the districts of deposits of metals, salt, mining of rare rocks and wood, mineral and organic. dyes, cosmetics substances, pearls, etc. For Wed. In Europe and Scandinavia, such an accelerator of cultural development was the so-called. the “amber route”, along which amber was exported from the Baltic states to the south, and weapons, jewelry, etc. from the more developed centers of the Balkans and Danube region penetrated to the north; in Brit. The export of tin played a role on the island. Thanks to the development of barter relations, improvements in technology and military technology. cases began to be transferred especially quickly. Study of the development of exchange ties in B. century. has for archaeol. research and important applied significance: on the distribution of certain things made in countries with a chronology recorded in writing, with greater accuracy than for predecessors. eras, dating back to archaeol. monuments of countries, even very remote from the advanced centers of ancient culture. In this regard, for the Front and Middle. The chronology of cultural history has acquired great importance in the East. development of Mesopotamia, Iran and India. Mn. archaeol. monuments and entire periods in the history of the Caucasus, Wed. Asia, and through them more northern. regions of the USSR are determined by connections with these centers, reflected in archaeology. finds. For East and Center. Asia, Siberia and the Far East, the chronology of cultural history is no less important. development Dr. China. For all of Europe, the most important chronological. The determinant is the results of excavations on the island. Crete, especially at Knossos and Phaistos, well dated by imports from Egypt, Asia Minor and Syria, as well as research in ancient Troy, excavations at Mycenae, Tiryns and Pylos. As a result of all these studies, the Cretan-Mycenaean (see Aegean culture) chronological was created. periodization of B. century. Southern Europe with the following divisions Ancient Minoan (Chalcolithic. ) period (4th-3rd millennium BC), Middle Minoan (2200 - 1550 BC), Late Minoan (1550-1150 BC). This periodization also formed the basis of the chronology of the North. Greece. Varying in details, chronological. systems, proposal different authors agree that B. v. Europe mainly falls in the 2nd millennium BC. e. These definitions were tested physically. methods using C14 isotopes. Its results confirm the assignment of the earliest monuments in Europe containing bronze. products, to the end 3rd and beginning 2nd millennium BC e. Within this period, the countries of Europe experienced different stages of cultural history. development. B.v. in Crete - the time of formation and development of slave ownership. states, more similar to other eastern ones than to ancient ones. They already had writing - hieroglyphic, etc. system A, which has not yet been deciphered. In mainland Greece, the same process began in the 18th-17th centuries. He reached a particularly high development in the 2nd half. 2nd millennium BC e., when the states that had the so-called written language strengthened here. systems of B., in which they see the most ancient Greek. letter of the Achaeans. In the countries of the Danube Basin. in B. c. The transition to the patriarchal-tribal system was completed. Archaeol. cultures are represented here in meaning. to the extent a continuation of the local Eneolithic. cultures, they are all basically agricultural. In Bulgaria, the most typical for B. century. is the Karanovo IV-V culture. Several are known in Hungary. archaeol. cultures, the monuments of which, apparently, mark the emergence and development of tribal unions. The union of the B. c. tribes can be considered the most ancient. Pecel, or Baden culture, the monuments of which date back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. and occupy a vast territory. from the south of Germany to Transcarpathia and Transylvania. They were left to the farmers. population that already had cart transport. The Pechli tribes, like the later tribes of the Pashto culture, had connections with the population of the Eastern steppes. Europe. In the beginning. 2nd millennium BC e. on the territory South Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia are spreading the so-called. Unetica culture, characterized by a high level of bronze casting. In the 2nd half. 2nd millennium BC e. the Lusatian culture arises, the monuments of which are several. local variants occupy an even more extensive territory than the Unetice ones, reaching in the north of Brandenburg, in the west of Frankfurt am Main, and in the east, spreading to the east. parts of Poland, Transcarpathia and Transylvania. This culture in most regions is characterized by a special type of cemeteries (see Fields of funeral urns culture), containing the burned remains of the dead. It belongs to a farmer. population, ethnic the composition of which there is no consensus among experts. In Romania, B. c. crops are the so-called Monteoru culture and later Noa culture. On Wednesday. and Sev. Germany and South Scandinavia in the end 3rd and 1st half. 2nd thousand distributed in several. local variants of beaker cultures close to each other, decorated, especially at a later stage, with corded ornaments. The most interesting phenomenon in the history of Europe early. 2nd millennium BC e. represents the spread of bell-shaped Beaker cultural monuments from Spain to Poland, Transcarpathia and Hungary (see Bell-shaped Beaker culture). The population that left these monuments moved from west to east among local tribes. It is believed that these were bronze metallurgists who carried their products all the way to Britain, Italy, Povislenye and the Danube region and smelted high-quality ones. metal. In B. century. Italy should note the monuments of the Remedello type, close to the Unetice ones, but preceding them in time. From ser. 2nd millennium BC e. all in. Italy is spreading, possibly under the influence of the Swiss. lake pile settlements, so-called. terramaras are settlements on stilts, built not over a lake, but on damp flooded areas of river valleys (especially the Po River). During excavations of both pile buildings and terramars, a large number of tools, utensils (including those made of unstable materials - bone, wood, fabric), grains and seeds are discovered. In con. 3rd millennium BC e. (and along C14 in its 2nd half) in the Rhine regions of Germany, on the upper reaches of the Danube and in the East. In France, the so-called Michelsberg culture, or chassis culture. It is distinguished by powerful and extremely extensive fortifications - ditches, ramparts, and in France, stones. walls, indicating the formation of new social relations, which made it possible to carry out the meaning. labor force cooperation. B.v. on the territory Most places in France are characterized by settlements of farmers who left a huge number of mounds with complex burial structures, often megalithic. type (see Megalithic cultures). In northern France, as well as along the coast of the Northern Sea, megalithic architecture continued to be built. structures - dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs. Particularly famous is the one dating back to the 18th century. BC e. cromlech - sun temple at Stonehenge in England. In B. century. In this country, the skill of bronze casters, who had local reserves of tin, reached a high level of development. The same can be said about Spain, in the south even at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. e. A unique El-Argar culture arose. Later, in the 2nd half. 2nd millennium BC e., in southern Spain, cultural development, ch. arr. in metallurgy centers, reached a particularly high level, expressed, in particular, in the emergence of populous, well-fortified settlements consisting of stones. houses built on cobbled streets. These villages are close to the ancient Minoan ones in Crete and Greece, but in Spain the development of cities based on them dates back to the early period. century, i.e. by the turn of the 2nd-1st millennium BC. e. -***-***-***- Synchronistic table of Chalcolithic and Bronze Age cultures on the territory of the USSR

Produces relatively high development. forces in B. c. Europe led to the accumulation of intra-communal wealth. In the 1st half. 2nd millennium BC e., in addition to increasing food supplies. resources and, above all, livestock, this was reflected in the widespread appearance of treasures of products from community bronze foundries. 2nd half 2nd millennium BC e. throughout Europe are characterized by treasure troves of high quality jewelry. gold jewelry that belonged to the tribal nobility. Bronze Age on the territory of the USSR. Already in the Eneolithic. era population plural regions of the territory The USSR had a highly developed culture for that time and was closely connected with the contemporary advanced centers of Europe and Asia. Thus, the tribes of the Trypillian culture were close to the tribes of the Danube region, the Balkans and Asia. Eneolithic tribes of Transcaucasia and North. The Caucasus were in close contact with the population of the advanced centers of Mesopotamia and Anatolia, and the tribes of the south. districts Wed. Asia - with the cultural centers of Mesopotamia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Tribes of the South Siberia and Transbaikalia had cultural ties with Dr. China (see Afanasyevskaya culture, Glazkovskaya culture and Kitoyskaya culture). All this means. to a large extent determined the features of the development of B. century cultures. on the territory THE USSR. Of particular importance was the Caucasus, which served to connect. a link between the steppe districts of the territory. USSR and cultural centers of Dr. East. How close these connections were is shown by the monuments of Maikop culture. Widespread throughout the North. The Caucasus from the Black Sea to the Grozny region, this culture of local settled farmers. tribes is characterized by the presence of the richest burial mounds of the tribal nobility, containing tools, weapons, jewelry and silverware, with drawings completely similar to those of other Mesopotamians of the 24th-22nd centuries. BC e. During excavations of burial mounds in Trialeti (Georgia), burials dating from the 20th to the 19th centuries were discovered. BC e., also containing the richest jewelry made in the traditions of the art of Dr. Mesopotamia and Anatolia. Just like the Maikop treasures, the Trialeti treasures indicate a high level of development of societies. relations and culture in the Caucasus in the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. Research of mounds and burial grounds in Transcaucasia dating back to the middle and 2nd half. 2nd millennium BC e., showed that this area was at that time the center of a highly developed local bronze metallurgy, very similar in the shape of products and the quality of the metal to the bronze foundry centers of the Hittites, Urartu, Luristan and Assyria. Cultural connections between the Caucasus and the Balkans and the Danube region can also be traced, apparently carried out by sea along the shores of the Black Sea. To the North Caucasus in the 1st half. 2nd millennium BC e. On the basis of the Maikop culture, several local cultures arose. More app. The region is distinguished by monuments of the so-called. North Caucasian culture; in the more eastern ones - in Pyatigorye, Kabarda and the Grozny region - unique forms arise that are most close to the catacomb culture of Southern Russian. steppes. It is possible that the Catacomb culture as a whole, and especially its metallurgy, developed in close connection with the cultures of the Caucasus. At a later time in the North. The influence of the timber-frame culture is noticeable in the Caucasus. In the mountainous regions in the 2nd half. 2nd millennium BC e. the related Colchian culture, Sevan, Khojaly-Kedabek culture (see also Mingachevir), Koban culture, etc. were formed. All these cultures are distinguished by a high level of metallurgy and ceramics. Their similarities, and at the same time their differences, probably reflect both the ancient kinship and differentiation of the Caucasians. tribes More northern districts of steppes and forest-steppes in the Byelorussian century. were inhabited by tribes, also in most places reaching the level of patriarch. relationships. Having arisen in close dependence on the Caucasus and initially concentrated in the Eastern steppes. Ciscaucasia and Manych, tribes of the Catacomb culture in the beginning. 2nd millennium BC e. widely settled in the steppe zone, reaching the Saratov Volga region, Voronezh, the Dnieper bend, the Odessa region and the Crimea. Monuments of the catacomb culture are also found in the Volga region. Preceding the catacomb in the steppes of the Lower. Volga and Dnieper Eneolithic regions. The Yamnaya culture is marked by the first acquaintance of its tribes with the use of wheeled carts and draft animals. The standard of living of the tribes of the catacomb culture was even higher - they knew a developed shepherd. cattle breeding, millet crops, bronze casting, and skillfully decorated dishes with imprints of cord and woolen braid. It is believed that the penetration of the Catacomb tribes into the Volga and their mixing with the local population led to the beginning. 18th century BC e. formation of timber frame culture. Well-armed bronzes. with “hanging” axes, spears and daggers, already knowing a riding horse, the tribes of the Timber culture quickly populated the steppes and penetrated far in the north to Murom, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Buguruslan, and in the east - to the river. Ural. All R. 2nd millennium BC e. these tribes mastered agriculture and bronze casting to perfection. As in the West. Europe, from this time in the steppes of Southern Europe. parts of the USSR have preserved the richest treasures of foundry masters in the form of bronzes. products, semi-finished products and foundry molds, as well as treasures of precious metal products that belonged to the tribal nobility. Population of the Srubnaya culture to the west of the Volga in the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. was subjugated by the Scythians and merged with them. On Wed. Dnieper in the end 3rd millennium BC e. The Middle Dnieper culture developed. Her 2nd, so-called. Gatninskaya, the step falls on the 1st floor. 2nd millennium BC e. The development of this culture is influenced by the Late Trypillian and Catacomb cultures, on the one hand, and on the other, it shows similarities with the Unetice forms of the West. In more western areas of Right Bank Ukraine, for example. in the Rivne region, burials with corded ceramics were discovered, similar to those common in this part of Ukraine at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. megalithic monuments of the late Eneolithic. From the 17th-16th centuries. BC e. in the West Monuments of the Komarov culture are distributed in Ukraine, Podolia, and also in southern Belarus. In more southern areas, it is distinguished by its proximity to the Lower Danube cultures of the B. century, left by the ancient Thracian population, in the northern. The same areas include a number of features of the so-called. Trzyniec culture of Poland. Mixed Komarovsko-Trzyniec monuments are becoming widespread in Ukrainian-Belarusian. borderland over a very large area, extending to the east of the Dnieper. In Belarus at this time there were monuments of the Dnieper-Desninsky variant of the Middle Dnieper culture. In the Baltics, burial grounds with vessels decorated with a semblance of corded ornamentation and a large number of bronzes were found. products, ch. arr. 2nd floor 2nd millennium BC e. They are similar to the monuments of the Kaliningrad region. The Volga-Oka interfluve and the Vyatka Trans-Volga region in the 2nd millennium BC. e. occupied by hunting and fishing tribes of the late Neolithic, among whom settled tribes of the Fatyanovo culture, engaged in cattle breeding and producing high-quality goods. spherical earthenware, stone. drilled hammer axes and bronze. fork axes. Related groups of Fatyanovo tribes settled in the territory corresponding to modern times. Moscow, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl regions. and the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, possibly of different origins. Monuments of Moscow the groups have features of similarity with the Dnieper-Desninsky monuments, and the Chuvash ones - with the monuments of the steppe South and even the Caucasus. At a later stage of B. century. Bronze is known in the Volga-Oka interfluve and along the Kama. spears, celts and daggers so-called. Seima, or Turbino, type (see Seima culture, Turbino burial ground). They have become very widespread. Weapons of the Seima type were found in the Borodino (Bessarabian) treasure of the 15th-14th centuries. BC e. in Moldova, in the Urals, in Issyk-Kul, on the Yenisei, in the Baikal region. The richest workshop of Seima bronzes was found near the village. Samus near Tomsk. The influence of Seima forms of celts, spears and knives on the Chinese Yin era (14th-11th centuries BC) is undeniable. In Chuvashia, Trans-Volga region, south of the Kama and in Bashkiria there are burial mounds and sites of the Abashevo culture, spreading into the 2nd half. 2nd millennium BC e. and distinguished by a certain similarity with the Timber-frame culture of the Volga region. In the steppes of the West. Siberia, Kazakhstan, Altai, etc. Yenisei from the 17th century. BC e. The Andronovo culture, which belonged to agriculturalists and pastoralists, is spreading. tribes, certainly related to the tribes of the Srubnaya culture from the southern Russian steppes. The Andronovo culture served as the basis for the formation of the Sauromatian tribes that belonged to northern Iran. language group. On Wednesday. Asia at the beginning of the Middle Ages Local farmers continued their development. cultures that arose back in the Eneolithic, in the south are cultures of the Anau type, in the north - the Kelteminar culture. Their connections with steppe cultures are discovered. Later, in the era of the Tazabagyab culture of Khorezm, the strong influence of the steppe tribes began to show itself, which was expressed in the penetration of the Andronovo culture into the south. limits Avg. Asia, Pamir and Tien Shan. To the south On the outskirts of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan there are settlements, burials and a large number of scattered finds, Ch. arr. ceramics of the Andronovo-Tazabagyab type. The same finds were registered in the mean. number of places in the South-East. Iran and Pakistan, which indicates the advancement of Indo-European. population to the Indus. It is possible that this movement is directly related to the issue of the spread of the Aryan tribes. In con. 2nd millennium BC e. in Turkmenistan and Fergana, painted ceramics decorated with dark geometric patterns continue to exist. patterns on a red background, like those found on agricultural land. Chust settlement and Dalverzin settlement. Similar ceramics are found at this time in Xinjiang and near Lake. Lop Nor. In the last quarter 2nd millennium BC e. in South Bronze types are widespread in Siberia, Transbaikalia, Altai and to a certain extent in Kazakhstan. tools and weapons, which are especially characteristic of the Karasuk culture of Altai and Yenisei and the tomb culture of Transbaikalia. They are associated with the cultures of Mongolia, Northern. and Center. China of the Yin and Zhou eras (14-8 centuries BC). Their connection is confirmed by the belonging of the majority of Karasuk people to Northern China. anthropologist type. In Siberia, Karasuk forms in the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. replaced by new Scythian-Siberian cultures such as the Mayemiri, Tagar and tiled graves (see Tagar culture, Tiled grave culture). Since that time, everywhere in the territory. The USSR is expanding iron production, before that from the end. 2nd millennium BC e. used only in the more southern regions of the country. B.v. stood out as a special stage in the history of culture back in antiquity. time by Lucretius Carus. In archaeol. science B. v. was introduced in the 1st half. 19th century date scientists K. Y. Thomsen and E. Worso. Means. contribution to the study of B. century. made by a Swede. archaeologist O. Montelius, who, using the so-called created by him. typological method, classified and dated archaeol. monuments of the Neolithic and B. century. Europe. Franz. scientist J. Deshelet created a typological periodization of stone and bronze monuments. and zhel. centuries France and Center. Europe. English scientist A. Evans proposed a periodization of the Minoan civilization; Until recently, this periodization underlay most chronological studies. archaeological definitions monuments throughout Europe. Montelius's students (N. Oberg and others) aggravated the error contained in the germ of his concept and the changes in archaeology. monuments began to be explained by the laws of development, supposedly determining not only the evolution of animal organisms, but also changes in the forms of things. At the same time, it was completely ignored that everything is archaeological. monuments are not the creation of nature, but of man. labor and therefore their development should be explained primarily not by the laws of nature, but by the laws of human development. society. At the same time, a desire for a comprehensive study of archaeology arose in a number of countries. monuments, as more responsive to the tasks of history. research. The so-called archaeol. culture. This direction has received widespread development in Russia. archaeol. science. V. A. Gorodtsov and A. A. Spitsyn identified the most important cultures of B. century. East Europe. After the victory of the October Revolution, the Soviets. archaeologists have identified a large number of B. century cultures: in the Caucasus (B. I. Krupnov, B. A. Kuftin, A. A. Jessen, B. B. Piotrovsky, G. K. Nioradze, etc.), on the Volga ( P. S. Rykov, I. V. Sinitsyn, O. A. Grakova, etc.), in the Urals (O. N. Bader, A. V. Zbrueva, A. P. Smirnov, K. V. Salnikov, etc. .), on Wednesday. Asia (S. P. Tolstov, A. N. Bernshtam, M. E. Masson, etc.), in Siberia (M. P. Gryaznov, V. N. Chernetsov, S. V. Kiselev, G. P. Sosnovsky , A.P. Okladnikov). Archaeological cultures of B. century. on the territory The USSR is studied from the perspective of history. materialism. It turns out that the economic and the social development of those societies, the remnants of which they are, are then examined on the basis of the study of socio-economic. development features of society., political. and cultural life of ancient tribes and peoples, their relationships, movements and future destinies (A. Y. Bryusov, Kh. A. Moora, M. E. Foss, T. S. Passek, S. V. Kiselev, M. I. Artamonov, etc.). A number of scientists in other countries, defining archaeol. culture, also strived for their history. study. Currently time of B. century culture are successfully studied in all socialist schools. countries (in Czechoslovakia - Jan Filip, Poland - J. Kostrzewski, Hungary - J. Banner). Among the bourgeoisie scientists, along with purely idealistic ones. directions, such movements also arise, representatives of which, while remaining idealistic. positions, pay attention to the works of Marxist archaeologists, especially in historical and economic. areas, use in their own way the achievements and methods of Marxist archeology (for example, the English archaeologist G. Clark). The most prominent among capitalist scientists. countries and closest to materialism was English. archaeologist G. Child, who gave a broad history in a number of books. a review of the relationships between the cultures of the Chalcolithic era and the Middle Ages, the Near East and Europe. In the field of studying B. century. The latest achievements are expressed primarily in the establishment of accurate chronological. archaeological relationships. facts (research on comparative chronology by K. Schaeffer (France), V. Milojicic (Germany), etc.). Of course, all this does not remove the ideology. differences separating the Marxist archeology. science from those idealistic. directions to which the majority of capitalist archaeologists belong. countries Lit.: World History, vol. 1, M., 1955; Clark J. G. D., Prehistoric. Europe. Economical essay, trans. from English, M., 1953; Child G., At the Origins of Europe. civilization, trans. from English, M., 1952; his, The Ancient East in the light of new excavations, trans. from English, M., 1956; Masson V.M. and Merpert N.Ya., Questions of the relative chronology of the Old World, "CA", 1958, No. 1; Flittner N.D., Culture and art of Mesopotamia and neighboring countries, L.-M., 1958; Pendlebury D., Archeology of Crete, trans. from English, M., 1950; McKay E., The Ancient Culture of the Indus Valley, trans. from English, M., 1951; Dikshit S.K., Introduction to Archaeology, trans. from English, M., 1960; Go Mo-jo, Bronze. century, (Sb.), trans. from China, M., 1959; Kiselev S.V., Neolithic and Bronze. century of China, "CA", 1960, No. 4; Gorodtsov V. A., Bronze culture. era of Central Russia. (Report of the Historical Museum for 1914), M., 1916; Essays on the history of the USSR. Primitive communal system and the most ancient states, M., 1956; Bryusov Ya., Essays on the history of the tribes of Europe. parts of the USSR in the Neolithic. era, M., 1952; his, Archaeological cultures and ethnic communities, in the collection: CA, vol. 26, M., 1956; Passek T.S., Periodization of Tripolye settlements, M.-L., 1949; hers, Early agricultural (Trypillian) tribes of the Dniester region, M. , 1961; Popova T. B., Tribes of the Catacomb Culture. M., 1955; Krivtsova-Grakova O. A., Steppe Volga region and the Black Sea region in the Late Bronze Age, M., 1955 (MIA, No. 46); her, Chronology of monuments of Fatyanovo culture, in: KSIIMK, v. 14, M.-L., 1947; Jessen A. A., From the history of ancient metallurgy of the Caucasus, in: IGAIMK, v. 120, M.-L., 1935: Kuftin B. A., Archaeol. excavations in Trialeti, vol. 1, Tb., 1941; Krupnov E.I., Ancient history of the North. Kavkaza, M., 1960; Piotrovsky B.B., Archeology of Transcaucasia, Leningrad, 1949; Tr. YUTAKE, vol. 7 and vol. 10, Ash., 1956-61; Tolstov S.P., Ancient Khorezm, M., 1948; Tolstov S.P. and Itina M.A., The problem of Suyargan culture, "CA", 1960, No. 1; Kiselev S.V., Ancient history of the South. Siberia, (2nd ed.), M., 1951; Dikov N. N., Bronze. century of Transbaikalia, Ulan-Ude, 1959; Okladnikov A.P., Neolithic and Bronze. century of the Baikal region, part 3, M., 1955 (MIA, No. 43); his, Distant Past of Primorye, Vladivostok, 1959; Kiselev S.V., Study of bronzes. centuries on the territory USSR for 40 years, "CA", 1957, No. 4; Draw a long time ago? history? Ukrainian? PCP, K., 1957; Filip J., Pravek? Ceskoslovensko, Prague, 1948; Kostrzewski J., Wielkopolska w pradziejach, Warsz. - Wr., 1955; Mildenberger G., Mittel-Deutschland. Ur-und Fr?hgeschichte, V. - Lpz., 1959; D'chelette J., Manuel d'arch?ologie prehistorique, celtique et gallo-romaine, (v.) 2, R., 1912; Montelius O., Die ?lteren Kulturperioden im Orient und in Europa, (Bd) 1-2, Stockh., 1903-23; Van den Berghe L., Arch?ologie de l'Iran ancien, Leiden, 1959; Schaeffer C., Stratigraphie compar?e et chronologie de l'Asie occidentale, Oxf., 1948; Milojcic V., Chronologie der j?ngeren Steinzeit Mittel-und S?dosteuropas, B., 1949; Mellaart J., Anatolia and the Balkans, "Antiquity", 1960, v. 36, No. 136. S. V. Kiselev. Moscow. Bronze Age

The Bronze Age became the second late period of the Metal Age. It covers centuries from the 25th to the 11th BC. and is divided into three stages:

• Early - XXV to XVII centuries.
• Middle - XVII to XV centuries.
• Late - XV to IX centuries.

The Bronze Age is characterized by the improvement of tools of labor and hunting, but scientists still cannot understand how they came to the idea of ​​smelting copper ore using a metallurgical method.

Bronze was the first metal, often obtained by adding antimony or arsenic, and its properties were superior to soft copper: the melting point of copper was 1000°C, and that of bronze was about 900°C. Such temperatures were achieved in small crucible furnaces with a sharp bottom and thick walls. Molds for casting tools of labor and hunting were made of soft stone and poured with clay spoons.

Development led to improvement; some pastoral tribes switched to nomadic cattle breeding, while sedentary tribes continued to develop and switched to plow farming, which marked the beginning of social changes within the tribes.

In addition, the culture of the Bronze Age begins to change: patriarchal relations are established in the family - the power of the older generation is strengthened, the role and position of the husband in the family is strengthened. Witnesses are the paired burials of a husband and wife with traces of the woman’s violent death.

The stratification of society begins, social and property differences between the wealthy and poor strata become more and more: large multi-room houses with a clear layout appear, rich settlements grow, concentrating smaller ones around them. Gradually expanding, they form the first cities in which trade and crafts actively develop, and writing begins in the Bronze Age. This was a very important moment.

The art of the Bronze Age developed along with the improvement of tools: it acquired clear, strict outlines, and geometric patterns were replaced by multi-colored drawings of animals. During this period, sculpture, ornaments (in the decoration of tools and household items), and plastic appeared. It was in the ornaments that a symbolic visual language emerged, which each clan had its own. Ornamental painting had the character of amulets: they protected food vessels from evil spirits, attracted abundance, and gave health to the family.

The famous paintings of Karakol are interesting, depicting strange creatures in whose figures animal and human features were intertwined. The combination of full face and profile in one human image brings these figures closer to ancient Egyptian art - all these paintings reflected the cosmogonic ideas of the ancients about the origin of man, about the interactions of people and gods during the transition to the world of the dead. Such drawings were made in black, white and red paint on the walls of burial boxes, and traces of drawings made in red paint were found on the skulls of the dead.

In addition to the necessary tools, they learned to make cast and forged bronze and gold copper jewelry, which was decorated with chasing, stones, bone, leather and shells.

The Bronze Age was the predecessor of the Iron Age, which raised civilization to a higher level of development.

At the turn of the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. Another qualitative transition took place in the nature-society system, the Copper Age began, and after about half a millennium - bronze age.

By 3500 B.C. copper was smelted and processed throughout the Mediterranean and much of Europe. Bronze products appeared simultaneously in the space from Spain to Thailand around 3300 BC. Technologies for making bronze appeared simultaneously over vast territories.

Modern bronze is an alloy of 85% copper and 15% tin. Almost all bronze before 3000 BC. consisted of copper and arsenic (5%). Linguistic analysis indicates that words denoting copper, bronze, lead, arsenic and even iron arose among the peoples inhabiting Asia Minor.

In the Bronze Age, almost the entire spectrum of substances not found in nature appeared - non-native metals, ceramics, glass, fabrics. In the entire subsequent history of mankind, only one fundamentally new class of substances has been discovered since then - plastics. The wheel became widespread, determining the creation of a new type of mobile vehicle and making mass migrations possible.

At the same time, the Bronze Age came as the decline of a magical (magical) human culture, from which everything miraculous disappeared - the perception of the world became more and more pragmatic.

The Dublin History Museum contains 1,300 Bronze Age objects and only 30 axes and one copper sword. No tin items were found at all.

The problem is that in order to smelt bronze, you must first learn about the properties of the alloy of tin and bronze. To learn about the properties of tin, you need to experiment with it. To experiment with tin, it must be brought from somewhere in the Middle East (where bronze appeared), where it is not available. To bring tin to the Middle East, you need to understand its value, know about its properties and, in general, know that such a metal exists.

It turns out that in the Middle East they were aware of tin, and since practically no tin products were found, the ancient metallurgists understood that tin only makes sense when alloyed with copper. From this we can conclude that