A PROTO-MAEOTIAN HORSEMAN BURIAL FROM ADYGEA: RESULTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY

Authors

  • Anna Stanislavovna Leont'eva Cultural Heritage LLC
  • Vladimir Roal'dovic Erlih State Museum of Oriental Art
  • Kirill Ur'evic Eremenko North Caucasian Branch of the State Museum of Oriental Art
  • Maria Vsevolodovna Dobrovol'skaa Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
  • Aleksandra Nikolaevna Abramova Krasnodar State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve named after E.D. Felitsyn
  • Dar'a Vladimirovna Kiseleva Zavaritsky Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
  • Fedor Sergeevic Sarko European University at St. Petersburg
  • Dar'a Stanislavovna Petrova Lomonosov Moscow State University; National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"
  • Evgenia Stanislavovna Bulygina National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"
  • Artem Valer'evic Nedoluzko European University at St. Petersburg
  • Natal'a Nikolaevna Spasskaa Zoological Museum of the Lomonosov Moscow State University 0000-0002-3491-923X (unauthenticated)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32653/CH211124-140

Keywords:

Adygea, proto-meotians, burial of a warrior-horseman, "Cimmerian campaigns", bridle, scepter, Colchian fibula, strontium isotopes, molecular genetic analysis

Abstract

This paper reports on a proto-Maeotian burial complex of a horseman warrior discovered in 2023 in the foothills of Adygea (N 44.22787800, E 40.12983900). The burial assemblage included weaponry, notably an axe-scepter, a Colchian fibula, an equine skeleton, and a set of bronze horse bridles contemporary with the Novocherkassk treasure. Based on these findings, the authors date the burial to the late 8th century BC. Comprehensive analyses, including natural science methods, were conducted on the burial. Anthropological examination determined the interred individual to be a male over 55 years of age who had sustained a cranial injury during his lifetime, potentially in military engagements. The authors propose that this elderly proto-Maeot horseman warrior may have participated in the “Cimmerian campaigns” in the Transcaucasia and Western Asia. Strontium isotope analysis of human and equine tooth enamel samples did not corroborate their habitation in the immediate vicinity of the burial site, nor did it indicate an origin in Western Transcaucasia. The unusual proportions of the horse skeletal remains prompted an investigation into a potential hybrid origin for the animal. However, detailed morphometric and molecular genetic analyses did not confirm the presence of a mule or hinny. Establishing definitive evidence for a specific local horse breed in the Early Iron Age of the North Caucasus necessitates dedicated genomic research.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

  • Anna Stanislavovna Leont'eva, Cultural Heritage LLC
    specialist-archaeologist
  • Vladimir Roal'dovic Erlih, State Museum of Oriental Art
    доктор исторических наук, главный научный сотрудник Отдела материальной культуры и древнего искусства
  • Kirill Ur'evic Eremenko, North Caucasian Branch of the State Museum of Oriental Art
    заведующий Отделом научно-экспозиционной и выставочной деятельности
  • Maria Vsevolodovna Dobrovol'skaa, Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
    доктор исторических наук, ведущий научный сотрудник, заведующая Лабораторией контекстуальной антропологии
  • Aleksandra Nikolaevna Abramova, Krasnodar State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve named after E.D. Felitsyn
    Cand. Hist. Sci., Head of the Dep. of Archaeological Collections
  • Dar'a Vladimirovna Kiseleva, Zavaritsky Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
    Cand. Geol. and Mineral. Sci., Senior Researcher
  • Fedor Sergeevic Sarko, European University at St. Petersburg
    Cand. Biol. Sci., Researcher
  • Dar'a Stanislavovna Petrova, Lomonosov Moscow State University; National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"
    Master’s Student
  • Evgenia Stanislavovna Bulygina, National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"
    Cand. Biol. Sci., Leading Researcher
  • Artem Valer'evic Nedoluzko, European University at St. Petersburg
    Cand. Biol. Sci., Sci. Dir. of the Laboratory of Paleogenomics
  • Natal'a Nikolaevna Spasskaa, Zoological Museum of the Lomonosov Moscow State University
    Cand. Biol. Sci., Assoc. Prof., Scientific Secretary

References

Leskov AM., Erlich VR. The Fars Burial/Treasures. Moscow: State Museum of the East, 1999. (In Russ)

Erlich VR. The Northwestern Caucasus at the Beginning of the Iron Age. The Proto-Meotian Group of Sites. Moscow: Nauka, 2007. (In Russ)

Valchak SB. Horse Equipment in the First Third of the First Millennium BC in the South of Eastern Europe. Moscow: Taus, 2009. (In Russ)

Skory SA. The Cimmerians in the Ukrainian Forest-Steppe. Kyiv-Poltava: Arheologiya, 1999. (In Russ)

Narozhny EI., Dmitriev AV., Sazonov AA. Burials of the military elite of the proto-Maeot burial ground “Limanov Kut”. In: E.I. Krupnov and the development of archeology of the North Caucasus. XXVIII Krupnov readings. Proceedings of the international scientific conference. Moscow: Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2014: 183-188. (In Russ)

Erlich VR. On the problem of the origin of bird-headed scepters of the pre-Scythian period. Sovetskaya arheologiya. 1990; 1: 247-250. (In Russ)

Erlich VR. “Bird-headed” scepters of the pre-Scythian period. New arguments for the discussion. In: Noskova L.M. (ed.). Material Culture of the East. Moscow: State Museum of the East, 2005; 4: 151-162. (In Russ)

Skakov AYu. Fibulae of ancient Colchis: origin, typology, chronology. Revista Archeologică. New series. 2008; 4(2): 74-99. (In Russ)

Terenozhkin AI. Cimmerians. Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, 1976.

Dubovskaya OR. Issues of the formation of the inventory complex of the Chernogorovskaya culture. In: Kolesnik A.V. (ed.). Archaeological almanac. Donetsk: Donechchina, 1993; 2: 137-160. (In Russ)

Potapov VV. Chernogorovskie burials in the lower reaches of the left bank of the Don. Donskaya arkheologiya. 1999; 1: 62-68. (In Russ)

Pezhemsky DV., Sinitsyna NP. Methodology of removing burial inventory, organic materials and skeletal remains from sarcophagi. In: Necropolis of Russian grand princesses and queens in the Ascension Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin. History of the tomb and methodology of burial research. Moscow: Moscow Kremlin, 2009; 1: 55-71. (In Russ)

Gerasimov MM. Reconstruction of the face from the skull: modern and fossil man. In: Transactions of the N.N. Miklouho-Maclay Institute of Ethnography. New series. Moscow: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1955; 28. (In Russ)

Korneven Sh., Lesbr F. Age recognition by teeth and epithelial derivatives. Moscow–Leningrad: State University of Agricultural and Kolkhoz-Cooperative Literature, 1932. (In Russ)

Levine MA. The use of crown height measurements and eruption-wear sequences to age horse teeth. In: Wilson S., Grigson B., Payne C. (eds.). Ageing and sexing animal bones from archaeological sites. British Archaeological Reports, British Series 109. London, 1982: 223-250.

Silver IA. The ageing of domestic animals. In: Brothwell D., Higgs E., Clark G. (eds.). Science in archaeology. A comprehensive survey of progress and research. New York: Basic Book, 1963: 250-268.

Gromova VI. On the skeleton of the tarpan (Equus caballus gmelini Ant.) and other modern wild horses. Part 1. Proceedings of the Moscow Institute of Natural History, Biology Series. 1959; 64(4): 99-124. (In Russ)

Gromova VI. On the skeleton of the tarpan (Equus caballus gmelini Ant.) and other modern wild horses. Part 2. Proceedings of the Moscow Institute of Natural History, Biology Series. 1963; 10: 10-61. (In Russ)

Driesch A., von des. A guide to the measurement of animal bones from Archaeological sites. Peabody Museum Bulletins. N 1. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Harvard University, 1976.

Eisenmann V., Alberdi M.T., De Giuli C., Staesche U. Studying fossil horses. In: Woodburne M., Sondaar P. (eds.). Collected Papers after the New York International Hipparion Conference, 1981. Vol. 1. Leiden: Brill E.J., 1988.

Witt OV. Horses of the Pazyryk Kurgans. Sovetskaya arkheologiya. 1952; 16: 163-205. (In Russ)

Kiesewalter L. Studies of the Horses and Their Roots in the Theoretical Framework for the Study of the Horses. Inaug. Dissert. Leipzig, 1888.

Chersky ID. Description of the collection of post-Tertiary mammals collected by the New Siberian Expedition of 1885–1886. Saint-Petersburg: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences, 1891.

Brauner AA. Materials for the study of domestic animals in Russia. 1. Horse from burial mounds in the Tiraspol district of the Kherson province. In: Notes of the Imperial Society of Agriculture of Southern Russia. Vol. 86, book 1. Odessa, 1916.

Sharko FS., Boulygina ES., Tsygankova SV., Slobodova NV., Rastorguev SM., Krasivskaya AA., Belinsky AB., Härke H., Kadieva AA., Demidenko SV., Malashev VY., Shvedchikova TY., Dobrovolskaya MV., Reshetova IK., Korobov DS., Nedoluzhko AV. Koban culture genome-wide and archaeological data open the bridge between Bronze and Iron Ages in the North Caucasus. European Journal of Human Genetics. 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41431-023-01524-4.

Schubert M., Mashkour M., Gaunitz C., Fages A., Seguin-Orlando A., Sheikhi S., Alfarhan A.H., Alquraishi SA., Al-Rasheid KAS., Chuang R., Ermini L., Gamba C., Weinstock J., Vedat O., Orlando L. Zonkey: a simple, accurate and sensitive pipeline to genetically identify equine F1-hybrids in archaeological assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Science. 2017; 78: 147-157. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2016.12.005.

Bentley A. Strontium Isotopes from the Earth to the Archaeological Skeleton: A Review. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 2006; 13(3): 135-187. DOI: 10.1007/s10816-006-9009-x.

Price TD., Knipper C., Grupe G., Smrcka V. Strontium isotopes and prehistoric human migration: The Bell Beaker period. European Journal of Archaeology. 2004; 7(1): 9-40. DOI: 10.1177/1461957104047992.

Shvedchikova TYu., Kharlamova NV., Rasskazova AV., Chagarov OS. Medieval population of the North-Eastern Black Sea region (based on excavations of a Christian church near the village of Veseloe in the 9th-11th centuries). Vestnik antropologii. 2016; 2(34): 94-116. (In Russ)

Trebeleva GV., Yurkov GYu., Kizilov AS., Glazov KA., Shvedchikova TYu. Complex Investigation (GIS, Photogrammetry, and Natural-Scientific Methods) of the Northwestern Colchis Historical and Cultural Landscape in the Late Antique and Medieval Times. In: Ankusheva N., Chechushkov I.V., Stepanov I., Ankushev M., Ankusheva P. (eds.). Geoarchaeology and Archaeological Mineralogy. Proceedings of the 7th Geoarchaeological Conference, Miass, Russia, 19–23 October 2020. Springer Proceedings in Earth and Environmental Sciences. 2022: 365-382.

Downloads

Published

2025-04-14

Issue

Section

Archeology

How to Cite

1.
Leont'eva AS, Erlih VR, Eremenko KU, et al. A PROTO-MAEOTIAN HORSEMAN BURIAL FROM ADYGEA: RESULTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY. ИАЭК. 2025;21(1):124-140. doi:10.32653/CH211124-140