Eneolithic general characteristics. Eneolithic cultures of settled farmers and pastoralists The heyday of the culture of agricultural tribes

The era of the Eneolithic or copper age- one of the eras of human development, is a transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. It can also be called copper stone Age since stone tools were still in use during this period.
The Eneolithic is the period from the fourth to the third millennium BC. It is interesting that in some territories there were no centers of human development, there was no Copper Age at all, and in some regions it existed much longer.

Archaeological data on the Eneolithic era

The most ancient copper products found by archaeologists date back to about the seventh - sixth millennium BC. Such copper products were found on the territory of modern Turkey. The settlement where the items were found is called Chayonu, and it is here that people may have started the first experiments with copper nuggets.
They learned to smelt copper again on the territory of modern Turkey, now in a more western region in the settlement of Chatal-Guyuk. They created exquisite, but at the same time quite simple jewelry.
In Mesopotamia, copper began to be smelted in the sixth millennium. The Samarra archaeological culture is considered to be the pioneers in this matter on the territory of Mesopotamia. Around the same time, in the Indus Valley, local tribes who left no written records also began to create jewelry from copper.
On the territory of Egypt, they learned to smelt copper already in the fifth millennium. At the same time, the first copper mine appeared in Europe (the territory of modern Serbia). Now this old mine is called Rudna Glava. This mine is also the first evidence of metallurgy in Europe. Around the same time, copper began to be smelted in what is now China.
In the fourth millennium, they learned to smelt copper in the Caucasus, in the valley of the Volga River, in the territory of modern Ukraine. These were such archaeological cultures as Samara, Srednestog and some other cultures. of Eastern Europe. The heyday of the Eneolithic era falls on the fourth millennium BC, since it was during this period that copper tools were already beginning to displace stone ones, while for several millennia only jewelry was made from copper, which did not play a huge role in the development human race, as the tools of labor.
On the territory of South America, they learned to smelt copper much later, this is the second - the first millennium BC. At first, copper smelting was among them (the peoples of South America) at a very primitive level and remained so for a long time, but, in the end, they achieved some success in this, and their skill in this could be envied. The most successful in this were the so-called people of the Andes (mountain ranges that cross all of South America).
In Mesoamerica (Central America), copper began to be smelted even later and the indigenous peoples did not succeed in this special success. Their products were simple, and they were limited to copper axes, simple ornaments, needles.
At first, they did not try to smelt copper nuggets, but simply processed them like an ordinary stone. Of course, pieces from copper nuggets did not fall off, but with the help of such a coinage, copper could be given a simple shape, this method is called "cold forging". Where there were a large number of copper nuggets, it began to displace stone products and tools very quickly, and where there was not enough of it, jewelry was made from it.
One of the most important advantages of copper products is that, unlike stone ones, they could be repaired, which made them “survivable”, and they were more sharp, not to mention the fact that it crumbled.

Achievements of the Eneolithic

According to archaeological finds, it was in the Eneolithic era that humanity made the first wheel. At first it was believed that this discovery was made by the peoples of Mesopotamia, but recent archaeological evidence suggests that the wheel may have appeared in Eastern Europe. The wheel played a huge role in the transport system, contributed to the development of trade, construction, and military affairs.
In addition, horses were tamed at this time. This contributed to the development of agriculture, military affairs, cattle breeding moved to a completely new level.
We have already said that the Eneolithic cultures learned to smelt metals from ore, so far it was copper. This made it possible to improve labor tools, stone ones fell into oblivion, and the level of agriculture increased greatly, as did industry and military affairs. Weapons made of copper, although they were quite soft, could still be repaired if they were deformed.
As a conclusion, it should be said that the Eneolithic era is an important period in the development of mankind, without which we could not imagine modern world. Who would humanity be if it had not learned to smelt metals from ore and without the invention of the wheel?

At the end of the 4th millennium BC. Neolithic civilization gradually exhausted its potential and the first crisis era in the history of mankind began - the era of the Eneolithic (copper - stone age). Eneolithic is characterized by the following parameters:

1. Eneolithic is the transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age
2. Metal becomes the predominant material (copper and its alloy with tin - bronze)
3. Eneolithic - a time of chaos, disorder in society, a crisis in technology - the transition to irrigated agriculture, to new materials
4. The crisis of social life: the destruction of the leveling system, the early agricultural societies are formed, from which civilizations subsequently grew.

The Copper Age approximately covers the period of 4-3 millennium BC, but in some areas it exists longer, and in some it does not exist at all. Most often, the Eneolithic is included in the Bronze Age, but sometimes it is also considered a separate period. During the Eneolithic, copper tools were common, but stone tools still prevailed.

The first acquaintance of a person with copper occurred through nuggets, which were taken for stones and tried to be processed in the usual way by hitting them with other stones. Pieces did not break off from nuggets, but were deformed and they could be given the necessary shape (cold forging). They did not know how to fuse copper with other metals to obtain bronze. In some cultures, nuggets were heated after forging, which led to the destruction of intercrystalline bonds that make the metal brittle. The low distribution of copper in the Eneolithic is connected, first of all, with the insufficient number of nuggets, and not with the softness of the metal - in regions where there was a lot of copper, it quickly began to displace the stone. Despite its softness, copper had an important advantage - a copper tool could be repaired, and a stone one had to be made anew.

The oldest metal objects in the world were found during excavations in Anatolia. The inhabitants of the Neolithic village of Chayonyu were among the first to begin experiments with native copper, and in Chatal-Guyuk ca. 6000 BC learned how to smelt copper from ore and began to use it to make jewelry.

In the Mesopotamia, metal was recognized in the 6th millennium (Samarr culture), at the same time jewelry made of native copper appeared in the Indus Valley (Mergarh).

In Egypt and on the Balkan Peninsula they were made in the 5th millennium (Rudna Glava).

By the beginning of the IV millennium BC. copper products came into use in the Samara, Khvalyn, Srednestog and other cultures of Eastern Europe.

From the IV millennium BC. copper and bronze tools began to replace stone ones.

On Far East copper products appeared in the 5th - 4th millennium BC. (Hongshan culture).

The first finds of copper objects in South America date back to the 2nd - 1st millennium BC (Ilam culture, Chavin). Later, the Andean peoples achieved great skill in copper metallurgy, especially the Mochica culture. Subsequently, this culture began to smelt arsenic, and the Tiwanaku and Huari cultures - tin bronze.

The Inca state of Tahuantinsuyu can already be considered an advanced Bronze Age civilization.

The first era of metal is called the Eneolithic (Greek enus - "copper", lithos - "stone"). During this period, copper things appear, but stone ones predominate.

Two theories about the distribution of copper:

1) arose in the region from Anatolia to Khuzistan (8-7 thousand BC) and spread to neighboring territories;

2) arose at once in several centers.

Four stages of development of non-ferrous metallurgy:

1) native copper as a kind of stone;

2) melting of native copper and mold casting;

3) smelting of copper from ores, i.e. metallurgy;

4) copper-based alloys - for example, bronze. Copper deposits were discovered according to external signs (green spots of oxides). When extracting ore, stone hammers were used. The boundaries of the Eneolithic are determined by the level of development of metallurgy (the third stage). The beginnings of agriculture and animal husbandry further development, thanks to the expansion of cultivated cereals. The horn hoe is being replaced by an arable tool that requires the use of draft animals. In different areas, the wheel appears almost simultaneously. Thus, cattle breeding develops, and pastoral tribes become isolated. Eneolithic - the beginning of the domination of patriarchal-clan relations, the dominance of men in pastoral groups. Instead of graves, mounds of burial mounds appear. The study of ceramics shows that it was made by specialists who masterfully mastered the technique of pottery production (craft). Exchange of raw materials - flint. The Eneolithic was the time of the emergence of class societies in a number of regions of the Mediterranean. The agricultural Eneolithic of the USSR had three centers - Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Northern Black Sea region.

Trypillia culture

Tripolskaya (end of the 5th - the third quarter of the 3rd millennium BC) is a large center of the producing economy in Moldova and Right-Bank Ukraine, including part of Romania. In the village of Trypillya near Kyiv. It was agricultural, it required uprooting of roots, stumps, which raised the role of male labor. The patriarchal system of the tribes. Early period(end 5 - middle 4 thousand). The river valleys of Moldova, the west of Ukraine, the Romanian Carpathian region. Parking lots are surrounded by a moat. Small clay houses. In the center of the house is an altar. Places were changed every 50-70 years (fall in fertility). Agriculture has been around for a long time. The earth was cultivated with hoes, furrows were made with a primitive ral. They cultivated wheat, barley, millet, legumes. The harvest was harvested with sickles, the grain was ground with grain grinders. Cattle breeding and hunting. Hot forging and welding of copper, but there was no melting yet. Treasure near the village of Karbuna (444 copper objects). Ceramics with in-depth serpentine ornament. The agricultural cult of the mother goddess. Middle period (second half of 4 thousand). The area reaches the Dnieper. Multi-room houses are growing. 2nd and 3rd floors appear. The house was occupied by a large family community. Settlements now have up to 200 or more houses. They are located high above the river, fortified with a rampart and a moat. Grapes have been added to the plants. Cattle breeding was pastoral. Painted utensils and a spiral ornament appear. There was a pouring of copper. Import of metal from the Caucasus. Stone tools predominate. Late period(beginning-third quarter 3 thousand). The largest area. Workshops of flint products. Metal casting in double-sided molds. Two types of ceramics - rough and polished. Story painting. The number of sheep is growing, the number of pigs is decreasing. The role of hunting is growing. Tools were still made of stone, bone and horn. A patriarchal clan develops.



The final stage of the Stone Age was the Neolithic (New Stone Age), which spanned the 6th-4th millennium BC. H X was characterized by major changes in the economy caused by the depletion of hunting resources, the crisis of the appropriating economy and the emergence of a productive economy. Along with the traditional forms of management - hunting, fishing and gathering - new ones are emerging and spreading - cattle breeding and agriculture. The process of transition from appropriating forms of management to reproducing was a qualitatively new stage in the history of mankind, modern scientists call the "Neolithic revolution".

For the manufacture of tools, traditional raw materials - stone, bone, horn, wood - continue to be used. But there are new methods of their processing - in addition to simple upholstery, also sawing, grinding and primitive drilling.

One of the important achievements is the manufacture of pottery. Clay scorched on fire was the first artificial material that man created.

IN social aspect The Neolithic era was the heyday of the tribal system. The basis of production relations was the common ownership of the clan for tools and products of labor.

Today in Ukraine in the valleys. Dnieper,. Seversky. Donets. South. Buga. Dniester. Gums. Pripyat and other rivers revealed about 600 Neolithic settlements

Eneolithic

A qualitatively new period in the development of primitive society was the Copper-Stone Age (Eneolithic), which within Ukraine dates back to the 4th-3rd millennium BC. H X. At this time, the first metal products appear - copper and gold and. The main occupations of the population are agriculture and cattle breeding. Plowed agriculture was born using the draft power of the bull. The wheel was invented, and then wheeled vehicles appeared.

The development of agriculture, cattle breeding, handicrafts and exchange led to significant changes in ancient society. Mostly people could perform heavy physical work. That's why the main role in the family passes from m mother to father, family ties began to be conducted along the paternal line. Instead of matriarchy, patriarchy is gradually being established. The tribal organization is changed by the neighboring community. The economic basis is a hundred and patriarchal family, consisting of several generations of relatives on the paternal line.

Among the Eneolithic tribes on the territory of modern Ukraine, the leading place was occupied by the agricultural tribes of the Trypillia culture. Distributed in the territory from. Upper. Transnistria and. South. Volhynia in Gray ednyoi. Dnieper and. Black Sea region, this culture has reached highest development during the IV-III millennium before. H X (well-known Ukrainian researcher M. Videiko, according to the data of radiocarbon analyses, dates the first stage of the Tripoli civilization 5400-4600pp BC). It was the pinnacle of the Eneolithic agricultural communities' development. Europe, not much inferior to early civilizations. Ancient. East V-IV millennium before. H X. The name received from the investigated late XIX in Ukrainian archaeologists. V. Khvoykoy settlements near the village. Trypillia on. Kievshchinelle on. Kyiv region.

The Trypillia culture was formed on the basis of ancient autochthonous (Greek - local, indigenous) cultures and Neolithic cultures. Balkan-Danube region and carried the traditions of the first agricultural about otocivilization. Middle. East and. South. Europe. More than a thousand monuments have been discovered in Ukraine. Trypillia culture. They are grouped in three districts: total c. Medium. Transnistria. Nadprutti and. On dbzhzhi, less in. Dnieper.

The tribes of the Trypillian culture lived in settlements built up with wooden and adobe ground structures located mainly in one or more concentric circles. Basically, these were tribal or tribal long-term settlements, numbering several dozen estates. The buildings were rectangular in shape. correct form. Killed in the ground oak pillars, between which walls were woven from brushwood, which was smeared with deep, covered with straw or reeds from above. The roof was gable, with a hole for smoke, the floor was smeared with clay, in the middle of the room there was a large stove, in which clay benches were located. The walls and the oven were painted with other clothes.

There are also giant settlements ranging from 150 to 450 hectares, which numbered more than 2 thousand dwellings. There already existed quarterly buildings, many houses were built with two or even three floors. In fact, these are ancient proto-cities with a significant number of inhabitants, in some places reaching 16-20 thousand people. Economic life is concentrated in them, they were administrative, military, ideological cells.

According to the researchers, the Trypillia settlements existed only for 50-80 years, and then they were burned due to the loss of soil fertility and the cutting down of surrounding forests for the needs of construction and overwood. Therefore, I had to look for another, still unoccupied, forest-steppe area and start all over again.

At the heart of the social structure of the Tripoli tribes lay matriarchal, and later patriarchal tribal relations. A small family was the main link in Trypillia society. Families united into clans and, several clans made up a tribe, a group of tribes formed intertribal associations that had their own ethnographic features. According to various estimates, the population of the Trypillia culture on the territory of modern Ukraine during the 4th millennium BC. H X ranged from 0.4 to 2 million aspens osib.

The main occupation of the Trypillians was agriculture. They sowed barley, millet, wheat, grew horticultural crops. The arable land was pushed down with a wooden hoe with a stone or bone tip, later - with a ral. During the archaeological excavations of Trypillia settlements, wooden and bone sickles with a flint inlay and stone grain graters were found, on which grain was rubbed into mukshno.

Animal husbandry has reached a certain level. Trypillians bred mainly large and small cattle, pigs and partly horses. As draft power, bulls were used to plow the fields, they were harnessed to wagons, possibly sannyas.

Among the crafts, leatherworking (dressing of animal skin), kushnirstvo, spinning, and weaving have achieved significant development. Tripoli tribes for the first time on the territory of Ukraine began to use copper products, mastered cold and hot forging and welding of copper. Ceramic production reached a very high technical and artistic level. Local potters perfectly mastered the complex technology of making ceramics, even though they knew the potter's wheel, they made a huge amount of various dishes. It was decorated with white, black, red and yellow ornaments. Along with the household, they also used the cult vessel.

Many clay female figurines were found, the creation of which was associated with a religious cult that came to Ukraine, obviously from. Small. Asia and became the basis of the widespread cult of the mother goddess. In the village. These Koshilevites are on. In the Ternopil region, a unique image of a bull's head was found, on the frontal surface of which the silhouette of a woman with raised arms was reproduced with pins, i.e. in a pose reminiscent of the image of the Mother of God. Oran you, famous in. Mediterranean. Having a complex system of ornaments and signs, the Trypillians were very close to creating a letter.

In terms of ethnographic features, the Trypillia culture is very close and similar to the Ukrainian one, many of the leading motifs of the Trypillian ornament are still preserved in Ukrainian folk embroideries, carpets, folk ceramics, especially in Ukrainian Easter eggs. The dwelling of the Trypillia culture is very reminiscent of the Ukrainian rural hut of the 19th century. Finally, the main occupation of Trypillians, like Ukrainians, was agriculture. All this gives grounds to assert that the population of the Trypillia culture became the fore-foundation of the Ukrainian people.

Exploring the monuments of Trypillia and subsequent cultures,. V. Khvoyka came to the conclusion about the autochthonous nature of the inhabitants. Dnieper. This made it possible to put forward and develop the idea of ​​progressive ethnic development Ukrainian aintsiv from the time of Trypillian culture through the Scythian tribes to modern Ukrainians.

main reasons for the decline. The Trypillia culture, according to scientists, was a change from a warm and humid climate to a significantly arid one, which made it impossible to exploit the remains of the forest-steppe ecosystem on the previous scale, the general underdevelopment of material production and destructive external influences, in particular, the strengthening of the steppe tribes of the Yamnaya culture, the forest tribes of c. Average. Dnieper region, some tribes of the culture of spherical amphorae. Volyn. In the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, with the spread of these tribes to its territory, it ceased to exist.

According to the Eneolithic, the reproductive economy is spreading in other regions of Ukraine, in particular. Steppes and the southern strip of the left bank. Forest-steppe, where pastoral tribes lived. Along with cattle breeding, they were actively engaged in fishing, hunting, gathering, and partly agriculture.

Due to their mobile-settled way of life, pastoralists almost did not leave settlements, therefore, the main source for studying their activities and life are funerary monuments - numerous burial mounds, for example. Mariupol and the burial ground, and are currently towering in. Steppes. These mounds, some of which were surrounded by large stone slabs or wooden logs, placed close to each other in a circle, according to researchers, symbolized the connection with the ancestors, and through them - the connection with a certain territory, the past with the present, were a kind of temples . A striking feature of the pastoral culture was also stone anthropomorphic sculpture, in particular, the menhir - an elongated and vertical stone, from afar resembled a human figure. Over time, steles appeared with barely outlined heads and shoulders, sometimes covered with carved symbolic signs, scenes, and ornaments.

There is reason to believe that the formation of the Indo-European community, as well as the emergence and spread of the Indo-European circle of languages ​​in particular, is connected with the pastoral tribes of the Ukrainian steppes, according to a certain scientist. Yu. Pavlenko, the zone of consolidation of the Indo-Aryan ("Arya" means noble) tribes were the southern regions from. Lower. Dnieper through. Crimea and. Sea of ​​Azov to. Northern. Caucasus, and Iranian-Aryan - steppe and forest-steppe regions. Donbass. Donya and. Average. Volga region.

The result of the migrations of Indo-European tribes to the forest-steppe and forest regions. Central-Eastern. Europe, as well as, on the one hand, linguistic assimilation local residents, and on the other - the perception of the newcomers, we have many elements of the cultural and community complex of the natives - was the formation of space from. South. Scandinavia and. Lower. Rhine to the headwaters. Volga and. Dnieper Left Bank group of related Germanic-Balto-Slavic tribes, from about the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. НX are represented by two branches: western - Proto-German and eastern - Balto-Slavic. The latter, over the course of the same millennium, gradually branched into Baltic and Proto-Slavic communities, occupying territories in accordance to the north and south. Pripyatsky. Polissya. In the formation of the Proto-Slavic. Before the awn, the descendants assimilated (linguistically) by the tribes of the Indo-European community played a significant role. Trypillia culture.

Bronze Age

The copper-stone age was replaced by bronze (II - early I thousand BC), an essential feature of which was the spread of bronze products - the first metal alloy artificially created by man. within modern borders. The Bronze Age of the country was characterized by the rapid development of pastoralism and agriculture, which contributed to the completion of the process of separation of pastoral tribes from the agricultural environment. This was the first large and social division of labor. The level of social craft was high, formerly pottery and bronze-smelting. Local centers of metallurgy and bronze processing arose. The exchange acquired a permanent and regional charactercharacter.

With the growth of the productivity of agriculture and cattle breeding, the development of metallurgy, a surplus of products appeared, concentrated in the hands of individual tribal groups or the tribal elite. All this led to the VIZR roaring internal and external tribal social contradictions. Weapons began to be rapidly improved, fortified settlements were reduced. Obviously, the need to protect certain groups of the population from the attacks of neighbors prompted the consolidation of tribes at the level of alliances.

Noticeable shifts took place in the development of positive knowledge, fine arts, and the entire spiritual culture. A monumental stone anthropomorphic sculpture arose, the system of religions of their beliefs became more complicated, the embryos of the future writing - pictograms - appeared.

Early Iron Age

The development of iron production at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. H X contributed to the further development of society. Thanks to the spread of various crafts and the success of agriculture, a second major social division of labor took place: the craft was separated from agriculture (the third - associated with the separation of trade). The property and social differentiation of society intensified, creating the necessary prerequisites for the emergence of class-estate relations and state power.

The Early Iron Age in Ukraine is associated with the Cimmerian, Scythian-Sarmatian-antique and early Slavic cultures. Agriculture remained the basis of the economy. Iron tools were widely used for labor. Animal husbandry became domestic, poultry farming arose. Nomadic pastoralism developed in the steppe zone. Great importance acquired the ironworks. The potter's wheel was widely used. The population, living on the territory of modern Ukraine, maintained close contacts with the ancient neighboring civilizations.

In the early Iron Age, several cultures stand out in Ukraine, among which the Przeworsk, Zarubinets and Chernyakhov cultures were of great importance. They covered. And in c. N X - VII centuries after. N X improved the tools of labor, developed Agriculture, crafts, deepened exchange Chernyakhov culture. V. PI-IV centuries after. N X led to the emergence of one of the first powerful pra-Ukrainian formations -. Antskog in the state association about "annannya.

Art of the Neolithic (7-4 thousand BC) and Eneolithic (Copper-Stone Age-4-3 thousand BC)

During the Neolithic period, ceramics appeared - the main factor determining the peculiarity of a particular culture. Ceramic products are carriers of information about archeological cultures that have gone into the past. During the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods, the real flourishing of ornamental art begins, and all the basic laws of ornamentation are used: the exact rhythmic placement of the pattern, the alternation of ornamental zones, the symmetry in the outline of equilateral triangles and rhombuses. Another unique phenomenon of the eras we are considering are petroglyphs, which are known in all human habitats. In the Neolithic era, the lag of different regions from each other is outlined and consolidated, due to climatic conditions and the nature of the occupations of the tribes. During this period, different ways of human development clearly stand out, depending on the geographical conditions of the habitat of a given culture: either this is the formation of statehood in the most ancient regions of agriculture, or many centuries of nomadic life and life among wild, uncultivated nature.

The Eneolithic period is the beginning of the Paleometallic era, that is, the Copper - Stone and Bronze Ages. During the Eneolithic period, humanity first learned to smelt tools from the first metal known to it - copper, bronze is spreading. At the same time, along with the ancient method of producing economy - agriculture, a new one is finally taking shape - cattle breeding, which makes it possible to master the vast steppes and foothill zones. In the beginning, let us briefly characterize the art of the Neolithic and Eneolithic in the cultures of the most ancient centers of agriculture that preceded the period of the appearance of early forms statehood.

• 1) The Jordanian-Palestinian region (Jericho - 8-7 thousand years BC). Funeral masks, adobe houses, as well as the oldest city walls in the history of mankind have survived.
• 2) Asia Minor region (Chatal-Guyuk). The huge number of statuettes of naked women, symbolizing the cult of fertility, is noteworthy. The surviving sanctuaries are often decorated with the image of a bull. The god in the form of a bull played the same role in the Cretan - Mycenaean civilization and Ancient Egypt of the period of the Early Kingdom (mastabas in Sakkara with bull heads, 4 thousand BC).
• 3) Mesopotamian region (Jarmo culture, 7-6 thousand BC). This region is characterized by unusually decorative ceramics, molded first by hand and then on a potter's wheel. Pottery from Samarra dates back to the 5th millennium BC. e. Religious vessels, bowls, dishes are characterized by a special thoroughness of work. Among the numerous ornaments appear so-called. "primitive swastikas" - a symbol of the cycle of natural elements and the solar course. People, animals, plants - everything spins in a rapid whirlwind of movement, turning into abstract geometric shapes.
• 4) Egyptian center. Neolithic cultures - Tasa and Merimde Beni Salame. Pottery is molded by hand and is devoid of decoration. In clay products, craftsmen strive to reproduce the texture of stone vessels. The favorite material for making vessels among the ancient Egyptians was stone. Vases and dishes were polished to a shine, dematerializing its heaviness and inertness. People and animals are imprinted on the surface of the vessels, as if viewed from different points vision. As a dwelling, small round huts made of reed, plastered with clay, are used.
• 5) Huanghe and Yangtze region.

Center of Neolithic culture Ancient China became the settlement of Yangshao. Archaeologists have discovered here masterpieces of Neolithic ceramics dating back to 4-3 millennia. They amaze with the brightness of their paintings, painted in red, black and white.

6) The region of the Indus and Ganges valleys.

Neolithic vessels of the Indian civilization from Changhu-Daro are distinguished by a carpet arrangement of predominantly floral ornament. The end of the 4th millennium dates back to small clay figurines of the mother goddess and a bull, typical of the fertility cult. Unlike the Mesopotamian region, the seals were not cylindrical, but rectangular.

8) Geoksyursky oasis region (Turkmenistan). Complexes Kara-depe, Geoksyur I, Altyn-depe.

The dishes are decorated with bright geometric patterns consisting of triangles, rhombuses, squares, and wavy lines. In earlier dishes, stylized images of humans and animals were recognizable. During the late Eneolithic period, ceramics become even brighter and more multicolored. As elsewhere in agricultural cultures, there are small figurines of a female deity.

9) Region of Right-bank Ukraine, Moldova, Carpatho - Danube zone of Romania and Bulgaria. Culture Tripoli - Cucuteni (6-3 thousand BC)

Ground houses, adobe, forming an elongated rectangle in plan, were divided into two halves. The complexes of buildings were located in a ring-shaped manner and were oriented towards the center of the circle. Trypillya ceramics are characterized by a "vortex-like" ornament

10) Iranian region. Zagros culture (7-4 thousand BC).

The Tepe culture - Sialk III has the most colorful, elegant and varied ceramics. Vessels were made on a potter's wheel. Images of snow leopards on vessels are unique. Button-shaped seals played a role magical amulets and were also reliable protectors of property.

Another form of art has become rock painting, petroglyphs, stelae and large stone sculptures characteristic of the culture of hunter-gatherers and pastoralists. Images on the rocks were either knocked out with a solid tool from a stone, or painted with red ocher. The petroglyphs depict accurate observations of the natural world, and, at the same time, myths about the origin of this tribe and the arrangement of the Universe are "recorded". Hunting scenes are still very common. Another series of scenes is connected with the world of animals, on the reproduction and well-being of which the well-being of the human collective also depended. There are scenes depicting moose during the mating game from Norway, and in the Russian north there are small sculptural images of them. important place in rock art, as in ceramics, is occupied by solar and lunar symbolism. Elks are identified with the first in northern paintings. Since the Eneolithic era, the theme of the Tree of Life has been spreading in art, where the ideas that have been formed over thousands of years about the natural cycle, about the hidden mysterious forces of nature, about life and death, have been embodied.

During the Neolithic and Eneolithic, the process of folding vast complexes of natural and historical sanctuaries was going on. In the Bronze Age, several types of structures were formed, which are not only natural monuments, but also the result of large-scale (for the first time!) Human construction activity. Menhirs - stand-alone or groups of vertically placed stones. The "Stone Army" in Armenia and the Alignans in France are known - extended fields of stone pillars. Dolmens are a type of structure in which several stones are covered with a roof stone. Cromlechs are the oldest architectural complexes with a complex composition and are not only places of worship, but also acting as an astronomical instrument or calendar. Stonehenge is the largest building of primitive architecture, where an attempt to organize earthly chaos and cosmic harmony is carried out on such a powerful scale.

The first era of metal is called Chalcolithic(Greek enus - "copper", lithos - "stone"). During this period, copper things appear, but stone ones predominate. Two theories on the distribution of copper: 1) originated in the region from Anatolia to Khuzistan (8-7 thousand BC) and spread to neighboring territories; 2) arose at once in several centers. Four stages development of non-ferrous metallurgy: 1) native copper as a kind of stone; 2) melting of native copper and mold casting; 3) smelting of copper from ores, i.e. metallurgy; 4) copper-based alloys - for example, bronze. Copper deposits were discovered according to external signs (green spots of oxides). Used in ore mining stone hammers. The boundaries of the Eneolithic are determined by the level of development of metallurgy (the third stage). The beginnings of agriculture and animal husbandry were further developed, thanks to the expansion of cultivated cereals. To replace the horny hoe comes tillage tool requiring the use of draft animals. Appears almost simultaneously in different areas wheel. Thus, cattle breeding develops, isolation pastoral tribes.

Eneolithic - the beginning of domination patriarchal-clan relations, the dominance of men in cattle-breeding collectives. Embankments appear instead of graves mounds. The study of ceramics shows that it was made by specialists who masterfully mastered the technique of pottery production (craft). Exchange raw material - flint. The Eneolithic was the time of the appearance class societies in several regions of the Mediterranean. The agricultural Eneolithic of the USSR has three centers- Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Northern Black Sea region.

16. Tripol culture.

Trypilska(end 5 - the third quarter of 3 thousand BC) - a large center of the producing economy in Moldova and Right-Bank Ukraine, including part of Romania. In the village of Trypillya near Kyiv. It was agricultural, it required uprooting of roots, stumps, which raised the role of male labor. The patriarchal system of the tribes.

^ Early period(end 5 - middle 4 thousand). The river valleys of Moldova, the west of Ukraine, the Romanian Carpathian region. Parking lots are surrounded by a moat. Clay houses are small. sizes. In the center of the house is an altar. Places were changed every 50-70 years (fall in fertility). Agriculture has been around for a long time. The earth was cultivated with hoes, furrows were made with a primitive ral. They cultivated wheat, barley, millet, legumes. The harvest was harvested with sickles, the grain was ground with grain grinders. Cattle breeding and hunting. Hot forging and welding of copper, but there was no melting yet. Treasure near the village of Karbuna (444 copper objects). Ceramics with in-depth serpentine ornament. The agricultural cult of the mother goddess.

^ Middle period(the second half of 4 thousand). The area reaches the Dnieper. Multi-room houses are growing. 2nd and 3rd floors appear. The house was occupied by a large family community. Settlements now have up to 200 or more houses. They are located high above the river, fortified with a rampart and a moat. Grapes have been added to the plants. Cattle breeding was pastoral. Painted utensils and a spiral ornament appear. There was a pouring of copper. Import of metal from the Caucasus. Stone tools predominate.

^ Late period(beginning-third quarter 3 thousand). The largest area. Workshops of flint products. Metal casting in double-sided molds. Two types of ceramics - rough and polished. Story painting. The number of sheep is growing, the number of pigs is decreasing. The role of hunting is growing. Tools were still made of stone, bone and horn. A patriarchal clan develops.

17 Funeral rite as a source

Not all researchers are unanimous in the question of the definition of the concept of "funeral rite". Some adhere to the traditional point of view: the funeral rite is the design of the grave and grave structures, the peculiarities of the position of the skeleton and the peculiarities of the arrangement of things. Others, for example V. Ya. Petrukhie, the funeral rite is considered to be the actions performed by the living over the dead or near it during the preparation of the funeral, their commission and shortly after them.

Not a single feature of the funeral rite in itself can serve as a basis for decisive conclusions. Only the totality of these features, traced in a sufficient number of burials, can become the basis for historical generalizations. Moreover, sometimes even a carefully studied feature of ancient burials requires additional evidence. After all, the funeral rite as a set of certain features gives too few variations, the analogies of each of which are found in a completely different territory and at a different time. All this must be kept in mind when using ancient burials as a historical source.

Burials are divided into burial places, of which the most ancient belong to the Paleolithic, and cremation, which appeared in the Bronze Age. Analysis of the variants of these rites is very important, but they are difficult to interpret.

The essence of the rite of paired burials, i.e. joint burials of a man and a woman are explained taking into account the nature of the corresponding era, but so far there is no satisfactory answer to this question.

The ratios of the burials located under the same mound are important. In this case, some burial mounds of the Bronze Age are typical. In such burial mounds with a large number of burials of different times, stratigraphic observations are of particular importance: the relative position of the graves along the vertical, the establishment of their relative chronology. Here, observations are important not only over the design of the graves, but also over the location of the layers of the embankment, discharges from the pits, construction remains, etc.

18. Bronze Age. General characteristics.

Bronze Age corresponds to a dry and relatively warm subboreal climate, in which the steppes prevailed. There is an improvement in the forms of cattle breeding: stall keeping of cattle, 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 comp.). Bronze items were made using casting molds. To do this, an impression was made in clay and dried, and then metal was poured into it. For casting three-dimensional objects, stone molds were made from two halves. Also, things began to be made according to the wax model. Bronze is preferred for casting, because it is more fluid and liquid than copper. Initially, tools were poured according to the type of old (stone), and only later they thought of using the advantages of the new material. The range of products has increased. The intensification of inter-tribal clashes contributed to the development of weapons (bronze swords, spears, axes, daggers). Between the tribes of different territories, inequality began to arise due to the unequal reserves of ore deposits. This was also the reason for the development of the exchange. The easiest means of communication was the waterway. The sail was invented. Even in the Eneolithic, carts and the wheel appeared. Communication between countries contributed to the acceleration of progress in the economy and culture.

19. Bronze Age of the Caucasus.

Kura-Araks (Transcaucasia), Maikop, North Caucasian, Trialet, Koban (Northern Caucasus), Colchis (Western Georgia) cultures. The basis of the addition of these cultures were the Eneolithic cultures of the previous time.

Maikopskaya(second half of 3 thousand) - occupies the foothill zone North Caucasus from the Kuban region to the Checheno-Ingushetia. Fortified settlements and mounds with large grave pits. Later, barrowed dolmens appear. Gold and silver vessels. Copper things: daggers, axes, chisels. Flint Arrows. Some wealth. mounds speaks of the wealth and authority of tribal leaders. There are signs of use potter's wheel, which is evidence of class formation (although this is debatable). Nek. daggers, arrows, knives, etc., are similar to Mesopotamian and Cretan ones. Figures of lions, bulls, carnelian beads point to the connection with the Middle East. Farming in livestock farming. plan. Large property dif. Ground houses.

North Caucasian(line 3 and 2 thousand) - lands from the Black Sea to Kabardino-Balkaria, entering the mountains and the steppe. Burials in the mountains - in pits. In the steppes and foothills - in barrows. Bronze knives, adzes, axes, jewelry, stone maces are found in the grave goods. The basis of the economy is pastoral cattle breeding and agriculture. Sickles - first liner, then - metal. The social order is patriarchy. Connections with the Catacomb tribes, who received products from arsenic bronzes from the North Caucasian tribes, are noted. The continuation of the North Caucasian is Koban culture(11-4 centuries BC). The metallurgy of the Caucasian bronze is one of the best in the USSR. The main occupation is sheep breeding. Also used horse

20 Yamnaya, catacomb, dolmen, North Caucasian cultures.