Natalia Shishlina
Eurasian Steppe Bronze Age nomadism: main
research achievements
(A) Economy of Eurasian Steppe Bronze Age nomadism as a specific adaptive system.
●● We discuss the economy of the Caspian Steppes and environmental changes in the time
interval of 4300 – 2000 BC. The results are based on the study of the soils buried under
barrows, pollen and phytolith data. Six time intervals have been identified, including a period
of the environmental disaster at 2400-2300 calBC.
●● A large number of samples from buried soils under barrows have been analyzed (pollen
and phytolith analyses, flotation) but no domesticated cereals have been found. The economic
model discussed was based only on animal husbandry (sheep, cattle and horse); collection of
steppe plants and roots; fishing and hunting played a secondary role. The importance of horse
has been identified.
●● The system of grassland seasonal use has been identified (based on complex analyses of
animal and human teeth, pollen, egg-shells). Seasonal short and long distance movements
have been identified for different cultures. Several models of seasonal cycles have been
proposed.
●● A specific food acquisition system has been identified through: 1) pollen and phytolith
analyses of the specific archaeological context, i.e. vessel residue, stomach area residue as
well as human inter-dental space residue, 2) 13C and 15N measurements for human and
animal collagen, 3) analyses of human bones (palaeo-pathology)
The main results are the following: 1) all edible plants were wild, there is no evidence (at
least, for the eastern part of the Eurasian Steppe) of domesticated cereal use in the diet in all
cultures, including the Steppe Majkop population; 2) the use of drugs in the diet has been
identified, such as Cannabis, Ephedra and Artemisia, 3) the stable isotope ratio of humans
from different cultures shows that all individuals had a diet based largely on river and lake
food (fish, water plants, molluscs).
Production in steppe societies
●● 1) The textile industry of Eneolithic – Bronze Age cultures has been studied for many
years. Weaving and plaiting were important crafts in everyday life of pastoralists. There are
no data on wool fibres used by Yamnaya weavers. All wool and cotton cloth obtained from
Majkop kurgans were imported from the Near East. Wild plants were used for making
threads. Wool fibres did not appear in the Steppes until the Catacomb culture, i.e. after 2400
calBC. Primitive looms have been reconstructed; 2) A project devoted to the (Steppe and the
North Caucasus) production of faience beads has been carried out. Local production of
faience beads has been identified. Some beads were imported (from the South Caucasus, the
Central Asia); 3) A bone tool industry has been reconstructed.
Exchange systems
●● Multi-stage exchange transactions have been reconstructed, dictated by the need to obtain
metal, metal tools and weapons as well as social position and status indicating objects, such
as jewellery, between the Steppe and the Caucasus populations. In exchange for prestige
goods and scarce materials, the steppe population could offer smoked and dry meat and fish,
dairy products, home-made products, i.e. leather and textile items and bone jewellery.
Hence, a complex model of the Eurasian pastoralist economy has been developed.
(B) Excavation of Bronze Age – Early Iron Age sites
●● The site exploitation territory has been identified.
●● Environmental conditions of the site (through pollen and phytolith analyses of buried soil
and soils taken from the inter-dental space of animals) have been identified.
●● Seasonality of pastoral camp-sites has been defined.
(C )Chronology of Bronze Age Eurasian steppe cultures
●● 14C dating of different samples obtained from Eneolithic-Early Iron Age sites has been
carried out.
●● The reservoir effect in the human bone collagen of all cultures discussed has been
defined.
●● The reservoir effect correction for Bronze Age cultures of the Eurasian Steppes has been
proposed.