Malashev V.Yu. The Early Urban Character of the Alanian Culture of the Northern Caucasus in the 2nd – 4th Centuries AD and the Problem of Early Statehood
Vladimir Yu. Malashev, Candidate of Sciences (History), Senior Researcher, Institute of Archaeology Russian Academy of Sciences, Dm. Ulyanova St, 19, 117292 Moscow, Russian Federation
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Abstract. In the 2nd – 4th centuries AD, a significant number of large (0.5 to 1.2 km2) and medium-sized settlements with complex structures and distinct citadels were formed in the foothill and lowland areas of the Central and Northeastern Caucasus. The process of establishing these early urban centers was completed by the second half of the 2nd century AD. These settlements were accompanied by extensive necropolises covering several square kilometers. The growth of material resources led to a sharp increase in the population and its density, as evidenced by the number of archaeological sites in this chronological period. This circumstance led to the migration of cultural bearers both within the region and beyond its borders. The presence of a significant number of large settlements, which can be considered early urban centers (or cities of a special type), indicates the processes of urbanization in this society. The high population density, the presence of a significant number of urban-type monuments, and the wide range of contacts (from trade to military and political), as well as their geographical extent, suggest that this society had a certain structure and organization. Given the cultural characteristics, the population that left the monuments of the early Alanic culture in the central and eastern regions of the North Caucasus can be considered to have been in the state-building phase of social and political development. However, it is too early to directly compare this cultural entity with early states. It is more appropriate to compare it with the analogues of early states according to L.E. Grinin. The conclusions presented in the article are based solely on the analysis of archaeological sources, as there is no information about this cultural phenomenon in written sources.
Key words: North Caucasus, early Alanic culture, 2nd – 4th centuries AD, early urban centers, analogues of early states.
Citation. Malashev V.Yu., 2026. Rannegorodskoy harakter alanskoy kul’tury Severnogo Kavkaza II–IV vv. n.e. i problema ranney gosudarstvennosti [The Early Urban Character of the Alanian Culture of the Northern Caucasus in the 2nd – 4th Centuries AD and the Problem of Early Statehood]. Nizhnevolzhskiy Arkheologicheskiy Vestnik [The Lower Volga Archaeological Bulletin], vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 139-153. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/nav.jvolsu.2026.2.6
The Early Urban Character of the Alanian Culture of the Northern Caucasus in the 2nd – 4th Centuries AD and the Problem of Early Statehood by Malashev V.Yu. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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