Smolyaninov R.V., Kulichkov A.A. Materials of the Yamnaya-Repin Cultural Type from the Bronze Age of the Karamyshevo 9 Settlement in the Upper Don River
Roman V. Smolyaninov, Candidate of Sciences (History), Chairman, Lipetsk Regional Scientific Public Organization “Archaeological Research”, Kommunalnaya Sq., 9, Room 106, 398059 Lipetsk, Russian Federation
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Alexey A. Kulichkov, Senior Researcher, Interregional Center for Archaeological Research LLC, Entuziastov Boulevard, 2A, 4th floor, 392003 Tambov, Russian Federation
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Abstract. In 2002–2003, excavations were conducted at the multi-layered settlement of Karamyshevo 9, covering an area of 724 square meters. In the central part of the excavation, covering approximately 200 square meters, 21 postholes and storage pits, as well as two ash pits (zolniki), were investigated. These features are associated with two Bronze Age structures. We attribute them to a population that produced pottery of the Yamnaya-Repin cultural type. The pottery assemblage comprises fragments from no less than 40 vessels with rim diameters ranging from 16 to 40 cm, representing five distinct forms. Cord-impressed and comb-stamped motifs predominate in the decoration. Silty clay was used as the primary raw material for the manufacture of all pots. Across the extensive forest-steppe region of the Don area, we have identified four settlements of the Yamnaya-Repin cultural type with a rich cultural layer: Karamyshevo 9, Ternovoe, Shilovo, and Cherkasskaya, along with several dozen sites with a less substantial cultural deposit. The first two sites mentioned also contain features of household structures. These settlements, together with classic Yamnaya sites, fill the gap in the distribution of Early Bronze Age sites in the Upper Don. The chronology of these settlements is now supported by the first direct radiocarbon dates obtained from specific Yamnaya-Repin-type ceramic vessels from the Karamyshevo 9 settlement, from pottery of the late Repin culture stage, and by the known radiocarbon dates for the Yamnaya culture from kurgan cemeteries in the Middle Don. Consequently, in assessing the probable period of contact between the Repin and Yamnaya populations and the later timeframe for the existence of the settlement of the Yamnaya-Repin cultural type Karamyshevo 9 with its hybrid pottery, then it is logical to assume that it occurred between the late phase of the Repin culture and the early phase of the Yamnaya. An analysis of the available radiocarbon dates suggests these events took place in the second half of the 4th millennium BC, most likely within the interval of 3400–3200 BC.
Key words: Bronze Age, settlement, technical and technological analysis, Yamnaya-Repin cultural type, structure, storage pit, ash pit.
Citation. Smolyaninov R.V., Kulichkov A.A., 2026. Materialy yamno-repinskogo kul’turnogo tipa epohi bronzy s poseleniya Karamyshevo 9 naVerhnem Donu [Materials of the Yamnaya-Repin Cultural Type from the Bronze Age of the Karamyshevo 9 Settlement in the Upper Don River]. Nizhnevolzhskiy Arkheologicheskiy Vestnik [The Lower Volga Archaeological Bulletin], vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 60-81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/nav.jvolsu.2026.1.3
Sites with “Yamnaya-Repin Type” Ceramics. Paradoxes of Historiography, Study Problems, and New Data by Smolyaninov R.V., Kulichkov A.A. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
