Maeotian archaeological culture — an archaeological culture of the Early Iron Age and the transition from bronze to iron, widespread on the eastern and southeastern coasts of the Sea of Azov in the 1st millennium BC, as well as on the Black Sea coast up to Abkhazia (covering the modern territories of Kuban, Adygea, Abkhazia, and part of the Don region). The bearers of the culture were the ancient Maeotians.
General information
The culture existed approximately from the 9th century BC to the 2nd century AD, and was fully formed by the 8th century BC. The basis of the economy of the Kuban Maeotians was agriculture (wheat, barley, and millet), while for the Maeotians of the Azov and Black Sea regions — fishing. Cattle breeding also played a significant role — they raised cattle, small livestock, pigs, and horses. The Maeotians had craft production and metallurgy; their ceramics were in demand among neighboring sedentary and nomadic tribes.
Being on the trade routes from the ancient world to the Scythian-Sarmatian nomads, the Maeotians willingly bought and resold ancient goods.
Indices on Maeotian culture
Ethnos and sub-ethnoses — see Maeotians | Sindi | Dandarii | Doschi | Toretae | Obidiaceni | Arrechi
Kings, rulers — see Hecataeus | Tirgatao | Olfac
Settlements — see Tenginskoye | Elizavetinskoye | Dead Redant | Chumyany Redant | Novo-Dzhereliyevskoye settlement | Semibratneye settlement | Staro-Korsunskoye | Voronezhskoye | Ladozhskoye | Kavkazskoye | Krasnodarskoye | Pashkovskoye | Gyuenos (in Abkhazia)
Sanctuaries — see Tenginsky | Maeotian sanctuary in Abkhazia
Mounds — Ulsky | Karagodeuashkh | Kelermessky | Kostromskaya stanitsa
Cemeteries — see Ust-Labinsky | Pashkovsky | Elizavetinsky | Shendzhiysky | Novo-Vochepshiysky | Takhtamukaysky | Psekupsky | Kochipe | Chernoklen Chishkho | Fars
Other artifacts — see Maeotian sword | Sindica coins
Researchers — see N. V. Veselovsky | V. A. Gorodtsov | V. R. Erlikh | N. V. Anfimov | A. M. Leskov | M. V. Pokrovsky | I. S. Kamenetsky | A. M. Zhdanovsky | I. I. Marchenko
Periodization by artifacts
As a result of research conducted by the method of P. Reinecke — M. B. Shchukin based on two hundred sets of inventory from the aforementioned Maeotian cemeteries, 5 clusters with successively changing sets were obtained, which allow conclusions about the corresponding 5 periods of the culture:
1st — the period of "Cimmerian influence," dated to the 9th — first half of the 7th century BC. Characterized by burials with bronze and bimetallic weapons, two-ring and stirrup-shaped bits, bronze three-hole "tubular" and "bladed" cheekpieces, hand-molded ladles and bowls with a side loop-shaped handle.
2nd — the period of "early Scythian influence," dated to the second half of the 7th—5th centuries BC. Burials with early Scythian weapons are combined with hand-molded cups, large jugs, and deep bowls.
3rd — the period of "ancient influence," dated to the 4th century BC. Characterized by the widespread distribution of wheel-made pottery, swords without crossguards, iron socketed arrowheads, large disc-shaped mirrors without handles, and a massive influx of ancient amphora containers.
4th — the period of "Sarmatian influence," dated to the 3rd — first half of the 1st century BC. Items have numerous wheel-made forms, usually imitating ancient models (kantharoi and skyphoi): sets of darts with lanceolate blades, swords with crescent-shaped pommels without crossguards, etc.
5th — the period of "appearance of imports from China and Rome," dated to the second half of the 1st century BC — 2nd century AD. Characterized by the spread of wheel-made flat-bottomed pottery, weapons and mirrors of Middle and Late Sarmatian types, fibulae, ornaments of Egyptian faience, glass cups and skyphoi, Chinese and Roman imports.
On the Maeotian culture in Abkhazia
Finds characteristic of the period of "early Scythian influence" are found in the foothill monuments of the Proto-Maeotian group, namely in the Fars/Klady cemetery. The conclusion is substantiated that Bzyb Abkhazia was a transmitter of the Transcaucasian tradition of ferrous metal processing to the Northwestern Caucasus. Later, the Maeotian culture manifested itself quite clearly, as evidenced by finds of Maeotian swords in Guadiyu (Sukhumi Mountain, Alexeyevskoye Gorge) and bridle details made in the Maeotian ("Kuban") animal style in Agudzera (Alexeyevskoye Gorge, mouth of the Kelasur River). Horse sacrifices according to Maeotian rites, with items in the Maeotian ("Kuban") animal style at the Gyuenos settlement (Erlikh, 2002) and the Akhul-abaa settlement on the outskirts of Sukhumi (Voronov, 1991), are very convincing. All these data allow us to speak of the direct presence of bearers of the Maeotian culture in Western Transcaucasia at that time.
Types of Maeotian sanctuaries
Erlikh identifies four main types of Maeotian sanctuaries, for most of which horse sacrifices are characteristic, namely:
1. Accumulation (unsystematic arrangement) of sacrificial items, animal bones without any wooden structure under a small mound. Standard — Ulap, mound 4, Voronezh mounds 17 and 18. Analogues — Leninkhabl, Yastrebovsky, Kholmsky cemeteries.
2. Horse sacrifices (whole skeletons, horse skulls, or only bridles) (unsystematic arrangement) without a wooden structure under a small mound. Standard — Goverdovsky mounds 6, 7, 9; mound 14 of Ulap. Analogues — Pshish I.
3. Sacrifices are performed in a certain system; horse skeletons or skulls are laid out in a circle or semicircle around the altar. Most likely, this is the early Scythian period. Standard — Ulap, mounds 8 and 9, mound 19 near Voronezhskaya stanitsa, Kuzhorsky mound. Analogues — Kelermessky mounds 23, 29.
4. Wooden structures — tents or half-tents, enclosures of the pre-Scythian and early Scythian periods. Standard — Ulap, mounds 2 and 5, Nacherziy mound 30, Ulsky mounds 1 (1898) and 10 (1982), Tenginsky mounds 1 and 2. Analogues — Uashkhitu I mound, 1st Razmenny mound near Kostromskaya stanitsa.
Problems
1st problem — very often, Maeotian sites and artifacts are mistakenly identified as Scythian and even Sarmatian. Professor N. V. Anfimov wrote:
"The history of the Maeotians is interconnected with the Scythian and Sauromatian tribes. They came into contact with the latter in the north and northeast, but what were their relationships, interconnections, and where the border between them passed — all these questions still remain unresolved."
This problem has ancient roots; as early as the 2nd century BC, Apollonius of Rhodes, citing other ancient authors, wrote:
"Hellanicus in his work 'On Peoples' says: 'When you sail past the Bosporus, there will be the Sindi, and above them — the Maeotian-Scythians.'"
2nd problem — the linguistic and ethnic affiliation of the Maeotians to the Caucasian family is disputed by some authors. This began with O. N. Trubachev, who in his work "On the Sindi and Their Language" suggested that the Sindo-Maeotians were local Proto-Indians, distinct from the neighboring Iranians. In his opinion, the Sindo-Maeotian language is Indo-Aryan, with features of an independent dialect (or dialects). N. V. Anfimov, however, is critical of Trubachev's opinion, believing that these conclusions are debatable, and proposes to classify the Sindi as Caucasian peoples, noting the participation of the Sindi, as part of the Maeotian tribes, in the ethnogenesis of the Adyghe.
Anthropology
From the analysis of a huge amount of material from urban and rural cemeteries, anthropologists concluded that the main type of skulls from the necropolises of the Bosporus is the dolicho-mesocranial variant with a narrow and low face and a high and narrow nose — a type common among the Maeotian population of the Taman Peninsula, Kuban region, and Don.
Mass migrations
The most ancient migration flows from the territory of the Western Caucasus are noted for the Cimmerian era by such authoritative specialists as L. A. Elnitsky, N. A. Chlenova, I. A. Javakhishvili.
In the ancient period, according to the following authoritative scholars, the following migrations of significant masses of people took place:
— V. I. Illich-Svitych, M. N. Rostovtsev — Maeotian-Sarmatian tribes migrated to Pannonia and Dacia.
— J. Kiessling, V. V. Latyshev — the Cercetae descended into Colchis.
— G. A. Melikishvili — the Zikhs (Zigi) spread as far as Trebizond.
Sources:
Ethnogenesis of the Abkhazians. D.A. Arshba, 2015
Hallstatt culture