- Sredny Stog culture
The Sredny Stog culture (named after the Ukrainian village of Serednyi Stih where it was first located, for which Sredny Stog is the conventional Russian-language designation) dates from the 4500-
3500 BC . It was situated just north of theSea of Azov between theDnieper and the Don. One of the best known sites associated with this culture isDereivka .It seems to have had contact with the agricultural
Trypillian culture in the west, and was a contemporary of theKhvalynsk culture . There is a suggestion (byYuri Rassamakin ) that it should be considered anareal term, with at least four distinct cultural elements. The foremost expert on this culture (Dmytro Telegin) has divided Sredny Stog into two distinct phases. It was succeeded by theYamna culture.Inhumation was in a ground level pit, not yet capped by a tumulus (kurgan). The deceased was placed on his back with the legs flexed.Ochre was used. Phase II also knew corded ware pottery, which it may have originated, and stone battle-axes of the type later associated with expanding Indo-European cultures to the West. Most notably, it has perhaps the earliest evidence of horse domestication (in phase II, ca. 4000-3500 BC) with finds suggestive of cheek-pieces (psalia ).In the context of the modified
Kurgan hypothesis ofMarija Gimbutas , this pre-kurgan archaeological culture could represent theUrheimat (homeland) of theProto-Indo-European language .Paleolithic Continuity Theory [Mario Alinei 'Interdisciplinary and linguistic evidence for Paleolithic continuity of Indo-European, Uralic and Altaic populations in Eurasia', 2003] , associatesPit Grave andSredny Stog Kurgan cultures withTurkic peoples .ources
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J. P. Mallory , "Sredny Stog Culture", "Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture ", Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.
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