Potapovka culture
Encyclopedia
Potapovka culture, ca. 2500—2000 BC. A Bronze Age
culture centered on the Samara bend
in the middle Volga region, projecting well east into the Samara River
valley.
It seems to be connected only in a material culture
way with the earlier stage of the Andronovo culture
(Sintashta
and Petrovka
period), but probably genetically to the Poltavka culture
, with influences from the more northerly Abashevo culture
. Loosely, it can be considered as descended from the earlier Khvalynsk culture
and Samara culture
, both of which occupied this same geographic extent.
The inhumations are in kurgans (tumuli). Smaller less important graves surround the original tumulus. Animals, either whole or in parts, were among the grave offerings (cattle, sheep, goats, dogs). One burial has the corpse's head replaced with that of a horse,
The culture was clearly comfortable with horses. Wheels and wheeled vehicles are equivocally identified in the remains.
Mallory argues that the Potapovka culture's lack of a clear genetic relationship with the early Andronovo culture, and that the Andronovo lacks an immediate local ancestor, the "cultural trajectory" for the Indo-European societies of this region need to be seen as coming from the west.
It was preceded by the Yamna culture
, and succeeded by the Srubna culture
.
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
culture centered on the Samara bend
Samara bend
The Samara bend is a large hairpin bend of the middle Volga River at the confluence of the Samara River . It is situated in Samara Oblast, Volga Federal District of Russia....
in the middle Volga region, projecting well east into the Samara River
Samara River
The Samara is a river in Russia, left tributary of Volga. The city of Samara is located at the confluence of Volga and Samara. It rises southwest of the southern end of the Ural Mountains close to the middle Ural River near the town of Orenburg. It then flows west or west northwest to meet the...
valley.
It seems to be connected only in a material culture
Material culture
In the social sciences, material culture is a term that refers to the relationship between artifacts and social relations. Studying a culture's relationship to materiality is a lens through which social and cultural attitudes can be discussed...
way with the earlier stage of the Andronovo culture
Andronovo culture
The Andronovo culture, is a collection of similar local Bronze Age cultures that flourished ca. 21200–1400 BCE in western Siberia and the west Asiatic steppe. It is probably better termed an archaeological complex or archaeological horizon...
(Sintashta
Sintashta
Sintashta is an archaeological site in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the remains of a fortified settlement dating to the Bronze Age, c. 2800–1600 BC, and is the type site of the Sintashta culture...
and Petrovka
Petrovka settlement
The Petrovka fortified settlement, namesake of the 2nd millennium BC Sintashta-Petrovka culture lies at the Ishim River, near the modern village of Petrovka, Kazakhstan ....
period), but probably genetically to the Poltavka culture
Poltavka culture
Poltavka culture, 2700—2100 BC, an early to middle Bronze Age archaeological culture of the middle Volga from about where the Don-Volga canal begins up to the Samara bend, with an easterly extension north of present Kazakhstan along the Samara River valley to somewhat west of Orenburg.It is...
, with influences from the more northerly Abashevo culture
Abashevo culture
Abashevo culture is a later Bronze Age archaeological culture found in the valleys of the Volga and Kama River north of the Samara bend and into the southern Ural Mountains. It receives its name from a village of Abashevo in Chuvashia. Artifacts are kurgans and remnants of settlements...
. Loosely, it can be considered as descended from the earlier Khvalynsk culture
Khvalynsk culture
The Khvalynsk culture was an Eneolithic culture of the first half of the 5th millennium BC, discovered at Khvalynsk on the Volga in Saratov Oblast, Russia. The culture also is termed the Middle Eneolithic or Developed Eneolithic or Proto-kurgan...
and Samara culture
Samara culture
The Samara culture was an eneolithic culture of the early 5th millennium BC at the Samara bend region of the middle Volga, discovered during archaeological excavations in 1973 near the village of Syezzheye in Russia...
, both of which occupied this same geographic extent.
The inhumations are in kurgans (tumuli). Smaller less important graves surround the original tumulus. Animals, either whole or in parts, were among the grave offerings (cattle, sheep, goats, dogs). One burial has the corpse's head replaced with that of a horse,
- reminiscent of the Vedic account of how the Asvíns replace the head of the priest Dadhyañc Artharvana with that of a horse so that he could reveal the secret of the sacred drink. —EIEC "Potapovka Culture"
The culture was clearly comfortable with horses. Wheels and wheeled vehicles are equivocally identified in the remains.
Mallory argues that the Potapovka culture's lack of a clear genetic relationship with the early Andronovo culture, and that the Andronovo lacks an immediate local ancestor, the "cultural trajectory" for the Indo-European societies of this region need to be seen as coming from the west.
It was preceded by the Yamna culture
Yamna culture
The Yamna culture is a late copper age/early Bronze Age culture of the Southern Bug/Dniester/Ural region , dating to the 36th–23rd centuries BC...
, and succeeded by the Srubna culture
Srubna culture
The Srubna culture , was a Late Bronze Age culture. It is a successor to the Yamna culture, the Pit Grave culture and the Poltavka culture....
.
Sources
- J. P. Mallory, "Potapovka Culture", Encyclopedia of Indo-European CultureEncyclopedia of Indo-European CultureThe Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture is an encyclopedia of Indo-European studies and the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The encyclopedia was edited by J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams and published in 1997 by Fitzroy Dearborn...
, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.