Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-02T21:04:28.414Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social trends in temperate Eurasia during the second and first millennia bc

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Ludmila Koryakova
Ludmila Koryakova*
Affiliation:
Institute of History and Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 56 Luxemburg str., 620219 Ekaterinburg Ural State University, 51. Lenin Av., 620083 Ekaterinburg, Russia
Get access

Abstract

This paper outlines some basic trends of social evolution and devolution that occurred in Central Eurasia mostly in the second and first millennia BC. These main long-term, cyclical regularities were characteristic for the whole Eurasian territory and comprised the alternation between complex social structures and simple, extensive lifeways. The factors stimulating social development were ecological and technological crises, which conditioned a search for the most effective forms of social adaptation. The social landscape of the temperate zone in the second millennium BC was represented by a variety of simple chiefdoms interacting with forest-zone tribes and steppe zone hunter-gatherers. These groups were succeeded by an extensive spread of population, including the colonisation of new landscapes and the discovery of new mineral resources. The transition to the Iron Age is marked by the disintegration of these chiefdoms, which stimulated a chain of recurrent westward migration, disrupting social developments in Central Eurasia. During the first millennium, the process of social stratification and élite military development resulted from the growth of the Eurasian ‘world system’.

Cet article résume quelques tendances élementaires de l'evolution et de la délégation sociale qui sont apparues en Eurasie centrale principalement pendant les deuxième et premier millénaires avant J.C. Ces deux longues périodes, de régularités cycliques, étaient caractéristiques de tout le territoire Eurasien et contenaient une alternance entre des structures sociales complexes et des modes de vie considérablement simples. Les éléments stimulant le développement social etaient des crises écologiques et technologiques, qui conditionnaient la recherche de moyens encore plus efficaces pour une adaptation sociale. Le paysage social de la zone tempérée pendant le second millénaire avant J.C. était représenté par divers ‘chiefdoms’ dialoguant avec des tribus de la forêt et des chasseurscueilleurs de la steppe. Ces groupes ont été succédés par une considerable étendue de la population, la colonization de nouveaux paysages et la découverte de nouvelles ressources minérales comprises. La transition jusqu'à l'âge d'or est marquée par la désintégration de ces ‘chiefdoms’, qui stimulaient une série de migrations recurrentes vers l'ouest, perturbant les développements sociaux en Eurasie centrale. Pendant le premier millénaire, le processus de la stratification et du développement de l'élite militaire ont resulté de la croissance du système mondial eurasien.

Diser Beitrag umreißt einige grundlegenden Trends sozialer Evolution und Devolution im Zentraleurasien vor allem des zweiten und ersten Jahrtausends v. Chr. Langfristige, zyklische Regelmäßigkeiten waren kennzeichnend für das gesamte Gebiet Eurasiens und bestanden aus dem Abwechseln von komplexen Sozialstrukturen und einfachen, extensive Lehensweisen. Die Faktoren, die die soziale Entwicklung anregten, waren ökologische und technologische Krisen, die zu einer Suche nach den effektivsten Formen sozialer Anpassung führten. Die soziale Landschaft der gemäßigten Zone im zweiten Jahrtausend v. Chr. bestand aus einer Vielfalt von einfachen Häuptlingstümem, die mit Stämmen der Waldzone und Jägern und Sammlerinnen der Steppenzone interagierten. Auf diese Gruppen folgte eine ausgedehnte Bevölkerungsausbreitung, die die Kolonisation neuer Landschaften und die Entdeckung neuer Bodenschätze miteinschloß. Der Übergang zur Eisenzeit is gekennzeichnet durch den Zerfall der Häuptlingstümer, was zu einer Abfolge von sich wiederholenden Westwanderungen führte, die die sozialen Entwicklungen in Zentraleurasien durcheinander brachten. Während des ersten Jahrtausends v. Chr. führte das Wachstum des eurasischen ‘Weltsystems’ zu einem Prozeß zunehrnender sozialer Stratifizierung und einem Ausbau elitären Militärs.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of European Archaeology , Volume 4 , 1996 , pp. 243 - 280
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrianov, Boris V., 1985. Neosedloje naselenije mira: Istoriko-ethnographicheskoje issle-dovanije. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Artamonov, M. I., 1972. Skifskoje tsarstvo. Sovetskaja arheologija 3: 56–67.Google Scholar
Berjezkin, Y. E., 1995. Arkaim kak ceremonial'nyi centr: vzgljad americanista. In Bochkarev, V. (ed.), Konverguentsyja i diverguentsija v razvitii kultur epohy eneolita-bronzy Srednei i vostochnoi Evropy: 29–39. Saratov: Saratov University (Materials of the conference).Google Scholar
Bichurin, Nikolai Y., 1950. Sobranije svedenii o narodax obitavshih v Srednei Asii v drevnije vremena, vol. 1. Moscow. Nauka.Google Scholar
Bochkarjev, Vadim S., 1995. Karpato-Dunaiskii i Volgo-Ural'skii ochagui kul'turo-gueneza epohi bronzy. In Konverguentsyja i diverguentsija v razvitii kultur epohy eneolita-bronzy Srednei i vostochnoi Evropy. Materials of the conference. Saratov.Google Scholar
Bunatyan, Elena, 1985. Metodiki sotsialnyh reconstructsii v arheologii po materialam skifskih moguilnikov 4-3 vekov do n,e. (Methods of social reconstruction in archaeology on the materials of Scythian burial grounds of the 4th - 3rd centuries BC). Kiev.Google Scholar
Carneiro, Robert L., 1981. The chiefdom: precursor of the state. In Jons, G. and Kautz, R. (eds), The Transition to Statehood in the New World: 37–79. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Charnenko, E. V., 1980. Drevneishije skifskije paradnyje mechi. In Terenozhkin, A., Skifija i kavkaz: 7–30. Kiev: Naukova Dumka.Google Scholar
Chernykh, Evguenii N., 1989. Metall i drevnije kul'tury: Uslovyje problemy issledovanija. In Estestvennonauchnyje melody v archeologii. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Chernykh, Evguenii. N. and Kuz'minyh, Serguei V., 1989, Drevnaja metallurgija Severnoi Evrasii. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Cribb, Roger, 1991. Nomads in Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Demkin, Vladimir A. and Ivanov, Igor V., 1985. Razvitie pochv Prikaspiiskoi nizmennosty v golotsene. Puchino: Nauchnyi tsentr biologicheskikh issledovanii.Google Scholar
Diakonov, Igor M. and Yakobson, V. A., 1982. ‘Nomoviye gosudarstva’, ‘territorialniye tsarstva’, ‘polisy’, ‘imperii: Problemy tipologuii’ (Non states, territorial kingdoms, poleis and empires: problems of typology). Vestnic drevnei istorii 2: 3–16.Google Scholar
Earle, Timothy, 1987, Chiefdoms in archaeological and ethnohistorical perspective. Annual Review of Anthropology 16: 279–308.Google Scholar
Earle, Timothy, 1991. The evolution of chiefdoms. In Earle, T. (ed.), Chiefdoms: Power, Economy and Ideology: 1–15. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Epimahov, Andrei V., 1995. Pogrebal'nyje pamjatniki sintashtinskogo vremeni. In Zdanovich, G. (ed.), Rossiya i Vostok: problemy vzaimodeistviya. Matreialy konferentsii: 43–47. Chelyabinsk: Chelyabinsk University Press.Google Scholar
Goumilev, Leo N., 1993. Ritmy Evrzii: Epokhi i tsivilizatsii. Moscow: Ekopress.Google Scholar
Grach, Alexandr D., 1980. Drevnije kochevniki v tsentre Asii. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Grjaznov, Mikhail P., 1980. Arghan - Tsarskii kurgan ranneskifskogo vremeni. Leningrad: Nauka.Google Scholar
Guening, Vladimir F., 1982. Ocherki po istorii sovetskoi archeologii. Kiev: Naukova Dumka.Google Scholar
Guening, Vladimir F., Zdanovich, Guennadi B., and Guening, Vladimir V., 1992. Sintashta. Chelyabinsk: Southern Urals Press.Google Scholar
Habdulina, Maral K., 1994. Stepnoje Priishimije v epohu rannego zhgelerza. Almaty: Gylym-Rakurs.Google Scholar
Habdulina, Maral K. and Zdanovich, Gennadi B., 1984. Landchaftno-klimaticheskie kolebanija golotsena i voprosy kul'turno-istoricheskoi situatsii v Severnom Kazakhstane. In Zdanovich, G. (ed.), Bronzovyi vek Uralo-Irtyshskogo mezhdurechja: 136–158. Chelyabinsk: Chelyabinsk University.Google Scholar
Hedeager, Lotte, 1992. Iron-Age Societies: from Tribe to State in Northern Europe, 500 BC to AD 700. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Obchestva, Histroiya Pervobytnogo, 1983. Historiya pervobytnogo obchestva: obchie voprosy (History of primordial society: general questions). (Edited by Bromlei, Y.) Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Obchestva, Histroiya Pervobytnogo, 1988. Histroiya Pervobytnogo Obchestva: Epoha Klassoobrasovaniya (History of primordial society: epoch of class formation). Moskow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Jenito, B., 1994. Arheologija i sovremennyje kontseptsii sotsial'noi organizatsii kochevnikov. In Savromatskaja epoha, vol. 1: 11–18. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Khazanov, Anatoli M., 1975. Sotsial'naja istorija Skifov. Moscow. Nauka.Google Scholar
Khazanov, Anatoli M., 1975a. Razlijzhenie pervobytnoobchinnogo stroja i voznik-novenije klassovogo obchestva. In Bromlei, Y. (ed.), Pervobytnoje obchestvo: Osnovnyje probltmy razvitija: 88–139. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Khazanov, Anatoli M., 1979. Klassoobrazovaniye: faktory i mehanizmy. (Class formation: factors and mechanisms). Issledovaniya po obchei ethnografii: 125–177. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Khazanov, Anatoli M., 1984. Nomads and the Outside World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Klejn, Leo, 1993. Phenomen sovetckoi archeologii (The phenomenon of Soviet archaeology). Sankt Petersburg: FARN Press.Google Scholar
Koryakova, Ludmila N., 1988. Rannii Gheleznyi vek Ural i Zapadnoi Sibiri: Sargatskaja kultura. Sverdlovsk: Ural University Press.Google Scholar
Koryakova, Ludmila N., 1993. Culturno-istoricheskije obchnosti Urala i Zapadnoi Sibiri. Ekaterinburg: Ural State University.Google Scholar
Koryakova, Ludmila N., in press. Cultural Relationships in Central-Northern Eurasia.Google Scholar
Koryakova, Ludmila N. and Sergeev, Alexei S., 1986. Geographicheskii aspekt khozjaisvennoi dejatelnosti naselenija sargatskoi kultury. In Kovaleva, V. (ed.), Problemy uralo-sibirskoi arkheologii: 90–98. Sverdlovsk: Ural State University.Google Scholar
Koryakova, Ludmila N., Stefanov, Vladimir I., and Stefanova, Nina K., 1992. Problemy issledovanija drevnih poselenii i kulturno-chronologicheskaja stratigraphija poselenija Uk 3. Sverdlovsk: Russian Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Kosarev, Mikhail F., 1987. Istoriko-geographicheskii ocherk i istoria arhkeologiches-kogo izuchenija Vostochnogo Zauralia i Zapadnoi Sibiri. In Rybakov, B. (ed.), Epokha bronzy lesnoi polosy SSSR. Archeologia SSSR: 248–250. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Kosarev, Mikhail F., 1991. Drevnjaja istoria Zapadnoi Sibiri. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Kristiansen, Kristian, 1991. Chiefdoms, states, and systems of social evolution. In Earle, T. (ed.), Chiefdoms: Power, Economy and Ideology: 16–43. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kristiansen, Kristian, 1993. The emergence of the European world system in the Bronze Age: divergence, convergence and social evolution during the first and second millennia BC in Europe. In Kristiansen, K. and Jensen, J. (eds), Europe in the First Millennium B.C: 7–30. Sheffield (Sheffield Archaeological Monographs 6).Google Scholar
Kubbel, Leo E., 1988. Ocherki potestarno-politicheskoi ethnografii (Essays of potestarian and political ethnography). Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Kuzmina, Elena E., 1981. Sloghenije skotovodcheskogo hozjastva v stepjah Evrasii i re-konstruktshija sotsial'noi struktury obchestva drevneichih pastucheskih plemjen. In Mazhitov, N. and Pchenichnuk, A. (eds), Materialy po hozjaistvu i obchestvennomu stroju plemjen Judgnogo Urala: 24–43. Ufa: Institut Istorii, Yazyka i Literatury.Google Scholar
Kuzmina, Elena E., 1994. Otkuda prishli Indo-Arii? (Where did Indo-Arians come from?). Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura.Google Scholar
Lamberg-Karlovsky, Carl, 1994. The Bronze Age Khanates of Central Asia. Antiquity 68: 360–405.Google Scholar
Lubo-Lesnichenko, E. I., 1994. Kitai na Shelkovom Puti. Moskow: Vostochnaja literatura.Google Scholar
Malov, N. M., 1995. Indoevropeiskaja neurbanisticheskaja tsivilizatsija epohi paleo-metalla evrasiiskoi skotovodcheskoi istoriko-lul'turnoi provintsii -zveno mozai-chnoi stelostnosti. In Konverguentsija i diverguentsija v razbitii kul'tur epohi eneolotabronzy Srednei i Vostochnoi Evropy: 7–10. Saratov: Saratov University.Google Scholar
Masson, Vadim M., 1989. Perviye tsivilizatsii (First civilisations). Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Masson, Vadim M., 1994. Razvitiye elitarnyh structure kak progressivnyi phenomen skifskoi epohi. In Bokovenko, N. (ed.), Elitarnyje kurgany stepei Evrasii v skifosarmatskuju epohu: 5–11. St. Petersburg: Institut Istorii Materyal'noi Kultury (‘Round table’ discussion materials).Google Scholar
Matveeva, Natalia P., 1993. Sargatskaja kul'tura na Srednem Tobole. Novosibirsk: Nauka.Google Scholar
Merpert, Nikolai Y., 1978. O plemennyh sojuzah drevneichih skotovodov stepei Vostochnoi Evropy. In Kropotkin, V., Matushin, G., Peters, B. (eds), Problemy sovetskoi archeologii: 55–63. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Merpert, Nikolai Y., 1995. O planirovke poselkov rannego bronzovogo veka v verhne-frakisskoi doline. Rissiakaya arckheologia 3: 38–45.Google Scholar
Morgunova, Nina L., 1992. K voprosu ob obschestvennom ustroistve drevnejamnoi kultury. In Morgunova, N. (ed.), Drevnaja istorija naselenija Volgo-Uralskih stepei: 25–36. Orenburg: Pedagogicheskii Institut.Google Scholar
Murzin, V. U., 1990. Proishodgdenije Skifov: osnovnyje etapy formirovanija skofskogo etnosa. Kijev: Naukova Dumka.Google Scholar
Parpola, Asko, 1995. Formation of the Arian branch of Indo-European. To be published In Blench, Rojer and Spriggs, Matthew (eds), Language and Archaeology, vol. 3, Combining archaeological and linguistic aspects of the past. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Pavlenko, Yury V., 1989. Ranneklassoviye obchestva; guenesis i puti rasvitiya (Early class societies: genesis and ways of development). Kiev: Naukova Dumka Press.Google Scholar
Pervobytnaja peripherija klassovykh obchestv do nachala Vilikikh Geographicheskikh Otkrytii (problema istoricheskih kontaktov). Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Polos'mak, Natalia V., 1994. ‘Stereguschije zoloto grify’ (ak-alahinskije kurgany). Novosibirsk: Nauka.Google Scholar
Polos'mak, Natalia V., 1996. Pogrebenie anatnoi pazyrykskoi zhenchiny (The burial of a noble Pazyryk woman). Vestnik drevnei istorii 4: 142–167.Google Scholar
Potjemkina, Tamila M., 1985. Bronzovyi vek lesostepnogo Zauralja. Moscow. Nauka.Google Scholar
Renfrew, A. Colin, 1974. Beyond a subsistence economy, the evolution of social organization in prehistoric Europe. In Moore, C. B. (ed.), Reconstructing Complex Societies: 69–95. (Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research 20).Google Scholar
Renfrew, A. Colin and Bahn, Paul, 1991. Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice. London: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Rostovtsev, M. I., 1925. Skifija i Bospor. Petrograd: RAIMK.Google Scholar
Rudenko, Sergei, 1962. Sibirskaja kollektsija Petra 1. Leningrad. Nauka.Google Scholar
Sagan, Eli, 1993. At the Dawn of Tyranny: The Origins of Individualism, Political Oppression and the State. Santa Fe: Fish Drum Magazine Press.Google Scholar
Schukin, Mark B., 1994. Konkretno-istoricheskaja transljatshija kultur epohi Latería. In Kulturnyje transljatshii i istoricheskii protsess: 99–119. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University Press.Google Scholar
Schukin, Mark B., 1994a. Na rubezhe er (On the turn of eras). Sankt Petersburg: FARN (Russian Archaeological Bibliothek 2).Google Scholar
Service, Elman, 1962. Primitive Social Organization. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Sherratt, Andrew, 1993. What would a Bronze Age world system look like? Relations between temperate Europe and the Mediterranean in later prehistory. Journal of European Archaeology 1 (2): 1–58.Google Scholar
Shnirelman, Victor A., 1980. Proishozhdenije skotovodstva. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Sinuk, A. T. and Kozmirchuk, I. A., 1995. Nekotorye aspekty izuchenija abachevskoi kultury v basseine Dona. In Vasiliev, I. (ed.), Drevnije indoiranskije kultury Volgo-Urajla: 37–70. Samara: Samara Pedagogical Institute.Google Scholar
Steblin-Kamensky, Ivan, 1995. Ariysko-Uralskiye svyasi mifa ob Yime (Arian and Uralian connections of the myth about Yim). In Zdanovich, G. and Ivanova, N. (eds), Rossiya i Vostok: problemy vzaimodeistviya. P.V. book 1: 116–197. Chelyabinsk: Chelyabinsk University Press.Google Scholar
Stepi evropeiskoi chasti SSSR v skifo-sarmatskoje vremja. Archeologia SSSR, 1989. Edited by Milukova, A. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Stepnaja polosa Aziatskoi chasti SSSR v skifo-sarmatskoje vrfemja. Archeologia SSSR, 1992. Edited by Moshkova, M. Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Steward, Julian, 1955. Theory of Culture Change. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Stratanovich, G. G., 1974. Voennaja organizatsija triadnogo tipa i eje sud'by. In Problemy altaistiki i mongolovedenija: Materialy konferentsii, vol. 1: 22–230. Elista: Institut Istorii, Philologii, Etnjgraphii.Google Scholar
Tainter, Joseph (ed.), 1988. The Collapse of Complex Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tairov, Alexandr D., 1995. Torgovyje kommunikatsii v Zapadnoi chasti Uralo-Irtyshskogo mezhdurechja. Chelyabinsk: Chelyabinsk University Press.Google Scholar
Tairov, Alexandr D. and Botalov, Serguei G., 1988. Kurgan u sela Varna. In Tairov, A. (ed.), Problemy archeologii Uralo-kazahstanskih stepei: 1–125. Chelyabinsk: Chelyabinsk University Press.Google Scholar
Tolstov, Serguei P., 1946. O periodizatsii istorii pervobytnogo obshestva (About periodisation of history if primordial society). Soviet Ethnography 1: 2–40.Google Scholar
Vasilyev, L. S., 1983. Problemy genesisa Kitaiskogo gosudarstva (Problems of the genesis of a Chinese state). Moscow: Nauka.Google Scholar
Vasiljev, Igor B., Kuznetshov, Pavel F., and Semenova, A. P., 1994. Potapovskii kurgannyi mogil'nik indoiranskih plemien na Volgue, edited by Merpert, N. Samara: Samara University Press.Google Scholar
Wallerstein, Immanuel, 1974. The Modern World-System: capitalist agriculture and the origins of the European world-economy in the sixteenth century. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Yoffee, Norman, 1993. Too many chiefs? (or, safe text for the '90s). In Yoffee, N. and Sherratt, A. (eds), Archaeological Theory: Who Sets the Agenda?: 60–78. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Zdanovich, Dmitry and Illinois, G., 1995. Moguilnik Bol'shekaraganskii (Arkaim) i mir drevnikh indoevropeitsev Uralo-kazakhstamskikh stepei. In Zdanovich, G. (ed.), Arkaim: Issltdovanija, poiski, otkrytija: 43–62. Chelyabinsk: Centre ‘Arkaim’.Google Scholar
Zdanovich, Gennadi B., 1970. Novoje naselenije epohi bronzy v Severnom Kazahstane. In Kadyrbayev, M. (ed.), Posledam drevnih kultur Kazahstana. Alma Ata: Nauka.Google Scholar
Zdanovich, Gennadi, 1989. Phenomen protogorodskoi tsivilizatsii bronzovogo veka uralo kazahstanskih stepei. Kulturnaya i sotsial'naya obuslovlennost' (Phenomenon of proto-city civilisation of the Bronze Age in the Urals-Kazachstan steppe. Cultural and social conditionality). In Masson, V. (ed.), Vzaimodeistviye kochevykh koultur I drevnih tsivilizatsii: 179–188. Alma Ata: Nauka.Google Scholar
Zdanovich, Gennadi B., 1995. Arkaim.Arii na Urale ili nesostojavchajzsja sivilizatsija. In Zdanovich, G. (ed.), Arkaim: Issledovanija, poiski, otkrytija: 21–42. Chelyabinsk: Centre ‘Arkaim’.Google Scholar
Zdanovich, Gennadi B., Ivanov, Igor B., and Habdulina, Maral K., 1984. Opyt ispol'zovanija v archeologii paleopochvennykh metodov issledovaniya. Sovetskaja archrologija 4: 35–48.Google Scholar
Zdanovich, Gennadi B. and Zdanovich, Dmitry G., 1995. Protogorodskaya tsivilizatsiya ‘Strana Gorodov’ Youdjnogo Urala. (Proto-city civilisation, the ‘Land of towns’ of the southern Urals). In Zdanovich, G. and Ivanova, N. (eds), Rossiya i Vostok: problemy vzaimodeistviya. Materialy konferentsii: 48–63. Chelyabinsk: Chelyabinsk University Press.Google Scholar