Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences

19 Dm Ulyanova str., Moscow, 117036, Russia

E-mail: archmetal@rambler.ru

The" steppe belt "of Eurasia is a kind of "domain" of nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoral cultures. From west to east, it stretches for 8 thousand km (from the Black Sea to the Yellow Sea), covering an area of up to 8 million km2. The first signs of the formation of the "steppe belt" cultures coincide with the Eneolithic period (V millennium BC) and with the activation of the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province. The origin of powerful blocks of pastoral crops occurs in the early and Middle periods of the Bronze Age (IV-III thousand years). BC) within the Circum-Pontic metallurgical Province. The most striking event of this time was the phenomenon of the Maikop kurgan culture in the North Caucasus. This period also includes clear evidence of the development of horses for riding (primitive cavalry), as well as metal weapons (arrowheads and spears). At the end of the third millennium BC, militant pastoral communities were born in the center of Asia (Sayano-Altai, Mongolia). The most important event at the turn of the third and second millennia BC can be considered the oncoming movement of two" waves " of cultures. From the Urals to the east (up to the Altai and Xinjiang), masses of steppe pastoralists of the Abash-Sintashta, and then Andronovo communities moved. From Central Asia to the Urals and further to the borders of Eastern Europe, militant Seimin-Turbine groups rushed. By the middle of the second millennium BC, the formation of the "steppe belt" was completed. This phenomenon lasted until Modern times. Pastoral cultures of the "steppe belt" at various stages very often played a key role in the history of the Eurasian peoples.

Introduction: the view of a historian and archaeologist

At the apogee of its development, the Eurasian "steppe belt" of pastoral cultures appears to modern researchers truly vast in its length: from west to east, from the basin of the Lower and even Middle Danube Region up to Manchuria, virtually without any noticeable interruptions-over 8 thousand km. At the same time, territories completely subject to mobile warlike steppe peoples could occupy 8 million km2 (Figure 1), and this is during relatively "peaceful" periods of existence!

For a very long time, the steppe zone served as a specific basic" domain " of pastoral crops*. However, it seems equally certain that this "domain" also covered the forest-steppe regions located to the north and much more comfortable for pastoralists to live in. In addition, they roamed everywhere not only in semi-desert, but even in uninviting desert territories for the inhabitants: from the Transcaspian Karakum

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project No. 08-06-00075) and the Russian Foundation for Scientific Research (project No. 08-01-00073a).

* Animal husbandry absolutely dominated the economic activities of the population of the "steppe belt". Agriculture, even if it took place in sedentary populations, has always been characterized as rudimentary and has never played any significant role in the life of these peoples [Lebedeva, 2005].

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Figure 1. Location of the" steppe belt domain " of Eurasian pastoral crops.

and Kyzylkums up to the Central Asian Gobi. Shepherds of steppe communities were not so rare in the southern outskirts of the mountain-taiga regions (for example, in the Sayano-Altai). For this reason, the concept of the "steppe belt "is rather conditional: in reality, the" belt " included significantly more extensive spaces in its orbit. It is in this sense that the provisions that the reader will encounter in this article should be perceived.

Nor should we assume that the "belt" we are studying was separated from the southern (sedentary-agricultural) and northern (forest) worlds by strict demarcation lines. On the contrary, throughout its vast extent and in fact at all stages of its existence, regions that were very noticeable in terms of territorial coverage emerged, where various types of cultures coexisted in different bands. This was the case, for example, on the western flank of the Danube River (Ecsedy, 1979; Jovanovic, 1979), where steppe pastoralists, starting from the Copper Age and up to the Middle Ages, from time to time deeply penetrated into the original areas of sedentary agricultural crops. In this regard, a number of researchers attach particular importance to the identification of the so-called Bactrian - Margian archaeological complex in the south of the Central Asian zone (Kohl, 2007, p.182-213), in which "civilized" farmers interacted with steppe nomadic "barbarian shepherds". Such examples can be easily multiplied.

In historical reality, the process of spreading the cultures of the "steppe belt" has always been characterized by a wave-like character. If successful, dynamic pastoral warriors could subdue alien populations over truly vast expanses. The aggressive aspirations of the steppe people were usually aimed at the territories to the south of their "domain" - the zone of settled agricultural crops. Suddenly weakening, they rolled away to the north without delay. However, at the same time, forest crops remained behind them, which, apparently, almost always depended to a greater or lesser extent on the steppe people.

In the last six millennia, that is, up to Modern times, or until the eighteenth and even nineteenth centuries, the Eurasian" belt " of steppe cultures was undoubtedly one of the most striking phenomena in the history of the peoples of this continent. Periods of all-destroying, unprecedented in their speed invasions of horse steppe dwellers - invincible warriors in those historical moments-often plunged into a literal paralysis of the will of the carriers of many settled cultures. In the long historical memory of those peoples who are habitually classified as "civilized" not only in scientific literature, but also in popular fiction, pictures of the past usually come up, richly colored with blood and the darkness of total destruction. Written sources, oral tales and epic legends are filled with similar memories.

"Who are these fiends? Where did these inhumans come from? From what desolate depths? Isn't it from the outlandish and God-cursed land of Tartarus? It is said that these devilish creatures feed on dead meat and speak an unknown language. It seems that only for grave sins the Lord could have sent this infernal attack on our people." In the 13th century, many rulers of Christian Europe, up to the British Isles, were tormented by similar confused riddles [Yurchenko and Aksenov, 2002, pp. 32-74]. Similar lamentations were heard at the same time in many parts of Asia. This was due to the beginning of the Genghis conquests. The all-encompassing Eurasian empire of the Genghisids was, of course, both the true apogee and the final act of steppe violence, its peculiar "swan song". The tradition of sharply negative medieval assessments of the Tatar-Mongol crushing conquests has been preserved in world literature to this day. And perhaps only one of the researchers I know - L. N. Gumilyov - became an energetic and consistent apologist for these disastrous catastrophes, which, as he believed, were catastrophes

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they weren't*at all. However, the Mongol conquests that horrified the world only completed a long series of similar disasters. The predecessors of Genghis Khan and his direct heirs were the Huns with their legendary leader Attila. They appeared in the west of the Eurasian continent again from the unknown for Europeans and intimidating depths of Asia. The indomitable horsemen of the Huns were striking at both the eastern and western parts of the once unified Roman Empire. As you know, in the fifth century the Huns reached almost all areas of modern Paris, and only there they managed to stop their merciless run.

As we move down the chronological scale, crossing the turn of the new era, we plunge into the steppe Scythian-Sarmatian world. In the first millennium BC, it extended from the lower reaches of the Danube to Western Mongolia. The richest and often gold-rich burial mounds of Scythian-Sarmatian leaders still concern both researchers-archaeologists and the general public. The Scythians also penetrated far to the south, crossing the Main Caucasian Ridge. At the end of the sixth century. Darius, who intended to use his Persian army to punish and destroy only a fraction of the vast nomadic world, failed completely in his attempts. This was described in detail by Herodotus, and his narrative clearly outlined the pledge of strategic invulnerability of steppe horsemen, which took place in all previous and subsequent historical epochs (almost up to Modern times).

In all likelihood, China suffered the most from painful and sometimes tragic encounters with the world of steppe cultures. Moreover, this struggle lasted for at least three millennia, until the late Middle Ages. And if in the more western Eurasian expanses, the southern world was separated from the northern steppe by mighty mountain ranges-from the Caucasus to the Pamir-Tienan-then the Chinese had to endlessly build the famous wall, which almost always turned out to be an extremely weak barrier for flying detachments of "steppe cowboys"**.

The first signs of the emergence of the Eurasian "steppe belt" - this phenomenon that terrified so many - began to appear at the very beginning of the early Metal age or in the Copper Age, i.e. from the fifth millennium BC. By the end of the second millennium BC, the boundaries of the" steppe belt " acquired those contours that will remain in their main features in the future. for the next three millennia. The main task of the proposed article is to identify the general stages of the addition of this "belt" in the early metal epoch. There seem to be four such stages at the moment. In addition, a number of consecutive phases can also be outlined in the second and third stages. This study is based on extensive databases on the oldest metal (120 thousand artifacts from various metallurgical provinces) and radiocarbon dates (almost 1,700 calibrated definitions) accumulated and systematized in the laboratory of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Early (first) stage of formation of the "steppe belt" of cultures: Balkan-Carpathian Metallurgical Province

The beginning of the formation of the" steppe belt " of pastoral cultures, in all likelihood, should be linked to the origin and explosive, rapid process of formation of the famous Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province of the Copper Age (BCMP) [Chernykh, 1992, p. 35-53]. During the period of maximum distribution of metal and metal products of the province itself, its territory was approximately 1.3-1.4 million km2 (Figure 2). Among the mining, metallurgical and metalworking foci that formed the structure of the BCMP, three main blocks of crops can be identified with a sufficient measure of reliability (Figure 2). The first is the most important and central - covered an area of approximately 0.75-0.8 million km2 and included mining and metallurgical areas.-

* L. N. Gumilyov sang about the Mongol yoke in many of his works. He regarded it in fact as an obvious benefit that required almost no proof, especially for Ancient Russia, which the Mongols allegedly successfully defended from external enemies. In Mongolia, the cult of Genghis Khan persists to this day. Here it should be added, however, that without any gaps, black paint is not always suitable for portraying the culture of steppe and desert nomads. Let us recall that it was among mobile pastoralists that some ideas were born that played a special role in the history of mankind. I mean, for example, monotheism among the ancient Jews of the third and second millennia BC, Islam among the semi-sedentary and nomadic inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. This is also evidenced by a number of technological innovations, in particular in the field of steppe archeometallurgy.

** E. E. Antipin and A. Morales awarded steppe Eastern European warriors of the Bronze Age with such a very expressive and catchy term [2005].

*** The limited volume of the article dictates an extremely lapidary style of presentation of materials based on summary graphs of the distribution of probability sums of calibrated radiocarbon dates and general-schematic geographical maps. For the same reason, this text can focus only on key issues and archaeological communities, to the detriment of many that seem to have unwittingly been classified as secondary.

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2. The area of the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province. A - central block of settled agricultural crops of the Balkan-Carpathian region: A-1-Butmir, A-2-Vinca C / D, A-3-Karanovo V-Maritsa, A-4-Karanovo VI-Gumelnitsa, A-5-Varna, A-6-Lendyel, A-7 - Tisapolgar, A - 8-Bodrogkerestur; B - Kukuten - Trypillya block of crops; C-steppe pastoral crops block: B - 1-Dnipro-Donetsk/Mariupol, B - 2-Srednestogovskaya, B - 3-Khvalynskaya.

harassing centers located mainly in the north of the Balkans and in the Carpathian basin. These centers produced a huge number of copper tools and weapons, as well as jewelry (Todorova, 1999). It is the cultures of this block that include such well-known unique monuments as the Varna "golden" necropolis or the Ai Bunar mine, which remains, in fact, to this day the oldest in the world, at least from the category of detailed surveys.

The second block is associated with the totality of cultures of the Trypillia (Cucuteni-Trypillia) community (0.16-0.18 million km2). It should no doubt be regarded as peripheral relative to the central one. This conclusion seems quite fair, for example, in relation to metal production. In the Trypillian community, it is reasonable to distinguish between three main types of cultures (stages):: Trypillia A, B, and C1. Within the framework of this community, only foci of metalworking were noted. By nature and essence, they are secondary, dependent, because in them, on the basis of imported copper from the centers of the main block of the Balkan-Carpathian province, Tripoli craftsmen made tools and jewelry. In all likelihood, it was the second block that became the main transmitter of copper to the east, to the habitat of the steppe population.

The third block, the eastern (northeastern) and definitely marginal in the entire BCMP system, covered an area of up to 0.4-0.5 million km2. It was entirely composed of the cultures or, more precisely, archaeological communities of steppe pastoralists. Figure 2 shows the main distribution areas of these communities. However, their "point" presence in the area of the Danube sedentary agricultural crops was also quite obvious (see, for example, Comsa, 1991).

With regard to the steppe communities of southern Eastern Europe, one should definitely pay attention to a number of significant features. Researchers of domestic and grave monuments of the steppe block easily distinguish them not only from relatively remote villages and necropolises, for example, the Danubian ones, but also from the neighboring Trypillian ones. The differences here are obvious in the whole complex of the main features of cultures, but this is only the case with external comparisons. When trying to find sufficiently definite and reliable differences in the internal structures of communities, a number of sometimes mutually exclusive conclusions appear in the works of the same researchers. Literary and oral discussions on these apparently ineradicable problems can sometimes be violent. Attempts to correctly distinguish between individual cultures constantly run into difficulties.

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3. Sums of radiocarbon date probabilities for cultures and communities that were part of the Balkan-Carpathian Metallurgical Province system.

Chronological ranges with a probability of 68.2% are highlighted in gray; black polygon figures refer to aggregates where the number of dates is > 25. Ap is the apogee of activity of the productive centers of the central BCMP block. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of dates.

a blurry, as if" blurred " picture of landmarks buried in a huge mass of archaeological material accumulated today. When studying the cultures of the "steppe belt" of Eurasia, we constantly encounter a vivid manifestation of the so - called cultural continuity syndrome, which is so characteristic of most of them [Chernykh, 2007a, p.35-36]*. In relation to this block, I think it is most reasonable to focus mainly on three archaeological communities - the Dnieper-Donets, Srednestogovskaya and Khvalynskaya (Figure 2). In the literature, there is often a striking variety of their names**. Thus, certain groups of burial grounds or villages of the Dnipro-Donetsk community can be referred to as "neo-Neolithic monuments", or "Novodanilovsky type monuments", or "culture of the Mariupol necropolis type", etc.

Metalworking in the third block was rather primitive compared to the main types of metallurgical and metalworking production in the centers of both western blocks (Ryndina, 1998: 151-179). It, in fact, poorly met the general morphological and technological standards of the Balkan-Carpathian province. They had never produced the magnificent metal weapons that the central block was famous for. The only reason for including steppe centers of metalworking in the BCMP framework is the presence of copper obtained by steppe people from the centers of the central zone (Cernych, 1991).

The problems of absolute dating of cultures and communities of all three blocks were solved by using 470 calibrated radiocarbon dates based on calculating the sum of their probabilities for each population (Figure 3). In reality, the total number of currently known dates is significantly higher (in addition, the latter are mainly associated with monuments of the main block of cultures of the Balkan-Carpathian province). However, for the present work, I considered it possible to limit myself to the specified number. The reason for this limit is supported by the fact that almost half of the chronological definitions processed here (230) are associated with monuments of the central block of the province. In addition, it is very important to establish the calendar range of the apogee of mining and metallurgical production activity in the main centers of the BCMP. This important period for us is between the ILVIII and ILIII centuries BC. Dates for monuments of other blocks are noticeably less: 139-for the three main cultures of the Tripoli community, 101 - for steppe communities.

* However, this" syndrome " is equally common, for example, in the cultures of the forest zone of Eastern Europe and Western Siberia.

** Disputes reflecting disagreements of this kind are found in many books and articles (see, for example: [Archeology of the Ukrainian SSR, 1985, pp. 204-205, 305-320; Telegin, 1991; Telegin et al, 2000; Kotova, 2002, pp. 5-11; etc.]). Perhaps the most interesting and most complete summary of materials from the necropolises of the V-IV millennium BC of the Northern Black Sea region was proposed by Yu. Ya. Rassamakin [Rassamakin, 2004]. Based on an analysis of almost 1,000 burials, he identified four groups of burials (or funerary traditions). However, in my opinion, these traditions perfectly confirm the intractable "cultural continuity syndrome" that is so characteristic of the steppe community block.

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Graphs of the probability sum distributions of calibrated radiocarbon dates in all three blocks show a very diverse picture (Figure 3). Practically all frequency polygons of the probability sums of the central block are very compact and very close to the normal distribution. In comparison, when analyzing the dates of the Tripoli community, one cannot help but notice the vague nature of the distribution figures, which is reflected in the extremely stretched ranges of their 68% probability. It is quite obvious that these ranges clearly differ for the main stages (cultures) of the Tripoli community-A, B and C1. It is also very interesting that the period of existence of Trypillia A monuments mainly falls on the "pre-metallic" or, in fact, still Neolithic period. Stage B largely coincides with the apogee of activity of BCMP producing centers, although mainly with its later centuries. Trypillia C1 is already completely beyond the boundaries of the mentioned range, and this corresponds to the period of extinction of the oldest metallurgical province in Eurasia (C1 complexesC1 with the beginning of the functioning of the Circum-Pontic Province, we will address in the next section of the article).

The frequency polygons of the sum of probabilities of calibrated dates for the steppe crop block also differ significantly from others. Here, the chaotic nature of the distribution dominates in many respects, which is extremely pronounced in the Srednestogovskaya culture. In Khvalynskaya, the frequency polygon of probability sums is significantly more compact. However, we have here only 13 reliable dates obtained for the burials of the two easternmost burial grounds of the steppe block.

The second stage of the formation of the "steppe belt": Circum-Pontic Metallurgical Province

At the turn of the fifth and Fourth millennia, as well as at the beginning of the fourth millennium BC, there was a dramatic breakdown of the established cultural and economic systems of the Copper Age. The central event of the epoch was the disintegration of the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical province and the parallel formation of a new giant Circumpontan (CMP), which marked the beginning of the early Bronze Age. The territory of this province was several times larger than that of the Balkan-Carpathian province; it was 4.5-5 million km2. The system of mining, metallurgical, and metalworking centers of the Central Asia-Pacific Region stretches from west to east from the Adriatic to the Southern Urals, and from south to north - from the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Susiana to the forest regions of the Upper Volga region.

The accumulation of large series of radiocarbon dates, their systematization and statistical processing led to the need to make significant adjustments to the previous ideas about the nature of the composition of this key metallurgical province for the entire Eurasian continent. The results of systematic processing of 833 calibrated radiocarbon dates for numerous communities, cultures, and individual monuments*are published here. Now, in the long history of both the formation and functioning of the huge system of the Central Information Center, it seems reasonable to distinguish two most important chronological phases. At the same time, the essence and meaning of each of them will be noticeably different from what I put into their understanding earlier. The first phase is, in essence, the initial stage, which is preferred to be called "proto-CMP". There is a kind of return to the term that was introduced in the first work on the application of radiocarbon chronology to the productive centers of the Balkan-Carpathian and Circum-Pontic provinces [Chernykh, Avilova, Orlovskaya, 2000, pp. 14-18, 37-38]. The chronological range of the early phase included virtually the entire IV millennium BC. The prefix "proto -" means that the area of producing foci of the province at this stage did not include all the "Circumpontan" regions (Figure 4). The north of the Balkan Peninsula, along with the Carpathian basin (the Danube), as well as the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the Northern Black Sea region continued to remain within the boundaries of the dying BCMP. The second phase was already a true Circumpontan province: its production centers completely "encircled" the Black Sea basin. The collapse of the BCMP had ended by that time, and its former spaces were in the zone of influence of metallurgical and metalworking foci, where the morphological and technological standards of the CMP were already completely dominated. The chronological range of the second phase coincided entirely with the third millennium BC.

For the entire giant province throughout its existence, a number of very remarkable features are characteristic. The first and perhaps most significant of them is the obvious adherence of the main production centers to new technological and morphological standards, which are sharply different from those that served as the main sign of the disintegrating BCMP system. Leading categories and forms of guns and weapons appeared, and widespread use began

* Naturally, I have selected only the most necessary date series for this article. In reality, there are significantly more radiocarbon dates for the entire CMC system.

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4. The area of the Circum-Pontic province at the early stage of its composition (proto-CMP). 1 - the Maikop culture proper; 2 - monuments of the so-called Maikop type ("steppe Maikop"); 3-the Kuro-Araks culture; 4-late (northern) monuments of the Uruk community.

artificial copper-arsenic alloys (arsenic bronzes). The new methods and techniques of metal smelting and processing developed in the foci of the Central Metallurgical Plant served as the basis for the emergence of the global so-called Western Eurasian model of metallurgical production. Later - by the beginning of the second millennium BC-the differences between this model and the Central and East Asian ones will be very pronounced. Another major feature was the distinct structure of the vast Circumpontan world. From the very first steps of the development of the entire system, two contrasting blocks of archaeological cultures showed themselves exceptionally clearly in these spaces: the southern one - sedentary-agricultural, and the northern one - steppe burial mounds. Finally, the third feature is that the steppe world began to play an extremely important role, completely different from that of the Balkan-Carpathian province. The distinctly marginal nature of the steppe pastoral cultures of the Copper Age in relation not only to the central, but even to the block of Trypillian communities of the BCMP has sunk into the past.

The first phase of the CMC: the Maikop phenomenon. In connection with such changes, the famous Maikop culture is certainly brought to the fore when adding up the CMC. Its phenomenal, and in some ways clearly paradoxical features are clearly revealed in a number of aspects. Metal from almost a century of well-known underground burials of this culture is undoubtedly their first and most important feature (Munchaev, 1975, pp. 211-335; Rezepkin, 2000). In terms of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of bronze, gold, and silver products, it seems that we will not find equal to the Maikop "royal" complexes in the entire very long series of Early Bronze Age cultures and individual monuments of the Fore East [Chernykh et al., 2002, pp. 5-15, Fig. 3] within the first phase of the CMP outlined here. All attempts to see the splendor of these complexes as a kind of local response to the decisive Middle Eastern impulse run into the difficult barrier of the absence in the southern zone of the province of not only superior, but even, perhaps, equivalent to the Maykop metal.

Belonging to the emerging range of pastoral burial mounds of the northern zone of the Central Park, the Maikop tombstone structures in their complexity and scale look, without a doubt, the most impressive against the background of the mounds of other steppe communities of Eastern Europe. Moreover, first of all, in the vast series of kurgan cultures, Maikop occupied a borderline sub-mountain region, as if "resting" in the Greater Caucasus, beyond the ridges of which there was an area of cultures of a different zone of the Central Caucasus Region, so dissimilar to the kurgan ones (Fig. 4). Secondly, it was significantly older than other kurgan cultures.

With further analysis, we begin to delve into the paradoxical aspects of the Maykop phenomenon. So, it is absolutely impossible, for example, to pass by the sharp contrast between the splendor of burial mounds and the very modest (if not to say sometimes shabby) character of the settlements associated with this community. Even the most remarkable of the series of famous monuments of this category - the village of Meshoko in the Trans-Kuban region-with its stone defensive wall (Formozov, 1965, pp. 70-105) can hardly be placed in the same hierarchical row with the famous mounds. Another paradox: for more than a century of studying antiquities of this type, researchers have not found a single faultless evidence of the occupation of its carriers in mining and metallurgical production, metallurgy, or even metalworking in the burial or household complexes of the Maikop culture. This fact should be especially impressive against the background of amazing collections of diverse metal from underground burials.

In this article, we need to focus on one more amazing feature of Maikop-

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Russian antiquities. Radiocarbon dates dictate a much older chronological range of the Maikop culture's existence than was previously assumed in routine comparisons of categories and types of artefacts (Chernykh and Orlovskaya, 2007). The Maikop complexes themselves, with a 68% probability of 37 dates processed, correspond to the chronological period 4050-3050 BC (Figure 5). It is also extremely important that the steppe monuments of the so-called Maikop type ("steppe Maikop")*, with 19 dates, fit almost in the same time range-4000 5). The following fact is surprising: the calendar age of the Maikop culture is significantly or even significantly older in comparison with many communities, cultures, as well as individual well-known villages (telles) of the Early Bronze Age, which make up the southern block of the Central Park (Fig. The processes of Uruk northern expansion are mostly synchronous with the Maikop complexes. Let me remind you that the Uruk type monuments themselves are extremely poor in metal. In addition, when compared with the Maikop chronology, calendar shifts towards a younger age of monuments of the Kuro-Arak culture are generally noticeable (Figure 5). The paradoxical situation is primarily that the Maikop culture in relation to the Uruk and Kuro-Arak culture has always been considered as a secondary one, at least in the sphere of cultural development. metallurgy and metalworking. In all likelihood, this problem summarized here will require much more detailed study**.

A similar picture is observed when comparing the Maikop community with the block of steppe Eastern European cultures and communities (Fig. 6): it turns out to be older. This once again underlines the unusual anomaly of the age of the Maikop large mounds, whose graves were truly saturated with a variety of metal tools-gold, silver, bronze.

At the end of this section, it is necessary to pay special attention to the actual synchronicity of the chronological ranges of the Maikop antiquities of the nascent Circum-Pontic province and the monuments of Trypillia C1 (see Fig. 5) the dying Bal-kano-Carpathian province. The Maikop culture and Trypillya C1 were located on different territories, and it is also impossible to notice any obvious contacts between them.

The second phase of the CMP: steppe kurgan cultures. Among the kurgan cultures, the centers of metallurgy and metalworking of which in a certain sense were the heirs of the Maikop standards, two large archaeological communities usually attract close attention of researchers.-

5. Sums of radiocarbon date probabilities for communities, cultures, and individual settlements (telles) that were part of the Circumpontan Metallurgical Province system, compared with data for the final BCMP culture. See Figure 3 for additional information.

* "Steppe Maikop" refers to burial mounds located mainly in the steppe zone to the north of the Kuban and Terek basins, between the Azov and Caspian Seas, i.e. already outside the area of the "indigenous" Maikop culture (see Figure 4). In the inventory of these complexes there are quite characteristic objects of the Maikop appearance (mainly ceramics).

** As part of some explanation of this problem, I will note that in the southern zone it is almost impossible to find anything equivalent to a set of metal products of the Maikop culture. The Nahal Mishmar hoard, which is sharply anomalous in terms of the set of metal objects and dates, is a definite exception (see Fig. 4) from Palestine (Bar-Adon, 1971). However, all 13 radiocarbon determinations I know of related to the various types of organic matter that accompanied the treasure revealed an inexplicable and very impressive range of values: from 5000 to 3500 BC - and this is with a 68% probability!

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6. Sums of radiocarbon date probabilities for pastoral communities and crops that formed mainly the northern block of the Circum-Pontic metallurgical province, compared with data for the Maikop community of the BCMP. See Figure 3 for additional information.

ti: drevneyamnaya (yamnaya) and catacomb. The first of them is represented, in fact, only by materials of burials (settlements are extremely rare). Within the second category, the villages are more well-known, although in this case, too, the inventory from burial complexes definitely dominates. Most researchers traditionally believed (and still believe!) that the catacomb community of the Middle Bronze Age in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Eastern Europe replaces the ancient pit, dating back to the Early Bronze Age. However, in recent years, much more often began to pay attention to the weighty evidence of the synchronous existence of these complexes over a long period of time. The radiocarbon chronology strongly supports this view.

A comparative analysis of the sum of probabilities of dates for different regions of distribution of monuments of both communities shows that if calendar differences did occur, it is unlikely that they can be assessed as significant. This conclusion is based on a very representative series of radiocarbon dates: 273 for ancient pit complexes, 191 for catacomb complexes. Their comparison leads to the conclusion that, according to a 68% probability, there was a long period of coexistence within the XXVII-XXI centuries BC (see Figure 6).

The beginning of the formation of the ancient pit community dates back to the very end of the IV or first centuries of the III millennium BC. It is very interesting that the earliest dates (XXXIII-XXXI centuries BC) relate primarily to the monuments of geographically peripheral areas of its range-eastern and western. This refers to the Volga-Ural area (including monuments of the Poltavka type) and the North-Western Black Sea region (Fig. 7). The earliest dates (XXVIII century BC) for monuments of the central zone are from the basins of the Dnieper, Southern Bug, Don and Seversky Donets, as well as Kalmykia-by three or four centuries younger.

7. The territory of the ancient pit archaeological community (the second phase of the Central Park) and its supposed connections with the Altai region (Afanasyev culture). Territorial variants of the ancient pit community: 1-Volga-Ural (the Yamnaya culture proper); 2 - Volga-Ural (the Poltavka culture); 3-Kalmykia, the Don and Seversky Donets basins; 4-the Dnieper and Southern Bug basins; 5-the Northwestern Black Sea region.

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Figure 8. The territory of the catacomb archaeological community (the second phase of the CMC), as well as the areas of other synchronous cultures and monuments within the Circumpontine province.

Catacomb community: 1-basin of the Don and Seversky Donets; 2-Kalmykia; 3 - basins of the Dnieper and Southern Bug. SC - North Caucasian archaeological community; B-M-Bedeni-Martkopi type burial mound culture.

The sum of radiocarbon date probabilities for the three main areas of the catacomb community shows a slightly different picture. Here, a relatively small advance is observed for complexes of the central geographical group located in the Don and Seversky Donets basins (see Figures 6, 8). The earliest dates for monuments of the peripheral regions - Kalmykia and especially the Dnieper and Southern Bug basins - occur at a later time. In general, in comparison with the chronology of ancient pit cultures, the lower limit of the calendar range of the catacomb community is two to three centuries lower than the first one. The finale of the latter should also be shifted by two or three centuries towards a later time: with a 68% probability, this is the XX-XIX centuries BC.

We have to admit that radiocarbon chronology rather ruthlessly breaks down our previous ideas about the calendar position of the main Eastern European steppe communities. In addition, it corrects the picture of their correlation with the North Caucasian archaeological community, as well as with the Transcaucasian successor of the Maikop kurgan culture of the Bedeni-Martkopi type (Dzhaparidze, 1998). Graphs of the distribution of probability sums of dates indicate the fundamental simultaneity of these complexes with more northern materials related to the circle of ancient pit and catacomb communities.

So, for about 600 years, on a very vast (at least 0.7 million km2) territory of southern Eastern Europe, the cultures of two huge archaeological communities - the pit and catacomb-coexisted. Initially, starting with the classical works of V. A. Gorodtsov, it was assumed that the catacomb sites were later, and this was justified by some stratigraphic positions of burials in the catacombs. In subsequent studies, the level of development of metalworking became almost the main feature that allowed declaring such a chronological sequence of crops. In the populations of the catacomb community, it looked more developed and perfect [Chernykh, 1992, p. 83-91, 124-132]. On the basis of similar assumptions, monuments of the Poltavka type, common in the Volga-Ural region, were dated to a relatively later time [Ibid., pp. 132-133].

The accumulation of radiocarbon dates and their systematic processing led to results that contradict our previous ideas not only about the absolute calendar range of the materials analyzed here, but also about their chronological position relative to each other. In this regard, however, other consequences are much more significant. It was considered indisputable that more advanced products from the point of view of form and technology must necessarily belong to a later time. Judging by the data obtained, this cannot be accepted as an axiom now. More advanced forms of metalworking and technologies can co-exist not only with relatively backward ones, but even with primitive ones. There is a lot of evidence for this in the historical reality of the Eurasian peoples*.

Another significant difference between the pit and catacomb communities deserves attention. Figures 7 and 8 clearly show that the area of distribution of monuments of a related set of pit cultures is much larger. At the same time, the main feature should indicate a gigantic latitudinal length: from Pannonia up to the Southern Trans-Urals, i.e. it is less than 3,000 km. The catacomb community was located in a much more compact space-from the Dniester to the Middle and Lower Volga regions. The extent of its range from west to east did not exceed 1200 - 1400 km. In addition, it is extremely important that the impact of the yamnaya community was felt strikingly far in the eastern direction-up to the Altai (see Figure 7). There, in the environment of the Afanasyev culture, metallurgy of the vast Sayano-Al region was born-

* This topic, which is covered very briefly here, cannot be discussed in detail in this article. It requires, of course, much more detailed justifications and systematic research.

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In the second millennium BC, the region was to play a prominent role in the formation of metal production in the Late Bronze Age communities of the "steppe belt" and the East Eurasian model of metallurgy in general.

The ancient pit community is also distinguished from the catacomb community by the exploitation of" own " copper sources. Archaeological investigations at the famous Kargalinsky ore field, located on the steppe South Ural periphery of the area of this community, provided exceptionally vivid evidence of mining and metallurgical production associated with the Yamnaya and Poltavka cultures located in the north-eastern zone of the Circum-Pontic province [Kargaly, 2002, p. 128-139; 2005, p. 29-35; Chernykh, 2007a, pp. 57-70].

The group of catacomb cultures turned out to be much more closely connected with the Northern Black Sea region, and especially with the Caucasian metallurgy. As noted above, according to the radiocarbon chronology, the decline of this community was two or three centuries later than the old pit. This leads to a very important conclusion: the end of the existence of the Circum-Pontic province was marked by the fact that its eastern border seemed to" roll back " - in a westerly direction, up to the Volga (see Figure 8).

The third stage of the formation of the "steppe belt": the Eurasian Metallurgical Province

The third stage of the formation of the "steppe belt" coincided with the onset of the late Bronze Age. This period was a key one in the history of many Eurasian peoples: it was then that the structure of the Eurasian world was formed, which determined its main features, which were preserved in fundamental aspects until Modern times or until the era of Great Geographical Discoveries. The territorial coverage of paleometal cultures in Eurasia and the northern periphery of Africa adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea has grown to a maximum of 40-43 million km2. The area of the "domain" of archaeological cultures and communities of the "steppe belt" also reached its maximum value (8 million km2), which was already discussed at the beginning of the article (see Figure 1). One of the most important events of this critical period was the collapse of the Circum-Pontic province and the emergence of a number of new formations on its "ruins" of this kind. The CMP, in principle, was a kind of" progenitor " of the Western Eurasian model of mining and metallurgical production. The Late Bronze Age was marked by the emergence of a different model of this production - the East Eurasian one.

After the collapse of the CMP, its north-eastern (East European) zone served as the basis for the formation of the huge Eurasian Metallurgical Province (EAMP). This block of related productive centers, in addition to Eastern Europe, covered the vast expanses of the steppe and forest zones of Northwestern Asia, as well as most of the regions of Central Asia up to the Karakum Mountains, the foothills of the Pamir-Tianshan and even Xinjiang [Chernykh, 2007a, pp. 37 - 109]. The maximum territorial coverage of the UAMP reached 7.5 and even 8 million km2. Its chronological range was approximately one thousand years - from the last centuries of the third to the end of the second millennium BC. In comparison with other provinces, the production centers of the EAMP probably remained most committed to the basic morphological and technological standards of the decayed CMP, although the latter underwent significant modification during development.

The final formation of the territorial contours of the "steppe belt"turned out to be associated with the Eurasian metallurgical province and with the sharply different, also gigantic, East Asian one. At present, many areas of the EAMP have been developed in incomparably more detail, while the East Asian Metallurgical Province (EAMP), to our deep regret, remains rather vague for us.

Within the" steppe domain " associated with the borders of the UAMP, there were significant changes in the life support strategy and management style of Bronze Age pastoralists. Thus, already from the turn of the third and second millennia BC, the sedentary way of life began to decisively replace the nomadic and semi-nomadic. However, special archaeozoological studies show that the mobile nature of animal husbandry has been preserved [Antipina and Morales, 2005, pp. 41-42]. In any case, for the time indicated, archaeologists record traces of many thousands of large and small cattle-breeding settlements in these vast expanses; agriculture was still outside the interests of their inhabitants. No less numerous are the necropolises of the "steppe belt" cultures. However, burial mounds gradually began to give way to underground burial grounds. By the end of the second thous. The old forms of nomadic and semi - nomadic life, which were familiar to the bearers of earlier pastoral cultures, again prevailed. The latter, as is known, began to completely dominate the Scythian-Sarmatian world, which replaced the communities of the Late Bronze Age at the beginning of the first millennium BC. At the same time, a completely forgotten tradition of necropolises with huge "royal" mounds - full of precious inventory - was resumed.

With the onset of the Late Bronze Age and the formation of the Eurasian Province, a huge number of copper mines were discovered and developed.-

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and tin ore deposits scattered primarily in the Asian part of the province (from the Eastern Urals through Kazakhstan to Rudny Altai). The widespread production of tin bronzes began. Since that time, the population of the EAMP zone has fully met their metal needs. Connections with the centers of Caucasian metallurgy, which played such a significant, and sometimes even decisive, role in previous historical periods, when the standards of the CMP prevailed, were suppressed.

The first phase of the EAMP: counter "waves" of cultures. There are three distinct phases in the history of the province. For the first one (adding up the EAMP), the most significant, perhaps even the most important, phenomena were two counter and extremely rapid waves of population movement across the spaces of Northern Eurasia. Each of the oncoming streams was distinguished by a very expressive manifestation of the essence of its culture.

The first wave was rolling in from west to east. In the course of rapid movement, the process of adding up a large archaeological community - the Abashevo-Sintashta one-took place. It was based on two well-known cultures - Abashevskaya and Sintashtinskaya, but, in all probability, it is reasonable to add Petrovskaya, the easternmost of these, to them. The combined range of the three crops eventually exceeded 1 million km2. It stretched in an elongated tongue from the upper Don basin and the forest Volga region all the way to the steppes and forest steppes of Western Siberia (Figure 9). When analyzing these cultures, the "cultural continuity syndrome" that was already discussed above was clearly manifested. For example, it is difficult to differentiate materials from monuments of the Abashev and Sintashta cultures, as well as the Sintashta and Petrovsky cultures. Metal products of these cultures represent a modification of a number of the most important categories of inventory of the decayed Circum-Pontic province.

The second wave, directed from east to west, was associated with perhaps one of the most striking phenomena in the ancient history of the Eurasian peoples. This transcultural phenomenon has received the widespread name Seiminsko-Turbinsky in the literature due to two very well-known burial grounds-Seimyo and Turbin [Chernykh and Kuzminykh, 1989; Chernykh, 1992, p.215-234]. It owes its roots to a whole group of, unfortunately, not quite clear, but, in all probability, relatively diverse cultures of the steppe, mountain and even taiga zones of the vast Sayan-Altai mountain region, as well as other regions adjacent to it mainly from the south and west. The uniqueness of the appearance of the Seimin-Turbine antiquities becomes obvious when analyzing a number of key aspects of their manifestation.

First, the absolute suddenness of the appearance of extremely advanced forms of metal weapons was revealed. There is no doubt that the bronze Seimin-Turbin weapons and their casting technology were completely different from what we encountered in the west, within the framework of the CMP, and, in particular, with what the populations of the Abash-Sintashta community carried with them to the east. Second, the seimin-

9. Distribution of monuments of the Seimin-Turbinsky type (marked with rhombuses), as well as the Abashevo-Sintashta community in the phase of the Eurasian metallurgical province formation.

1-Abashev culture; 2 - Sintashta culture; 3 - Petrovskaya culture.

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The Sko-Turba antiquities are associated with monuments of a completely different type compared to the Abashevo-Sintashta and Petrovsky ones. The settlements are not known at all; archaeologists deal mainly with underground burial grounds. Necropolises are dominated by cenotaphs, where the graves themselves are marked only with sets of metal products, as well as stone and flint tools. Human remains in the Seimin-Turbin burials are relatively rare, as are ceramic dishes. A very significant part of metal objects is represented by isolated random finds, which may also be traces of destroyed graves. Third, it is not difficult to reconstruct the extremely rapid advance of the Seimin-Turbin military groups from their area of consolidation to the west. The richest "bushes" of finds are concentrated within the forest zone of Eastern Europe, in the basins of the upper Volga and Kama (Fig. 9).However, some items of the Seimin-Turbinsky type are known up to the Baltic States and even Moldova (the famous Borodino hoard). The distance in a straight line between the extreme points of detection of metal products - from Central China to Fenno-Scandia - exceeds 6000 km!*

Both waves - western and eastern-show us the opposite courses of their aspirations. At the same time, it is obvious that they were moving as if in parallel. Abashevo-Sintashta monuments are distributed mainly in the forest-steppe regions and the extreme south of the forest zone (primarily in Eastern Europe); beyond the Urals - in more southern areas. The Seimian-Turbian antiquities indicate that groups from the west preferred or were forced to move through the forest zone. Nevertheless, certain contacts are clearly visible between the two waves-streams, although they are quite specific. Due to the sharply contrasting nature of the colliding cultural flows, it is not difficult to identify Abashev or Abashev-Sintashta burials on the area of a number of burial grounds of the clearly Seimin - Turbinsky type when analyzing the inventory. The latter, as a rule, were accompanied by Abashev weapons, and sometimes even ceramics. It is also very interesting that the burials of incorporated persons in the identified cases are already subject to the canons of the Seimin-Turbinsky ritual, i.e. the remains of people in the graves were almost always absent. The importance of this observation becomes apparent when establishing not only a relative but also an absolute chronology. It is very noteworthy that the materials of the Abashevo-Sintashta necropolises failed to trace such an interaction.

The calendar age of the Abash-Sintashta community is justified by analyzing 75 radiocarbon dates (Fig. The distribution of their number in the three cultures of the association is ambiguous: sintashtin-

10. Sums of radiocarbon date probabilities for pastoral communities and cultures that were part of the Eurasian and East Asian (Karasuk culture) metallurgical provinces.

* The EAMP's western neighbor was the European Metallurgical Province. The differences between these systems are quite impressive, but I will limit myself to just a couple of plots. Thus, 80-90% of the innumerable collections of metal products from the European Province originate from hoards, and there are very few such hoards within the EAMP. In addition, for example, all recorded metal objects related to the Seimin-Turbine transcultural phenomenon, which covered an area of several million square kilometers, are now characterized by the number 583. Only one of the largest, and probably even the largest, hoard in the European province of Huioara de Sus (Transylvania) [Petrescu-Dimbovita, 1977, s. 114 - 117, 280 - 310] contained more than 5,800 (!) objects (Celts, sickles, spearheads, axes, jewelry, etc.) with a total weight of more than 1100 kg.

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11. Distribution of the main archaeological communities in the stabilization phase of the Eurasian Metallurgical Province (EAMP), as well as the contours of the north-western periphery of the East Asian Metallurgical Province (EAMP). 1 - log community; 2 - Andronovskaya; 3 - zone of interpenetration of log and Andronovskaya communities.

yokaya - 44, Abashevskaya-22, Petrovskaya-only 9. However, this did not affect the ranges of date probability sums (68%); they are strikingly close to each other, being located in a fairly limited period of time - between the XXII and XVIII/XVII centuries BC. e. Here it is appropriate to emphasize that the absence of how many-the existence of a noticeable difference between the chronological ranges of all three very remote cultures just allows us to confidently assume an exceptionally rapid spread of the entire Abash-Sintashta community in the eastern direction.

The situation with radiocarbon dates for monuments of the Seiminsko-Turbinsky type is incomparably worse. To date, I know of only four: one for the Satyga burial ground found in the northern taiga, east of the low Ural ridges, and three for the recently identified and explored Yurino necropolis (Ust-Vetluga) in the Upper Volga region. All four dates do not exceed the Abash-Sintashta chronological range (due to their small number, their values are not included in the graphs in Figure 10). Therefore, it is possible to date the Seimino-Turbino phenomenon with a sufficient degree of confidence also within the XXII-XVIII/XVII centuries BC.

Second phase of the EAMP: system stabilization. This phase of the development of the UAMP was characterized by the stabilization of the cultures and communities of the "steppe belt" and a noticeable unification of the most important features of their appearance. In the vast territory of the "steppe belt" of the province, countless settlements are now known that are difficult to differentiate due to their low expressiveness. The same should be said about the infinite number of funerary monuments, where there is no expressive symbolism of the socio-hierarchical position of the deceased, so characteristic, for example, for the first phase of the Circum-Pontic province of the Early Bronze Age. Due to the unification of the nature of cultures, it is very difficult to reliably determine the territorial and chronological boundaries of a particular community. They often seem very "blurry".

Among the associations of the "steppe belt", attention is most often drawn to two huge communities - Srubnaya and Andronovskaya, which actually defined the face of the entire province (Figure 11). The" Cultural continuity syndrome " for these associations in the second phase of the EAMP was extremely pronounced. It is not difficult to map out vast areas with mixed monuments; for example, this can be traced in the steppes and semi-deserts north of the Caspian Sea, up to the South Ural forest-steppe (Figure 11). In general, the degree of unification of steppe cultures has increased so much that sometimes archaeologists prefer to see here a single giant log-Andronovo community.

The western, log cabin, community covered mainly Eastern European areas with an area of 1.5 to 2 million km2. The eastern Andronovo region, represented by two main cultures - Alakul and Fedorovskaya-occupied almost twice as large an area (at least 3 million km2). In all likelihood, the range of Andronovo antiquities should also include a number of smaller and more localized sites.-

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They are located to the south of (Central Asian) cultures such as the Kairak-Kum, Tazabagyab, and others (Chernykh, 1992, p. 192, fig. 67), which are more or less close to the Alakul culture. In the contiguous territories to the north, along the southern edge of the Eurasian forest zone, there were also relatively close steppe cultures - srubnaya (Pozdnyakovskaya, Prikasanskaya) or Andronovskaya (Cherkaskulskaya, etc.). Northern communities, as a rule, were affected by steppe ones.

In that supposed confrontation between Seiminsko-Turbinskaya and Abashevo-Sintashta counter-waves of penetration of contrasting cultures, the latter took the lead. The brightest Seimin-Turbinsky phenomenon seemed to have disappeared. Expressive traces of its heritage have been preserved only in the taiga zone of Western Siberia in settlements such as Samus-Kizhirovo (Chernykh and Kuzminykh, 1989, pp. 144-162). Later, in the third phase of the EAMP, its impact will become more pronounced. However, at this stage, the initial Western impulse clearly prevailed.

The absolute chronology of the second phase is based on 222 systematized calibrated radiocarbon dates. Most of them (119) are related to the materials of the log community. The figure of the probability sum distribution of this sample is the most acceptable (see Figure 10). The chronological range (68% probability) for the Srubna community fits into the framework of the XX-XV centuries BC. The nature of the distribution of the sum of date probabilities for the main cultures of the Andronovo community is significantly worse. It is especially difficult to interpret the graphics associated with the materials of the Alakul monuments. Of course, in this case, an audit of the entire set of materials included in the database is required. In comparison with the graph for the log community, the distribution of date probability sums for the Fedorovskaya culture is much more vague. However, most likely, these materials were strongly influenced by the "cultural continuity syndrome".

Third phase of the EAMP: system breakdown. In the second half of the second millennium BC, an extremely vague and amorphous community of cultures with so-called roller ceramics emerged on the site of the Srubnaya and Andronovo communities. Its sign is a taped roller on the whisk or throat of an earthen vessel. It is found on dishes of a wide variety of cultures from the Northern Balkans and the Danube region to the Altai. The spread of this decorative element, in all likelihood, should be attributed to the Western impulse: in the Balkan-Carpathian region, it is constantly present on clay vessels and has been since the Early Bronze Age.

Significantly fewer monuments (both settlements and burial grounds) of the third phase are known in the steppe zone of the EAMP compared to the second one. The widespread shift to mobile - nomadic and semi - nomadic-life support strategies may have had an impact. The forms of metallurgical and metalworking industries have largely lost the initial features known to us from the previous period [Chernykh, 1992, p. 235-252]. The geographical scope of the UAMP has become very blurry both in the west and in the east. Western influence from the regions of the Northern Balkans, the Carpathians, and the Danube basin, which by that time had formed the manufacturing centers of a powerful and vibrant European metallurgical province, was particularly strong [Ibid., p. 252-263]. This is evidenced by the presence of imported metal objects, as well as the production of products based on a number of Western samples, which was observed in the second half of the II millennium BC. e. far to the east-up to the lower and middle Volga (for example, the bright treasure of Pine Maza, etc.). The border of the Eurasian province in the Altai region is also significantly undefined. There are a considerable number of single-edged knives that are fundamentally alien to the EAMP stereotypes, but are a clear sign of the production centers of the East Asian Metallurgical Province.

The relatively weak knowledge of the monuments of the final phase of the EAMP resulted in an insignificant number of radiocarbon dates - only 68. Nevertheless, the range of their 68% probability indicates quite confidently the second half of the second millennium BC (see Figure 10). This time period can probably be taken as close to the true one, which follows from comparing it with dates for communities and cultures of the previous phase.

The fourth stage of the formation of the "steppe belt": East Asian Metallurgical Province

The East Asian metallurgical province is emerging quite synchronously with the Eurasian one. However, in comparison with the latter, its most important features are studied much worse. In this section, we will focus mainly on the northwestern VAMP zone, which is located mainly within the Sayano-Altaisk Mountain Region, as well as in its surrounding territories (see Figure 11).

The emergence of the East Asian metallurgical province was associated with an exceptionally vivid trans-cultural Seimin-Turbine phenomenon. Its other stage was characterized as a continuation of the Seimin-Turbine traditions of metallurgy and metalworking. The most important materials of this stage are presented in the following categories:-

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Fig. 12. Main ways of distribution of Seiminsko-Turbinsky and Karasuksky types of metallurgical production.

vu inventory from the burials of the well-known Karasuk culture [Chlenova, 1972; Chernykh, 1992. p. 264-271]*. Numerous metal objects found on the surface of the earth also came from graves, though mostly destroyed in the process of plowing.

There is a fairly obvious correlation between the early Seimin-Turbino and later Karasuk types of metallurgy. However, very annoying gaps in the studied and available materials do not allow us to reconstruct the dynamics of the development of metallurgical production in the Sayano-Altai region. It has been established that the Seimin-Turbin wave of warlike populations was quite definitely directed in a westerly direction. Its chronological range, according to the revealed contacts of these populations with the Abash-Sintashta community, is defined in the interval from the XXII to the XVIII/XVII centuries BC. The Karasuk complexes, based on a rather unrepresentative series of radiocarbon age determinations, should also be dated within about five centuries - from the last third of the second to the first third of the first millennium BC. B.C. (see Figure 10). The three-hundred-year gap between the Seimin-Turbinsky and Karasuk ranges is still difficult to explain. Apparently, we should expect the appearance of new materials.

Even more significant is the rapid spread of the Karasuk forms of metal products, mainly in the eastern direction, diametrically opposite to the Seimin-Turbine aspiration to the west (Fig. 12). A very significant number of imitations of them are known on the territory of Ancient China. In particular, they are well represented in the royal complexes of Anyang, dated on the basis of written sources mainly to the XIII-XI centuries BC, or the period of the late Shang Dynasty (The Formation..., 2005, p. 150-176). Perhaps it was from this time that the active confrontation between the most ancient Chinese civilizations and the steppe world began. After all, the Karasuk antiquities were certainly left by nomadic pastoralists. Settlements of this culture are practically unknown. Karasuk metal products were morphologically very different from the ancient Chinese ones of the Shang and Western Zhou eras (Chernykh, 2007b). The inhabitants of Sayano-Altai always had weapons in the foreground: the famous Karasuk single-edged knives with curved handles, as well as more rare daggers. Northern " steppe "(more precisely," taiga-steppe") forms, most likely imitations of them, are also present in the richest burial complexes of the Shan, found mainly in the Royal Necropolis of Anyang.

It is quite obvious that the chain of Karasuk finds, which is almost 3500 km long in a straight line, or very similar to the Karasuk prototypes, extends far to the east: from the Sayan-Altai region, through Xinjiang (Mei Jianjun, 2000; 2004), Mongolia (Erdenebataar, 2004), Northern China (including Inner Mongolia) up to the Liaohe Basin and almost to the Liaodong Bay (Wagner, 2006, pp. 101-276). Another line of distribution of" steppe " forms indicates a more southern and south-eastern direction. Similar products are known in the semi-desert and desert foothills of Altun-Shan and on the Shanxi-Shaanxi plateau (Fig. They are already approaching very close to the territory in the bas-

* In this paper, the East Asian Province is also referred to as the Central Asian Province. Now I think that the term "East Asian" is more accurate.

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The Huanghe Seine, subordinate to the rulers of the Shang Dynasty [Chinese Archaeology, 2003, p. 585-590].

It is necessary to note another very significant difference between the compared models. The metallurgical production of the Shang and Western Zhou eras, the lion's share of their bronzes, of course, was directed to sacred purposes, primarily associated with various ritual and magical rites. Karasuk metallurgy is incomparably more rational. Apparently, first of all, it served to create metal weapons. The decoration of crank knives with animal figures or patterns did not change the basic character of the northern craft. Plaques, pendants, and even mysterious objects like "horse yoke" had a subordinate character in the production cycle of steppe foundry workers and blacksmiths.

Concluding remarks

Let us return to the idea expressed earlier: by the second half of the second millennium BC, the formation of the giant Eurasian "steppe belt" of pastoral cultures was completed. This process was difficult and lengthy. It was distinguished by both amazing "jumps" in its power, and sudden sharp braking. Since that time, a relatively stable "vertical" or "latitudinal" structure of the main types of Eurasian cultures has developed. And until Modern times, it was crucial for many of the most important historical processes. The "steppe belt"served as a watershed between the worlds of the southern and northern communities of our continent.

Historical processes themselves were often decisive in the emergence, existence, and demise of many communities and populations. From the period of completion of the formation of the "steppe belt", which connected the vast expanses from the Black Sea to the Yellow Sea in the second millennium BC, it became possible to distinguish also the" horizontal "or" meridional " section of the Eurasian world. It is likely that this watershed most clearly affected the formation of two models of metallurgy - the West and East Eurasian ones. Behind these models, the formation of two different worlds was also clearly visible. And the great" belt " of steppe cultures often served as a kind of bridge between them.

And finally, the last thing. Bringing into a complete system a statistically processed huge series of calibrated radiocarbon dates pushes us to revise and make very serious changes in the overall picture of not only the absolute, but even the relative chronology of many cultures and communities of Eurasia. From now on, many archaeological postulates concerning the basic aspects of constructing relative chronological scales can be questioned. However, it is clear that the discussion of these complex problems cannot be limited to brief comments. The success of such discussions, of course, is associated with special and extensive research.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 10.10.07.

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