Studies on a newly discovered culture of the 2nd millennium BC in the North Caucasus

公元前2000年的下半叶，在黑海和古代近东北部边缘之间的许多地区，经过长时间的流动性增加，定居生活方式重新组织起来。这一过程的标志是石头建筑的永久村落的出现。与此同时，公元前3000年，移动畜牧业向山地农业的转变，使得游牧经济得以保留，尽管生活方式是固定的。德国和俄罗斯的一个合作项目调查了260多个反映新定居体系形成的地点。实际的研究将集中在Ransyrt 1遗址第一次建立的石头建筑上。这个特殊的地点是过去几年在北高加索高地调查的建筑传统中最古老的地点。最新的放射性碳年代测定表明，在公元前18 /17世纪有一段短暂的使用时期。建筑的环境、结构形式和基于2009年磁性远景的非典型用途的指标都指向一个仪式，而不是一个世俗的功能。它可以作为一个分散的流动牧民社区的中心。2013年的第一次挖掘支持了这一观点。该地点最有可能是Brandopferplatz，即一个仪式场所，包括燔祭和盛宴的遗迹。此外，在考古记录中，越来越多的迹象表明，来自邻近草原和山脉各个地区的群体的存在，塑造了青铜时代晚期的新共同身份，预期的结束季节的重点是第一批定居者的起源，以及Ransyrt 1在高加索高山上新的LBA文化景观的仪式和社会形成中所起的作用。在其他仪式场所的背景下回顾这个遗址可以帮助我们理解它在青铜时代避难所中的地位。

The second half of the 2nd millennium BC sees in many areas between the Black Sea and the northern periphery of the ancient Near East the re-organization of settled lifestyles after a long epoch of increased mobility. The symbol of this process is the emergence permanent villages with stone built architecture. At the same time, the transformation of the 3rd millennium BC mobile pastoralism into a combined mountain agriculture allowed to retain a pastoral economy in spite of a stationary lifeway. A German-Russian co-operation project investigated more than 260 sites that reflect the formation of the new settlement system. The actual research will focus on the first establishment of architectural constructions in stone at the site of Ransyrt 1.This exceptional site is the oldest location in the architectural tradition that was investigated during the last years in the North Caucasian highlands. Latest radiocarbon dates indicate a short period of use in the 18th/17th century BC. The setting, the form of the construction, and indicators for an atypical usage based on magnetic prospections of the year 2009 point towards a ritual rather than a mundane function of the place. It could have operated as a focal point in a dispersed community of mobile pastoralists. First excavations in 2013 support this idea. The site most probably is a Brandopferplatz, i.e. a ritual site including burnt offerings and remains of feasting. Additionally, in the archaeological record an increasing indicators point towards the existence of groups from various areas of the adjacent steppe and mountains that moulded the new shared identity of the Late Bronze Age Focus of the intended terminal season is the origin of the first settlers, and the role Ransyrt 1 played in the ritual and social formation of the new LBA cultural landscape in the Caucasian high mountains. Reviewing this site against the background of other ritual places can help to understand its place within the classes of Bronze Age sanctuaries in general.