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

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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.