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

公元前2000年后半期，黑海和古代近东北方边缘之间的许多地区，在经历了长期的流动性增加之后，定居生活方式发生了重组。这一过程的标志是出现了石头建筑的永久性村庄。与此同时，公元前3千纪的移动的畜牧业转变为综合的山区农业，尽管生活方式固定，但仍保留了畜牧经济。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遗址。实际的研究将集中在第一次建立的石头建筑在网站的Ranalut 1.这个特殊的网站是最古老的位置在建筑传统的调查在过去几年中在北高加索高地。最新的放射性碳年代测定表明，在公元前18/17世纪，有一段很短的使用时间。建筑的设置、形式以及基于2009年磁性前景的非典型用途的指标都指向一种仪式，而不是这个地方的世俗功能。它本可以作为一个分散的移动的牧民社区的协调中心。2013年的首次发掘支持了这一观点。该遗址最有可能是Brandopferplatz，即一个仪式场所，包括燔祭和宴会的遗迹。此外，在考古记录中，越来越多的指标指向来自邻近草原和山脉各个地区的群体的存在，这些群体塑造了青铜时代晚期的新的共同身份。在其他仪式场所的背景下回顾这个遗址可以帮助理解它在青铜时代庇护所中的地位。

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.