Some debatable problems of archaeology of the south of Eastern Europe of the Bronze Age ending.

Abstract

The paper considers burials of the ending of the Bronze Age which were discovered to the east and the northeast off an area of Belozerskaia culture. The main attention is paid to the Lower Don Reaches and Ciscaucasia burials which V.V. Potapov has attributed to “Otradnenskaia culture”. In the authors’ opinion, among these burials there are complexes of at least two different cultural groups, i.e.: 1. Burials of the final Timber Grave culture which are characteristic of the deceased writhed on a side with their heads oriented to the range of 45-135°; 2. Burials where the deceased were writhed on a side with their heads oriented to the range of 155-205°. According to the authors, the complexes of this group could be rightfully attributed to the Otradnenskaia culture. The paper provides arguments in favour of that this culture has developed as a result of arrival of the population from the East (from behind Ural Mountains).