Ethnogenesis of the Circassians. Hutts, Kaskis and Sindos - Meotian tribes - the ancient ancestors of the Circassians
Iron Age
Bronze Age
The North Caucasus is a unique region of our planet not only in terms of its natural and climatic conditions, but it is also a place where people have lived since the early stage of the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age). The settlement of the North Caucasus came from the south, and this process began 500 - 200 thousand years ago.
The modern relief of the North Caucasus was formed 10 million years ago. Initially, the Greater Caucasus was like a vast island with a dissected topography. Volcanic eruptions made the mountains and the North Caucasus the way we have it now, with its beauties of mountains, plains, forests and rivers. The North Caucasus, with such a wealth of flora and fauna, could not remain undeveloped by man.
The mining process, which began 10 million years ago, continued until the end of the Paleolithic era. It was accompanied not only by volcanic eruptions, but also by periodic fluctuations in the levels of the Black and Caspian Seas. For example, the amplitude of fluctuations in the levels of these seas reached 100 - 200 m. During the period of raising their levels, the Manych turned into a strait, and the Sea of Azov into a flowing basin. They formed a single water artery.
The starting point of human history is the primitive communal system. If you look at this period of our history, it is not only the most ancient period, but it is also the longest and most difficult period in the history of the human race. It was during this period that man stands out from the animal world and declares himself as the most intelligent creature.
The primitive era, although considered the most primitive in the history of mankind, is a time of such processes without which the life of man himself, and therefore of human civilization itself, is impossible. Here are some of them:
1) man stands out from the animal world;
2) articulate speech appears;
3) human labor appears, or a person begins to make tools with the help of which he obtains food for himself;
4) a person begins to use the power of fire;
5) a person builds primitive dwellings and dresses himself;
6) the type of activity of people changes, namely: they move from appropriating activities to producing ones (from gathering and hunting to farming and animal husbandry).
By the end of the Stone Age, man made other important discoveries that played a huge role in his future fate. Many scientists wrote in detail and clearly about all this and other discoveries of our ancient ancestors, but F. Engels in his works “The Role of Labor in the Process of Transformation of Ape into Man” and “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State” explored this period, to our look, most fully.
It is customary to divide the primitive era into archaeological and historical periodization schemes. The archaeological scheme is based on differences in the material and technique of making tools. That is, humanity moved from one qualitative state to another, higher one, depending on the level of tools and the material for their manufacture. In accordance with this scheme, the history of human society is divided into three stages or centuries:
1. Stone Age - 3 million - 3 thousand BC.
2. Bronze Age - 3 thousand BC – beginning I millennium BC
3. Iron Age - beginning of the 1st millennium BC.
The oldest, longest and most difficult period in human history is the Stone Age. Based on the technique of making stone tools and other characteristics, this period itself is divided into three stages:
1. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age). It began 2.5 - 3 million years BC. ago and ended 12 - 10 thousand years BC.
2. Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age). It covers from X thousand years BC. and lasted until 6 thousand years BC.
3. Neolithic (New Stone Age). This period covers the 5th - 6th thousand years BC.
There is also a special transition period from stone to metal - the Eneolithic, when a person moves from the Stone to the Copper-Bronze Age.
Now let's look briefly at each of the stages of the Stone Age. As mentioned above, the Paleolithic period is the longest in its duration and exceeds all subsequent eras of human history by hundreds of times. In turn, the Old Stone Age is divided into three archaeological eras: the Lower (or Early), Middle and Upper (or Late) Paleolithic.
The Early and Middle Paleolithic corresponds to the era of the primitive human herd, or ancestral community. The primitive tribal community arose in the Late Paleolithic era. It should be noted that the most ancient people penetrated the North Caucasus during the Early Paleolithic period. In all likelihood, settlement came from the south and coincided in time with the penultimate period of the great interglacial warming that occurred about 500 - 200 thousand years ago. Stone tools found in various regions of the North Caucasus, namely in the basins of the rivers Psekups, Kuban, etc., belong specifically to this period.
However, it should be noted that the settlement of the territory of the North Caucasus by people was uneven. Everything depended on the natural and climatic conditions of the territories being developed. Where the flora and fauna are warmer and richer, that territory was previously developed by humans.
The mining process that took place in the North Caucasus continued until the end of the Middle Paleolithic, and more massive settlement by people occurred during periods of interglacial warming. The last such warming occurred 150 - 80 thousand years ago, during the Early Paleolithic era. In more than 60 regions of the Kuban region, i.e. in the basins of the rivers Psekups, Kurdzhips, Khodz, Belaya, etc., traces of human settlement during this period were found. At the Abadzekh site of people of this time alone, more than 2,500 specimens of stone tools were found. More numerous sites of ancient man were discovered during the Middle Paleolithic period (80 - 35 thousand years BC). By this period, the territory of human settlement was already moving east and covered the areas of modern Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Chechnya, Ingushetia and Karachay-Cherkessia.
In the Middle Paleolithic era, man not only significantly improved his tools, but also great changes occurred in his thinking and physical development. At this stage, the beginnings of religious ideas and art appear. One of the most striking monuments of the Middle Paleolithic in the North Caucasus is the Ilskaya site, 40 km away. from Krasnodar. This monument occupies about 10 thousand m2; bones of numerous and varied animals were discovered here, such as mammoth, bison, horse, etc. From the materials discovered at this site, it is clear that people were already building houses like round huts and were engaged in gathering and hunting. Traces of activity from this period were found in our region, in particular in the area of the modern villages of Zayukovo, Baksan district.
The era of the late (Upper) Paleolithic (from 35 to 12 - 10 thousand years BC) is the period of completion of the process of becoming a modern type of man. At this stage, not only the tools of labor are significantly improved, but also great changes occur in the social organization of people, i.e. there is a process of transformation of the primitive human herd (ancestral community) into a tribal social organization. A clan system arises and its main unit is the clan, the clan community.
Traces of the Upper Paleolithic were found not only in those regions of the North Caucasus - in the basin of the Kuban (Psyzh) River and its tributaries, which have always been the most densely populated region, but also in the current territory of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic.
The most striking monument of material culture of this period is the so-called Sosruko Grotto, which is located on the left bank of the Baksan River near the villages. Lashkuta. This Grotto has 6 layers, but its main materials belong to the next era of the Stone Age - the Mesolithic. The beginning of the Mesolithic was associated with climate warming (10 - 6 thousand years BC). This period includes the rapid development of flora and fauna in the North Caucasus with an increase in population. At this stage, large animals that served as the object of collective hunting by people disappear, and the dog is tamed. With the invention of the bow and arrow, hunting takes on a more individual character.
Sosruko Grotto was a cave site and was inhabited several times. Hunting played an important role in the economy of the inhabitants of the Sosruko Grotto, as evidenced by the numerous bones of wild animals (boar, chamois, red deer, hare, badger, etc.) discovered at this site.
The final stage of the Stone Age is the Neolithic (New Stone Age), which made great changes not only in the technique of making tools, but also in the social organization of man himself. In science, this period is also called the Neolithic revolution, because during this period a real revolution actually took place not only in material production, but also in the social life of our ancient ancestors. Although it covers only from the 5th to the first half of the 6th millennium BC, it was during this time that great events took place.
At this stage, man further improves the technique of making stone tools, invents ceramics, and his everyday life includes spinning and weaving, which significantly contributed to the establishment of people’s positions in nature. However, one of the most significant developments of this period is the transition from gathering and hunting to farming and animal husbandry. This is a real “explosion” of human intelligence: he begins to “cultivate” various types of plants and animals. From this moment on, man significantly leaves the power of nature; he realizes the importance of growing plants and domesticating animals. This revolution in material production created objective conditions for subsequent changes in the entire social organization of people - the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy, the formation of classes and the state.
In the North Caucasus, including in the current territory of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, traces of settlements of people from the Neolithic period have been discovered. For example, such a monument of material culture was found near the Kenzhe River and in other places.
In our region, the Neolithic revolution, i.e. the transition from gathering and hunting to agriculture and animal husbandry occurred in the second half of the 4th millennium BC, i.e. in the Chalcolithic era. The way of life of people of this period in our region is well illustrated by the Agubekovskoye settlement. This site was discovered by archaeologists in 1923 on the northwestern edge of the mountains. Nalchik. From the materials discovered at this site, it is clear that the “Agubekovites” lived in turluch dwellings, built from rods coated with clay on both sides. The inhabitants of this site used low-fired pottery. The closest in time to the Agubekovsky settlement is the Nalchik burial ground, discovered in the 20s. last century on the current territory of the Nalchik City Hospital. According to archaeological data, both the “Agubekovites” and the inhabitants of the latter believed in the afterlife at that time. From the discovered materials it is clear that they maintained contacts with people in distant regions of Western Asia and the Mediterranean.
The Stone Age is the largest and first period in human history, spanning about two million years.
The name came from the material used at that time. Weapons and household utensils were most often made of stone.
Periodization The duration of the Stone Age necessitated its division into smaller periods:
- Paleolithic - more than 2 million years ago.
- Mesolithic – 10 thousand years BC. e. Neolithic – 8 thousand years BC. e.
Each period is characterized by certain changes in people's lives. So, for example, in the Paleolithic, people hunted small animals that could be killed with the simplest, most primitive weapons - clubs, sticks, pikes. During the same period, however, without exact dates, the first fire was produced, which allowed people to take climate change more easily and not be afraid of the cold and wild animals.
In the Mesolithic, bows and arrows appeared, which made it possible to hunt faster animals - deer, wild boars. And in the Neolithic, people begin to master agriculture, which eventually leads to the emergence of a sedentary way of life. The end of the Stone Age occurs at the moment when man mastered metal.
People
In the Stone Age there were already Homo erectus, who appeared 2 million years ago and mastered fire. They also built simple huts and knew how to hunt. About 400 thousand years ago, Homo sapiens appeared, from which Neanderthals developed a little later, mastering tools made of silicon.
In addition, these people had already buried their ancestors, which indicates fairly close ties, the development of affection and the emergence of moral principles and traditions. And only 10 thousand years ago Homo sapiens sapiens appeared, settling throughout the entire territory of the Earth.
During the Stone Age there were no cities or large communities; people settled in small groups, most often related. The entire planet during this period was inhabited by people. This was due to ice ages or droughts that affected people's daily lives.
Clothes were made from animal skins, and later plant fibers were also used. In addition, in the Stone Age the first jewelry was already known, which was made from the fangs of killed animals, shells, and colored stones. Primitive man was also not indifferent to art. This is evidenced by the many found figurines carved from stone, as well as numerical drawings on caves.
Food
Food was obtained by gathering or hunting. They hunted different game depending on the capabilities of the local habitat and the number of people. After all, one person is unlikely to go against a large catch, but several can well afford to take risks in order to provide their family with meat for the near future.
The most common prey species were deer, bison, wild boars, mammoths, horses, and birds. Fishing also flourished in places where there were rivers, seas, oceans and lakes. Initially, hunting was primitive, but later, closer to the Mesolithic and Neolithic, it improved. Ordinary peaks were made with stone, jagged tips, nets were used to catch fish, and the first traps and snares were invented.
In addition to hunting, food was also collected. All kinds of plants, grains, fruits, vegetables, eggs that could be found made it possible not to die of hunger even in the driest period, when it was difficult to find anything meat. The diet also included wild bee meth and fragrant herbs. During the Neolithic period, man learned to grow grain crops. This allowed him to begin a sedentary life.
The first such settled tribes were recorded in the Middle East. At the same time, domesticated animals appeared, as well as cattle breeding. In order not to migrate after the animals, they began to raise them.
Housing
The peculiarities of searching for food determine the nomadic lifestyle of Stone Age people. When food ran out in some areas and neither game nor edible plants could be found, it was necessary to look for other housing where one could survive. Therefore, not a single family stayed in one place for long.
The shelter was simple but secure, providing protection from wind, rain or snow, sun and predators. They often used ready-made caves, sometimes they made something like a house from mammoth bones. They were placed like walls, and the cracks were filled with moss or dirt. Mammoth skin or leaves were placed on top.
The study of the Stone Age is one of the most difficult sciences, because the only thing that can be used is archaeological finds and some modern tribes, separated from civilization. This era did not leave any written sources. Primitive weapons and sites, instead of permanent dwellings, were made of stone and organic plants and wood, which had managed to decompose over such a long period of time. Scientists are helped only by stones, skeletons and fossils of those times, on the basis of which assumptions and discoveries are made.
Stone Age of Humanity
Man differs from all living beings on Earth in that from the very beginning of his history he actively created an artificial habitat around himself and used various technical means, which are called tools. With their help, he obtained food for himself - hunting, fishing and gathering, built homes for himself, made clothes and household utensils, created religious buildings and works of art.
The Stone Age is the oldest and longest period in human history, characterized by the use of stone as the main solid material for the manufacture of tools intended to solve human life support problems.
To make various tools and other necessary products, people used not only stone, but other hard materials:
- volcanic glass,
- bone,
- tree,
- as well as plastic materials of animal and plant origin (animal hides and skins, plant fibers, and later fabrics).
In the final period of the Stone Age, in the Neolithic, the first artificial material created by man, ceramics, became widespread. The exceptional strength of the stone allows products made from it to be preserved for hundreds of thousands of years. Bone, wood and other organic materials, as a rule, are not preserved for so long, and therefore, for the study of especially distant eras, stone products become, due to their mass production and good preservation, the most important source.
Chronological framework of the Stone Age
The chronological framework of the Stone Age is very wide - it begins about 3 million years ago (the time of the separation of man from the animal world) and lasts until the appearance of metal (about 8-9 thousand years ago in the Ancient East and about 6-5 thousand years ago back in Europe). The duration of this period of human existence, which is called prehistory and protohistory, correlates with the duration of “written history” in the same way as a day with a few minutes or the size of Everest and a tennis ball. Such important achievements of mankind as the emergence of the first social institutions and certain economic structures, and, in fact, the formation of man himself as a completely special biosocial being dates back to the Stone Age.
In archaeological science stone Age It is customary to divide it into several main stages:
- ancient Stone Age - Paleolithic (3 million years BC - 10 thousand years BC);
- middle - (10-9 thousand - 7 thousand years BC);
- new - Neolithic (6-5 thousand - 3 thousand years BC).
The archaeological periodization of the Stone Age is associated with changes in the stone industry: each period is characterized by unique methods of primary splitting and subsequent secondary processing of stone, which results in the widespread distribution of very specific sets of products and their distinct specific types.
The Stone Age correlates with the geological periods of the Pleistocene (which also goes by the names: Quaternary, Anthropocene, Glacial and dates from 2.5-2 million years to 10 thousand years BC) and Holocene (from 10 thousand years to AD up to and including our time). The natural conditions of these periods played a significant role in the formation and development of ancient human societies.
Study of the Stone Age
Interest in collecting and studying prehistoric antiquities, especially stone artifacts, has existed for a long time. However, even in the Middle Ages, and even in the Renaissance, their origin was most often attributed to natural phenomena (the so-called thunder arrows, hammers, and axes were known everywhere). Only by the middle of the 19th century, thanks to the accumulation of new information obtained through ever-expanding construction work, and the associated development of geology, and the further development of natural sciences, the idea of material evidence of the existence of “antediluvian man” acquired the status of a scientific doctrine. An important contribution to the formation of scientific ideas about the Stone Age as the “childhood of mankind” was made by a variety of ethnographic data, and the results of the study of the cultures of North American Indians, which began in the 18th century, were especially often used. together with the widespread colonization of North America and developed in the 19th century.
The “system of three centuries” by K.Yu. also had a huge influence on the formation of Stone Age archeology. Thomsen - I.Ya. Vorso. However, only the creation of evolutionary periodizations in history and anthropology (cultural-historical periodization of L.G. Morgan, sociological of I. Bachofen, religious of G. Spencer and E. Taylor, anthropological of Charles Darwin), numerous joint geological and archaeological studies of various Paleolithic monuments of Western Europe (J. Boucher de Pert, E. Larte, J. Lebbock, I. Keller) led to the creation of the first periodizations of the Stone Age - the division of the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras. In the last quarter of the 19th century, thanks to the discovery of Paleolithic cave art, numerous anthropological finds of the Pleistocene age, especially thanks to the discovery of E. Dubois on the island of Java of the remains of an ape-man, evolutionist theories prevailed in understanding the patterns of human development in the Stone Age. However, developing archeology required the use of archaeological terms and criteria when creating a periodization of the Stone Age. The first such classification, evolutionary in its core and operating in special archaeological terms, was proposed by the French archaeologist G. de Mortillier, who distinguished the early (lower) and late (upper) Paleolithic, divided into four stages. This periodization became very widespread, and after its expansion and addition by the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras, also divided into successive stages, it acquired a dominant position in Stone Age archeology for quite a long time.
Mortilier's periodization was based on the idea of the sequence of stages and periods of development of material culture and the uniformity of this process for all mankind. The revision of this periodization dates back to the middle of the 20th century.
The further development of Stone Age archeology is also associated with such important scientific movements as geographical determinism (which explains many aspects of the development of society by the influence of natural geographical conditions) and diffusionism (which placed, along with the concept of evolution, the concept of cultural diffusion, i.e. the spatial movement of cultural phenomena). Within the framework of these directions, a galaxy of major scientists of their time worked (L.G. Morgan, G. Ratzel, E. Reclus, R. Virchow, F. Kossina, A. Graebner, etc.), who made a significant contribution to the formulation of the basic postulates of the science of Stone Age. In the 20th century new schools are appearing, reflecting, in addition to those listed above, ethnological, sociological, structuralist trends in the study of this ancient era.
Currently, the study of the natural environment, which has a great influence on the life of human groups, has become an integral part of archaeological research. This is quite natural, especially if we remember that from the very moment of its appearance, primitive (prehistoric) archeology, having originated among representatives of the natural sciences - geologists, paleontologists, anthropologists - was closely connected with the natural sciences.
The main achievement of Stone Age archeology in the 20th century. was the creation of clear ideas that various archaeological complexes (tools, weapons, jewelry, etc.) characterize different groups of people who, being at different stages of development, can coexist simultaneously. This denies the crude scheme of evolutionism, which assumes that all humanity rises through the same steps at the same time. The work of Russian archaeologists played a major role in formulating new postulates about the existence of cultural diversity in the development of mankind.
In the last quarter of the 20th century. In Stone Age archeology, a number of new directions have been formed on an international scientific basis, combining traditional archaeological and complex paleoecological and computer research methods, which involve the creation of complex spatial models of environmental management systems and the social structure of ancient societies.
Paleolithic
Division into eras
The Paleolithic is the longest stage of the Stone Age; it covers the time from the Upper Pliocene to the Holocene, i.e. the entire Pleistocene (Anthropogen, Glacial or Quaternary) geological period. Traditionally, the Paleolithic is divided into –
- early, or lower, including the following eras:
- (about 3 million - 800 thousand years ago),
- ancient, middle and late (800 thousand - 120-100 thousand years ago)
- (120-100 thousand - 40 thousand years ago),
- upper, or (40 thousand - 12 thousand years ago).
It should, however, be emphasized that the chronological framework given above is rather arbitrary, since many issues have not been studied fully enough. This is especially true of the boundaries between the Mousterian and the Upper Paleolithic, the Upper Paleolithic and the Mesolithic. In the first case, the difficulties in identifying a chronological boundary are associated with the duration of the process of settlement of modern people, who brought new techniques for processing stone raw materials, and their long coexistence with Neanderthals. Accurately identifying the boundary between the Paleolithic and Mesolithic is even more difficult, since sudden changes in natural conditions, which led to significant changes in material culture, occurred extremely unevenly and had a different character in different geographical zones. However, modern science has adopted a conventional boundary - 10 thousand years BC. e. or 12 thousand years ago, which is accepted by most scientists.
All Paleolithic eras differ significantly from each other both in anthropological characteristics and in the methods of making basic tools and their forms. Throughout the Paleolithic, the physical type of man was formed. In the Early Paleolithic there were various groups of representatives of the genus Homo ( N. habilis, N. ergaster, N. erectus, N. antesesst, H. Heidelbergensis, N. neardentalensis- according to the traditional scheme: archanthropes, paleoanthropes and Neanderthals), the Upper Paleolithic corresponded to the neoanthropus - Homo sapiens, all modern humanity belongs to this species.
Tools
Mousterian tools - burins and scrapers. Found near Amiens, France.
Due to the vast distance in time, many materials that were used by people, especially organic ones, are not preserved. Therefore, as mentioned above, for studying the lifestyle of ancient people, one of the most important sources is stone tools. From all the variety of rocks, man chose those that give a sharp cutting edge when split. Due to its wide distribution in nature and its inherent physical qualities, flint and other siliceous rocks became such materials.
No matter how primitive the ancient stone tools were, it is quite obvious that their production required abstract thinking and the ability to perform a complex chain of sequential actions. Various types of activity are recorded in the shapes of the working blades of tools, in the form of traces on them, and make it possible to judge the labor operations that ancient people performed.
To make the necessary things from stone, auxiliary tools were required:
- bumpers,
- intermediaries,
- push-ups,
- retouchers,
- anvils, which were also made of bone, stone, and wood.
Another equally important source that allows us to obtain a variety of information and reconstruct the life of ancient human groups is the cultural layer of monuments, which is formed as a result of the life activities of people in a certain place. It includes the remains of hearths and residential structures, traces of labor activity in the form of accumulations of split stone and bone. Remains of animal bones provide evidence of human hunting activity.
The Paleolithic is the time of the formation of man and society; during this period, the first social formation took shape - the primitive communal system. The entire era was characterized by an appropriating economy: people obtained their means of subsistence by hunting and gathering.
Geological epochs and glaciations
The Paleolithic corresponds to the end of the geological period of the Pliocene and the entire geological period of the Pleistocene, which began about two million years ago and ended around the turn of the 10th millennium BC. e. Its early stage is called the Eiopleistocene, it ends about 800 thousand years ago. Already the Eiopleistocene, and especially the middle and late Pleistocene, is characterized by a series of sharp cold snaps and the development of cover glaciations, occupying a significant part of the land. For this reason, the Pleistocene is called the Ice Age; its other names, often used in specialized literature, are Quaternary or Anthropocene.
Table. Correlations between the Paleolithic and Pleistocene periods.
| Quaternary divisions | Absolute age, thousand years. | Paleolithic divisions | |||
| Holocene | |||||
| Pleistocene | Wurm | 10 | 10 | Late Paleolithic | |
| 40 | Ancient Paleolithic | Moustier | |||
| Riess-Wurm | 100 | 100 | |||
| 120 | 300 | ||||
| Riess | 200 | Late and Middle Acheulian | |||
| Mindel-Riess | 350 | ||||
| Mindel | 500 | Ancient Acheulian | |||
| Günz-Mindel | 700 | 700 | |||
| Eopleistocene | Günz | 1000 | Olduvai | ||
| Danube | 2000 | ||||
| Neogene | 2600 | ||||
The table shows the relationship between the main stages of archaeological periodization and the stages of the Ice Age, in which 5 main glaciations are distinguished (according to the Alpine scheme, adopted as an international standard) and the intervals between them, usually called interglacials. The terms are often used in the literature glacial(glaciation) and interglacial(interglacial). Within each glaciation (glacial) there are colder periods called stadials and warmer ones called interstadials. The name of the interglacial (interglacial) consists of the names of two glaciations, and its duration is determined by their time boundaries, for example, the Riess-Würm interglacial lasts from 120 to 80 thousand years ago.
Glaciation eras were characterized by significant cooling and the development of ice cover over large areas of land, which led to a sharp drying of the climate and changes in the flora and fauna. On the contrary, during the interglacial era there was a significant warming and humidification of the climate, which also caused corresponding changes in the environment. Ancient man depended to a huge extent on the natural conditions surrounding him, so their significant changes required fairly rapid adaptation, i.e. flexible change of methods and means of life support.
At the beginning of the Pleistocene, despite the onset of global cooling, a fairly warm climate remained - not only in Africa and the equatorial belt, but even in the southern and central regions of Europe, Siberia and the Far East, broad-leaved forests grew. These forests were home to such heat-loving animals as the hippopotamus, southern elephant, rhinoceros and saber-toothed tiger (mahairod).
Günz was separated from the Mindel, the first very serious glaciation for Europe, by a large interglacial, which was relatively warm. The ice of the Mindel glaciation reached the mountain ranges in southern Germany, and in Russia - to the upper reaches of the Oka and the middle reaches of the Volga. On the territory of Russia this glaciation is called Oka. There were some changes in the composition of the animal world: heat-loving species began to die out, and in areas located closer to the glacier, cold-loving animals appeared - the musk ox and the reindeer.
This was followed by a warm interglacial era - the Mindelris interglacial - which preceded the Ris (Dnieper for Russia) glaciation, which was the maximum. On the territory of European Russia, the ice of the Dnieper glaciation, having divided into two tongues, reached the area of the Dnieper rapids and approximately to the area of the modern Volga-Don Canal. The climate has cooled significantly, cold-loving animals have spread:
- mammoths,
- woolly rhinoceroses,
- wild horses,
- bison,
- tours.
Cave predators:
- cave bear,
- cave lion,
- cave hyena.
Lived in periglacial areas
- reindeer,
- musk ox,
- arctic fox
The Riess-Würm interglacial - a time of very favorable climatic conditions - was replaced by the last great glaciation of Europe - the Würm or Valdai glaciation.
The last - Würm (Valdai) glaciation (80-12 thousand years ago) was shorter than the previous ones, but much more severe. Although the ice covered a much smaller area, covering the Valdai Hills in Eastern Europe, the climate was much drier and colder. A feature of the animal world of the Würm period was the mixing in the same territories of animals characteristic of different landscape zones in our time. The mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, and musk ox existed alongside the bison, red deer, horse, and saiga. Common predators were cave and brown bears, lions, wolves, arctic foxes, and wolverines. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the boundaries of landscape zones, compared to modern ones, were greatly shifted to the south.
By the end of the Ice Age, the development of the culture of ancient people had reached a level that allowed them to adapt to new, much more harsh living conditions. Recent geological and archaeological studies have shown that the first stages of human development of the lowland territories of the Arctic fox, lemming, and cave bear in the European part of Russia belong specifically to the cold eras of the late Pleistocene. The nature of the settlement of primitive man on the territory of Northern Eurasia was determined not so much by climatic conditions as by the nature of the landscape. Most often, Paleolithic hunters settled in the open spaces of the tundra-steppes in the permafrost zone, and in the southern steppes-forest-steppes - outside it. Even during the maximum cooling period (28-20 thousand years ago), people did not leave their traditional habitats. The fight against the harsh nature of the glacial period had a great influence on the cultural development of Paleolithic man.
The final cessation of glacial phenomena dates back to the 10th-9th millennia BC. With the retreat of the glacier, the Pleistocene era ends, followed by the Holocene - the modern geological period. Along with the retreat of the glacier to the extreme northern borders of Eurasia, natural conditions characteristic of the modern era began to form.
What periods is the Stone Age divided into?
- Thanks for the answer. Helped a lot
- Archeology distinguishes three main “ages” (periods, epochs) in the ancient history of Europe: stone, bronze, iron. The Stone Age is the longest of them. At this time, people made the main tools and weapons from wood, stone, horn and bone. It was only at the very end of the Stone Age that the ancient inhabitants of Europe first became acquainted with copper, but used it mainly for making jewelry. Tools and weapons made of wood were probably the most numerous among early humans in Europe, but wood is not usually preserved, nor are other organic materials, including horn and bone. Therefore, the main source for studying the Stone Age is stone tools and the remains of their production.
The long period of the Stone Age is usually divided into three parts: the ancient Stone Age, or Paleolithic; the Middle Stone Age, go Mesolithic, and the New Stone Age, or Neolithic. These divisions arose in the last century, but remain important to this day. The Paleolithic is the longest period, its beginning dates back to the emergence of human society. Paleolithic stone tools were made mainly using the beating technique, without the use of grinding and drilling. The Paleolithic coincides with the Pleistocene, the early part of the Quaternary, or glacial, period of Earth's history. The basis of the human economy in the Paleolithic was hunting and gathering.The Paleolithic, in turn, is divided into three parts: lower (or early), middle and late (younger, or upper).
The Mesolithic (sometimes called the Epipaleolithic, although these terms are not entirely equivalent) is a much shorter period. He continued in many respects the traditions of the Paleolithic, but already in post-glacial times, when the population of Europe adapted to new natural conditions, changing the economy, material production and way of life. The appropriating nature of the economy in the Mesolithic is preserved, but new branches are developing - fishing, including sea fishing, hunting for marine mammals, and collecting sea mollusks.
A characteristic feature of the Mesolithic is the reduction in the size of tools and the appearance of microliths.
However, the main milestone in the history of the Stone Age of Europe occurs at the beginning of the Neolithic. At this time, the long period of appropriative farming, hunting, gathering, and fishing was replaced by farming and cattle breeding—the producing economy. The significance of this event is so great that the term “Neolithic revolution” is used to describe it.
Between the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, the Copper-Stone Age (Chalcolithic) is distinguished, but this period can not be traced throughout Europe, but mainly in the south of the continent, where at that time agricultural and pastoral societies emerged and flourished, with large settlements, developed social relations, religion and even protoliteracy. Copper metallurgy is experiencing its first boom, the first large-sized copper tools appear - eye axes, adze axes, battle axes, as well as jewelry made of copper, gold and silver.
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Archeology distinguishes three main “ages” (periods, epochs) in the ancient history of Europe: stone, bronze, iron. The Stone Age is the longest of them. At this time, people made the main tools and weapons from wood, stone, horn and bone. It was only at the very end of the Stone Age that the ancient inhabitants of Europe first became acquainted with copper, but used it mainly for making jewelry. Tools and weapons made of wood were probably the most numerous among early humans in Europe, but wood is not usually preserved, nor are other organic materials, including horn and bone. Therefore, the main source for studying the Stone Age is stone tools and the remains of their production.
The long period of the Stone Age is usually divided into three parts: the ancient Stone Age, or Paleolithic; the Middle Stone Age, go Mesolithic, and the New Stone Age, or Neolithic. These divisions arose in the last century, but remain important to this day. The Paleolithic is the longest period; its beginning dates back to the emergence of human society. Paleolithic stone tools were made mainly by the beating technique, without the use of grinding and drilling. The Paleolithic coincides with the Pleistocene - the early part of the Quaternary, or glacial, period of Earth's history. The basis of the human economy in the Paleolithic was hunting and gathering.
The Paleolithic, in turn, is divided into three parts: lower (or early), middle and late (younger, or upper).
The Mesolithic (sometimes called the Epipaleolithic, although these terms are not entirely equivalent) is a much shorter period. He continued in many respects the traditions of the Paleolithic, but already in post-glacial times, when the population of Europe adapted to new natural conditions, changing the economy, material production and way of life. The appropriating nature of the economy in the Mesolithic is preserved, but new branches are developing - fishing, including sea fishing, hunting for marine mammals, and collecting sea mollusks.
A characteristic feature of the Mesolithic is the reduction in the size of tools and the appearance of microliths.
However, the main milestone in the history of the Stone Age of Europe occurs at the beginning of the Neolithic. At this time, the long period of appropriating economy, hunting, gathering, and fishing was replaced by agriculture and cattle breeding - the producing economy. The significance of this event is so great that the term “Neolithic revolution” is used to describe it.
Between the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, the Copper-Stone Age (Chalcolithic) is distinguished, but this period can not be traced throughout Europe, but mainly in the south of the continent, where at that time agricultural and pastoral societies emerged and flourished, with large settlements, developed social relations, religion and even protoliteracy. Copper metallurgy is experiencing its first boom, the first large-sized copper tools appear - eye axes, adze axes, battle axes, as well as jewelry made of copper, gold and silver.