Actual Trends in the Latest Research of the Pianobor and Kara-Abyz Archaeological Cultures

Abstract

Today, an understanding of the state of knowledge of the Pianobor and Kara-Abyz archaeological cultures is quite relevant for archaeologists of the Urals and Prikamye. A variety of scientific approaches to understanding the nature of the above cultures gave rise to a lot of questions and problems in the scientific literature relating to the reconstruction of the ancient history of the Southern Urals. This article cites and analyzes recent works related to the history of studying the antiquities of the Pianobor and Kara-Abyz archaeological cultures of the Southern Urals of the early Iron Age. Based on them, thematic historiographic blocks are identified and conceptual directions in the study of the above-mentioned cultures are determined. Today’s situation shows that in the field of studying the forest-steppe cultures of the Ural region of the Early Iron Age, certain scientific trends have developed, in which theoretical knowledge of the ancient history of this region is developing. Moreover, each of them touches upon a specific feature of the functioning of the Kara-Abyz and Pianobor archaeological cultures in the Early Iron Age in the Southern Urals. The author outlines six actual lines of development of studies of the above-mentioned cultures: 1) historiography; 2) natural science methods in archaeological research; 3) analysis of trade relations; 4) the introduction into the scientific circulation of excavation materials; 5) problems of chronology; 6) problems of the genesis and historical fate of archaeological cultures. In many cases, these theoretical developments of scientists overlap, forming a circle of problems and interests, creating discussions, or complementing each other’s scientific concepts. The latter trend allows us to form a unified system of knowledge and characteristics in understanding the historical development of the Pianobor and Kara-Abyz archaeological cultures.

Keywords

• early iron age
• pianoborskaya culture
• kara-abyzskaya culture
• south ural
• pre-ural
• forest-steppes pre-ural