Biklyan’ Settlement of the Initial Stage of the Migration Period in the Lower Kama Region

Abstract

The article examines the materials of the beginning of the Migration period from the Biklyan’ settlement, located in the Lower Kama region. The area of 100 m2 was excavated in 2018, where a rectangular structure slightly deepened into subsoil loam with a large pit in the central part was revealed. The finds are mainly represented by fragments of ceramics, as well as an iron sickle, spinning whorls, a fragment of a crucible and ceramic objects of unknown purpose. The artifacts from the Biklyan’ settlement have close analogies in the materials of the sites dated to the beginning of the Migration period in the Middle Volga region (3rd–4th centuries CE) and reflect the traditions of several different population groups. The bulk of the ceramics collection is similar to the vessels of the Middle Volga variant of the Kiev culture; there are also fragments that find analogies in the assemblages of the forest-steppe peripheral sites of the Late Sarmatian world and in the simultaneous cultures of the Kama region. Stratigraphic records and radiocarbon dating testify in favor of the relatively short-term functioning of the site in the late 3rd – early 4th centuries.

Keywords

• archaeology
• lower kama region
• biklyan’ site
• the migration period
• the middle volga variant of the kiev culture