Theme:
5. Climate Change and Socioenvironmental Perspectives
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
The Dawn, Apogee and Modern Demise of Kurgans in Southeast and East-central Europe
Content:
They once virtually dotted the steppe flatlands of southeast and east-central Europe: Burials mounds, often called kurgans deriving from their ancient Turkic synonym. For the westwards migration of Yamnaya populations some 5000 years ago, they are the only visible monuments. However what do we know about their erection? What comprises the activities of their construction? What does a mound tell us about the kurgan-builder community?
Equally important is the landscape archaeology of kurgans. We find them alone, in groups, in clusters, sometimes covering whole regions with distinct boundaries. Beyond, not a single mound is erected despite seemingly same landscapes and environmental conditions. What are the dynamics of this distribution? And what the intentions of their constructors? Burial mounds are equally significant elements of and research material for multiproxy scientific approaches. Buried soil profiles underneath the mound, and in its soil body, hold the 'memory' of the once existed landscape and its climatic conditions, being point-wise 'time capsules' on the map.
Finally, it is the ongoing destruction of kurgans that can only be called a heritage tragedy. Measures were already taken in some countries to protect these monuments, but are minimal in others. When comparing with early topographical maps the overall losses mostly due to industrial-scale agriculture and drastic landscape transformations become apparent. But reliable datasets for the degree of this destruction are patchy: What is the percentage of surviving kurgans compared to original numbers; are there correlations with size; how much is still preserved even when the burial mound has vanished? And what are the possibilities/limitations of making complete kurgan cadastres?
The session thus aims at linking, in an interdisciplinary way, various scientific approaches with landscape archaeology and ecology, and heritage management to the better understanding of burial mounds, their micro- and macro environmental conditions, and their legacy.
Keywords:
burial mounds, Yamnaya culture, heritage management, landscape archaeology, palaeoecology, landscape ecology
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
ÁKOS PETO (Hungary) 1
Co-organisers:
Volker Heyd (Finland) 2
János Dani (Hungary) 3
Gabriella Kulcsár (Hungary) 4
Affiliations:
1. Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences
2. University of Helsinki, Department of Cultures, Archaeology
3. Déri Museum, Debrecen
4. Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of Archaeology
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