Complexes of the Final of the Late Sarmatian Period in the Lower Volga Region

The traditional dating established in the historiography of the upper chronological boundary of the Late Sarmatian culture requires adjustment. After the mid-3rd century, global political changes occurred in the Volga-Don region, associated with the expansion of the Alan population from the North Caucasus to the Lower Don, leading to the formation of the “Alan-Tanaites” culture. This culture was based on two cultural components: Late Sarmatian and Alan. By the 4th century, the Alan tradition of burial in T-shaped catacombs had almost completely supplanted Late Sarmatian burial structures. Thus, in the second half of the 3rd century, two apparently politically independent groups of nomads with different cultural foundations emerged in the Volga-Don steppes: the Late Sarmatians and the Alans. The western group, gravitating towards the Lower Don, is characterized by the traditions of the “Alan-Tanaites” culture, while the eastern group, associated with the Right Bank of the Lower Volga, is characterized by Late Sarmatian traditions. The boundary between them passed in the area of the Yergeni area. The article analyzes the kurgans from the final stage of the Late Sarmatian period in the Lower Volga region. A total of 8 complexes dating to the 4th century have been identified. Most are associated with the Late Sarmatian cultural complex, while several burials are represented by type I and II catacombs, which can be interpreted as the influence of the “Alan-Tanaites” culture. The obtained results confirm the previously stated hypothesis about the absence of archaeological evidence for the existence of the Late Sarmatian culture as an integral phenomenon in the region during the 4th century. Against the background of increasing climate humidity in the second half of the 3rd century AD, a complex of factors unfavorable for nomadic pastoralism in the steppe zone of the Volga-Urals region intensified. The consequence was an outflow of population from the region or their death. It cannot be ruled out that the nomads could have used these territories as summer pastures. However, it is unlikely that one can speak of a stable year-round presence of pastoralists here at this time. The historical, cultural, and natural-climatic processes that swept the Lower Volga region in the second half of the 3rd – 4th centuries were large-scale and prolonged. Similar scenarios for pastoral cultures evidently developed in the forest-steppe of Western Siberia and the steppe zone of the Southern Urals.