Babino cultural circle: name, taxonomy, and structure

The author singles out archaeological phenomenon of Babino cultural circle. The term "ribbed pottery culture" first used to denote the corresponding sites is considered incorrect, since the culture is not homogeneous and comprises a number of local variants. Now the cultural unity named after the eponymous settlement Babino III is considered a three-level structure, its top level corresponds to the term cultural circle, the middle level is termed as archaeological culture, and the bottom one - as local cultural variant. The Babino cultural circle is subdivided into at least two archaeological cultures - the Dnieper-Don Babino culture, and the Dnieper-Prut Babino culture (the latter included three local variants). Generally, Babino cultural entity represents western part of the post- Catacomb cultural block in Eastern Europe.