Cross-Cultural Communication Between the Gorodets and Scythoid Cultures in the Don Forest-Steppe Belt: Peaceful Life as Good Neighbors and Military Confrontation

In the Don basin the area occupied by the Gorodets culture abutted the area inhabited by the Scythoid (Middle Don) culture. It seems that geographical proximity of the settlements dating to the 5th-3rd centuries BC should be taken as an evidence of close interaction between these two population groups. Some researchers think that the two populations mixed ethnically because of the transformed Gorodets ceramic assemblage which became largely very similar to the Scythoid assemblage. A formalized comparison demonstrates that many kitchen vessels from the two cultures are 95-98% alike. However, tableware, jewelry and other goods of everyday use did not feature heavily in the Gorodets environment, though it would have happened inevitably in case of strong marriage relationships. Specific characteristics of economic activities such as differences in agricultural systems (slash-and-burn agriculture versus tillage agriculture) and poor trade relations contributed to ethnic distinctiveness of the Don societies. There is no evidence of interregional conflicts. Traces of military clashes at the fortified settlements are, most likely, linked to nomadic inroads from south into the steppe interfluve areas. Therefore, the level of interaction between the population of the forest cultural traditions and the forest-steppe population in the Don region was hardly high.