New finds of anthropomorphic figurines of the North Caucasian culture in the Central Fore-Caucasus

This paper publishes funerary assemblages with alabaster and clay anthropomorphic figurines of the developed and late stages of the North Caucasian culture (XXVIII – early XXV centuries BC) discovered in the central Fore-Caucasus in 2000– 2014. The article describes and dates five graves containing 14 figurines (Fig. 1–3). Based on the analysis of the overall source database (9 graves, and 21 figurines), the paper explores the location pattern of the graves with the figurines in the kurgan mounds and the figurines themselves inside the graves, age composition of the deceased, classification of the figurines by material they are made from, size and decoration (Fig. 5). The authors provide arguments that help trace the origin of the Northern Caucasus figurines to religious cult figurines of the so called Serezlievka type in the North Pontic region (late IV mill. BC). In the final section of the paper this series of the religious cult figurines is proposed to be called the Podkumok type of figurines based on the mapping of the figurine finds from the Central Fore-Caucasus.