Pozdniakovo Culture

an archaeological culture of the Bronze Age widespread in the second half of the second millennium B.C. in the basin of the Oka and Kliaz’ma rivers, in the upper and middle (right-bank) Volga Region. It was named after the village of Pozdniakovo (in the vicinity of Murom), near which a settlement of the culture was first excavated.

The origin of the Pozdniakovo culture is traced to the advance of tribes of the Timber-Frame (Srubnaia) culture from the Don and Severskii Donets rivers in the middle of the second millennium B.C. and the assimilation of the local population by these tribes.

The Pozdniakovo culture was characterized by small tribal settlements situated on terraces above the floodplains, with burial grounds nearby. In the culture’s early phase, the burial grounds were of the kurgan type; later, the culture was characterized by flat-grave burial grounds. Bodies were buried in a flexed position. Traces of ritual fires have been discovered next to the graves, which contained dishes and flint implements. The graves of the wealthy contained bronze knives, daggers, and ornaments. Tribes of the Pozdniakovo culture were engaged mainly in stock raising, land cultivation, and the smelting of bronze. Hunting and fishing were of secondary importance.