Was the Maikop culture the PIE homeland?

Klady and Dlinnaya Polyana, Russia
N 44.384896°, E 40.390285°
Excavation Institute for the Material Culture History, Russian Academy of Sciences, SaintPetersburg, (A.D. Rezepkin)
The Klady cemetery is located in the foothills area of the Northwest Caucasus near the village
Novosvobodnaya and includes about 40 kurgans of different sizes. The largest of them, the socalled ‘Silver Mound’ (mound 11) was about 12 m high and 120 m in diameter. The cemetery was excavated in 1898-99 (N.I. Veselovsky), 1979-1991 (A.D. Rezepkin) and in 2013-2017 (V.A. Trifonov)1. In archaeology the Klady cemetery is regarded as the most vivid example of
the relationship between the European, Caucasian and Ancient East cultures in the Early Bronze
Age. Currently, the site is attributed to the Novosvobodnaya variant of the Maykop
phenomenon and dated to the second half of the 4th millennium BCE. All graves with human
remains that have been sampled for DNA-analysis are published.

Four individuals produced genome-wide data:
• I6266, KLADY2, KLD89-11/22, kurgan 11, grave 22. The adult human skeleton was
found positioned on its left side in a crouched position and the head pointing SE,
accompanied by two ceramic pots typical for the Maykop-Novosvobodnaya variant, and
a flint flake. Dating: 3500-3000 BCE
• I6267, KLADY4, KLD89-11/43, kurgan 11, grave 43. The burial was placed in a simple
rectangular pit with rounded corners (1,95 x 1,5 m). The adult human skeleton was
found positioned on its left side in crouched position with hands raised in front of the
face and head pointing south. The grave goods included three roe deer skulls
(Capreolus?), two ceramic pots typical for the Maykop-Novosvobodnaya variant, and
two bone pins. Dating: 3614-3362 calBCE (4675±70BP, OxA-5058)
• I6268, KLADY5, KLD89-11/50, kurgan 11, grave 50. The burial was placed in a simple
rectangular pit with rounded corners (2,3 x 1,4m). The adult human skeleton was found
positioned on its right side in a crouched position with hands raised in front of the face
and the head pointing SSW. The grave goods consisted of three ceramic pots typical for
the Maykop-Novosvobodnaya variant, and a broken hammer (?) made from antler.
Dating: 3692-3532 calBCE (4835±60 BP, OxA-5059)
• I6272, KLADY_DP, KLD89-DLP, Klady, Dlinnaya Polyna. The grave was found
under a small mound. The burial was placed in a shallow square pit (2,15 x 2 x 0,15m)
with floor and walls lined with pebbles. An adult human skeleton was found positioned
on its right side in a crouched position with hands raised in front of the abdominal cavity
and its head pointing south. The grave goods consist of two ceramic pots typical for the
Novosvobodnaya variant and a polished and shafted stone hammer. Dating: 3500-3000
BCE.

Kudachurt, Russia
N 43.354032°, E 43.721893°
Excavation ‘Institute of Archaeology of the Caucasus’, Nalchik 2004-2006
The flat cemetery of Kudachurt K14 is one of the rare cemeteries with heterogeneous burial
rites of the Bronze Age that has been excavated almost to full extent. The location of the site is
in the foothills of the northern flank of the Greater Caucasus, not far below where the river
Balkar Cherek flows out of a 600 m deep gorge. The environment is mid-altitude alpine forest
vegetation3. The final Middle and Late Bronze Age cemetery (ca. 2200-1650 calBCE) on the
right river terrace was part of a long-term rescue excavation due to the construction of a
hydrological station during which 219 burials were excavated, of which 130 date to the Bronze
Age. The other burials are associated with the Early Medieval Alanian population and belong
to a large agglomeration of fortified settlements and necropolises dating to the 1st century AD.
Interdisciplinary analyses of the Kudachurt cemetery are currently in preparation for
publication as part of the doctoral thesis of Katharina Fuchs, Kiel University33. The thesis
evaluates indicators of social inequality, oral health and diet with regard to socio-economic
issues during the key period of the Middle to Late Bronze Age transition in the piedmonts. Two
individuals of the final Middle Bronze Age horizon produced genome-wide data:

• KDC001.A0101.TF1 (BZNK-301/1), kurgan 14, grave 218.1/2, individual 218.1_3.
The complex was a catacomb grave with two layers of inhumations. The skeletons were
placed with their grave goods in crouched positions. A minimal number of eleven
individuals were found, four in the upper (218.1) and seven in the lower level (218.2).
Like the majority of burials at Kudachurt the grave contained ceramic vessels, animal
remains, a few bronze weapons and jewellery. Dating of the animal sample from layer
1: 1953-1776 calBCE (3548±23BP, MAMS-110560); dating of the animal sample from
layer 2: 1971-1777 calBCE (3554±23BP, MAMS-110561)
• KDC002.A0101.TF1 (BZNK-300/1), kurgan 14, grave 50, shallow and tight grave with
two ceramic vessels and animal remains. Dating of the animal sample: 1879-1692
calBCE (3456±25 BP, KUD14gshdl_050).

Lysogorskyja 6, Russia
N 44.05336°, E 43.21034°
Excavation ‘Nasledie’, Stavropol 2015, licence №2015-70 (T. A. Gabuev)
The site of Lysogorskyja 6 is a loose agglomeration of burial mounds at the right bank of the
river Podkumok. The location and environmental conditions are comparable to the site of
Goryachevodsky, which is approximately 20 km away. The excavation of mound 3 took place
due to construction works in 2015. Prior to excavation the huge mound was 50 x 65 m in
diameter and 7.2 m high. It held a complex mound construction of mud blocks on top of the
central burial 4, which dates to the North Caucasus cultural formation. Unlike most Caucasian
burial mounds it revealed only one single construction layer associated with grave 4. The other
three interments were dated to the Sarmatian period. The individual that produced genomewide data was the founding grave of the mound:
• LYG001.A0101.TF1 (BZNK-297/1), kurgan 3, grave 4, North Caucasus burial in a
huge stepped pit inside a wooden frame. The grave was covered by a massive stone
vessel, jewellery, and remains of textiles. Dating: 2863-2581 calBCE (4122±23BP,
MAMS-29825)

Marchenkova Gora 13, Russia
N 44.583183°, E 38.176667°
Excavation Institute for the Material Culture History, Russian Academy of Sciences, SaintPetersburg, 2003 (V. A. Trifonov)
The group of 14 dolmens at Marchenkova Gora is located in the mountainous area of the NW
Caucasus near Gelengik at the Black Sea coast. The site was explored in 2003 and 2007.
Dolmen 13 represents a collective megalithic tomb typical in the Western Caucasus, with a
characteristic entrance hole of 25 x 45 cm in diameter. This entrance enabled access to the burial
chamber for periodic interments and was closed by a stone plug. The burial chamber of the
dolmen contained human remains from about eight individuals of different ages and sexes. The
human remains were accompanied by pendants made from wild boar tusks and flint arrowheads.
One individual produced genome-wide data:
• I2051, MG13, MG-03 D-13, Marchenkova Gora, Dolmen 13. Dating: 1410-1210
calBCE (3045±80BP, Le-7053)

Marinskaya 3, Russia
N 43.925°, E 43.530°
Excavation Lomonosov Moscow State University, Institute of Archaeology RAS, ‘Nasledie’
2007, licence № 2007-687 (A.R. Kantorovich), 840 (V. Ye. Maslov)
In 2007 a huge burial mound near the village of Marinskaya was excavated by the Lomonosov
Moscow State University, the Institute of Archaeology RAS and the local heritage organisation
‘Nasledie’34. The excavated mound 1 was part of a cemetery of then three visible and several
ploughed-over burial mounds on the high terrace of the river Kura. The site is situated in an
herb-grass steppe environment3, which was formerly intersected by forests. The barrow was
more than 4 m high and about 40 m in diameter and surrounded by a circular ditch about 2.5 m
deep, which was visible on aerial and satellite images and later partly excavated. The excavation
of the mound revealed two main phases of construction: the first mound-shell dates to the
Maykop period. Beneath this shell is a deep rectangular burial pit with an undisturbed late
Maykop burial (grave 18) placed on a floor paved with river pebbles34. The pit was dug into the
ground and had a wooden ceiling, which was covered and surrounded by a rectangular stone
construction. The walls of the pit were plastered and painted in red and bright yellow. Grave 18
is dendrochronologically dated. The first mound-shell was built on-top of this grave and the
empty stone construction of grave 2 possibly also belongs to this phase. The second moundshell dates to the Middle Bronze Age and was constructed in several layers, during which 14
graves were interred. Six graves are associated with the North Caucasus cultural formation
(grave no. 3, 6, 12, 13, 16, and 17), while eight graves (no. 5, 7-9, 11, 14, 15, and 17) belong to
the Catacomb cultural tradition (Suvorovo variant). The stratigraphy suggests that the shallower
graves had initially been placed around the Maykop mound and were only later covered by the
layers of Middle Bronze Age construction phases. Finally, an Early Iron Age grave and a
Sarmatian grave 4/10 were interred in the Bronze Age mound, both of them severely damaged
by later grave robbers.

One individual produced genome-wide data:
• MK3003.A0101.TF1 (BZNK-051/1), kurgan 1, grave 7, poorly preserved inhumation
of the Catacomb epoch in a T-shaped catacomb with bronze ornaments and some animal
bones. Dating: 2577-2476 calBCE (4020±22BP, MAMS-29809)

Marinskaya 5, Russia
N43.905354°, E 43.521883°
Excavation Lomonosov Moscow State University, Institute of Archaeology RAS, ‘Nasledie’
2009, licence № 2009745 (A.R. Kantorovich), 2009-762 (V.Ye. Maslov)
The huge, single-standing burial mound Marinskaya 5, situated 2.3 km southwest of the mound
group Marinskaya 3 was excavated in 2009 by a team of the Lomonosov Moscow State
University, the Institute of Archaeology RAS and the local heritage organization ‘Nasledie’.
The kurgan is situated on the high terrace of the river Kura. The mound was slightly oval with
a diameter of 34 to 40 m and 4.3 m high. At a distance of 10-16 m a ditch of 1.5 m depth
surrounded the mound, which was detected on aerial images and excavated later. In the central
part of the mound, the excavations uncovered three mound-shells or construction phases dating
to the Early Bronze Age Maykop epoch and one that was constructed during the Middle Bronze
Age. The first constructive feature in the mound was the above-ground burial vault of grave 33,
surrounded by an oval fencing built from river pebbles. The first shell, an earth and stone
construction, was built directly on top of this construction. Two following early Maykop burials
32 and 34 were entrenched in the centre. The second mound-shell was associated with late
Maykop burials 12 and 16 and was added later. The third mound-shell was constructed after
the interment of late Maykop grave 25. These mound-shells were complex earthen
constructions and each was covered by a stone shell. All burials except grave 25 were situated
on top of each other in the centre of the mound. Grave 12 is dendrochronologically dated29, all
others inhumations are radiocarbon dated. The Maykop stratigraphy has recently been
published in Russian35. In several graves, among them late Maykop grave 25 and North
Caucasus graves 19, 23, 30/30a, paired cattle skulls were found. They place this site among one
of the earliest where the use of cattle as draught animals is documented in a chronological
sequence8. After a hiatus of 600 years, 18 graves (no. 3, 10, 13, 15, 17-24, 26-29, 30A, and 31)
dating to the North Caucasus cultural formation were added, including another mound shell.
Two graves (no. 4 and 14) dated to the Late Bronze Age/post-Catacomb epoch based on burial
practice and radiocarbon dates, and two nearly destroyed burials (no. 8 and 11) perhaps also
date to the Bronze Age. One catacomb grave, also dating to the local Middle Bronze Age,
intersected the ring of the North Caucasus graves and destroyed an earlier interment (no.
30/30A). During the Late Iron Age five additional graves were added in the centre of the mound.
which can be attributed to the Sarmatian epoch. Grave 1 can be associated with the Early Iron
Age of the late 8th to early 7th century BCE and the others (no. 2, 5, 6, 9) date to the early
Sarmatian epoch, i.e. the 3rd to 1st century BCE.
• MK5005.C0101.TF1 (BZNK-079/1), kurgan 1, grave 32, an early Maykop secondary
interment into the second mound-shell on top of the first burial. The grave was without
inventory but is according to the stratigraphy associated with the early Maykop
complexes. Dating: leather 3640-3370 calBCE (4720±25BP, UGAMS-13047); human
bone 3341-3098 calBCE (4496±26BP, MAMS-11212)
• MK5001.A0101.TF1+ B0101.TF1 (BZNK-065/5+3), kurgan 1, grave 12, a partly
disturbed Late Maykop inhumation slightly south of the centre with bronze weapons and
a ceramic vessel. The grave is dendrochronologically dated with an end date of 3279
BCE + 25 years for missing sapwood29. Dating of the skeleton: 3348-3035 calBCE
(4491±32BP, MAMS-110555)
• MK5008.B0101.TF1 (BZNK-066/3), kurgan 1, grave 16, a Late Maykop inhumation in
the center of the mound with a wooden vessel(?). Dating: 3364-3107 calBCE
(4544±25BP, MAMS-29810)
• MK5004.A0101.TF1+D0101 (BZNK-073/4+2), kurgan 1, grave 25, which was a
disturbed Late Maykop inhumation burial in a square burial chamber. Bronze weapons,
a golden earring and a ceramic vessel remained from the inventory. Additionally, two
cattle skulls with bronze nose rings and the remains of a possible yoke were found in
situ outside the chamber. Dating of wood remains from the grave construction: 3347-
3095 calBCE (4498±30BP, MAMS-110554)
• MK5009.A0101.TF1 (BZNK-064/2), kurgan 1, grave 10, a North Caucasus grave
inside a well preserved wooden massive construction in a deep grave shaft. The
inventory included a stone object and animal bones. This complex is likewise
dendrochronologically dated with an end date of 2644 BCE + 13 years uncertainty for
missing sapwood29. Dating of the skeleton: 2884-2636 calBCE (4175±31BP, MAMS110548)