Pages: 119-134

This article is in Russian
Varfolomeevka station is a reference settlement of the Orlovka Neolithic culture. The site stands out among other Neolithic settlements of the Lower Volga region by the presence of dwellings with painted floors and walls, bone tools with meander ornaments and complex geometric ornaments on ceramics, a combination of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic plastics. The chronology of the site has been clarified in recent years. The lower layer of the site is attributed to the early Neolithic and dates between the last quarter of the 7 ^th mill. BC — the first quarter of the 6 ^th mill. BC. This made it possible to consider the origin of the Orlovka Neolithic culture in a new way.
The article compares Varfolomeevka station with the sites from the neighboring regions. Special attention is paid to materials from the territory of the Lower Don and the Near East. Analogies are found in the construction of dwellings, the ornamentation of ceramics, stone tools. Parallels among both objects of art and cult are especially indicative. At this level of sources, we can state the undoubted influence of the Near East on the process of neolithization of the steppe Volga region. The population of the Orlovka culture directly or indirectly adopted part of the Neolithic package. Cultural impulses were probably repeated and fueled the development of the Orlovka culture.

Keywords: Varfolomeevka station, Orlovka culture, steppe Volga region, neolithization, objects of art and worship

Information about authors:

Aleksander Yudin (Saratov, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Research Center for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. Glebychev Ovrag St., 492, Saratov, 410003, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID:  0000-0003-1901-1001