Authors: Alin Frînculeasa (Prahova County Museum of History and Archaeology)
Bianca Preda-Bălănică (University of Helsinki)
Claudia Dumitrescu (Prahova County Museum of History and Archaeology)
Octav Negrea (Prahova County Museum of History and Archaeology)
Alexander Suvorov (University of Helsinki)
Maxime Brami (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)
In the summer of 2019 the ERC Advanced Project The Yamnaya Impact on Prehistoric Europe
in collaboration with the Prahova County Museum of History and Archaeology conducted archaeological excavations in Boldești village
scientific specialists and students from both University of Helsinki and Prahova Museum
as well as colleagues from Germany and the USA
The aim of the archaeological campaign was to investigate an Early Bronze Age burial mound (kurgan or tumulus) 2.9m high and 50m in diameter
also known under the name of Movila Crăciuneasca
The mound had been partially destroyed prior to the beginning of research
the south-western area being affected by illegal excavations that removed soil and used it for the fishery facilities located nearby
the western periphery of the mound was cut by a road that provided access to the already mentioned fishery
In order to obtain conclusive stratigraphic information
two main baulks with a thickness of 1m were left standing
The mound was thus divided into four sectors: NE
The 0 point was placed in the centre of the mound
Most of the funerary features were found in the SW area of the mound
which can be assigned to at least three different chronological phases: I
Gr.9 and Gr.10; III: the Sarmatian period – Gr.5; the dating of Gr.7 is problematic given that it was a cremation burial in a simple pit without any grave goods
The outline of the grave pits could only be identified for the Yamnaya burials
These were placed close to the centre of the mound; the deceased were interred in rectangular pits covered by wooden planks
a secondary burial was the only one containing grave goods
while Gr.3 was severely disturbed by animals
Ochre was found in all the Yamnaya burials
on the pit bottom as well as covering the bones of the individuals
All the Middle Bronze Age burials were grouped in the south-western sector of the mound
The individuals were lying side-crouched on the left
found in the south-western area of the mound
the individual was lying in extended position
The skull was intentionally removed in antiquity
The joint research was funded by the ERC Advanced project 788616: The Yamnaya Impact on Prehistoric Europe (YMPACT)
in collaboration with the Prahova County Museum of History and Archaeology
and nine of them showed characteristics of being horseback riders
Detail of the horse rider discovered in Malomirovo
He displays the typical burial custom of the Yamnaya
The radiocarbon date puts him into the 30th century BC
our findings provide a strong argument that horseback riding was already a common activity for some Yamnaya individuals," as early as 5,000 years ago
our findings provide a strong argument that horseback riding was already a common activity for some Yamnaya individuals."
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Burial mounds of the Eurasian steppe zone are not only part of our common cultural heritage
but they hold a lot of significant environmental information on the ancient natural environment
By covering the soil and erecting the mound
the original soil got sealed from environmental forces (e.g
The original soil was not exposed to diagenetic changes anymore
Burial mounds can be considered as 'time capsules' – environmental records from the past
From the buried soil and the soil material of the mound body we can take a glance at the environment in which the Yamnaya people lived in
Our work aims to understand the underlying environmental factors that led the Yamnaya people to migrate
and in general to get a picture of the kind of environment they lived in
The chemical reactions following diagenesis can change and can even stop after the burial mound was erected
The direction and speed of the reactions are dependent on environmental factors such as temperature and humidity
the measurement of elemental concentrations and their ratios can help to understand the local historical environmental changes
the chemical alteration index reflects the ratio of primary and secondary minerals
The barium/strontium ratio can be used to assess the extent of weathering
Or the sodium-oxide/aluminium-oxide ratio reflect the behaviour of water-soluble salt
By the analysis of trace metals and rare earth elements and the use of multivariate statistical methods the effects of the soil forming factors can be reconstructed
In the summer of 2019 we took soil samples from two profiles from the excavated Yamnaya burial mound at the outskirts of Boldeşti-Grădiştea
On site we described the physical soil types and measured the magnetic susceptibility along the profiles
This was done to identify and separate soil horizons and anthropogenic layers within the mound body
In order to investigate what processes lead to the formation of the soils we took samples from the profiles at 5 cm intervals
We also took reference background samples from a field near the burial mound with an auger soil sampler
Through the pedological and geochemical analysis of these profiles we will be able to see what kind of soil was used to build the mound and what environmental processes occurred since the burial