Archaeogenetic studies have described the formation of Eurasian ‘steppe ancestry’ as a mixture of Eastern and Caucasus hunter-gatherers. However, it remains unclear when and where this ancestry arose and whether it was related to a horizon of cultural innovations in the 4th millennium BCE that subsequently facilitated the advance of pastoral societies in Eurasia. Here we generated genome-wide SNP data from 45 prehistoric individuals along a 3000-year temporal transect in the North Caucasus. We observe a genetic separation between the groups of the Caucasus and those of the adjacent steppe. The northern Caucasus groups are genetically similar to contemporaneous populations south of it, suggesting human movement across the mountain range during the Bronze Age. The steppe groups from Yamnaya and subsequent pastoralist cultures show evidence for previously undetected farmer-related ancestry from different contact zones, while Steppe Maykop individuals harbour additional Upper Palaeolithic Siberian and Native American related ancestry.

Archaeogenetic studies have described the formation of Eurasian ‘steppe ancestry’ as a mixture of Eastern and Caucasus hunter-gatherers. However, it remains unclear when and where this ancestry arose and whether it was related to a horizon of cultural innovations in the 4th millennium BCE that subsequently facilitated the advance of pastoral societies likely linked to the dispersal of Indo-European languages. To address this, we generated genome-wide SNP data from 45 prehistoric individuals along a 3000-year temporal transect in the North Caucasus. We observe a genetic separation between the groups of the Caucasus and those of the adjacent steppe. The Caucasus groups are genetically similar to contemporaneous populations south of it, suggesting that – unlike today – the Caucasus acted as a bridge rather than an insurmountable barrier to human movement. The steppe groups from Yamnaya and subsequent pastoralist cultures show evidence for previously undetected farmer-related ancestry from different contact zones, while Steppe Maykop individuals harbour additional Upper Palaeolithic Siberian and Native American related ancestry.

Cet article passe en revue les recherches menées sur le Complexe du Bronze ancien de Velikent et sur les sites liés à la culture de Velikent, établis sur la plaine côtière de la rive ouest de la mer Caspienne, au Daghestan (Russie) et, plus au sud, dans le nord-est de l’Azerbaïdjan. Des prospections ont montré que cette plaine littorale fut occupée de façon dense pour la première fois au milieu du 4e millénaire, par une population qui utilisait déjà le tour de potier pour façonner des céramiques cuites à haute température et qui était capable de fondre, couler, et vraisemblablement de créer des alliages de bronze pour des outils, des armes et des parures. Les analyses techniques du mobilier de Velikent et des sites apparentés sont présentées brièvement, tout comme les descriptions et illustrations du mobilier des tombes collectives et des établissements de Velikent. L’article définit une ‘ Culture de Velikent’ spécifi que, qui est reliée à la Communauté culturelle et historique Kura-Araxe, mais qui en diffère suffi samment pour justifier sa propre appellation en tant que culture archéologique.

The article is devoted to the results of exploratory archaeological research in 2001-2002. in North-East Azerbaijan, incl. Khachmass-Cuban zone, within the framework of the IPARC project (The International Program for Anthropological Research in the Caucasus; project leader - Professor Wellesley College, USA F.L.Cole). Along with the study of the medieval Gilgilchay defensive system, an international expedition, in which Azerbaijani, Dagestani and American scientists participated, conducted an exploratory survey of 15 famous settlements of the Early Bronze Age. At one of the sites (Serkertepe), a deep exploration pit was laid, which gave a fundamentally new archaeological material. The first part of the article deals with the issues of the historiography of the archaeological study of this region of Azerbaijan, adjacent to Dagestan; provides an overview of exploration and monitoring of known Kuro-Arak settlements; outlines the prospects for their further scientific study. In the second part of the article, much attention will be paid to the characterization and analysis of the materials of the exploration pit at Serkertepe, and also a new concept of the historical, cultural and chronological interpretation of the Kuro-Arak monuments of Northeastern Azerbaijan in the framework of the Great Archaeological culture will be proposed.