ИСТИНА

Caucasia has always been a bridge linking the civilizations of the Near East and Eurasia, and is therefore a key study area for archaeological research. In the BIOARCCAUCASUS project, an international and multi-disciplinary team of scholars from Russia, Germany, and Switzerland studies Bronze Age populations in the Northern Caucasus regarding diet, lifestyle, economic strategies, and mobility. We combine archaeological and osteological methods with multi-isotope analysis (strontium, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen) in investigating burial communities in the North Caucasus steppe, the piedmont zone, and the Caucasus Mountains. The samples represent different chronological phases ranging from the early Bronze Age Maikop, the middle Bronze Age Yamnaya, Catacomb, and North Caucasian Cultures to the late Bronze and early Iron Age. Extensive comparative sampling of archaeological and modern fauna and vegetation supports the interpretation of the human isotope data. Based on a case study from the piedmont zone, our presentation will focus on both continuity and change of subsistence strategies and mobility ranges of pastoral communities over time.