New book on the past of the North Caucasus

At the end of July, the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI) in Berlin published the full account and results of the cemetery excavations which Professor Heinrich Härke and his colleague Andrej Belinskij (Stavropol) carried out some 20 years ago near Kislovodsk in the North Caucasus.

The burial site of Klin-Yar is one of the most important archaeological sites in this region because it was in use from the 8th century BC to the late 7th century AD, across three historical phases (Koban Culture, Sarmatians and Alans). The excavators were lucky because they found a concentration of outstandingly rich graves apparently representing one leading family over 350 years. Specialists from the North Caucasus, Moscow and abroad have contributed chapters on particular types of finds, on human and animal bones and on radiocarbon dating to the book.

The full citation of the book is: A.B. Belinskij and H. Härke. Ritual, society and population at Klin-Yar (North Caucasus): Excavations 1994-1996 in the Iron Age to early medieval cemetery (Archäologie in Eurasien series, vol. 36). Berlin: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Eurasien-Abteilung  2018. [XVIII + 416 pages] ISBN 978-3-7749-4154-0.