LOWER DON AS A CONTACT ZONE OF INTERACTION OF NOMADS AND SEDENTARY POPULATION IN THE FIRST CENTURIES AD

Document Type : Review Article

Author

Archeology and History of the Ancient World dep. South Federal Univ., Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Abstract

This article describes contact zone of interaction of different cultures in the Don Region in I-III
centuries AD. The article investigates three different ethnic and cultural groups: the nomadic tribes
of the Sarmatians, the Greeks in the ancient town Tanais, Meotians on the basis of archaeological
data and epigraphy. The article analyzes political, ethnic, cultural and economic aspects of
interaction in the Lower Don Region. Special attention is paid to the process of sarmatisationthe
transformation of the Tanais and Meotian settlements under the influence of the migration
of the Sarmatians. Sarmatization has created new cultural and social phenomena. The result
of the interaction has become a special cultural practices - combined the tradition of the burial
rite in Tanais, extensive use of antique ceramics and other artifact by Sarmatians and Meotians.

Keywords