Черногоровка-Новочеркасск мәдени кешені: Киммерийлер және ерте көшпелілер тарихы

Archaeological complex
The Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex, sometimes conventionally called the Cimmerian culture, is an archaeological complex associated with the first steppe nomads of ancient eastern and central Europe, especially with the Cimmerians.

Thanks to their development of highly mobile mounted nomadic pastoralism and the creation of effective weapons suited to equestrian warfare, all based on equestrianism, these nomads from the Pontic Caspian Steppes were able to gradually infiltrate into Central and Southeast Europe and therefore expand deep into this region over a very long period of time. Graves of both the Chernogorovka (Chornohorivka, in Siversk, Ukraine) and Novocherkassk phases of the complex are spread across a large area ranging from north eastern Bulgaria and Moldavia in the west through Ukraine and Crimea and up to the Kuban and Volga Kama regions in the east. The Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex thus covered the area ranging from Central Europe and the Hungarian Plain in the west to the Pontic and Ciscaucasian Steppes in the east. In the 8th century BC, a part of the Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex expanded into the Pannonian Steppe, where it contributed to the formation of the Mezőcsát culture. This in turn allowed the Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex itself to strongly influence the Hallstatt culture of Central Europe: among these influences was the adoption of trousers, which were not used by the native populations of Central Europe before the arrival of the Central Asian steppe nomads.

Another direction of expansion of the Arzhan Chernogorovka cultural layer was represented by the movements of the Cimmerians and Scythians to the south of the Caucasus into West Asia during the 8th to 7th centuries BC.

The arrival of the Scythians and their establishment in this region in the 7th century BC corresponded to a disturbance of the development of Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex, which was thus replaced through a continuous process over the course of to by the early Scythian culture in southern Europe, which itself nevertheless still showed links to the Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex.

Due to the Central Asian contribution in its formation, the Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex exhibited similarities with the other early nomadic cultures of the Eurasian steppe and forest steppe which existed before the 7th century BC, such as the Aržan culture, so that these various pre Scythian early nomadic cultures were thus part of a unified Aržan Chernogorovka cultural layer originating from Central Asia, with the early Scythian culture being materially indistinguishable from the Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex. The characteristic objects of the Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex are Kabardino Pyatigorsk daggers, Ciscaucasian horse bits, specific arrowhead shapes, and less specific spearheads. Many decorative parts of horse harnesses and personal ornaments are rare in the Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex, while open work rattles were used for rituals, and Maltese crosses had a religious significance. The transition from the Chernogorovka to Novocherkassk phases was marked by a change of horse gear styles.

The peoples of the Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex shared a common culture and origin with the Scythians and lived an equestrian nomadic pastoralist way of life similar to that of the Scythians, which is reflected by how West Asian sources mentioned Cimmerian arrows, bows and horse equipment, which are typical of steppe nomads. Thus, the "mare milkers" (ιππημολγοι) and "milk consumers" (γαλακτοφαγοι) from Homer's Odyssey might have been a reference to Chernogorovka Novocherkassk peoples such as the Cimmerians, who had this lifestyle in common with the Scythians, as attested by Hesiod's description of the Scythians as living in the same way.

The Chernogorovka Novocherkassk complex covered a wide territory ranging from Central Europe and the Pannonian Plain in the west to Caucasia in the east, including present day Southern Russia.

Chernogorovka Novocherkassk type remains found in the eastern parts of Central Europe, especially in Transylvania and on the Hungarian Plain were previously designated as "Thraco Cimmerian" due to their then identification with possible westwards migrations of the Cimmerians.