Yamna Culture

"Ямна культура"

Maryna Lukach

In Ukraine, sites associated with this culture are concentrated primarily in the steppe and forest-steppe zones—specifically in the Dnieper basin, the Sea of ​​Azov region, and Crimea. The Yamna people were a warlike tribal group whose westward expansion brought about significant changes in the Europe of that era; notably, they may have contributed to the decline of the Trypillia culture.
The Yamna culture is one of the most significant archaeological cultures of the late Eneolithic and early Bronze Age (approximately 3600–2300 BCE), spanning vast territories of Eastern Europe—from the Ural River to the middle Danube.
Its name derives from the practice of burying members of the same kin group in pits beneath burial mounds (kurgans). The deceased were interred in a contracted position—lying on their backs or sides—and sprinkled with red ochre; vessels containing food (typically egg-shaped pots) and tools or weapons made of stone (or, less frequently, copper) were placed alongside them. Yamna settlements were sometimes fortified, and dwellings were predominantly surface-level structures; the population’s primary livelihood was pastoralism, supplemented by incipient agriculture, hunting, and fishing. Remains of ox-drawn wagons have been discovered, as well as sculptures featuring schematic representations of human figures. 2026