Sobotnik
New Member
Copper pin from the Scraped Grave culture. One of the first copper artefacts ever made.
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. - Genesis 12:1-3, King James Bible
-Over the past few thousand years the neolithic revolution has swept the world as many peoples turn to agriculture and pastoralism. The new economies brought forth a demographic explosion and by this point many distinct cultures have developed. Some of them are already on the cusp of the great ”Urban revolution” which could transform the world yet again. Prehistory is coming to an end and so man enters history.
Native Hunter – Yanuites (Scraped Grave culture)
Location: Yanukshatram
-The dawn of civilization began with the rise of the city of Yanukshatram, although in these times we are charitable with the term ”city”. Covering an area of about 15 hectates (37 acres), it is a collection of wooden, mud, and stone huts clustered together with a few outlying villages employing similar construction methods. From what is understood from later oral and eventual written tradition, it has been long believed that the people of the Scraped Grave culture are one and the same as the Yanuites. Their religion held that the first man Yanu came from a lake and copulated with the Earth mother Lhami, thus giving rise to mankind. The jealous storm god Ro then chased man and Yanu over the earth for having the secret of fire stolen, until Yanu founded a city in an valley traditionally held to be Yanukshatram, bounded by mountains on all sides save for one where it meets the shore.
-Their burial practices are puzzling, for it appears that they interred bodies in the ground until the flesh rotted, scraped the bones clean (hence the term Scraped Grave culture) and then removed the bodies elsewhere to a temple (the largest of which was in Yanukshatram and measured 70x30 metres in area) where frequent offerings were made to the bones. We find the remains of flower pollen, carbonized food, and oil lamps with the skeletons. Towards the advent of urban living they began to also leave models of various animals made of beaten copper and clay. Social hierarchy begins developing at this time as we see the start of a growing distinction between a priestly class (reponsible for religious festivals, rituals, and claiming descent from Yanus eldest son) and the rest of the population.
YogiTheWise – Chama (Eagle amulet culture)
Location: The great steppe
-The origins of the Chama are mysterious, as both archeological and linguistic evidence seems to trail off shortly before this time to the point that assigning material cultures and establishing the continuity of them to Chama is hotly debated. What we do know is that they respected wild animals a great deal and perhaps domesticated many of them too. Settlement sites formerly had several pit-dwellings (and likely tents) with a great mix of wild animal bones. As civilization was being born elsewhere, we see the appearance of both increasingly elaborate burials as eagle amulets made of clay, bone, and stone become common along with the occasional horse. Their religion was largely focused around eagle worship and on a special relationship with the ”Sky-Father” who took the form of an eagle.
-Domestication of the horse is also implied at this time as the quanity of horse bones suddenly increased fourfold to make up the bulk of the diet, and occasionally we also find pots with traces of lactobacilli and dairy in them (implying that they ate yogurt) although there is no genetic evidence from the time suggesting genes for lactose tolerance. In either case the switch to horses and a pastoral lifestyle led to this culture being extremely successful, as they began to rapidly grow and spread as the steppe opens up to them. Evidence of horse-riding also appears around this time as some excavated horse teeth show signs of bit wear. While some archaeologists previously believed this to be a peaceful time by writing off evidence of large-scale fortifications and mass graves full of skeletons with traumatic injuries as ”Ritual practices” it is pretty clear these days that the Chama met with conflict frequently and often wiped out their neighbours.
Griff – Sannin (Glazed pot culture)
Location: Bhasang
-The other great protocity to be born at this time is that of Bhasang, emjoying relatively sophisticated technology and social organisation. While rice was domesticated many thousands of years prior, a more rational cultivation with the intent of producing a huge surplus comes about at this time for we have uncovered the remains of huge granaries and storehouses intended to keep food reserves for years. They also produce fine polished stone tools and statuettes in addition to having a complex and rich ceramic culture (something that later archaeologists greatly appreciate). Many of their pots have features such as handles, lids, spouts, decorative motifs, and most even have a form of glazing to them. Analysis of hearths, ovens, pots, and storehouses also shows that in addition to rice they grew substantial quantities of yellow split peas, garlic, onion, radishes, lettuces, lentils, figs, dates, and grapes.
-Prior to the rise of the first cities, the area around Bhasang was a floodplain that routinely flooded annually, and little attempt was made to settle in the area. A few centuries prior however, it seems as though the Sannin figured out a way to turn this to their advantage by making use of dykes and channels to control the drainage of water after the floodwaters receded, allowing them to keep the fields watered thereafter. The yearly flood would also replenish nutrients in the soil, and so with a reliable source of food the population soon exploded (as indicated by the appearance and rapid growth of settlements in the area).
Cre8or – Delmites (Battle-spear culture)
Location: The great steppe
-Located at a confluence of freshwater lakes (and bogs), hardwood forests, and open plains, a new cultural tradition began with a new kind of economy brought by the fruits of the neolithic elsewhere. Known as the ”Battle-spear culture”, they are so named for the unusually heavy and bulky spears they manufactured. Although the materials of flint and firehardened wood are rather typical in construction, they have elaborate carvings down their length (often incised into the spearheads themselves). Experimental archaelogical shows that these spears were far too impractical for normal use, and instead were likely ceremonial in function. Their graves are often found to be full of these spears, otherwise being rather poor. It is assumed that they practiced ritual animal sacrifice, as large piles of burnt pig and sheep bones are often found along with multiple complete skeletons along with other manufactured goods. A rare bog body (from a man suspected to have drowned in the summer) was able to fill in the gaps.
-The bog body was nicknamed ”Remu's lad” after the ancient God Remu. Wearing a simple leather jerkin that stretched to his knees (making a kind of kilt) with a belt around the waist, he also carried a simple yew shortbow that was possibly stringed with animal sinew. He was well-fed and close to the body was found a spearhead and a complete toolkit, including a microlith scraper that may have been used for carving the spear. His hair was uncut and wild, while an analysis of his body showed no evidence of any tattoo markings nor much else in the way of decoration. His last meal was mutton and beef, both likely from domestic varieties. Other sites (they seemingly lived in a number of camps which were rotated seasonally) revealed that they knew how to spin and weave wool, for we find loom weights and whorls there (there is no evidence for agriculture and in turn flax cultivation). The general lack of rich grave goods and rather universal living and burial arrangements implies a general lack of social stratification too.
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