Usatovo Culture

an archaeological culture of the late third and early second millennia B.C. widespread along the northwestern coast of the Black Sea. It was named after the village of Usatovo, near Odessa, where a settlement and burial ground were excavated in the 1920’s.

Excavations of the settlements of the Usatovo culture yielded the remains of rectangular dwellings, made of limestone slabs, as well as the remains of refuse pits and sacrificial altars. Barrows, surrounded by cromlechs, were generally erected over the burials, although some cenotaphs have been found. The burials of the chieftains, sometimes with their concubines, were located in the center in a pit, while what seem to be their subordinates were buried along the perimeter. Bronze axes, daggers, and awls were found in the burials, as well as tools made of stone, bone, and antler and clay female statuettes and vessels. The numerous finds of sheep and horse bones attest to the predominance of livestock raising; land cultivation was apparently of secondary importance. The social structure was probably patriarchal-clan. Some researchers believe that the Usatovo culture was a local variant of the late Tripol’e culture.