These fluted maces seem to have been developed by the Neolithic Sredny Stog culture. They were used for bashing people in the head with and continued to be a symbol of masculine authority into the middle bronze age. There were many types and thousands of them are recorded.

Population-guided Language Trees: A new concept. As linguistics alone cannot decipher trees, PopGen analysis can, so long as it is done accurately - utilising Y-DNA, archaeology and standard genome-wide modelling. Here we see the formative background of Proto-Anatolian, southwest

Pottery of the Sredny Stog culture. They seemed to like triangles and zig-zag lines. A common tradition you see in the Yamnaya, Corded Ware and Bell Beakers. Image Source (page 184): academia.edu/19575239/Early…

After the Eneolithic, the Black Sea trade network continued in the Bronze Age including the Baltics.

Got inspired to generate a family of Yamnaya with Chatgpt (uploaded some of my artistic reconstructions as reference). Disclaimer: not perfect, just for fun. 😀

Another just for fun image generation I did with Chatgpt. Two Yamnaya brothers engage in some sort of combat sport (yes I know they might look too happy here 😆). The presence of combat sports in Yamnaya has been speculated due to the presence of Yamnaya skulls that have been

Abashevo is the ancestor of Sintashta and Srubnaya and descended from Fatyanovo. Like other cultures of the Corded Ware horizon but unlike the earlier Yamnaya they were less mobile and practiced pastoralism along with some agriculture (at least according to some archeological

A windfall for *Ekwodómā; Corded Ware maiden, Central Europe, 2700 BC.

New open access book on horses. Chapters of interest with graphics and maps: Horse Domestication and Early Use The Horse in European Warfare Archaeology of the Horse sidestone.com/books/harnessi…

From the book. Map showing Bits and Bridle Circles, Riders, and Chariot Burials 2,000-1,000 BC.

Model showing the dual dispersal of DOM2 horses, riding, chariots from 2,000-1,000 BC.

Yamnaya (and Sredny Stog before them and Catacomb/Poltavka after) likely played a huge role in the selection of a majority of the traits in Dom2 horses. Even though they were not responsible for the spread the Dom2 horses they set the stage for the full domestication of Dom2 by