Society
- Slaves. The Kurgan are also notorious slavers. As part of the battle’s spoils, they collect the survivors and tattoo them on the face with the marks of a particular Zar.
- Shamans. As the gods are very active in the lives of the Kurgan people, their servants have an incredible influence on the tribe.
- Women. Women occupy a strange place in the Kurgan tribe. ...
What is Kurgan culture?
Kurgan culture, seminomadic pastoralist culture that spread from the Russian steppes to Danubian Europe about 3500 Bc, .
How did the Kurgan get their name?
The very term is derived from the burial mounds raised by the Scythian horse-warriors of old, from whom both the Kurgan and their traditional foes, the Gospodarin, descend, and the Kurgan have thus come to be known by the name, for it is said that they desire to bury the peoples of the south under such similar hills.
What are the different tribes of the Kurgan?
Although there are countless tribes, the most famous include the Kvelligs, Gharhars, Tahmaks, Hastlings, Tokmars, Yusak, Khazags, Avags, Dolgans and the terrible Kul. [1d] A vicious and bloodthirsty woman of the Kurgan.
What is the oldest kurgan in the world?
The Ryzhanovka kurgan, a 10-metre-high (33 ft) kurgan 125 km south of Kyiv, Ukraine, containing the tomb of a Scythian chieftain, 3rd century BC, was excavated in 1996. The Solokha kurgan, in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast of Ukraine, Scythian, dates to the early 4th century BC.
What did the kurgans do?
The Kurgan hypothesis describes the initial spread of Proto-Indo-European during the 5th and 4th millennia BC. As used by Gimbutas, the term "kurganized" implied that the culture could have been spread by no more than small bands who imposed themselves on local people as an elite.
What does the name Kurgan mean?
: a burial mound of eastern Europe or Siberia.
How many kurgans are there?
Even though many kurgans disappeared due to the land- scape transformation activities such as agricultural intensifi- cation and the expansion of urban areas, there are still about 400,000–600,000 kurgans in Eurasia.
What nationality is Kurgan?
The KurganThe Kurgan (Victor Kruger)BornOctober 6, 1005 BC RussiaImmortality970 BCDeath1985 (aged 2989–2990) New York, New YorkTeacherThe Bedouin5 more rows
Where did the Kurgan people come from?
Kurgan culture, seminomadic pastoralist culture that spread from the Russian steppes to Danubian Europe about 3500 Bc, . By about 2300 bc the Kurgans arrived in the Aegean and Adriatic regions. The Kurgans buried their dead in deep shafts within artificial burial mounds, or barrows.
Who built Kurgans?
The earliest kurgans date to the 4th millennium BC in the Caucasus, and researchers associate these with the Indo-Europeans. Kurgans were built in the Eneolithic, Bronze, Iron, Antiquity and Middle Ages, with ancient traditions still active in Southern Siberia and Central Asia.
What kind of sword did the Kurgan use?
In 479 B.C., allying himself with the Persians as part of a special fighting unit, The Kurgan took part in the Battle of Plataea in ancient Greece. During the battle, he faced off with an Immortal Spartan warrior who wielded a one of a kind katana made by the legendary master Japanese swordsmith Masamune.
Where did the Yamnaya come from?
About 5,000 years ago, herders called the Yamnaya entered Europe from the eastern Steppe region - in present day Ukraine and Russia. These horse riding metal workers may have brought Indo-European languages with them; today this language family comprises most of the tongues spoken in Europe.
Who is the Kurgan?
Clancy Brown as the Kurgan. The Kurgan (in Russian, a kurgan, курга́н, is a barrow-hill)—who was taken in by the Kurgan tribe and named Victor—was born in what is now Russia on the border of the Caspian Sea. His tribe, the Kurgans, Juan Ramírez notes, are infamous for their cruelty, and were known to "toss children into pits full of starved dogs, ...
Who did the Kurgan hire out to?
In 1536, the Kurgan hires himself out to Clan Fraser in their battle with the MacLeod clan, in exchange for allowing him to be the one to kill Connor MacLeod. In the midst of the battle, the Kurgan challenges MacLeod and runs him through with his broadsword.
How did Kurgan die?
The novelization of the film by Garry Kilworth expands on the Kurgan's early life. His first death occurred in 970 BC when his drunken father crushed his head with a rock. Upon returning to life, the Kurgan forced his father to swallow a searing hot stone, killing him. He then went off to join a group of bandits that raided caravans. He eventually encountered another Immortal, " The Bedouin ", who revealed to him his true nature, and who became the only person who could be labeled as his friend. During the intervening centuries, the Kurgan took an incalculable number of Immortal heads.
Why did General Katana send the Kurgan to Earth?
In the final shooting draft of the Highlander II: The Quickening screenplay, it was revealed that the Kurgan was in fact originally sent from the planet Zeist to Earth by General Katana in order to hunt down Connor MacLeod and Ramirez before either of them could win "The Prize," and therefore return to Zeist.
What episode does the Kurgan die in?
In Highlander: The Series, the Kurgan's death effectively kicked off the beginning of the Gathering. The Kurgan is mentioned in the episode " The Watchers ". After Darius 's death in Paris, in 1993, Duncan MacLeod returned to Seacouver to learn more about the Watchers, and the Hunters. His investigation led him to Joe Dawson, a Watcher, ...
What is the name of the book that Kurgan fought in?
Highlander: Way of the Sword. Highlander: Way of the Sword, published by Dynamite Entertainment, further expands on Kurgan's life and gives him more encounters with Connor. In 476 BC, allying himself with the Persians as part of a special fighting unit, Kurgan took part in the Battle of Plataea in ancient Greece.
Where did Kurgan and MacLeod meet?
The Kurgan and Connor MacLeod meet again in 1985, in New York City , where the Gathering is to take place. During this time, the Kurgan uses his status as a New York City criminal skinhead gang leader as a fake background and goes by the alias "Victor Kruger.".
What did Kurgan do at the age of twelve?
At the age of twelve, The Kurgan left home to join bandits preying on caravans crossing the steppes between India and the Mediterranean. As a young man, he experienced his first of "many deaths," becoming an Immortal. Eventually, he encountered another Immortal known as The Bedouin, who explained to him his true nature as an Immortal. The Bedouin became his master and his only friend, teaching him the ways of The Game .
What does the Kurgan look like?
As a "disguise," The Kurgan shaved his head except for a warriors' braid and adorned the scar on his neck with crude piercings, making him look like a stereotypical street punk or gang member. He met MacLeod on Holy Ground, taunting the Highlander.
What happened to Connor in The Kurgan?
Connor destroys the Kurgan's spirit. In 1987, Connor began to realize the he had experienced a Dark Quickening after taking The Kurgan's head. The Kurgan's spirit began to take over Connor, resulting in the deaths of Immortal Catherine Curtis and another unidentified Immortal.
What battle did the Kurgan fight?
His defeat simply strengthened his determination to both find a better blade, and to become a better warrior. The Kurgan during the Battle of Plataea. In 479 B.C., allying himself with the Persians as part of a special fighting unit, The Kurgan took part in the Battle of Plataea in ancient Greece.
How did the Kurgan escape?
The blade, being technology ahead of its time, was strong enough to shatter The Kurgan's blade. He escaped by falling down a cliff, and was borne away by the flow of the battle. From this experience, The Kurgan learned the value of steel and a well-crafted blade. He later learned the Spartan warrior's name, Tak Ne.
Who was Grig taken to?
He awoke some time afterward, and was taken into a tribe of the Kurgan people, specifically the family of Grig and his wife Ura. Despite his wife's protests, Grig worked Vitor very hard, and didn't want to accept him into his family, though his wife, Ura, protested his treatment of the boy.
Who did the Kurgan recommend to Genghis Khan?
Eventually, in the year 1226, The Kurgan decided to once again return to The Game, and recommended Kane for command of Genghis Khan's armies, a gesture which honored the other Immortal. Over the next three centuries, the Kurgan would challenge and take the heads of many Immortal foes.
What is Kurgan culture?
Scholars who follow Gimbutas identify a "Kurgan culture" as reflecting an early Proto-Indo-European ethnicity that existed in the steppes and in southeastern Europe from the 5th millennium to the 3rd millennium BC. In Kurgan cultures, most burials were in kurgans, either clan or individual.
What is a Kurgan?
A kurgan (Russian: курга́н, Ukrainian: курга́н, висока могила) is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses.
What is the Kurgan hypothesis?
The Kurgan hypothesis is that Proto-Indo-Europeans were the bearers of the Kurgan culture of the Black Sea and the Caucasus and west of the Urals. Introduced by Marija Gimbutas in 1956, it combines kurgan archaeology with linguistics to locate the origins of the peoples who spoke the Proto-Indo-European language.
Where is the Kurgan in Ukraine?
The Ryzhanovka kurgan, a 10-metre-high (33 ft) kurgan 125 km south of Kyiv, Ukraine, containing the tomb of a Scythian chieftain, 3rd century BC, was excavated in 1996. The Solokha kurgan, in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast of Ukraine, Scythian, dates to the early 4th century BC.
When were Kurgans excavated?
Some excavated kurgans include: The Ipatovo kurgan revealed a long sequence of burials from the Maykop culture c. 4000 BC down to the burial of a Sarmatian princess of the 3rd century BC, excavated 1998–99.
How tall is the Kurgan?
The height of the kurgan is 80 meters. Here were found remains of people from Bronze Age, Scythians, Sarmatians, Cimmerians and Nogai people. The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, near the town of Kazanlak in central Bulgaria, is a Thracian kurgan of c. the 4th century BC.
Where is the Maikop Kurgan?
The Maikop kurgan dates to the 3rd millennium BC. The Novovelichkovskaya kurgan of c. 2000 BC on the Ponura River, Krasnodar region, southern Russia, contains the remains of 11 people, including an embracing couple, buried with bronze tools, stone carvings, jewelry, and ceramic vessels decorated with red ocher.
What is Kurgan race?
The Kurgan are a people of mystery and fear, a savage race that ride such fleet steeds as to allow them to fly across the land as fast as birds. Their domains lie far from civilized borders and yet their speed of movement is such that one can never be sure where or when their next attack shall fall.
Where are the Kurgan warriors?
We see their work in all things. And we do not create new, seemly gods to conform with our hopes for the world.". A Kurgan warrior of the Eastern Steppes. Kurgan are a race of mighty, nomadic, copper-skinned horse-warriors who dwell under the shadow of Chaos, in the vast Eastern Steppes that border the Chaos Wastes.
What do women do in the Kurgan tribe?
Women occupy a strange place in the Kurgan tribe. As a people, there is no concept of marriage, only of breeding. A woman selects her mate (s) based on his fame and prominence on the battlefield. As such, it can be speculated that Kurgan women put great emphasis on siring strong offspring, putting little value or loyalty towards monogamic relationships with a single warrior or individual. It is the duty of the women to birth the next generation of warriors for their tribes and Women who birth sons of great warriors are accorded a special place in the tribe, whilst those who content themselves with the weak and the unsuccessful warriors are shunned until their sons prove themselves. Though the men provide much of the food, the women also harvest food from the steppes. Each day is spent gathering grains to grind into flour and other foods culled from the flora as they pass through the land. At the end of the day, the women scatter seeds to replenish what they have taken for when they next pass through the land. [1d]
What is the Kurgan's tattoo?
The Kurgan are also notorious slavers. As part of the battle’s spoils, they collect the survivors and tattoo them on the face with the marks of a particular Zar. The ink used almost always includes some amount of Warpstone to start the mutation process and to dissolve the slave’s previous loyalties.
What tribes are there in the Old World?
Although there are countless tribes, the most famous include the Kvelligs, Gharhars, Tahmaks, Hastlings, Tokmars, Yusak, Khazags, Avags, Dolgans and the terrible Kul. [1d] A vicious and bloodthirsty woman of the Kurgan. In the Old World, there’s much confusion as to who and what the Kurgan are.
What is the Kurgan's emphasis?
Since the body is the physical expression of divine will, the Kurgan place special emphasis on strength and mastery of the physical form. [1c] Savage-hearted, inured to violence and horror, and touched by Chaos, the Kurgan are among the most formidable peoples of the North, as well as the most numerous.
What did the fickle gods do with the Great Kurgan?
The bargain complete, the fickle gods grew bored with the Great Kurgan's exploits, turning their attentions to their other servants, and met the Great Kurgan's prayers with cold silence. Though still mighty beyond all reckoning, a shade of ill-omen followed the warlord closely.
Where are the Kurgans?
This article is dedicated to the phenomena called ‘kurgans’, the monumental burial mounds of riding nomads of the Scythian period. Kurgans were first investigated in southern Ukraine and southern Russia, the core area of Scythian tribes according to Herodotus. East of the Ural Mountains, however, the kurgans are less known, as only very few of these monumental burial mounds have been decently excavated. In the last 20 years, however, several Russian–German projects under the author’s leadership have been dedicated to a better understanding of monumental kurgans in the steppe belt of Eurasia—Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, the Ural region and the northern Caucasus—contributing an enormous amount of new information about the complexity of these burial monuments. It has become clear that these elite burial monuments are not only important for rich funerary goods but also for the complex structure of the kurgans themselves, which only can be fully understood if they are considered as rituals which became architecture.
What is the color of the Kurgan?
Finally, the entire inner surface of the kurgan was covered with several layers of birch bark, giving it a yellowish-white appearance. This surface was surrounded by a stone wall, which opened in the southeast, where the passage through the circular ditch was also located (Parzinger et al. 2013: 36 ff.).
How tall is the Kurgan?
In the famous kurgan at Solokha, which was almost 18 m in height, the main grave was in the centre, and had been plundered over the course of time.
How tall is the Barsuchiy Log Kurgan?
The Barsuchiy Log kurgan, still ca. 10 m in height, is a peculiarity among Eurasian large kurgans due to its pyramidal shape. In addition, it has a ca. 55 × 55 m large enclosure with an entrance in the east, built of massive stone slabs, a characteristic feature of the Tagar culture in this region.
Where is the Kurgan located in Siberia?
In order to fill the gaps in research on this important region of finds in southern Siberia, a project was undertaken in 2004, dedicated to the comprehensive study of the Barsuchiy Log kurgan, located 35 km north of Abakan and not far from Salbyk. Although excavations have been conducted in the Minusinsk Basin for almost 300 years, this was the first time that one of the monumental burial complexes of the Tagar culture of the Scythian period was investigated with modern excavation and documentation materials. The Barsuchiy Log kurgan, still ca. 10 m in height, is a peculiarity among Eurasian large kurgans due to its pyramidal shape. In addition, it has a ca. 55 × 55 m large enclosure with an entrance in the east, built of massive stone slabs, a characteristic feature of the Tagar culture in this region. Investigations revealed that the kurgan was built of grass sod, as was likely the case with the large mound in Salbyk. However, the outer mantle of the Barsuchiy Log kurgan consisted of orange-red clay blocks; thus, it was visible from afar in the steppe as a red pyramid (Figure 6).
When was Arzhan 1 Kurgan buried?
Dendrochronological analyses on the beams in the grave chamber enable a reliable dating of Arzhan 1 kurgan to the end of the 9th and early-8th century BC. Research on this burial place thus brought forth the hitherto oldest, firmly dated, early Scythian material known in the Eurasian steppe.
When was the Kurgan built?
The heaped earthen construction of the kurgan in Chertomlyk had similar dimensions to the mound in Solokha. Both are dated to the 4th century BC. In the centre of this kurgan was an entry shaft that led 10 m downwards (Figure 1), onto which clover-leaf-shaped, elongated rounded catacombs opened in all four corners.
4.3.1 Kurgan immigrants
From the east, a foreign IE-speaking population intruded into Europe, soon to be diluted by genetically mixing with the natives, and totally assimilated before they, or rather their language and culture, reached Europe’s western shores. However, it stands to reason that they were still genetically distinct when their entry began.
4.3.2. Eastern origins
While V.
Overview
Highlander
The Kurgan (in Russian, a kurgan, курга́н, is a barrow-hill)—who was taken in by the Kurgan tribe and named Victor—was born in what is now Russia on the border of the Caspian Sea. His tribe, the Kurgans, Juan Ramírez notes, are infamous for their cruelty, and were known to "toss children into pits full of starved dogs, and watch them fight for [the] meat" for amusement.
In 1536, the Kurgan hires himself out to Clan Fraser in their battle with the MacLeod clan, in exch…
Highlander II: The Quickening
In the final shooting draft of the Highlander II: The Quickening screenplay, it was revealed that the Kurgan was in fact originally sent from the planet Zeist to Earth by General Katana in order to hunt down Connor MacLeod and Ramirez before either of them could win "The Prize" and therefore return to Zeist. The scene was scheduled for filming, and actor Clancy Brown has discussed how he was contacted by the film's producers to make an appearance:
Highlander: The Series
In Highlander: The Series, the Kurgan's death effectively kicked off the beginning of the Gathering. The Kurgan is mentioned in the episode "The Watchers".
After Darius's death in Paris, in 1993, Duncan MacLeod returned to Seacouver to learn more about the Watchers, and the Hunters. His investigation led him to Joe Dawson, a Watcher, who had no alternative but to tell him who they were. To exemplify the Watchers' knowledge, Dawson showe…
Highlander: Way of the Sword
Highlander: Way of the Sword, published by Dynamite Entertainment, further expands on Kurgan's life and gives him more encounters with Connor.
In 476 BC, allying himself with the Persians as part of a special fighting unit, Kurgan took part in the Battle of Plataea in ancient Greece. During the battle, he faced off with a Spartan warrior who wielded a katana made by the master swordsmith Masamune, strong enough to shatter Kurgan'…
Known Quickenings of The Kurgan
The Kurgan was one of the most powerful Immortals on the planet and killed his opponents like a savage. Here is a list of some of his known quickenings from the original movie, novelization, TV series and comic books.
1. The Bedouin, c. 970 B.C. (Highlander novelization, Highlander Origins: Kurgan)
2. Unnamed man, 615 B.C. (Highlander Origins: Kurgan)
See Also
• Robert Maillet, a professional wrestler with the ring name "Kurrgan"
External links
• Highlander at IMDb
Overview
- For the Movie Universe counterpart, please see The Kurgan (movie) The Kurgan (Russian: Курган) was a powerful Immortal, and was once a contender to win The Prize. Throughout his life, he caused much destruction and chaos, killing, raping, and thieving. He took the heads of many Immortals throughout his three thousand years of life, until his death ...
Archaeological remains
Etymology
Origins and spread
A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central Asia and Eastern, Southeast, Western and Northern Europe during the 3rd millennium BC.
Kurgan hypothesis
The most obvious archeological remains associated with the Scythians are the great burial mounds, some over 20 m high, which dot the Ukrainian and Russian steppe belts and extend in great chains for many kilometers along ridges and watersheds. From them much has been learnt about Scythian life and art.
Some excavated kurgans include:
Usage
According to the Etymological dictionary of the Ukrainian language the word "kurhan" is borrowed directly from the "Polovtsian" language (Kipchak, part of the Turkic languages) and means: fortress, embankment, fortress, high grave. The word has two possible etymologies, either from the Old Turkic root qori- "to close, to block, to guard, to protect", or qur- "to build, to erect, furnish or stur". According to Vasily Radlov it may be a cognate to qorγan, meaning "fortification, fortress or …
See also
Some spectre graves could have been covered with a tumulus, placing the first kurgans as early as the 5th millennium BC in eastern Europe. However, this hypothesis is not unanimous. Kurgans were used in Ukrainian and Russian steppes, their use spreading with migration into southern, central, and northern Europe in the 3rd millennium BC. Later, Kurgan barrows became characteristic of Bronze Age peoples, and have been found from Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Altay Mo…
Sources
The Kurgan hypothesis is that Proto-Indo-Europeans were the bearers of the Kurgan culture of the Black Sea and the Caucasus and west of the Urals. Introduced by Marija Gimbutas in 1956, it combines kurgan archaeology with linguistics to locate the origins of the peoples who spoke the Proto-Indo-European language. She tentatively named the culture "Kurgan" after its distinc…