Abstract:
The author singles out the archaeological phenomenon of Babino cultural
circle. The term “ribbed pottery culture” first used to denote the corresponding sites is
considered incorrect since the culture is not homogeneous and comprises a number of
local variants. Now the cultural unity named after the eponymous settlement Babino III is
considered a three-level structure, its top level corresponds to the term cultural circle, the middle level is termed as archaeological culture, and the bottom one – as a local cultural
variant. The Babino cultural circle is subdivided into at least two archaeological cultures –
the Dnieper-Don Babino culture, and the Dnieper-Prut Babino culture (the latter included
three local variants). Generally, Babino cultural entity represents the western part of the post-Catacomb cultural block in Eastern Europe.
