The Russian word for a burial mound (barrow or tumulus) covering a pit grave, mortuary house, or catacomb grave. It is mainly connected with Eneolithic and Bronze Age burial practices. The earliest kurgans appeared during the 4th millennium BC among the Copper Age peoples of the Caucasus, and soon afterwards in the south Russian steppe and the Ukraine. Shortly after 3200 BC, the kurgan cultures began influencing most of the east, central, and northern Europe. The local Late Neolithic and Copper Age communities adopted such new traits as globular amphora vessels, corded ware, asymmetrical stone battle-axes, domesticated horses, and burial of a single body (often sprinkled with ochre) in a pit or mortuary house, covered by a barrow. After c 2500 BC, several regional kurgan-derived cultures can be recognized. In Russia, the kurgan tradition persisted late and was still practiced by the historical Scythians and Sarmatians of the steppe zone. Three forms of kurgan burial can be identified: Yamnaya (pit-grave) burial, dated c 2400-1800 BC; Katakombnaja (catacomb-grave) burial, dated c 2300-1800 BC; and Srubnaya (timber grave) burial, dated c1600-900 BC.