The Serednii Stih culture (Sredny Stog in Russian) (, romanized: Serednʹostohivsʹka kulʹtura) is a pre-Kurgan archaeological culture from the 5th-4th millennia BC. It is named after the Dnipro (Dnieper in Russian) River islet of today's Seredny Stih, Ukraine, where it was first located. Distribution The Serednii Stih culture was situated across the Dnipro river along its shores, with sporadic settlements to the west and east. It seems to have had contact with the agricultural Cucuteni–Trypillian culture in the west, centered in modern-day Moldova, Romania and Ukraine , and was a contemporary of the Khvalynsk culture in the north-east, located in the middle Volga region. Sites One of the sites most associated with this culture is Deriivka (Ukrainian: Деріївка, Russian: Дериевка), located on the right bank of the Omelnik, a tributary of the Dnipro, and is the largest site within the Serednii Stih culture complex, being about in area. The Eneolithic part of the Deriivka archaeological complex includes a settlement and a cemetery. Other Serednii Stih sites include Igren-8 and Molukhiv Bugor on the Dnipro River, as well as Oleksandia on the Oskil River in east Ukraine. Characteristics The Serednii Stih people lived rather mobile lives. This was seen in their temporary settlements, particularly their dwellings, which were simple rectilinear structures. Dmytro Telegin has divided the chronology of Serednii Stih into two distinct phases. Phase I (middle 4th millennium BC, according to Telegin) included Serednii Stih complexes of the Strilcha Skelia-Serednii Stih II type that contained pottery without the corded ornament. Phase II (according to Telegin, middle 3rd millennium BC) is represented by the Serednii Stih complexes of the Deriivka-Moliukhiv Buhor type that used corded ware pottery which may have originated there, and stone battle-axes of the type later associated with expanding Indo-European cultures to the West. Most notably, it has perhaps the earliest evidence of horse domestication), with finds suggestive of cheek-pieces (psalia). However, there is no conclusive proof that those horses were used for riding since they were mainly employed for gathering food. Phase I is now dated to the middle 5th millenium BC and Phase II - to the late 5th-first half of the 4th millennium BC. Serednii Stih periodization has also undergone a revision in recent years. Burials In its three largest cemeteries, Oleksandria (Alexandria in Russian) (39 individuals), Igren (17) and Deriivka II (14), evidence of burial in flat graves (ground level pits) has been found.