Samara bend

The Samara bend is a large, backwards-C-shaped bend in the middle Volga River at the confluence of the Samara River (). It is part of the Samara Oblast of the Privolzhsky (Volga) Federal District of Russia.

The Samara River valley offers an easy passage to the Ural River valley, and historically has been a major locus for interchange between eastern European and Central Asian cultures. It is also a classic invasion route. What is now the city of Samara was founded in 1586 as a tsarist defense outpost.

A number of archaeological cultures have been centered here:
*Khvalynsk culture, ca. 4900–3500 BC
*Samara culture, 5th–4th millennia BC
*Poltavka culture, ca. 2700–2100 BC
*Potapovka culture, ca. 2500–2000 BC
*Abashevo culture, ca. 17th–16th centuries BC