Pages: 199-220 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp253199220
The study of the organic contents of eleven incense cups from Scythian burials of the 3rd —2nd centuries BC on the left bank of the Lower Dniester enabled the determination of the composition of fuel and plants used for ritual burning. Carbonized macroremains, besides five woody species (juniper, willow, ash, oak, elm), in three of the incense cups are represented by seeds of herbaceous plants — bare-grained wheat, barley, strawberry, and coriander. Herbivorous animal dung was recorded in one of the incense cups, but its use (according to fatty-acid and spore-pollen analyses) can be evidenced in three other incense cups. Among the few plant microremains, charred Lamiaceae and cereal pollen are of the most significant interest. Pollen grains of the latter, unlike macroremains, are present in all studied incense cups. It is most likely that the choice of woody species and herbaceous plants was related to the cult values of these taxa among the Scythians.
Keywords: Scythians, left bank of the Lower Dniester, 3rd—2nd centuries B.C., organic contents of incense cups, archaeobotanical analysis, palynology, chromatography (GC)
Information about authors:
Anna Babenko (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-6805-5476
Aleksey Sergeev (Moscow, Russian Federation). Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-9251-855X
Lidia Gritsenko (Moscow, Russian Federation). Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-5079-0755
Viktoria Belonosova (Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation). Institute of Physics and Technology of the Ural Federal University. Mira St., 21, Yekaterinburg, 620078, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0009-0006-9227-9783
Vitalij Sinika (Moscow, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-1621-9205