In loving memory of my Dad

Pages: 490

The monograph addresses the funerary rite and material culture of the Scythians in the North-Western Black Sea Region in the 3 rd—2 nd centuries BC. Special focus is on synchronous sites, known as “strange complexes’ or “hoards”. The monograph also addresses a number of important issues of Scythian history in the North Black Sea Region.
For archaeologists, historians, university lecturers and students and anyone interested in the early history of the region.

Editor-in-Charge: 
Doctor of Historical Sciences Anatoliy R. Kantorovich
Reviewed by: 
Doctor of Historical Sciences A. Yu. Alexeev
Doctor of Historical Sciences S. I. Lukyashko
Doctor of Historical Sciences А. P. Medvedev 

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

CHAPTER I. History of studies into Scythian archaeological culture in the
North-West Black Sea Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

§ 1. History of fi eld surveys on Scythian sites in the region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

§ 2. Key issues of studies into Scythian culture of the 3rd—2nd centuries BC in the
North-West Black Sea Region against the respective cultural-chronological horizon and
in the context of general Scythian history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

CHAPTER II. Funerary and commemorative sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

   II.1. Funerary sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

§ 1. Structures made above the grave, under barrow and extra-barrow, and traces of ritual
actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

§ 2. Funerary structures and their constructive elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

§ 3. Remains of the buried persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

   II.2. Commemorative sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

   II.3. Dating of the sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

CHAPTER III. Grave goods and sacrifi cial food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165

§1. Weapons and warrior’s outfi t. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

§2. Horse harness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

§3. Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

§4. Household items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

§5. Vessels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

§6. Adornments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

§7. Details and accessories of costume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

§8. Toiletries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

§9. Cult artefacts and traces of cult actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

§10. Sacrifi cial food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

CHAPTER IV. Sites of the Scythian settled life and “hoards” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347

   IV.1. Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

§ 1. Topography and debris of structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

§ 2. Scythian elements on sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

   IV.2. “Hoards” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

§ 1. Composition of hoards and their dating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

§ 2. Categories of artefacts and their cultural attribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

§ 3. “Hoards” as a special type of Scythian sites in the region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

CHAPTER V. Foreign infl uences on Scythian population in the North-West Black Sea
Region in the 3rd—2nd centuries BC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

§1. Key features of the Scythian funerary rite and material culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

§2. Greek infl uences on the funerary rite and material culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

§3. Thracian infl uence on material culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

§4. La Tène /Germanic infl uence on material culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

CHAPTER VI. Periodization of Scythian archaeological culture in the North-West
Black Sea Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .431

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

PUBLISHED AND ARCHIVAL REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

List of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487