Pages: 1096
The monograph contains a presentation and analysis of materials obtained during archaeological study of a Scythian cemetry located near Glinoe village on the left bank of the Lower Dniester region. The value of these sources is that they offer the first authentic image of the material culture, way of life, economy, warfare and ideological representations of the Scythians who lived on the banks of the Dniester River in the 3rd — 2nd centuries BC.
A Scythian cemetery was studied by the Dniester archaeological expedition of T.G. Shevchenko Pridnestrovian (Transnistrian) State University (Tiraspol, Pridnestrovian (Transnistrian) Moldavian Republic) during 1995—2012.
Eighteen years of work on this cemetery brought the following results: 115 burial mounds have been studied, including 113 built in the Scythian time and only two in the Bronze Age. Those 113 Scythian barrows had 181 Scythian burials.
Materials from the Glinoe cemetery allow revising some of the views on the chronology of the burial complexes in the Lower Dniester littoral, known as the «Scythian barrows of Tiraspol region» as well as a number of similar burials in other regions of the Northern Black Sea littoral.
Currently, there is no doubt that the Scythian steppe culture in the Lower Dniester littoral, not only does not extinguish at the end of the first quarter or third of the third century BC, but also continues to develop until the end of the second century BC, at least. We emphasize that in the 3rd — 2nd centuries BC in the Lower Dniester littoral are actively functioning monuments of the settled population, the largest of which are Chobruchi and Krasnoe settlements. In our opinion, their layers of 3rd — 2nd centuries BC were deposited in the process of activity of the Scythian population. With high probability, Krasnoe was inhabited by the same Scythians who left the Glinoe cemetery in its proximity. The transition of the Scythian population of the left bank of the Lower Dniester littoral from nomadic to a predominantly sedentary lifestyle is testified by the analysis of Greek and Thracian influences on funerary practice and material culture, the tradition of shaping burial chambers in the catacombs as ground houses, weaponry complex, bowls as the most common type of tableware, as well as distribution of lamps in the funerary complexes and on the settlements. Scythians’ immediate neighbours were the Getian tribes, who were their trading and cultural partners in the Moldavian steppe in 3rd — 2nd centuries BC, and the inhabitants of the Greek colony of Tyras and different villages located on the banks of the Dniester estuary on the Black Sea coast.
In this regard, we are quite sure that there were no chronological «gaps», «lacunae» and «hiatuses» in the historical picture of the steppe Dniester littoral in 3rd — 2nd centuries BC.
While not denying that at the end of the first quarter or third of the third century BC there were some military-political events that influenced the whole further course of the history of the Northern Black Sea littoral (cessation of construction of «royal» barrows, economic recession or cessation of the Greek and barbarian settlements, etc.), we believe that the historical development of the Black Sea steppes in the 3rd — 2nd centuries BC continued under the absolute domination of the Scythian culture from the Danube in the west to the Don in the east. At the same time, few Sarmatian burial complexes of 2nd — 1st centuries BC to the west of the Don did not undermine the Scythian domination, but simply mark a gradual penetration of the Sarmatians into these territories. Further studies of the Scythian burial sites and a correct approach to the dating of many hundreds, if not thousands, investigated graves, without any doubt, will allow building a more detailed picture of the Scythian presence in different regions of the Northern Black Sea steppe over time.
In this regard, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the materials obtained on the Glinoe cemetery on the left bank of the Lower Dniester littoral. Their publication, at least, allows drawing attention of the researchers to the analogical Scythian complexes and findings traditionally dated widely within 4th — 3rd centuries BC, or attributed to Sarmatian culture without good reasons.
The monograph will be read with interest by specialists in history, archaeologists, ethnographers, university lecturers and students, as well as enthusiasts interested in the ancient history of the region.
Full summary you can read here
Editor:
Candidate of Historical Sciences S. V. Polin
Reviewers:
Doctor of Historical Sciences N. A. Gavriliuk
Candidate of Historical Sciences Yu. P. Zaytsev
Candidate of Historical Sciences S. N. Razumov
CONTENTS
Foreword (in Russian)............ 5
Chapter I. Overview of Scythian Studies in the Lower Dniester Region ............ 7
§ 1. Overview of Field Surveys on Scythian Sites (in Russian) ............ 7
§ 2. Ethno-Cultural Attribution and Chronology of the Third-Second Century BC Scythian Sites ............ 14
Chapter II. Glinoe Cemetery ............35
§ 1. Geographic and Topographic Setting ............ 35
1.1. Geographic Setting and Environment ............ 35
1.2. Topography of Barrows ............ 36
§ 2. Overview of Field Surveys on Glinoe Cemetery (in Russian) ............ 43
§ 3. Description of Funerary Complexes (barrows 2 — 115) ............ 74
Chapter III. Funerary Structures and the Rite ............ 669
§ 1. Funerary Structures ............ 669
§ 2. Remains of the Buried ............ 741
§ 3. Grave Goods and Sacrificial Food ............ 772
3.1. Weaponry and Warriors’ Outfit ............ 772
3.2. Horse Harness ............ 789
3.3. Working Tools ............ 800
3.4. Household Items ............ 808
3.5. Ware ............ 825
3.6. Adornments ............ 850
3.7. Costume Details and Accessories ............ 885
3.8. Fancies ............ 894
3.9. Cult Objects and Traces of Cult Activities ............ 902
3.10. Sacrificial Food ............ 926
§ 4. Supra-burial, under- and extra-barrow structures and traces of ritual activities ............ 926
Chapter IV. Chronology of the Cemetery ............ 935
§ 1. Character of Chronological Indicators and Approaches to the Dating of Complexes ............ 935
§ 2. “Granny’s Cupboard”, or Different Approaches to Dating ............ 937
§ 3. Dating of Complexes and Chronology of the Cemetery ............ 945
3.1. Ceramic Imports ............ 945
3.2. Fibulae ............ 954
3.3. Other Chronological Indicators ............ 961
Chapter V. Glinoe Cemetery and the Northern Black Sea Scythian Antiquities ............ 967
§ 1. Foreign Cultural Impacts on the Scythian Funerary Rite and Material Culture in the Lower Dniester Region in the Third-Second Century BC ............ 967
1.1. The Greek Impact on the Funerary Practice and Material Culture ............ 967
1.2. The Thracian Impact on the Material Culture ............ 972
1.3. The La-Tene Impact on the Material Culture ............ 977
§ 2. The Historical Development of the Population in the North-Western Black Sea Region in the Third-Second Century BC ............ 982
Conclusion (in Russian) ............ 1001
V. B. Pankovskiy. Examining Raw Materials and Surface Modifications in Bone and Antler Objects from Glinoe Cemetery ............ 1003
Published and Archival References ............ 1039
References ............ 1063
List of Abbreviations ............ 1083
Summary ............ 1085