Предметы вооружения из раннескифских погребальных комплексов Нижнего Дона

Abstract

Introduction. The North Caucasus and forest-steppe zones of the Dnieper region are traditionally viewed as centers of the Early Scythian culture. At the same time, vast steppe territories situated between these centers have for a long time been uninvestigated because of a small number of Early Scythian sites. The advance of recent archaeological surveys allows revising the position of archaic steppe complexes within the Early Scythian culture. To date, over 100 early Scythian sites situated in the steppe zone of the Northern Black Sea region have been discovered. 80 of them are concentrated in the Lower Don region which can be regarded as a third center of the Early Scythian culture. Steppe burial complexes here differ from Caucasian and forest-steppe ones in terms of ritual, and their funeral set is typical for early Scythian culture, though it is much simpler and smaller in number. The paper deals with weaponry which was one of the most important items in the funeral set of Early Scythian sites. Objectives. The paper primarily aims to study weapons from the early Scythian sites of the Lower Don region, identify the most common types of weapons in the area, and compare them to weapons from other centers of the Early Scythian culture. Results. Bow and arrows seem to be the most popular weapon to have been put into the Lower Don graves. Arrowheads were found in 23 burials of the region. They are not very numerous: 18 complexes contained 20 pieces or less, and only 5 ― more than 20. A typical funeral item in Caucasian and forest-steppe burials, swords were found in just two steppe graves, one of them containing the single axe in the region. No defensive weapons have been found so far. Conclusion. The considerable number of early Scythian sites known in the steppe zone of the Northern Black Sea region, as well as unique character of their burial rites makes it possible to reapproach the hypothesis concerning the two Early Scythian areas and view the steppe zone as a third center of the archaic Scythian culture. Its heart – judging by the concentration of burial complexes and composition of their funeral set – was situated in the Lower Don region. Quiver sets found in every burial complex containing weapons allows to state that the population of the region was primarily armed with bows, and that the social stratification of the community was not very distinct.