BARROW OF THE SCYTHIAN PERIOD NEAR MALYNIVTSI VILLAGE IN PODILLYA

Abstract

During the Scythian Age the territory of Middle Dnister basin was occupied by the West-Podillia group of sites. It is characterized by the widespread use of burials under stone mounds. Burials were carried out both by cremation and inhumation burial rites. The group of barrows was excavated in 2003 by the expedition of the Kamianets-Podilskyi University with participation of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine near Malynivtsi village of Kamianets-Podilskyi district, Khmelnytskyi region. Nearby the settlement was discovered, the inhabitants of which could be buried at the necropolis.
 Burial 4 was located in the south part of the cemetery. The mound was almost completely plowed and stood out on the surface only by the outcrop of stone. Its probable diameter could be up to 5.7 m. Under the layer of black oil, the stone pavement ca. 4 Ч 4 m2 was discovered. It consisted mostly of small limestone. Larger stones were localized around the perimeter, forming the irregular outer ring, and in the center where the larger slabs lay. There were the traces of repeated robberies which caused the stones to be turned upside down in many places. The burials were discovered at the level of the ancient surface. They were made according to the rites of inhumation and cremation. Due to the robbery, the bones of the burieds and their grave goods were scattered. The finds are represented by glass beads, bronze pins and earrings. The set of ceramics was numerous, including up to 17 vessels. Most of them were molded: pots, scoops, cups, bowls, and a vessel like an amphora. However, a fragment of gray clay vessel was also found. The set of grave goods is typical for the sites of the West Podillia group. It has analogies in other Scythian antiquities from the Ukrainian Forest-Steppe. The findings allow us to date the barrow to the last third of the 7th — first half of the 6th century B.C. Comparison with other burial sites of the West Podillia group, their size and grave goods, shows that the burials in the barrow 4 near Malynivtsi could belong to ordinary representatives of the Middle Dnister communities of this time.