Ivkivtsi — a New Late Zarubyntsi Culture Type of Sites at the Middle Dnieper

Abstract

In the article, the problem of the Late Zarubyntsi monuments origin and the development of their interpretation are considered. The evolution of views on the Zarubyntsi culture from its identification to the defining the Late Zarubyntsi as a distinct stage is examined. The authors also study the newly discovered complex that consists of a settlement and a burial ground of the 1st—2nd centuries AD found near Ivkivtsi village (at Troianka tract), Chyhyryn district, Cherkasy Region. The monument was discovered at 2016. Permanent excavations have been started since 2017. Nowadays, the case when the settlement with a connected burial ground are studied at the same time is unique for the Middle Dnieper area. Previously, a similar complex was explored in 1960-ies in the Southern Bug region (Rakhny). In the article a brief overview of the settlement and the burial ground ceramics collection is provided. The comparison with the materials of the Classical Zarubyntsi culture and the Late Zarubyntsi in the Middle Dnieper region is made. Particular attention is paid to the comparison of ceramics. It is concluded that the materials from the settlement and the burial ground of Ivkivtsi have features of both the Classical Zarubyntsi culture and its late variant. The main complexes of the settlement and the burial ground are described. Imported finds are of special importance. There were quite close contacts of local tribes with neighboring Sarmatians according to the finds of fragments of Sarmatian mirrors and handmade ceramics. The possible trade relations with the Roman provinces are traced by the finds of a decent number of amphorae fragments of various types, terra sigillata and Roman type fibulae. The chronological boundaries of the monument have been revealed. The finds of fibulae of the Aucissa type, fragments of amphorae, Sarmatian mirrors, and a faience bead in the shape of a scarab are dated within the second half of the 1st century AD — the first half of the 2nd century AD On the basis of the data obtained from the excavations and the analysis of the known monuments of this period, it is concluded that Ivkivtsi complex differs from the known Liutizh type. To the authors opinion the Ivkivtsi type should be separated as a group of monuments of the Roman period on the studied territory.