New Burials of the Pre-Scythian Time From the North-Eastern Azov Area

Abstract

In the article there are presented excavation materials from the Mariupol archaeological expedition and the results of new research of the archaeological expedition conducted by the Mariupol State University in the North-Eastern Azov area and in Donets Ridge refilling a comparatively small series of burials of the pre-Scythian time in the basin of the Azov Sea rivers. As far as the set of features, all the burial sites presented by the authors are dated by the early Iron Age and precede the sites of the Scythian time. The burials discovered near Kalynivka and Starolaspa villages are interpreted by the authors as Cimmerian sites of Novocherkassk type or as burials of the late stage of Chernogorivka culture. The burials from Vysoke and Yalta are determined as complexes of Chernogorivka type / Chernogorivka group of Cimmerian culture or as late Chernogorivka complexes. The authors consider peculiarities of the rite and inventory complex as well as some aspects of cultural and chronological character, spiritual and material culture of the tribes which, in the researchers’ view, are conflated with the historical Cimmerians. Analysis of the materials has made it possible for the authors to approach the problem of social reconstructions and to assume that the individuals buried in the mounds near Starolaspa and Kalynivka villages were unlikely to enjoy some kind of special authority among other tribesmen or to have some appreciable privileges in the society when they were alive. However, the burials in the mounds placed near Yalta and Vysoke villages demonstrate certain features of ingenuity. The man buried in the barrow near Yalta village was most likely to have something to do with the religious or the hieratic sphere of life.