The Stone Crypt of Oguz Barrow: Search for Analogies

Abstract

This article is devoted to searching for analogies of the unique stone crypt of Oguz Scythian royal barrow, which is located in the South of the Black Sea Steppe in the Dnepr-Molochnaya interfluve. The barrow dates back to a time not later than 20s of the 4th century BC. A unique stone tomb of the barrow was excavated in 1894 by N.I. Veselovskiy. The description of the tomb, which characterizes the site’s architecture and construction techniques, is reflected in the report of the researcher, but analogies of Oguz stone crypt have not been found yet. According to the well-founded opinion of modern researchers of Oguz Yu.V. Boltrik and E.E. Fialko, the barrow crypt was created by Bosporus builders. Perhaps it can be truth, but there are no crypts with similar characteristics within the Bosporus. However, a Scythian barrow with a stone crypt has been excavated recently at the foothills of Crimea, near the territory of the European Bosporus. It was built by Bosporus builders. This small crypt has the same spaceplanning solution as the crypt in Oguz barrow and is close to its period of construction. This discovery can be considered as an evidence in favor of the opinion of Yu.V. Boltrik and E.E. Fialko on the origin of the royal crypt in Oguz barrow. There is only one, but weighty objection: pendentives are built in the original rhythmic style in Oguz, which has no analogies in the Northern Black Sea region. Consequently, the creator of Oguz royal crypt could be a representative of another, not Bosphoric school.