North Pontic Region Research Articles

Metal Axes of the Kolontaiv-Corbaska Type of Ukrainian Catacomb Culture Circle and Its Connections to Helladic Area

In 1970 A. Vulpe described the new type of copper axes, which were found in Central Europe – it was given a name Veselinovo. This type is identical to the late variants of Kolontaiv-Corbaska type of the Catacomb culture of South-Eastern Europe. The complete classification of said type was recently developed by myself. The recent findings in so-called Rodotopi hoard in Ioannina include the axes of the late variant of this type. The spectral analysis of axes in both hoard of Rodotopi and Kolontaiv-Corbaska type axes coming from archaeological memorials of Catacomb culture in Ukraine shows that raw materials of both groups of items are similar. These axes, in my opinion, are the markers of connections between North Pontic Region and the Mycenae Greece during the Catacomb period of Bronze Age. In this article I describe axes of different-time Kolontaiv-Corbaska type variants, which were found in Catacomb culture memorials in Ukrainian territory. Secondly, I analyze late variants of Kolontaiv-Corbaska type axes and recently discovered findings from the hoard of Rodotopi using the comparing method. As the result, the following hypothesis is suggested: during migration processes, which took place in the end of third – beginning of second millennia BC, the Indo-European peoples from Southern Ukrainian territories, migrated south to the modern Bulgaria and Northern Greece, where they participated in the formation of Mycenae Greek culture.

REVISITING THE LATE BRONZE AGE STAROSILLIA DEPOSIT FROM THE CHERCASSY REGION

Thirty eight years ago the set of bronze tools found near the Starosillia village in Gorodyshche district of Cherkasy region has been published. This Late Bronze Age deposit remains one of the most known in the region. Three «celts», sleeve chisel and cast bracelet were preserved till the present time (fig. 1). These finds are kept in the Cherkasy Museum of local history.
 Starosillia deposit is important in terms of identification of main intercultural connections and contacts in the late 2nd mil. BC. The evidence, obtained over the last several dozen years, makes possible the new attribution of finds, their typology, area of spread and dating. Besides this, new publication of Starosillia deposit with drawing and photos of a high quality (it should be noted that the article of D. Telegin is lacking the drawing of one «celt») is required. This is why we need to turn back to the deposit.
 Two «celts» belong (fig. 3, 4) to the Dichevo type (Oinacu variant) according to V. Dergachev. Their origin is linked to Lower Danube center, from where these tools were spread in the North Pontic region, the area of Noua and Sabatynivka (later — early Bilozerka) cultures. Double-eyelet «celt» (fig. 2) belongs to Kardashynka type according to V. Dergachev. Such tools were used in late Sabatynivka and early Bilozerka time. In case of the analyzed region, such tools are referred to populations of Bilozerka culture, while the related molds were mainly found in the Lower Dnieper region. This is also the case of sleeve chisels (fig. 5) which are being similar to the find from Starosillia. Cast bracelet (fig. 6) from the deposit is typical for Sabatynivka and Bilozerka cultures, from which such bracelets could spread to the area of Bilogrudivka culture. Thus, the deposition of Starosillia deposit may be dated to the early Bilozerka time (HaA1), 12th century BC, when the Middle Dnieper region was inhabited by populations of Bilogrudivka culture.

ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHAEOGENETICS OF THE PREHISTORIC POPULATION OF UKRAINE: COORDINATION OF RESULTS

The process of the prehistoric population formation in the territory of Ukraine has become the object of archaeogenetic research in the context of studying the genomic history of Southeast Europe. The work was carried out in the framework of scientific cooperation with the genetic laboratories of Grand Valley State University (USA), Harvard Medical School (USA), Universities of Uppsala (Sweden) and Copenhagen (Denmark). The study of the ancient genome of the Ukrainian population has already yielded results for the Late Mesolithic and Neolithic groups of the Middle and Lower Dnieper, the population of the Trypillia culture of Volhynia (Verteba Cave), as well as for the carriers of Yamna (Pit Grave) Culture and some more late groups of the North Pontic Region (Nikitin, Potekhina et al. 2012; 2017; Potekhina et al. 2013; Krzewińska et al. 2018; Matheison et al. 2018; Potekhina 2016; 2018; 2019; Nikitin 2020). Analysis of mitochondrial DNA from Mariupol-type cemeteries showed the dominance of mitochondrial haplogroup U, which indicates a genetic links with the Mesolithic populations of Scandinavia and the forest belt of Eastern Europe. In some cases, mitochondrial haplogroups H and C have been identified here. The existence of the latter in the Dnieper basin is still difficult to explain, as it is characteristic of eastern Eurasian groups. Genetic studies of the population of the Trypillia culture were carried out on samples dated to 3900—3500 cal BC from the Verteba cave in Volhynia. The majority of its inhabitants were carriers of the Mt haplogroup H, which connects the people of Trypillia with the Anatolian and Balkan early farmers. This haplogroup was also characteristic of farming cultures of the Central European Neolithic, but its frequency in Verteba is twice as high. The Mt haplogroup U found in one resident of Verteba may indicate contacts with hunters of the steppe Dnieper Region. Genetic polymorphism is also analyzed in the bearers of the Yamna (Pit grave) Culture of the North Pontic Region, which opens a perspective in the context of the Indo-European studies. The research has shown that among the Late Neolithic populations of the proto-European anthropological type with the dominant Mt haplogroup U, and in the early Eneolithic populations of the region, carriers of haplogroup H of the Mediterranean anthropological type appear as a result of contacts with Trypillian groups, which gradually moved in the eastern direction. The same genetic lines in different proportions are preserved in the anthropologically heterogeneous North Pontic population of Yamna Culture. Expanding the analysis of genetic markers of ancient craniological complexes will facilitate the interpretation of the results of archaeogenetic research. Given the historical and anthropological context, they are promising for the study of intercultural contacts and migrations in the early history of the population of Ukraine.

Scythian Leather Quiver from Bulgakovo

Abstract What were items of Scythian archer’s equipment? What materials were used, and how were they produced? These issues remain currently practically unknown. Objects made from organic materials (wood, leather, and textile) in Scythian burials are lost or provide little information. For this reason almost nothing about Scythian archery equipment (bow and quiver) has been known for a long time. This article describes and analyzes the only well preserved quiver found in the Scythian burial of the 4th century BC in the North Pontic Region. The details of a leather quiver bag, a wooden stiffening plate, wooden painted arrows with bronze arrowheads have survived.

To the Question of the So Called Sauromatic Mirror from the Oguz Kurgan

The article continues the discussion about the object, which was discovered in the Oguz kurgan and is referred to as the sauromatian “mirror” in the literature. A round disk (with a flat side handle) shows a corrugation on its two sides. The purpose of such a thing that does not have a reflective surface is difficult to determine. However, it cannot be called a “mirror” because of the corrugation, so the function of the object has not yet been determined. This item was located under the back of a woman buried in the northern niche of the kurgan. Having identified an object from the Oguz barrow as a mirror, its researchers established the role of mirrors in the funeral rite of the Black Sea Scythia. They put forward the postulate that the mirrors among the accompanying equipment, laid under the back or left forearm of the deceased, fixate funerary complexes of dependent women of Scythia in the 5th-4th centuries BC. However, there is no pattern detected in the placement of mirrors alongside with buried ones in the North Pontic region. This does not allow us to present a real picture of the role of mirrors in the funeral rite of the Scythians or their neighbors and to clarify the social status of those buried by the location of these objects. The same picture is revealed when analyzing the placement of mirrors in the graves of sauromates. Studies of the funeral rite show that nomads were united only by desire of the mirrors’ owners to protect their mirror surface from damage that could distort the image of the owner. Therefore, it seems not advisable to equate objects with corrugation on both sides of their disks with mirrors, without taking the differences into account.

Chronicler of Chersonesos: 70 Years Since Vitalii Mykhailovych Zubar Was Born

The paper presents an analysis of research and creative works of Vitalii Mykhailovych Zubar in field of history and archaeology of the Northern Black Sea region. A special attention is paid to his study of spiritual culture of the population of Tauric Chersonesos. V. M. Zubar with his works put the study of religious life of Chersonesos’ habitants at a new level. He studied separate aspects of religion, worked on problems of both certain deities’ cults, and certain traces of religious practice. His active participation in the discussion of the supreme goddess of Chersonesos worth mentioning. This cult was always obtaining the greatest attention of the scholars. The most important was taking these aspects into a single whole which resulted in publication generalizing and later popular scientific works. Vitalii Mykhailovych has put the study of Chersonesian necropolis on a substantially new level. The precise recording of the burial practices, the classifications of burial structures and inventory, etc. can be found in the works of scholars studying the necropolis for more than hundred years. However, the directly related issue of religious beliefs represented in these features was not in fact discussed before V. M. Zubar. In addition, he managed to put closer the studies in early Christianity and the research of Ancient Greek religion, in fact, to develop the common points in Classical and Byzantine studies. In his works on spread of Christianity in Chersonesos and in Taurica in general, he paid an exceptional attention to Ancient heritage in forming of the early Christian tradition in the region. Owing to V. M. Zubar’s works, his numerous papers and books, the Ukrainian Classical school consolidated, especially in its approach to the study of classical monuments without a constant binding to the theory of the Barbarians’ influence on the Greeks in the North Pontic region. This approach allowed him to make significant progressive steps in the study of this region’s monuments. The issues listed, as well as many others discussed by this researcher, form his scientific heritage, the true chronicle which needs to be further studied and comprehended.

THE FIBULA FROM BURIAL 4 IN THE HOLMSKE BURIAL GROUND AT NORTH-WEST PONTIC REGION

The metal fibula found in the grave 4 in the Holmske burial ground is comprehensively analyzed in the paper. This entombment is characterized in the majority of generalizing works as one of the Earliest Sarmatian sites of North-West Pontic Region. At the same time its absolute dating is remained debatable up to now. Researchers dates this assemblage to the beginning / first half of the 1st century BC, or to the end of this century, or even more later time, interpreting this fibula the derivate of the smooth clamped fibula of Middle La-Ten scheme of the 1st century BC. Watching the original stored in Odessa Archaeological Museum of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine has allowed us certainly identify this object. Such distinctive features as the low direct hull, the rectangular section of the backrest, the free end of leg not fixed on the hull, the receiver in the form of a uvula-ledge etc., pull together this sample with the oldest fibulae of the Early La Ten scheme that existed in the second half of the 2nd century BC. Apparently, the fibula from burial No. 4 in the Holmske burial ground must be dated to this time interval. Other grave goods from this assemblage does not contradict such attribution.
 Is of interest that the nearest synchronous undoubtedly Sarmatian graves are known only on the inverse part of North Pontic Region — in Sea of Azov region and on the Lower Don area and have absolutely other cultural looking. On the contrary, burial 4 in the cemetery of Holmske has straight analogies among the graves of so-called Tiraspil barrows which are geographically close to it and for which the similar graves goods and funeral constructions are characteristic. Thus though burial 4 is not made in a catacomb, peculiar for Tiraspil sites, it nevertheless should be included into this cultural group.

ROMAN NAMES IN OLBIAN PROSOPOGRAPHY

Prosopographical data is one of the most important sources for the study of ethnic structure of the Ancient Greek population in the Northern Pontic area. It should be noted that prosopography reflects mostly wealthier and usually socially privileged strata, the representatives of city elite and the officials whose names are recorded in epigraphic records. Roman names from Greek and Latin inscriptions of the first centuries AD in the lapidary epigraphy from Olbia are presented in the paper.
 The names are put in the order according not to their traditional classification but to another approach basing on the name structure. Consequently the Roman names are divided into three groups: 1 — names with Greek structure; 2 — names with Roman structure and 3 — those composed of a single name. Each group consists of subgroups in which the ethnic origin of name is determined. Greek names with Roman structure, Roman (Latin) names with Greek structure, as well as mixed names including the elements of various ethnic and linguistic origin fit into this classification well. According to the name structure it can be already suggested that the bearers of the names of first group did not have the Roman citizenship, while the names of the second group belonged to the Roman citizens. Having received the Roman citizenship the names of new citizens should have consisted of three or two parts, not always Latin, but the name structure had to become traditional Roman one. The classification proposed the possibility to understand fundamental Greek traditions and new phenomena in prosopography of the first centuries AD. The list of names with short information is presented in the Appendix.
 Nineteen Roman names with Greek structure (personal name and patronymic in the genitive case) and twenty four names with Roman structure are recorded in the Olbian lapidary epigraphy. They appeared in the city onomastics comparatively late: in the first half of the 2nd century.
 There are only four names with Roman elements in the group of names of Greek structure. They have mostly mixed nature and compound Greek and Roman, Greek, Roman and Iranian, Roman and Iranian elements.
 The group of names with Roman structure and Roman components contain mostly names consisting of two parts, peculiar for the Late Roman period onomastics. The subgroup of names with mixed elements contains the spesimens of two and three parts of Greek and Roman, Roman and Iranian and Roman and Thracian origin. It should be also noted that each single individual name cannot be considered the direct representation of ethnicity of its bearer.
 The third group of Roman prosopography in Olbia is represented by a single name. Such names do not clearly indicate the social position of their bearers: they could be either socially depended or full citizens.
 Consequently, there are 52 names with at least one Roman element. If we proceed from the fact that the Olbian onomastics of the first centuries AD is represented by 299 names, the Roman names make approximately 17.4 % and the people with Roman citizenship was approximately 8.4 % of general number of the Olbiopolites whose names are recorded in epigraphic monuments of Olbia.
 Unlike Chersonesos and Tyras the members of Olbian civic community rarely received the rights of Roman citizenship and the percentage of names with Roman elements was lower here. This fact indicates first of all a certain peculiarity of Roman-Olbian relations in the general Roman policy towards North Pontic region. This circumstance reasoned the later and relatively weak Roman provincial influence on the city population which reflected in the prosopographical material from Olbia.

NEW FIND OF OLBIAN COINS. TARASHCHA DISTRICT, KYIV REGION, UKRAINE

The aim of the study is presentation of a new hoard of ancient coins discovered in the Ukraine. In the Summer of 2019 fifteen bronze coins of Olbia (Greek polis in the North West Black Sea region) were found in the Kyiv region. Research methodology – principles of science, historicism, objectivity, methods of analysis, classification, generalization, historical-genetic and historical-typological. Scientific novelty. All coins are of “Borysthenes” type (head of river god Borysthenes / Scythian axe, bow in case, ΟΛΒΙΟ). An assemblage has been described by the founder as found in the ground between village Lukyanivka and the town Tarashcha (Kyiv region), near the highway P 04. The coins are dated to the end of fourth and the middle of the third century BC. The assemblage is one of interesting finds of Olbian coins on the way from the North Pontic Region to the West. The hoard from Lukyanivka is one of finds registered very far outside of Greek states of the northern coast of Black Sea. The cognitive value of the hoard lies above all in the region of its finding. The find from Lukyanivka is an important find as in recent years Olbian bronze coins as well as Bosporan coins were found on Celtic settlements in Poland (Upper Silesia; other coin finds were registered in Central Poland) and Czech Republic (Celtic oppidum at Nĕmcice, Moravia; a very rich assemblage of Greek and Roman coins). The find from Lukyanivka is a new important element in the discussion on inflow of Olbian coins to the West. The Lukyanivka hoard consists of 15 bronze coins with the head of river god Borysthenes, one of the most popular coins of Olbia. According to data obtained from the founder, the coins were found together in ‘one place’ but at ‘different depth’. In the founder’s opinion the value of the information on the find can’t be negated. Following to the chronology of “Borysthenes” coins proposed by P. O. Karyshkovskii coins found not far from Lukyanivka should be dated from the late fourth century BC to the ca. 250 BC. The most coins are dated to 290 – 250 BC. The structure of the Lukyanivka hoard should be treated as ‘typical’ for hoards of Olbian coins. The Conclusions. The find from Lukyanivka confirms that in the third century BC the most popular Olbian pieces of “Borysthenes” type penetrated the area of the Central Ukraine, precisely Middle Ros river region, in significant quantity. The “assemblage” is important find as the majority of Olbian and Bosporan coins in Central Europe – find from Germany is doubt all are single finds. The coins described in the article fills “a gap” between finds from Dnieper and Dniester rivers and Central European finds. The find is located inside the “tongue-shaped” area of finds from the North Pntic region). The “tongue-shaped” area dominated’ by single finds. The area of Olbian and Bosporan coin-finds indicates that the appearance of coins minted by Pontic Greek poleis in Central Europe may be connected with activity of people of Scythian culture. This is extremely important as we have in mind a unique find of Greek amphora from the Scythian settlement located in the south-eastern Poland.

THROUGH THE PRIZM OF A NEW VISION. YURI BOLTRYK IN INTERNATIONAL ORIENTALIST PROJECTS

The article presents the role and activity of Dr. Yu. Boltryk in the researches of international projects which take place at the end of twentieth — at the beginning of twenty first century during the excavation of outstanding sites of Ottoman culture in the North Pontic region. It is especially important that the beginning of purposeful study of the Turkish cultural heritage in Ukraine was synchronous to creation of Ottoman archaeology as a special scientific direction. At the same time it was the period of formation of new vision on the historical process in Ukraine, as an independent state, freedom of minds and national development. The international projects enjoy the scholars of various countries: Great Britain, Canada, USA, Poland and Turkey. The works took place in outstanding site of medieval period — the Akkerman fortress. The main exploration were conducted in the Low yard where the bathhouse and barbican have been discovered. Complex of geophysical and other works on the base of methods of natural sciences escaped all yards of the fortress. Dr. Yu. Boltryk take one of the provision place in all kind of works with his ideas in methodic, theory and practice of archaeological exploration. During the last seasons of the fulfilment of projects the main attention of scholar was drown to the interdisciplinary works in the field of dendrochronology all together with professor T. Wazhny. Besides of it Dr. Yu. Boltryk took part in the excavation of the central part of historical city Ochakiv and the observation of remains of the fortress Kizikermen. His activity makes a significant contribution to the study of Ottoman period in the history of Ukraine and preservation of historical and archaeological sites.

NAMES AND BARROWS OF THE ARCHAIC PERIOD

The article deals with the issues of Scythian archaeology related to the attribution of archaic burials and the definition of the names of historical characters for which they could be built. According to the author of excavation, the Scythian king Madyes, son of Protothyes, was buried in the barrow 1 of the Krasnoznamensky burial ground. Contrary to this conclusion it is assumed that the leader of the Cimmerians, Lygdamis, was buried in the barrow. Such a comparison is based on the date of the assemblage of the barrow (mid — third quarter of the 7th century BC) which does not contradict the time of the death of Lygdamis (641 BC). The written evidence connects the Cimmerians to the mountainous areas and the localization of the country of Gamir (Cimmeria) in the Guriania region, which separated Gamir from Urartu, most closely corresponds to the Caucasus region. The nomadic lifestyle of the Cimmerians in the narrative sources is not confirmed.
 The study has shown that the Kelermes burial ground as well as the «Litoy» (Melgunovsky) and «Repyakhovata Mogila» barrows can be correlated with the time of King Madyes (son of Protothyes / Bartatua) and his army returning to the North Black Sea region (after 585 BC).
 Age of Madyes who came to the Middle East in 608 BC (during the invasion of Media he could be about 40—45 years old) and having been in this region for more than two decades suggests that he did not return to the North Pontic region. This is indirectly confirmed by the data on the feast of Cyaxares where the leader of the Scythians is not mentioned. Therefore, the tomb of Madyes can be hypothetically linked only with the cenotaph of the Melgunovsky barrow.

The Scythian Kingdom in the Crimea in the 2nd Century BC and Its Relations with the Greek States in the North Pontic Region

Abstract The new data that have become available in the last two decades show that the Scythian Kingdom with its capital in Neapolis Scythica, which existed in the Crimea in the 2nd century BC, was much closer to Hellenistic states ruled by barbarian dynasties than to nomadic kingdom of the Scythians of the 4th century BC. At the same time, these data allow us to return in part to the old view formulated by Rostovtzeff about continuity between the Scythia of the 4th century BC and the Late Scythian Kingdom, which most researchers have rejected during the last thirty years. It turned out that this continuity existed at least at the ideological level, and the excavations at Ak-Kaya (Vishennoe) filled the chronological gap between the Scythian Kingdoms of the 4th and 2nd century BC. Apparently, Ak-Kaya became one of the political centres of the Scythians as early as the late 4th century BC, before the fall of “Great Scythia”, and the capital of the Crimean Scythians was located there before it was moved to Neapolis Scythica. In the formation of Late Scythian culture and the Late Scythian Kingdom with its capital first in Ak-Kaya and then in Neapolis Scythica, apart from the Scythian elements, sedentary Tauri took part, as well as probably the Greeks and the Hellenized population of the chorai of the Greek cities in north-western Crimea. A key role in changing the character of Scythian culture was apparently played by a change in its economic-cultural type and the transition from nomadic pastoralism to settled agriculture. This article proposes a new interpretation of the inscription on the mausoleum of Argotas, discovered in Neapolis Scythica in 1999. Argotas was probably not a Scythian, but a Greek, despite his Scythian name. This Bosporan aristocrat with Scythian family ties married the widowed Bosporan queen Kamasarya in the second quarter of the 2nd century BC and is mentioned as her husband in the inscription CIRB 75. He played an important role in governing the Bosporan Kingdom and in protecting it against attacks from the East. Then, most likely after the death of Kamasarya, he moved to the neighbouring kingdom of the Scythians, where he became one of the leading generals, the right-hand man of the king and the tutor to his children. After his death in ca. 130-125 BC, he received from King Skiluros unprecedented honours – a heroon in front of the facade of the royal palace was erected for him and, moreover, this was the only truly Greek building in Neapolis Scythica: it was built in accordance with the rules of the architectural order and decorated with Greek statues and reliefs, as well as a metric epitaph with numerous Homeric forms and expressions.

To the Discussion About the Cause of the Scythia Fall

For many years causes of the fall of Scythia have been a subject to a great deal of scientific scrutiny. The topic is still debatable. The author has recently published several papers, which justify Sarmatians’ involvement in the fall of Scythia in the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BC based on the written and archaeological evidence. Previously, the concept has also been supported by other researchers. These days, however, there are studies in favor of alternative versions claiming Sarmatians’ innocence in the events leading to the fall of Scythia. The main ideas of the studies boil down to the statement of no evidence of Sarmatians from the 3rd century BC being found not only in the North Pontic region but also to the east from the Don river. In the light of the statement, they implement the idea that Sarmatians’ appearance in the Eastern European steppes dates back to the time not earlier than the 2nd century BC. In the article, the author, given the anthropological and archaeological datasets, confirms the Sarmatians’ continuous presence in the Volga-Urals region without any chronological gaps between the 4th and the 1st century BC. The idea of the stage-by-stage settlement of the eastern nomads in the Volga-Don region and the North Pontic region is suggested. In the first stage, since the middle of the 4th century BC, the political situation underwent some destabilization processes due to the appearance of Sarmatians in the Lower Don region. The second stage is characterized by Sarmatians attacking Scythia in the first half of the 3rd century BC. For most of the 3rd century BC, Sarmatians’ main habitat was located to the east of the Don river. From there they conducted raids on the territory of the Northern part of the Black Sea region to plunder or collect the tribute. This concept is also supported by linguists’ new interpretations of written sources.

Bridle Plaques with Zoomorphic and Anthropomorphic Images of the Nomads of the Southern Urals in the Scythian Time

The article is devoted to characterizing bridle plaques with zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images, which were used by the nomads of the Southern Urals in the 6th – 4th centuries BC. The paper presents a summary of these horse ammunition items, which includes about 80 finds. The author proposes a typology of these subjects. Types of bridle plaques are distinguished by a combination of features that characterize the plot, composition and style of images. The items are represented by various types of plaques in the form of predatory and hoofed animals, birds, several species of animals or their parts, fish, and a rider on a horse. All the plaques are divided into four chronological groups in accordance with currently accepted dates of the monuments, where they were found: the late 6th – the early 5th century BC, the late 6th – the 5th century BC, the late 5th – the 4th century BC, the late 6th – the 4th century BC. Thus, nomads used plaques with zoomorphic images throughout the period under consideration. The distribution of types of plaques with zoomorphic images on chronological groups demonstrates both continuity in the nomads’ culture development throughout the 6th – 4th centuries BC and cultural transformations that occurred during this period. The transformations are reflected in changing nomenclature in the category of horse ammunition, style of zoomorphic images (including due to the appearance of plaques indicating links with the Don region, the North Caucasus, and the North Pontic region), and emergence of a tradition to use plaques with anthropomorphic images.

The Problems of Dating Non-Attic Classical Kantharoi

The article is devoted to analyzing the problems of dating classical kantharoi produced in the workshops of Asia Minor, Macedonia, Thessaly, Thrace and other ancient centers of the last third of the 4th – the middle – end of the 2nd c. BC. These problems are closely related to the issues of identifying centers of their production. The formulation and resolution of these issues have aroused an increased interest recently. The article presents the main characteristics of classical kantharos forms depending on time and center of their manufacture. The paper collects information on published fragments and whole vessels and publishes for the first time five late non-attic kantharoi found on the territory of Panticapaeum and Tanais. Besides, it considers general trends and features in the development of such forms. The morphological comparison of non-attic kantharoi and their attic prototypes makes it possible to draw a conclusion on their synchronous development. The analysis of forms and proportions of two of the three main varieties of kantharoi, which belong to the Pontic Hellenistic ceramics group, as well as their contexts including sites in the North Pontic region, gives us the possibility to follow the form transformation in the direction of changing proportions, namely, their profile elongation and/or gradual body decrease in the third quarter of the 3rd – the beginning/middle of the 2nd c. BC. In addition, it allows to trace in the third variant the further development of the form to the complete body schematization, which appeared in the middle or the third quarter of the 2nd c. BC.

The Early Sarmatian Sites of the Orel-Samara Interfluve

The paper critically analyzes the burials of the Orel-Samara interfluve published as the early Sarmatian assemblages. Due to wrongly determined ceramics and confusion in numbering of barrows and other subjective reasons they were interpreted and dated incorrectly. The paper offers the objective analysis of the sites under discussion and their real dating. The collection of Dr. Kostenko presents two burials (Spasskoye-Verkhnyaya Maevka, Pereshchepino) belonging to Belozerka culture, one (Novo-Podkryazh) belonging to Catacomb culture, several Sarmatian burials (Podgorodnoye, Aleksandrovka, Sokolovo), which were dated incorrectly (they belong to the later period in fact). In general, only 10 burials of the region can be dated to the 2nd – 1st centuries BC out of 22, which are considered early Sarmatian. These are the burials with Middle La Tиne fibulae (Zhemchuzhnoe, Bogdanovka, Lychkovo), mirrors of early types (Sokolovo, Proletarskoe) and the swords with crescent pommel (Zhemchuzhnoe, Terny, Preobrazhenka), with early Sarmatian ceramics (Kolpakovka). The “hoard” from Bulakhivka with silver bowls of the “real cone” type, phalerae and the cauldron of early shape also belongs to this time. According to the funeral rite and burial goods they indeed do not differ from the whole massif of the North Pontic region burials. These are inserted burials oriented mainly in the northern sector. The Orel-Samara interfluve was the north-western periphery of the Rhoxolans lands.

ESSAY ON THE SARMATIAN STUDIES IN UKRAINE

The steppe and part of the forest-steppe of modern Ukraine since the 2nd century BC till the 4th century AD were the place of residence of the numerous Sarmatian tribes. The Sarmatian studies are one of the actual research fields of Ukrainian and foreign archaeologists.
 The article analyses the study of Sarmatian culture of North Pontic region since the time of the first finds of Sarmatian sites untill the present. The author proposes to survey the development of Ukrainian Sarmatian studies in two directions: field exploration and the theoretical interpretation of archaeological material. The article presents the history of the finds of Sarmatian culture and the review of points of view of main scholars on the various problems of Sarmatian archeology.
 The history of Ukrainian Sarmatian studies is associated with the names of T. G. Obolduyeva, E. V. Makhno, M. I. Vyazmitina, A. V. Symonenko, M. B. Shchukin, V. I. Kostenko, O. M. Dzygovski, M. M. Fokeyev. The Sarmatians of Moldova were fundamentally studied by E. A. Rickman and V. I. Grosu.
 In total in the North Pontic region by the end of XX century 1256 burials and individual finds of Sarmatian culture were known. Among them the burials of the «kings» and «queens» near the villages of Pogory and Vesnyane, in the Sokolova Mohyla and Nohayichik barrows were excavated.
 The fundamental works of Prof. M. I. Rostovtsev were the first attempt to summarize the historical and archaeological sources of the Sarmatians of North Pontic region. The scholars of the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine SSR Drs. T. G. Obolduyiva in the fifties of the twentieth century and M. I. Vyazmitina — in the sixties — seventies were at the source of the Ukrainian Sarmatian studies. The Sarmatian culture of the North Pontic region became the latest subject of scientific studies by K. F. Smirnov.
 Since the beginning of the eighties the new generation of researchers was involved to the Sarmatian studies in Ukraine and Dr. A. V. Simonenko became the leader. He has reconstructed the ethnic and politic history of the Sarmatians of the North Pontic region, proposed the new chronology of the Sarmatian Age, the essay on the culture and art of the Sarmatians was written by him. In several monographs of Dr. Symonenko and their reprints the Roman imported products from the North Pontic Sarmatian graves were studied, and the armaments, horse equipment and the military affairs of the Sarmatians were analyzed.

North Pontic Indo-Europeans in Troy

The paper contains the text of author’s lecture at the conference “Trojan colloquium” which took place in Kyiv in May, 30th, 2018. The questions of connections between ancient Asia Minor population and North Pontic region are considered on the base of archaeological sources and Indo-European studies. The lower Troy layers contain the traces of several invasions of Anatolian group of Indo-European peoples from the Balkans (the Hittites, Palayans, Luwians) and also the Phrygian and Armenian ancestors. They had been formed in the Danube River region in the 4th millennium BCE under the influence of Chalcolithic migrants from the North-Western Pontic region. Migration of the Hittites-Luwians from Balkans to Asia Minor in the 3rd millennium BCE was a part of great spread of Indo-European tribes in the Chalcolithic-Bronze Era from two centers of Indo-European ethno-genesis which situated in the north of Central Europe and in the North Pontic region. The fall of Homer’s Troy (layer VІІа) clashes with the invasion of “sea people” and the destruction of the Hittite Kingdom (about 1200 BCE). A leading role, in opinion of I. Diakonov and L. Klein, in Troy’s fall and in the Hittite Empire disintegration was played not by Mycenaean Greeks, but by Phrygian and Armenian ancestors, militant “musks” of the Assyrian sources. During the invasion of “Sea Peoples” they came to Asia Minor from the West — from the Balkans. The beginning of the mentioned ethnic groups formation was linked with the Lower Danube and the North-Western Pontic region, in particular, with Usatovo-Chornavoda II cultures population. Traces of the contacts of native languages: Thracian, Phrygian, Armenian, Greek with the Indo-Iranians bind them to Northern Pontic region. Just here the majority of researchers place the Indo-Iranian motherland, the ancestors of whom they consider the Yamna and Catacomb cultures population. Archaeological and literary sources testify the participating in the Asia Minor ancient history of three more peoples from the North Pontic Steppe — Sabatinovka culture tribes, Cimmerians and Scythians. “Sabatinians” apparently took part in the invasion of “Sea Peoples” which is proved by finds of bronze weapons, typical for the final Bronze Age of the North Pontic region, at the Middle East territory. Cimmerians in 675 BCE destroyed the Phrygian state with the capital of Gordion and founded the Gammira state. The latter was destroyed in 605 BCE by Scythians who had come to Asia Minor, as well as the Cimmerians, through the Caucasus.

Regarding one Rare Roman Amphorae Type from Tyras

The paper deals with the publication of amphorae finds from Tyras classified as the early variant of type VIII according to A. Opaiţ. These vessels are attributed as one of the rarest varieties of the late Roman pottery ware. In Tyras these vessels are represented by several fragments of profile parts. Their center of production has not been localized yet. However judging by the visually distinct features of the clay composition, one can assume that they were made in the Eastern Mediterranean. The morphological features indicate that these amphorae were intended for transportation and storage of wine. The spread area of such vessels is the territory of provinces Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior. They are very rare in the North Pontic region. The only known sample was found at the “Sovkhoz 10” cemetery located in the vicinity of Chersonesus. Almost all amphorae of this type were found during the excavations of Roman military camps or cities, where Roman soldiers were stationed during the 2nd — 3rd centuries CE. Such a distribution of findings is hardly accidental and may be related to the provision of Roman military contingents. That observation may also apply to Tyras, where the vexillatio was shifted from the Moesia Inferior since the beginning of the 2nd century CE. The Roman military presence in the city is evidenced by the epigraphic and archaeological data. Perhaps, the variety of transport amphorae under study occurred in Tyras together with Roman soldiers from Moesia Inferior when shifting the vexillatio or during further rotations of troops during the 2nd — first half of the 3rd century CE. It is also likely that the wine contained in these vessels was imported from the Lower Danube River region as a result of mediatorial commercial trade.

Maternal genetic features of the Iron Age Tagar population from Southern Siberia (1st millennium BC).

Early nomads in the Eurasian steppes since the beginning of the 1st millennium BC played a key role in the formation of the cultural and genetic landscape of populations of a significant part of Eurasia, from Eastern Europe to Eastern Central Asia. Numerous archaeological cultures associated with early nomads have been discovered throughout the Eurasian steppe belt. The Tagar archaeological culture existed in the Minusinsk basin (Sayan Mountains, Southern Siberia, Russia) in the northeastern periphery of the Eurasian steppe belt from the 8th to 1st century BC during the pre-Scythian, Scythian, and Early Xiongnu-Sarmatian periods. In this study, we evaluated mtDNA diversity in the Tagar population based on representative series (N = 79) belonging to all chronological stages of the culture. The Tagar population had a mixed mtDNA pool dominated by Western Eurasian haplogroups and subgroups (H, HV6, HV*, I, K, T, U2e, U4, U5a, and U*) and, to a lesser degree, Eastern Eurasian haplogroups (A*, A8, C*, C5, D, G2a, and F1b). The Tagar population showed a similar mtDNA pool structure to those of other Iron Age populations representing the “Scythian World.” We observed particularly high similarity between the Tagar and Classic Scythians from the North Pontic region. Our results support the assumption that genetic components introduced by Bronze Age migrants from Western Eurasia contributed to the formation of the genetic composition of Scythian period populations in Southern Siberia. Another important component of the Tagar mtDNA pool was autochthonous East Eurasian lineages, some of which (A8 and C4a2a) are potential markers of the westward genetic influence of the eastern populations of the Scythian period. Our results suggest a genetic continuity (at least partial) between the Early, Middle, and Late Tagar populations.