Scythian Time Research Articles

Studying seriality in material culture by geometric morphometrics–gold wild boars from the Arzhan-2 barrow, Tuva

In the field of material culture, seriality refers to the serial production of nearly the same object in terms of shape and size, yielding visually identical artefacts. Subtle variations may nevertheless occur, depending on the technologies used, or the number and reliability of moulds, for example. Geometric morphometrics based on landmark analysis, along with accompanying statistical techniques, provides methods well-suited for identifying small but archaeologically significant variations in shape and size within such datasets. In this study, we exemplify the efficiency of geometric morphometrics in a context of seriality, using a large series of centimetric-sized gold wild boars decorating a case for bow and arrows, discovered in the Arzhan-2 barrow of the early Scythian time. A total of twenty-seven 2D landmarks was collected for each specimen to assess the level of similarity between individuals with high precision, and to investigate the presence of subgroups, possibly indicating the use of several models. However, due to the homogeneous nature of the dataset, notable measurement errors may obscure the sought-after archaeological signal. To mitigate this, each specimen was measured twice by three different operators. Boas coordinates of the six replicates were then averaged, resulting in a reduction of the effect of measurement errors. Two distinct shape groups are identified, consisting of an approximately equal number of individuals. These findings suggest that the entire set of wild boars could have been produced via two separate manufacturing chains, possibly running in parallel, where two distinct, albeit very similar, solid models were involved. Within each group, discreet variations in size were observed. They are probably due to variable shrinkage during casting. These observations would have been difficult for the naked eye, even for an expert in the field, because the striking similarity within the series and the post-processing by the goldsmith obscure the shape signal originating from the moulds. Besides the original information provided here about the gold wild boars of Arzhan-2, it is worth emphasizing that the use of these techniques should be encouraged, particularly when applied to the study of seriality. The workflow described can easily be reproduced and adapted for almost any serially produced archaeological assemblage.

Burials of Horsemen of the Scythian Time at the Zayukovo-3 Burial Ground

Burials of Horsemen of the Scythian Time at the Zayukovo-3 Burial Ground

Determination of the Bow Winding Material’s Nature from the Burial Ground of the Scythian Time Saryg-Bulun (Central Tuva)

The results of studying the bow-winding material from mound 2, burial 5, at the Saryg-Bulun burial ground (Central Tuva, Russia) of the Aldy-Bel culture dated to the end of the 7th–beginning of the 6th centuries BC are presented. According to the first publication and the assumptions of archaeologists, the winding could be of animal origin; however, in recent years, this argument has been challenged due to similar finds of plant origin. Studies using infrared (IR) spectroscopy and chromatography show that the winding material for the arms of the ancient bow was fish skin.

Nine types of iron smelting furnaces in southern Siberia in the first millennium AD: A review of archaeological and chronological data

This article systematizes all currently known archaeological data and radiocarbon dates related to iron-smelting furnaces from Southern Siberia. On the basis of 159 excavated and well-preserved furnaces, nine construction types can be identified. The analysis of a series of radiocarbon dates made it possible to revise previous models about emergence and development of iron metallurgy in Southern Siberia and neighboring regions. We conclude that iron metallurgy developed in the region not in the Scythian time, as has long been assumed, but in the subsequent Xiongnu period of the 2nd century BCE – 2nd century CE. During the 3rd–6th centuries CE, metallurgy flourished, which is expressed in the different types and numerous smelting furnaces that coexisting in the same region. This article raises for the first time the problem we have called the ancient Türkic metallurgy paradox. This inexplicable phenomenon describes the sudden and almost complete disappearance of iron metallurgy in Southern Siberia in the 7th century CE.

Early Iron Age Mound Near the Village Malynivtsi in Podillia

The purpose of the research paper is to introduce the materials of mound 1 near the village of Malynivtsi in the Middle Dniester region to scientific circulation. It is crucial to characterize its funeral rites, as well as to attribute the inventory complex. Burials are included in the list of synchronous antiquities of the region. The social attribution of the persons buried there is conducted.
 The scientific novelty of the work is in the general characteristic of the Early Iron Age complex from Podillia. Since its unique characteristic is the presence of both pre-Scythian and Scythian features in the rites, Malynivtsi burial complex is an important source for studying the evolution of the Early Scythian funeral rites in the Middle Dniester region, because most of the burial mounds in the region are associated with the somewhat later Kelermesskaia period.
 Conclusions. Mound 1 near Malynivtsi contained several burials performed according to both inhumation and cremation rites. Analogies to them can be found in the Middle Dniester region and they are associated with both pre-Scythian and Scythian times. The pre-Scythian features include the presence of a group of graves under one mound, burial in a cist, group burials are more common, and the peculiar positioning of the dead in one tomb with their heads in different directions. The northwestern orientation of bodies also prevails in the pre-Scythian period and could be found in most necropolises of that time. At the same time, a number of features already have parallels in the Scythian times: the topography of the necropolis on the watershed, and the burning down of the wooden constructions of the tomb. The inventory complex contains mainly handmade pottery. Tulip-shaped vessels are characteristic of the pre-Scythian period. Pots with a roller on the rim and body, or only on the rim, existed both in the pre-Scythian and Scythian times. However, the first type is not yet known among the burials of the Western Podillia group of the Scythian period. Thus, according to the combination of features of the funeral rite and inventory, Mound 1 near the village of Malynivtsi can be attributed to the turn of the Pre-Scythian and Scythian periods.

THE OLDEST TRANSPORT ARTERY OF SCYTHIA (Lower Hypanis — middle course of Borysthenes Track)

The article examines the connection between the archaeological sites of the pre-Scythian and Scythian times and the key watersheds of Right Bank Ukraine, as routes of potential overland communications that used to move goods in ancient times. One of the impetuses for turning to this topic was the discovery of four archaic amphorae (one whole from Klazomenai, others from Lesbos) at the recently discovered Khotynets hillfort in Poland, which is located in the extreme west of the country of the Early Iron Age hillforts of southern Eastern Europe. These finds of amphora containers in the area of Vyshnia and San valleys convincingly testify that trade caravans could reach this distant region from the Black Sea coast using only the land route. For its time, land communications were optimal, as they provided relatively reliable movement with a heavy load, along a path practically devoid of sharp descents and ascents.
 Key attention in the article is given to one of the most ancient routes that connected the northern coast of the Black Sea with settlement structures in the Middle Dnieper region. The extreme points in this transport system were pre-Scythian hillforts — Dykii Sad located at the confluence of the Ingul and Southern Bug rivers and its potential northern partner Subotivske in the Tiasmin basin. During the Scythian rule in the Black Sea steppes, this route continued to be actively used. However, over time, the final trade terminals changed, and the route of trade caravans remained. Merchants from Olbia and the harbors of the northern coast of the Black Sea used the eastern edge of the Southern Bug basin as a reliable route to the fortified settlement structures of the forest-steppe Right Bank, among them Matronynske and the Trakhtemyrivske hillforts.
 Given the shallow depths near the coast of Olbia, the authors consider the harbour of the little-explored ancient hillfort of Hlyboka Prystan as a likely place for unloading sea vessels with a deep draft. From this harbour opened a convenient way to the hillforts of the Forest Steppe, just using the oldest transport artery of Scythia.

BETWEEN SEDENTISM AND NOMADISM: LIFEWAYS ON THE FOREST-STEPPE FRONTIER OF THE LEFT BANK OF DNIEPER IN SCYTHIAN TIME

The paper is devoted to the issue of reconstruction of the lifeways and economics of the part of tribes in the forest-steppe region of the Left Bank of Dnieper during the Scythian period. The question of the role of nomads and semi nomads in the ethnic and cultural history of the population is one of the most important, since the correct assessment of the interaction between the forest-steppe agricultural population and the different groups of nomads depends on the reconstruction of ethnic processes in the Left-bank forest-steppe du­ring Scythian time. It can be assumed that the Dnieper Left-bank forest-steppe by its environment and convenient ways attracted both farmers and nomads. This led to the use of several ecological niches, which was reflected in the spread of the settlement structure of farmers in the areas that are most suitable for agriculture (chernozem soils of various types) and rich in resources for life, construction, etc. (access to water, forest areas). The nomadic population that has subjugated farmers has repeatedly penetrated the region several times. Nomads mostly used the steppe areas and floodplains of the region, leaving behind the main type of sites — the mounds, burial rites of which are fundamentally different from the settled agricultural population.
 The study proposes the conditional use of the term «nomads» for groups of mobile pastoralists only at the time of their penetration into the region. In the new conditions, their lifeways significantly changed. The term reflects a transition to mobile stockbreeding within a limited territory of movement, permanent winter houses near the settlements and hillforts of the settled population of the region, prevailing transhumance, etc. At the moment, the term «semi nomads» is the most adequate for those groups of mobile pastoralists who remained in the forest-steppe region of the Left Bank of Dnieper during the Scythian time. Judging by the flat necropolis in Barvinkova Gora tract near Bilsk hillfort, a part of the migrants from the south turned to a sedentary way of life in the 4th century BC. In general, it can be assumed that the migration of nomads into the region significantly impacted lifeways of the local sedentary population.

Agriculture During Scythian Time in the Don Forest-steppe Region: to the question of cultural and regional features

The article deals with the economic aspect of the ethnic-cultural characteristics of settlements of the VI–III centuries BC, belonged to the Scythoid and Gorodets cultures. The landscape features of the Don basin have been considered, that led to the location structure of hillforts and settlements in the forested valleys of the main rivers of the region. While the steppe interfluves remained unpopulated during that period. Information on specialized tools for soil cultivation and harvesting has been systematized. A set of cultivated and weed plants is characterized by grain and seed prints detected on pottery. These data indicate the agricultural orientation of economic systems in both settled communities of the region. The population of the Scythoid culture was engaged in plow farming, the Gorodets one – in mainly slash. Agricultural needs explain the development of the first typical forest-steppe southern territories, the second – more wooded northern ones.

МОРФОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ ТИПЫ СКИФОВ СЕВЕРНОГО ПРИЧЕРНОМОРЬЯ В АСПЕКТЕ ИХ ГЕНЕЗИСА

The question of the anthropological composition of the Scythians in connection with the eastern migration impulses is considered in the article by systematizing and interpreting the data of physical anthropology according to the craniological material of the Northern Black Sea region and adjacent territories. Anthropological material does not show the movement from adjacent and more distant eastern territories in the Pre-Scythian and Scythian times of large groups of the population, differing in craniological parameters from the autochthonous population.

АРХЕОЛОГІЧНІ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ НА ТЕРИТОРІЇ БІЛЬСЬКОГО МІКРОРЕГІОНУ В ПЕРІОД ВОЄННОГО СТАНУ

The article presents brief summaries of protective and rescue archaeological research conducted on cultural heritage sites in 2022 by specialists of the Communal Institution «Historical and Cultural Reserve «Bilsk» of the Poltava Regional Council. The works were carried out on the territory of the modern left bank of the Vorskla River (Kotelva territorial community, Poltava district, Poltava region). The materials highlight the results of archaeological studies of 2 multi-layered settlements – Kotelva II and Staryi Karier. The article presents information about the research history of the sites selected for study in 2022. The reasons that prompted large-scale archaeological research of cultural heritage sites during the Russian-Ukrainian war era are outlined. According to the results of the field work, a preliminary description of the discovered objects and antiquities is given. On the settlement Kotelva II, during the activities of the expedition of the «Bilsk» reserve in 2022, 350 m2 were discovered. 39 objects of the Scythian period were found. The vast majority of them are household pits. In 2022 2 excavations with a total area of 295 m2 were laid at the settlement Staryi Karier. In the first excavation, 16 household objects, a cellar of the Scythian time, were founded and investigated. A Bronze Age dwelling was also discovered. In the second excavation, 12 objects were founded. Among them are 2 dwelling and a household pits of the Final Bronze Age and Scythian time. Important attention is paid to clarifying (determining) the cultural and chronological positions of the studied settlement monuments. It has been established that the Bronze Age layering from the Kotelva II settlement can be attributed to the XIII–XII centuries B.C. During the Scythian era, the village functioned in the 6th – at the beginning of the 5th centuries B.C. Large-scale excavations made it possible to find out that the antiquities of the Scythian period from the territory of the Staryi Karier settlement can be dated to the end of the 6th – the first half of the 5th centuries B.C. Materials of the Bronze Age belong to the bearers of the Bondarikha, Ivanivka and Lebedivka cultures.

Классификация бляшек предскифской эпохи могильника Заюково-3

This article presents the classification of one of the most common categories of burial equipment of the North Caucasus population during the pre-Scythian time: sewn plaques. These ornaments made of bronze and antimony were found at the Zayukovo-3 burial ground in the burials of the VIII–VII centuries BC. Departments are allocated based on the material, sub–departments accord-ing to the shape of the surface, types – according to the manufacturing technique. The place of plaques in the burial shows that none of the selected jewelry was used as buttons and the attribu-tion of plaques to such is a historiographical mistake. Most of the studied plaques (except for bronze hemispherical ones with a jumper (type Ia1a1) and a loop (type Ia2a) on the back, cease to exist in the middle of the VII century BC. Thus, the remaining plaques are a chrono-indicator of the terminus ante quem of the finale of the classical stage of the Koban culture and the beginning of the Scythian time.

Swords and daggers of early nomads from Transylvania and Southern Carpathians: Local varieties and continental trends

Transylvania and Wallachia, like the Caucasus and the Middle Dnieper, can be considered the centres of the genesis of Scythian bladed weapons, especially in the Early Scythian period. Furthermore, the early Scythian time was the period of the creative reinvention of the Gudermes and Kelermes traditions, which led to the appearance in Transylvania of the Posmuș and Deleni types of akinakai, and in Wallachia – of the Ferigile type of the second half of the 7th – the turn of the 7th-6th centuries BC. The distribution of the early Scythian swords and daggers allows us to conclude that their penetration into the Carpathian-Danube region took place on two main routes: along the northern border of the forest-steppe to Transylvania at the initial stage, and later – along the southern border between steppe and forest-steppe, through the Bărăgan plain to the South Carpathians. Moreover, one of the earliest finds of an akinakes with an antenna pommel (Frata type of the second half of the 7th century BC) was also found in Transylvania. The Carpathian-Danube region is also characterized by an isolated series of single-edged swords of the Nograd type, which area does not extend beyond the Middle Danube, Transylvania and South Carpathians. The ground of this type, apparently, was the Shumeyko type of the Early and Middle Scythian period and some Illyrian traditions. At the end of the Middle Scythian time, Scythian swords and daggers were characteristic only of the periphery of the region, which may indicate the gradual withdrawal of Transylvania and the Southern Carpathian region from under the Scythian influence. And the absence of akinakai in the region of interest for the Classical period allows us to attribute the final phase of this process to the framework no later than the last quarter of the 5th century BC.

Archaeological sites of Mohylany group of Early Scythian time in Ternopil region: state and perspectives of research

The article is shaped as a recounting of recently discovered archaeological sites belonging to the distinctive Mohylany group of Early Scythian time in the Ternopil region. It implements technical and scientific documentation of the Ternopil Center for Protection and Research of Cultural Heritage, available data from archival and museum collections, as well as scientific publications. Until the early 1970s, only two settlements with materials of the early Scythian time were known in the Ternopil region. However, over the past 50 years, the surveys and excavations by scientists from various institutions have significantly expanded the source base and supplemented the map with a significant number of newly discovered sites. Much information has not yet been published and remains in they have a form of scientific reports or even the status of unprocessed materials in museum collections. The authors, there possible, summarized all available information on archaeological sites throughout the Ternopil region, which contained materials of the early Scythian time. These include both excavated sites and the ones just recently discovered by surveys. As a result, an updated list of 51 archaeological sites has been compiled, which belong to the Mohylany group of the Early Scythian time. Their location has been clarified and the available amount of materials is highlighted which makes these sites assigned to the relevant cultural group. Key words: Early Iron Age, Mohylany group of archaeological sites, Early Scythian time, settlement, Ternopil Center for Protection and Research of Cultural Heritage.

Handmade Pottery from the Excavations at Bilsk Hill-fort Rampart Sector

The Bilsk archaeological expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine explored a part of a rampart of the Great Bilsk hill-fort on the territory of the settlement in the Tsaryna Mohyla tract in 2016—2017. The building was found in the investigated area under the embankment of the rampart. It functioned before the construction of the defensive structures of the Great Bilsk hill-fort and was used as a place for the formation of the ash hill after destruction as a result of a fire. The embankment of the rampart was covered by the layers of the settlement from the inside, which continued to function after its construction. The archaeological layers were quite clearly separated, so during the excavations it was possible to get materials from individual stratigraphic horizons. Most of the finds are represented by local handmade pottery. An analysis of the complex of handmade pottery from individual horizons made it possible to give some conclusions about changes of the inhabitants’ pottery of the settlement in a short period of time (the end of the 7th — the first third of the 5th centuries BC). In general, horizons I—IV are characterized by minimal changes in the local ceramic complex. Materials from the cultural deposits of the pre-fortification period and the time of the creation of the fortifications indicate that the pottery traditions of the local population were transformed slowly and the main form of the complex remained stable. It is indicated by the use of slightly profiled pots as cookingware and most of them had an ornament in the shape of a molded roller on the rim or neck, sometimes on the body. Tableware (bowls, ladles) and containers (very large pots) have polished surface and archaic morphological features. There are no forms (jugs, mugs and vessels of small sizes) which are more typical for the Middle Scythian time. Only after the building of fortifications, at the end of the 6th — the first third of the 5th centuries BC (horizon V) more noticeable changes can be traced in the pottery of the population of the Bilsk hill-fort: appearance of cookingware with expressed body profile, disappearance of the ornamentation with molded rollers tradition, the fading of the tradition of polished tableware and containers, disappearance of some groups and the spread of new forms (jugs, mugs and small vessels). Thus, the study of the part of the rampart at the territory of the settlement in the Tsaryna Mohyla tract at the Bilsk hill-fort made it possible to consider a collection of handmade pottery dated from the end of the 7th — the first third of the 5th centuries BC. It was possible to divide these materials into close chronological groups with clear stratigraphy and trace certain changes in the material complex of the end of the Early Scythian / the beginning of the Middle Scythian periods. These results clarify ideas about the development of pottery traditions of the population in the forest-steppe zone between the Dnipro and Siverskyi Donets Rivers at the Scythian time.

About the building stones of the Eneolithic cromlech, sanctuary, and burial constructions near Shakhtar village (Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine)


 
 
 The article presents the results of petrographic research of building stone that was used for the construction of a cromlech, sanctuary, and the ceiling of the Eneolithic burials No. 20 – 22 from the kurgan No. 29 near Shakhtar village, Nikopol rayon, Dnipropetrovsk oblast. The purpose of this work was to establish a probable place for mining the stone blocks and rubble used in the construction. As a result of petrographic and X-ray fluorescence analysis, it was determined that the studied rocks can be divided into two groups, namely granitoids and limestones. The group of granitoids included tonalites, plagiogran- ites (trondhjemites), altered granite gneiss, and feldspar crystal from pegmatite. All the limestones were represented by spherical lay- ered aggregates, which most likely belong to oncoids – carbonate structures that form as a result of cyanobacteria growth. The studied samples from the materials of the cromlech and the sanctuary of burial No. 22 were represented by plagiogranitoids, pegmatoid granite, and limestones. The first of them served as the main material for the construction of the cromlech. Carbonate aggregates together with the granites were also used as a backfilling when installing wooden pillars of the cult complex associated with the burial. The plates covering the burials No. 20 and 21 were made of tonalites. All the studied granitoids are typical rocks for the area where the excavations took place. In the Middle Dnipro Area, plagiogranitoids are represented by the rocks of the Dnipropetrovskyi, Surskyi, Saksahanskyi, and Inhuletskyi complexes of the Archaean. Plagiogranitoids of the Dnipropetrovskyi complex are the most common in the studied area. They occur here in the middle and upper reaches of the Solona River and along the rivers of Bazavluk and Bazavluchok upstream the Sholokhove Reservoir. The closest to the excavation site are the occurrences of plagiogranitoids, which are exposed on the right bank of the Solona River, opposite the village of Shakhtar. In this area, pegmatoid granites are found in the form of veins that intersect plagiogranitoids. In the area of excavations, carbonate oncoids are found in the Sarmatian limestones of the Neogene. Most often they are found as the uncemented specimens that spilled out of the limestones. Today, such structures occur on both banks of the Kakhovske Reservoir, located south of the village Shakhtar. However, in ancient times there may have been closer outcrops of these rocks, as the Sarmatian limestone occurrences are common in the immediate vicinity of the excavation site, namely between the rivers Bazavluk and Solona, near their confluence, and the middle and upper reaches of the Chortomlyk River. As a result of the research, it is proved that in the valley of the river Solona during the Eneolithic, there began the active extraction of stone raw materials for mound construction, which was continued in later epochs, particularly, in the Scythian time.
 
 

INTENTIONAL DAMAGES OF POSTCRANIAL SKELETONS OF KAMENSKOYE CULTURE CARRIERS IN THE UPPER-OB’ REGION (PROBLEM STATEMENT)

A preliminary macroscopic study of the postcranial skeletons of the series of the Kamenskaya culture from the Upper Ob’ region (4th–2nd centuries BC) - Kamen’-2, Maslyakha-1, Novotroitskoe-1,2 – has been carried out. Using the method of visual (osteoscopic) diagnostics of the skeletons, artificial destructive changes in the long bones of the limbs were revealed, mainly in the area of the joints. Presumably, the fixed defects are the result of deliberate damage which was done during post-mortem manipulation with the body of the deceased in the ne-cropolises of the Scythian time in the Upper Ob’ region. The problem of creating a unified methodology for the identification and differentiation of bone defects in the postcranial skeleton arose. The solution of this problem will allow us to cor-relate paleoanthropological data with archaeological data and to obtain new infor-mation on the everyday burial tradition and on other markers of the religious life of the carriers of different cultures of the Scythian-Siberian community in Eurasia.

«ZMIYOVY» (THE SERPENT’S) WALLS OF PEREIASLAV REGION IN THE SCIENTIFIC LEGACY OF DR. MIKHAILO KUCHERA

Serpent’s wall was one of the types of archeological sites that fell into the field of scientific interests of Dr. Mikhailo Kuchera. The scholar devoted a significant part of his work to issues of the dating, purpose, features of the spatial configuration, and metric characteristics of these structures. In particular, he studied the Serpent’s wall of the Pereiaslav region, which includes three segments: Velykyi (the inner), Malyi (the outer) and Perekhresnyi ramparts. They covered from the northeast and east the area between the Dnieper, Trubizh and Supii rivers. In 1974, the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences began ten years research on Serpent’s wall within the Middle Dnieper region. The results were published in Dr. Kuchera’s monograph «Zmievy valy Srednego Podneprov’ya (Serpent’s Wall of the Middle Dnieper)».
 In the book, the author provided data on the location of ramparts, their structural features and safety, the size of individual segments, dating and purpose and determined the effectiveness of their use for defense. The separate section of the monograph is devoted to the Pereiaslav Serpent’s Wall. It is also mentioned in other parts of the publication.
 In general, Dr. Kuchera has considered the most actual issues related to the Serpent’s Wall. He offered a brief overview of the history of their study, made an attempt to characterize the configuration of buildings, and formed a version of the time of their creation and purpose. Most of his conclusions are based on Dr. Boris Shramko’s theory of the Karatul hillfort. In general, Dr. Kuchera considered the most pressing issues related to them. According to this theory, the Pereiaslav Serpent’s Wall is the remains of a giant settlement hillfort of Scythian times. Based on the results of Dr. Shramko research (in particular, the plan of Serpent’s Wall), Dr. Kuchera prepared the generalized description of the location of different segments of Serpent’s Wall of Pereiaslav region, provided the information about the length and created consolidated scheme of it. At the same time, he used the data on the Serpent’s Wall published by other researchers. In view of all this, he supported the Scythian version of the dating of the ramparts.
 In my opinion, the conclusions of Dr. Kuchera about the dating and purpose of the Pereiaslav Serpent’s Wall were premature. This is evidenced by the results of studies of these structures conducted over the past 25 years. Despite this, the information offered by scholars was important for the study of Pereiaslav Serpent’s Wall. Dr. Kuchera created a generalized review in which he accumulated and analyzed a significant part of the available data on these sites. Thus, he managed to form the most holistic at the time idea of the history of the study, spatial features, dating and purpose of these structures.

Крилатий кабан: образ на перетині скіфської, іранської та давньогрецької міфологій

The gold plates adorning women’s headdresses were found in the Scythian elite mounds of the 4th century BC Tovsta Mohyla and Chortomlyk. The plates recreate the same plots: the scene of two griffins attacking a deer and the confrontation between a fantastic winged boar and a predator resembling a lion. The image of a winged boar is rare in Scythian times. In addition to the above, a small series of images of a protome of a wild boar with wings is known. These are gold plates originating from the 2nd Seven-Brotherhood mound (Kuban region) of the second half of the 5th century BC and Kul-Oba mound (Crimea) in the middle of the 4th century BC. Researchers have suggested that these images are borrowed from Greek coins of the second half of the 6th – 5th centuries BC. Coins with the embossed image of a protome of a wild boar with wings were found in several regions of ancient Greece: on the islands of Rhodes, Lesbos, Samos, in the cities of the west coast of Asia Minor Cyzicus and Klazomenai, and in the state of Lydia. It is noteworthy that these are the regions that were in contact with the Persian state of the Achaemenids. The image of a winged boar is not known in Greek mythology, and the boar in myths often appears as a cruel creature of Chaos, with which the heroes come into battle. Instead, in the ancient Iranian tradition, the boar is one of the incarnations of the god of war and victory Verethragna. He, in particular, is mentioned in Yashts. The description of the boar does not mention the wings, but speaks of its free movement in space. The notion of such a movement could have influenced the appearance of images of a winged boar. Thus, the image of a winged boar on the coins of Greek cities appeared under a certain influence of the Iranian tradition. The Scythians also represented the god of war and victory (known only by the Greek name – Ares) as a boar. This is evidenced by the images on the scabbards of swords and gorytos. And so the image of a winged boar, most likely, was a reproduction of this god. The scene of the confrontation between a wild boar and a predator on plates from the Tovsta Mohyla mound and Chortomlyk mound is located next to the scene of the griffins attacking the deer. Such scenes reproduced the idea of sacrifice for the sake of future revival. The scene of the confrontation may also be related to the idea of overcoming death and the triumph of life.

Single-edged akinakai of Transylvania and Great Hungarian Plain. Reflection of a Balkan tradition

In the Scythian time in the territory of the Middle Danube, Transylvanian and the Southern Carpathian regions, the original group of single-edged akinakai is distributed. By the time the Scythians penetrated Carpathian region, a part of the population of Basarabi culture (bearers of the Illyrian tradition of single-edged weaponry) moved to the north, to the South Carpathians and Transylvania. Perhaps it is the circumstance that can explain the appearance of single-edged akinakai with a T-shaped handle of the Nógrád type in the foothills of the Southern Carpathians and the Apuseni Mountains in the south-west of Transylvania. The basis for the Nógrád akinakai, apparently, was the akinakai of the Shumeyko type (or Piliny type according to A. Vulpe), which spread at the turn of the Early and Middle Scythian periods. This is indicated by the features of Nógrád akinakai, characteristic of the Shumeyko type like a narrow elongated blade (often triangular), a massive kidney-shaped crosshair, a two-part handle and decoration with its transverse notches, a narrow elongated rhombic pommel. Like Shumeyko akinakai, the single-edged swords of the Nógrád type appear at the turn of the 7th – 6th centuries BC and exist until the end of the 6th century. At the same time, the bulk of the complexes with akinakai of the Nógrád type belongs to the second half or even to the late 6th century BC.

Integrative Geophysical Studies at the Novaya Kurya-1 Cemetery in the Kulunda Steppe

We outline the results of prospection studies at the Novaya Kurya-1 cemetery in the south of Western Siberia, using remote sensing methods such as aerial photography, ground-based magnetometry, high-precision aeromagnetic survey, electromagnetic profi ling, and electrotomography. Original techniques were used to construct relative relief maps, and an inversion of data from ground-based magnetic survey at various altitudes was carried out. The fi rst technique reduces the effect of natural relief, and highlights anthropogenic altitudinal anomalies, making the analysis of digital elevation models more effi cient. The second technique is helpful for assessing the thickness and depth of anomalous magnetic bodies or horizons, not only providing planigraphic information but enabling us to evaluate two- and threedimensional geometric properties of the detected objects. As a result of the analyses, at least 14 kurgans were identifi ed at the cemetery, six of which lack salient outward features. Structural details suggest that most of them date to the Early Scythian time (800–400 BC). On the basis of the interpretation of the results of highly effi cient prospection analyses using the UAV platform, offering the possibility of surveying a large area (about 25 ha), the boundaries of the site were determined. Several features were detected. To identify these, further studies are needed.