НАМиСТО ВельбАрСьКОї КульТури з ХріННиКіВ уДк 904.25 (477.81) «652» * ГорбАненко Сергій Анатолійович -кандидат історичних наук, старший науковий співробітник відділу археології ранніх слов'ян та регіональних польових досліджень інституту археології нАн україни,
The results of the studies of mineral artefacts from the graves of the Late Scythian burial ground of Zolota Balka were introduced into scientific circulation. At this site, 87 graves were excavated; in 10 of them mineral artefacts were identified. The latter one is the object of this study, while their significance and role in the funeral rite is the subject.
Analytical studies revealed that the vast majority of the mineral substances of red-orange colour is realgar (arsenic sulfide). It is a toxic substance with a detrimental effect on the organisms. Its deposits in Ukraine are unknown. There is an opinion in the archaeological literature that realgar was placed in burials because of the colour of this mineral. However, a similar colour is inherent in ochre, which is much easier to find in the surroundings. Taking into account the properties of realgar and given the need to deliver it from afar, we consider that it was used as a preservative for better storage of organic remains in the graves and for less reproduction of pathogenic flora within the family crypts, where later the dead would be buried again.
Having analyzed of fibulae four chronological periods in the usage of the burial ground Chervony Mayak can be distinguished: the early stage (the second half of the 2nd century BC — the first half of the 1st century BC); the second stage (the second half of the 1st century BC — the first half of the 1st century AD) which is the time of appearance of the first Roman imports; the third «stage of heyday» (the second half of the 1st — the first half of the 2nd century AD) — the time of increase of population at the settlement, the emergence of the «Eastern wave» of Sarmatian migration and the Sarmatization of the Late Scythian culture; the final stage (the second half of 2nd century — the first half of the 3rd century AD), the time of the last Late Scythian funerals on the Chervony Mayak necropolis. The comparison of the number of fibulae with gender of the buried allows to research some patterns of the Late Scythian costume. The chronology of fibulae shows that one catacomb could be used for collective funeral no more than 50 years.
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