In 1970 and 1972 four Scythian Age barrows near Velyka Bilozerka village, Zaporizhia Oblast, were excavared. Barrow 2/1970. Two graves were discovered. One of them was totally looted. Another one was the tomb of the «archer» dated to the first half of the 4th century BC. It is notable due to the full quiver set where bronze, bone, and wooden arrowheads were combined. Barrow 1/1972. All Scythian Age graves were looted. Despite this fact, the barrow is interesting due to the dog burial in the ditch. Supposedly this dog had the role of the guard or guide between the worlds. Barrow 2/1972. It is a very noteworthy barrow. In the central grave 3 which is dated to the third quarter of the 4th century BC the unusual set of the gold appliquйs has been discovered. They have the images from the Greek mythology (Dionysus?), scenes of torment with lions and deer and scenes of opposed sphinxes, with the image of horned man. The unique masterpiece is the pendant in the shape of the female head in the high headwear (the Greek goddess Hera). In addition, in this grave the details of the heavy-armored warrior equipment: spearhead, javelin, scale armor, and bridle have survived. Barrow 3/1972. This late 4th century BC kurhan is interesting due to the catacomb with two dromoses. In addition, the gold appliquйs with images of the mythological creature that were interpreted as Bellerophon and Pegasus have been discovered here. Unique masterpiece is the glass intaglio with image of two fighting cocks. The kurhans under analyses were erected on the old trail that was known as Old Chumak Trail (branch of the Muravskyi Trail). Barrows 2/1972 and 3/1972, where most significant grave goods were found, could be interpreted as the tombs of the local kin leaders. Expressive materials show the strong impact of the Classic culture on the barbarian world in the 4th century BC.
The original appearance of the steppe surface of the southern part of the eastern European plane was transformed by the centuries of the anthropogenic impact. Along with feather grass the traces of the ancient roads have disappeared. However, the satellite images still detect the areas around some kurhans having kept the waggons traces. We can recognize them due to the different color of vegetation as well as by the coloration of the open soil. The antiquity of the roads near kurhans is witnessed by the cases of tracks, covered by the burial mounds, that were erected in the Bronze Age. An additional indicator of the ancient transport network on the maps of the 19th century are wells or groups of pits in the open steppe, the number of which should be associated with the need to water a large number of cattle. The latter occurred during the arrival of a trade caravan or a train of wagons. The kurhans themselves are an ancient form of mass cult buildings in the Eurasian steppe, which have attracted both large main and secondary roads. Powerful tradition of building kurhans, fading and restoring through times, existed from the Eneolithic to the late Middle Ages. The appearance of new mounds or the completion of existing ones periodically renewed the system of landmarks in the monotonous steppe. The paper provides an overview of previously unknown megastructures near the Scythian giant kurhans of Oguz and Chortomlyk, which in the form of light parallel stripes are recorded on satellite images. These stripes are probably traces of trenches or the foot of stone alleys, that were found to the east of the edge of the Oguz and outreached 800—850 m, and from Chortomlyk — 670 m. A search on various satellite images of the similar light stripes near other kurhans did not yield positive results. However, in the central part of the Dnieper-Molocha steppe region, satellite images luckily detected 19 nodes (intersections) of ancient ways connected to the kurhans’ mounds. Some of these nodes do yet not fit the complete road network of the region. But six of these nodes appear to be in the area of the route of the ancient path, known in the Middle Ages as Muravsky (Murava Route). It leaded from the Don basin, through the left (eastern) part of the basin of the Dnipro River to Crimea through the Isthmus of Perekop. Interestingly, this branch of the Muravsky Trail crosses the Sirogozy ravine between the kurhans of Kozel and Oguz. In previous reconstructions of the transport network, the option of passing this branch in the south of the Oguz, between the giant embankment and Diyiv kurhan, was preferred. The other three intersections lie in the lane of the old Chumaks’ Way or the Crimean Way, marking a forty-kilometer section between kurhans Kozel and Velyka Tsymbalka. From the center of the Tavria Steppe at least four directions of paths emerge towards the ancient Dnipro fords-crossings: Rogachytsia, Lepetych, Cair (Nosakiv) and Kіzikermen (Tavan).
The book of memoirs of our teacher, Professor Alexander Leskov (1933—2017) prompted us to address the topic of the deployment of a wide front of archaeological research in the areas of reclamation construction in the south of Ukraine. Unfortunately, posthumously. It is said that one can say either good or nothing about the departed. Such approach is appropriate in memorial ceremonies or in nostalgic memories of a round date. But «Archaeologist’s notes» was announced in the Preface of the Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences A. Ivanchik as «an important document for the historian of Russian science». In this case the document, left to the descendants by the famous scholar, requires meticulous approach by colleagues, especially those who were the witnesses of events which are set forth in the lengthy and not easy to read text. The attention of authors of the paper is focused on the fruitful Ukrainian period of scientific and organizational activity of the famous scholar, his successes and blunders. The events, described in the memoirs, reflect not only his personal dramatic life but also the archeology of the Ukraine, the acquisition of its independence in the conditions of inevitable political crisis. О. Leskov’s expeditions like a powerful bulldozer have passed through the kurgans of steppe Ukraine plowing many artifacts to the surface. The wavering between the glitter of Scythian gold and the urgent problems of the Late Bronze Age left the author of the «Memoirs» in the grip of scientific stereotypes and ideas of the 1970s. Archaeologists in Ukraine have switched to a more informative method of excavating of mounds with several parallel balks but this has already happened without the detonator of the kurgan boom.
The article publishes materials of a mound excavated in 1972 in the steppes of Budzhak near Artsyz. The topography and cartography of this archaeological site are first considered. The 6 m high embankment was filled in five steps. It contains 23 burials, 21 of which date from the Bronze Age and two from the Scythian period. The original embankment was built over the burial of the Usatov culture. For the second time, the mound was poured over the bearers of the pit culture. This burial is surrounded by a cromlech and is central to eight burials of pit culture. The cromlech is made of the plates put on an edge, has diameter of 13 m. The sizes of plates from 1.2 m to 0.8 m. Around the cromlech the ditch 2.0 m wide and 1.0 m deep is dug. The third embankment was completed at implementation of inlet pits burials. The fourth mound, which consisted mainly of yellow forest and is connected with the graves of the Babyn Cultural Circle, brought the size of the mound to a height of 5 m and a diameter of 28 m were considered interconnected. But these burials are divorced both in time and in the space of the mound. The burial of the warrior was on a slope, and 12—13 m from him, a horse grave was found on top. Prior to the excavations, the mound was used to extract humus, and probably the tomb, which was accompanied by horses, was destroyed at the same time. Artifacts from this mound are partially published. The most popular of these is the golden cone of Scythian times. However, the authors propose a full publication of the findings and a new interpretation of the purpose of these mysterious artifacts. In particular, there is reason to believe that gold cones were used for smoking narcotic plants. An interesting element of the reins from the tomb of horses is a pair of silver muzzles with an engraved composition. The upper part of the snout has a sharp protrusion in the form of the head of a bird of prey, its eyes and beak are traced. The schematism of the decor of the muzzle is probably the result of a certain syncretism generated by the pressure of the Scythian semantic tradition on the Thracian performers. It is probable that the sheet from Artsiz is a prototype of the so-called bird-beaking nostrils. Analysis of the artifacts of the two Scythian complexes indicates a certain chronological distance between them. The burial of the soldier belongs to the time of the First Zavadska Grave (450—430 BC), and the grave of horses is close to the second tomb of Solokha (400—380 BC). That is, the chronological interval between the complexes is the life of one or two generations.
This article is devoted to the extensive description of the environment of the two largest settlement structures of the Eastern European steppes — the Kapuliv and Kamyanka which date V—III centuries BC. These two powerful settlements appeared on the opposite banks near the ancient crossings through the Dnipro. They formed the main core of the Scythian state, in which Kapuliv served as the capital and Kamyanka was its economic partner. Intense life here has arisen from the time of Ariapet’s rule to the life of the descendants of King Ateus. The Scythians chose the best place in the Pontic steppe, where in the zone of floodplain meadows and forests there were numerous straits with lakes surrounded by magnificent pastures. Therefore, along with these two main settlements, on the banks and partly in the floodplain, there were many settlements of the second order. The importance of this zone is emphasized by the accumulation of kurhans and graveyards placed almost symmetrically on different shores. In the immediate surrounding of the settlements there are almost equal in importance burial mounds of the ordinary population. Among them are the burial ground near the village Kut, the Nikopol mound field and the burial ground of Mamay-Gora. The last one is the largest in the Eastern Europe in terms of the number of excavated burials. This graveyard is unique due to five large kurhans, located in one line: three long kurhans and two round in plan. It is possible that there was a general Scythian cult center. Further from the Dnipro there were burial memorials of representatives of the higher social stage, among which were the largest burial mounds of Scythia — Solokha and Chortomlyk. There is a noteworthy mound alley (1.6 km long), which retreated to the west of the Solokha kurhan and turned slightly to the north, where it probably connected with a part of another smaller kurhan alley. Not far from a smaller alley there was the recently opened manufacturing settlement Sorokina Balka. The time of its existence (all IV BC) is recorded by the findings of the coins of the cities of the North Pontus, the Marmara Sea and Macedonia.
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