Barrows in the forest-steppe between the Dniester and Southern Bug, Ukraine. Initial results of comprehensive research

Abstract

The article presents the preliminary results of research by a Polish-Ukrainian team who in 2018-2023 worked on the project of comprehensive exploration of barrows situated in the forest-steppe between the Southern Bug and Dniester in modern Ukraine. There, two major stages of erecting and using barrows were distinguished for the 3rd and 1st millennia BC. Two barrows discussed herein, explored as part of the project, were erected in the second stage. Barrow 3 in Ivanivtsi-Antonivka can be dated to the second half of the 10th – first half of the 8th century BC, whereas Barrow 6 in Sloboda Noskovetska to the late 8th – early 7th century BC. The older one was erected and then used by communities related to the early period of the Chornolis culture. The younger one is at present one of the main pre-Scythian complexes of eastern Podillia. The multi-component set of artefacts deposited under its mound represents a mixture of the Chornolis culture, Basarabi-Şoldăneşti influences and impact of early steppe nomads (Cimmerians?). It illustrates well a complex cultural mosaic found in the forest-steppe between the Southern Bug and Dniester rivers.