IN-GROUND CEMETERY OF THE SCYTHIAN PERIOD NEAR THE VILLAGE OF KSIZOVO IN THE UPPER DON REGION (NEW DATA)

Комплекс памятников конца V - III в. до н. э., расположенный на р. Дон у с. Ксизово в Задонском районе Липецкой обл., включает городище, селище и грунтовый могильник. В результате радиоуглеродного датирования и анализа вещевых находок к названным столетиям отнесено пять захоронений, ранее соотносимых с гуннским временем. В итоге стало известно 17 погребений скифской эпохи, включая два парных. В них по обряду ингумации и в сопровождении довольно скудного инвентаря (стрелы, браслеты, серьги, бусы, пряслица) были захоронены 9 мужчин, 9 женщин и ребенок. Данные бескурганные комплексы дают представление о погребальных традициях оседлого населения донской лесостепи. The studied group of sites dating to the end of 5 - 3 cc. BC is located on the Don river near the village of Ksizovo in the Zadonsk district, Lipetsk region. The group includes a fortified settlement, an unfortified settlement and an in-ground cemetery. The radiocarbon dating and analysis of the found artifacts refer the five graves earlier dated to the Hun period to the above-mentioned centuries. Today the number of the Scythian graves totals 17, including two double burials. Nine males, nine females and one child were buried in these graves performed according to the inhumation funerary rite with rather scarce funeral offerings (arrowheads, bracelets, pendants, beads, spindle whorls). These burial sites without kurgans give an insight into funerary traditions of the sedentary population inhabiting the Don forest-steppe belt.

From tools to production: recent research on textile economies in Greece

The aim of this report is to provide a summary of the latest developments in the textile archaeology of Greece and the broader Aegean from the Neolithic through to the Roman period, focusing in particular on recent research on textile tools. Spindle-whorls and loomweights appeared in the Aegean during the Neolithic and by the Early Bronze Age weaving on the warp-weighted loom was well established across the region. Recent methodological advances allow the use of the physical characteristics of tools to estimate the quality of the yarns and textiles produced, even in the absence of extant fabrics. The shapes of spindle-whorls evolved with the introduction of wool fibre, which by the Middle Bronze Age had become the dominant textile raw material in the region. The spread of discoid loomweights from Crete to the wider Aegean has been linked to the wider Minoanization of the area during the Middle Bronze Age, as well as the mobility of weavers. Broader issues discussed in connection with textile production include urbanization, the spread of different textile cultures and the identification of specific practices (sealing) and previously unrecognized technologies (splicing), as well as the value of textiles enhanced by a variety of decorative techniques and purple dyeing.

SEYITOMER MOUND MİDDLE BRONZE AGE LİNE DECORATİON SPİNDLE WHORLS

Since prehistoric times, human beings have decorated their daily items such as tools, utensils, pots and fugitives by applying ornaments with various techniques. These decorations are not only haphazardly but also systematically and as works of art. Seyitömer Mound is located 30 km northwest of Kütahya Province in the north of Afyon-Altıntaş-road in Seyitömer Town of Kütahya. Nine years of uninterrupted excavations were carried out by the Kütahya Dumlupınar University Archeology Department in Seyitömer Mound. During the excavations carried out in Seyitömer Mound , spindle whorls dating back to the Middle Bronze Age and used in rope spinning are quite common. Decorations in various compositions were applied on these finds using the scraping technique. These decorations are divided into groups as Mixed Composition, Bow, Line, Angle, Zigzag and Star, Point, Nail, Ring, Wave, Radial Decoration. In this study, in Seyitömer Mound spindle whorl finds BC. twenty one spindle whorls belonging to the 2nd millennium and decorated (marked) with "arc-shaped" decoration were studied. In this spindle whorls group, many compositions have been created from arc-shaped lines. These compositions were mostly made in groups of nested double-triple-quadruple arcs, four-five. In the study, drawings of Seyitömer Mound bow-shaped spindle whorls, their location, dimensions and descriptions were added as a catalog. In addition, its contemporaries and similar peripheral centers are specified with a compared bibliography. The aim of the study is to include this group of finds, which is important for archaeological research, into the literature.

Scythian Burial-Mound 7 in the “Vodovod” Group in the Lower Reaches of the Dniester River

Materials obtained during investigation of Scythian burial-mound 7 in the “Vodovod” group in 2017 near the village of Glinoye in the Slobozia District on the east bank of the Lower Dniester are published here for the first time. The burial-mound contained five burials – four in pits and one in a catacomb. The burials in pits had been deposited at the turn of the 4th century BC and the catacomb burial dated from the first third of the 3rd century BC. The graves belonged to ordinary members of the community but contained a fairly distinctive range of grave goods. It was made up of weapons (arrowheads and an axe) and horse harness (a bit and a cheek-piece), vessels (a wooden dish, hand-moulded pot and a hand-moulded bowl), tools (knives, awls, a needle, spindle whorls and an abrasive tool) and jewellery (rings, a metal bracelet, beads, pendants made of shell, oolitic limestone and canine teeth of dogs). In addition tassel-holders, a bronze mirror and a flint strike-a-light were found. A bronze ring from burial 7/2 reflects La Tène influence and the hand-moulded cup from burial 7/4 reflects Thracian influence on the material culture of the Scythians in the North-West Pontic region. In general the funerary rite and range of grave goods demonstrate the transformation of Scythian culture during the second half of the 4th and first half of the 3rd century BC.

Lány – ein Produktionsort gegossenener Bronzen der Spätawarenzeit in der awarisch-slawischen Kontaktzone des unteren Thayatals

Interdisciplinary research, carried out by the Masaryk University Brno and the University of Vienna, at the site of Lány (CZ) at the border between Austria and Moravia has revealed a large settlement (∼12ha) from the 6th century until the 8th/9th century in a contact zone between Slavonic and Avarian influences. Aside from pottery that ranges from early slavic finds of the Prague type to specimens of the middle-danubian tradition („mitteldanubische Kulturtradition“) and other finds such as spindle whorls etc. several dozen typical Avar belt accessories have been found. Most of them date to the late Avar III period, are brand new and do not show any traces of usage. Together with semi-finished products, miscast objects and remains of the bronze casting process, we interpret Lány as a production site/workshop for Avar belts.Lány is at the very Northwestern periphery of the Avar Khaganate. However, material culture, aside from the belt accessories, is much more associated with what we know from regions where Slavonic populations of the 7th/8th century had settled.We furthermore discuss the usage of Avar belts amongst the Slavic elites of the 8th century and possible explanations for the dense distribution of Avar finds outside of the Khaganate.

CERAMICS OF THE EARLY IRON AGE FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF FIRSOVO-15 (ACCORDING TO DIGGING MATERIALS 2020)

The article examines a complex of fragments of pottery and ceramic products of the Early Iron Age, obtained in 2020 during excavations at the village of Firsovo-15. This site is located in the Pervomaisky district of the Altai Territory, the work was carried out in the southwestern part of the settlement. During the study, fragments of earthenware originating from at least 108 vessels were found. Among them there are 73 ornamented rims, 18 rims without ornaments and 24 walls. The ornamental composition, in general, includes no more than two elements, one of which is a pearl or a rounded fossa. In addition to the vessel fragments, the Early Iron Age materials probably include four fragments of clay spindle whorls and a ceramic “chip”. The obtained materials are typical for the considered epoch and belong to the Old Aleic culture of the Upper Ob region. Keywords: early Iron Age, altai, Upper Ob Region, ceramics, Old Aleic culture

Analiza materiałów

Due to the long lifespan of the cemetery, the pottery discovered in Żelazna Nowa is relatively diversified. Unfortunately, the majority of the graves have been partly damaged, and some have been completely destroyed. In many cases only grave bottoms were recorded, while the furnishings were scattered over a large area. Sometimes (e.g. in feature 56) one cannot be certain whether fragments of vessels uncovered in a grave pit indeed belonged to the burial urn. A few graves from the Younger Pre-Roman period were relatively well furnished in vessels, but the state of preservation rarely makes it possible to determine the actual number of vessels in particular graves. The same holds true with respect to Early Roman period pottery. Graves dated to this period often survived only in their bottom parts. Hand-made vessels prevail by far in the ceramic material. The only few wheel-made sherds were found in the cultural layer in the vicinity of the groove feature. Vessels used as burial urns were those representing Liana types II.2, II.3, and group III. The predominant vessel forms among Younger Pre-Roman period pottery were cups of Dąbrowska types I.2, 3, 4, 5, and 7, bowls II.13, and bulbous vessels. Roman period pottery is primarily represented by vessels of types II.2 and 3; group III; and small bowls of group VI.1 and 2. Some unique forms were identified as well, including a jug with a canal in feature 56 and a small bowl imitating glass vessels. A total of 490 small finds (including those from the modern period) were discovered in the cemetery. Due to severe damage to the cemetery, only some of them have been recovered from features (204), while 181 small finds have been found outside the context of features. Surface surveys were performed several times in the site, and these produced another 105 small finds, most of them found in the western and northern parts of the cemetery. With 54 items discovered, brooches prevail among the small finds. They include four Late La Tène brooches of type N, fragments of A.II or mixed A.II/IV brooches; A.III brooches; a significant number of A.IV brooches, including a few specimens of A.67 and A.68, trumpet brooches, and derivatives of strongly profiled brooches; brooches of series A.V, including A.96, A.120, and A.137; fragments of A.VI brooches; A.VII brooches; a fragment of a Gallic brooch of Rih’s variant 2.2.4; a brooch of Riha’s variant 5.17.5; and a Norico-Pannonian brooch of type A.236. Belt pieces included a clasp of type Kostrzewski 49, seven buckles (most of them of type D.1), two profiled group I variant 6 belt finials, and a set of belt fittings found inside the urn in grave 37, consisting of a buckle, a finial, and a ring. Ornaments are represented by fragments of a knotenring from feature 33, fragments of Kamieńczyk type bracelets and a bar bracelet, several appliques, among them a fragment of a silver plaque, and many fragments of melon beads and glass beads. Weapons are rare in the cemetery: surviving are primarily fragments of shield grips, rivets from shield bosses (fts. 6 and 7), complete spearheads (fts. 41, 48, stray find), and fragments of spearhead sockets (ft. 41, stray find). The finds included two sets of two spearheads each, found in graves, and uncontexted finds of a sword scabbard chape and a spur. Tools and objects of everyday use are relatively well-represented: 19 knives, 8 awls, 1 awl-like tool, 2 needles, 16 clay spindle-whorls, 2 whetstones, a polishing plate, iron fittings of the box, chest locks, fragments of key (?), a massive rim fitting, 2 fragments of combs, 2 fragments of dice, a fragment of an E.139–144 glass vessel, and an immense number of unidentified artefacts made of bronze and iron.