The Glass Beaker With Eclectic Features From Burial No. 112 of the Shyshaky Cemetery

In 2014 the burial No. 112 was excavated on the territory of the Shyshaky cemetery of Scythian period and Cherniakhiv culture. A woman aged about 18—20 was buried there. The interesting fact is that this woman had 34 teeth (18 on the upper jaw and 16 on the lower jaw). Near the right hand of the woman a conical glass cup with a capacity of 0,6 liters was found. The item is decorated with glass drops of different colours: amber, light-blue and deep blue. Polychromy of coloured drops is common for wares of the west Roman workshops. The scheme of ornaments and the quality of this item indicate that it was made in the later period. There are no analogies and that’s why here we can mention a new type of glass cups with coloured drops the «Shyshaky-112 type». Obviously, the burial No. 112 belongs to the group of the latest burials of the Shyshaky cemetery. It is difficult to date this burial correctly because there are no analogies of such items. However, it is reasonable to assume that this complex belongs to the Nuns time (the end of the 4th — first part of the 5th centuries) The rite of placing glass and clay cups into the hands of dead people was stated only at the Shyshaky cemetery and is not common for other sites of Cherniakhiv culture. It is also interesting that such cups were found only in the burials of women (112, 39, 60). Maybe such a rite is connected with representation of local people about the dead women taking part in ritual feasts. The presence of this glass cup of provincial-Roman production in the burial No. 112 proves that there were military and trading relations between provinces of Roman Empire and barbarians. It also should be mentioned here that local people stayed on the same territory and they didn’t have significant decline after the arrival of the Huns. It is possible that the presence of items of provincial-Roman production (glass cups) indicates that local people took part in campaigns of the Huns to the provinces of the Roman Empire.

Olbian Perirantheria

From Olbia’s excavations comes a series of ceramic and stone, mostly marble, large open vessels in the shape of shallow bowls, which were installed on high pedestals. On ceramic vessels the stamped decor on the outside of the edge; it usually consisted of several relief belts – Ionic cymatium (ovolos), one or two pearl cords; in the case of marble vessels, only profiling was marked on the outer side of the edge. Such vessels in the modern literature are interpreted as perirantheria. According to the conditions of the finds and the style of the ornament, the earliest of the known vessels belong to the late Archaic period. The peak of their usage falls on the 5th century BCE. In Olbia, perirantheria have been found in two cult sites, the Western and Southern temenoi, the botroses, and the cultural strata. Their belonging to the cult inventory is unconditional. A wide range of analogies, known from the monuments of the Mediterranean, indicate that the perirantheria were intended for sacred water, which was used for ritual ablutions before and after the sacrifices. Traces of burning on a ceramic vessel originating from the Western Temenos suggest that at some stage of its operation it could be used as an altar for burning offerings. In the late Classical and Hellenistic periods, louteria became a part of everyday life – identical in shape water vessels, also made of ceramics and stone, mostly marble, but smaller in size. These vessels stood on high pedestals, often designed as fluted columns. The context of such finds is mainly related to residential buildings in both the Mediterranean and Olbia, which suggests a change in their functional usage. In addition, the study of the Olbian collection of ritual vessels opens another unknown page in the nomenclature of goods brought to Olbia.

The History of Excavations in the Crimea in 1920-1930's in the Letters to Mykola Ernst

The Scientific Archive of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine (NA NMIU) contains three letters dated by 07/15/1930, 09/15/1930 and 11/30/1935, addressed to the famous archaelogist of the Crimea Nikolai Ernst (1889—1956), the authors of which are famous archaeologists Boris Zhukov, Lavrenty Moiseev and Petr Efimenko. These letters contain information about excavations, which in 1920’s — 1930’s were carried out in different regions of the Crimean peninsula and are important sources for studying the history of the Crimean archaeological study. Today N. Ernst’s documents, stored in the archives of Simferopol, Kyiv, St. Petersburg and Moscow, are used by researchers who study the archaeological heritage and life of N. Ernst. However, three letters from the NA NMIU have not become the subject of a separate study yet and have not been introduced into scientific circulation. The addressee of these letters, N. Ernst, in 1920’s, worked in the Crimean department for museums and protection of monuments of art and antiquity, was the secretary of the Taurida Society of History, Archaeology and Ethnography, and in April 1930 he headed this Society. These letters contain information about archaeological research in the Crimea, which is not mentioned in the published article by N. Ernst ‘Chronicle of archaeological excavations and exploration in the Crimea for 10 years (1921—1930)’. The letters of B. Zhukov (1930) and L. Moiseev (1930) are probably the answers to the request of N. Ernst, as the head of the Taurida Society of History, Archaeology and Ethnography, send information about the work of local archaeological expeditions for the preparation of a general report. These letters contain information about excavations of archaeological monuments from different historical eras, which are located in different regions of the Crimea and are an important source on the history of the Crimean archaeology of 1920’s — 1930’s. In the third letter, the author of which is P. Efimenko (1935), talks about the participation of N. Ernst in the meeting of the Commission for the Study of Fossil Man, which took place in Leningrad on 20—25th December 1935. The purpose of this meeting was to prepare the Soviet section of INQUA to participate in September 1936 in the III International Conference of the Association for the Study of the Quaternary. Efimenko recommended N. Ernst to prepare a report on the results of the exploration of the Chokurcha Cave.

Materials of the Western Trypillia Culture From the Settlements of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Tatarysky And Kubachivka

This paper presents the results of archaeological surveys at the Western Trypillia culture sites of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Tatarysky and Kubachivka in the 1990s and the 2000s. The article considers the history of research at these settlements from their discovery (in 1926 and 1947 respectively) until the present. The authors have specifically focused upon threats faced by the Kubachivka site, which keeps being destroyed by the eponymous quarry situated nearby. The study analyzes ceramics and flint and stone tools from the settlements. Ceramics from the Kamianets-Podilskyi, Tatarysky (3950—3900 ВСЕ) is represented by table and kitchen pottery. The first is decorated with a monochromic ornamental painting (black and brown colors); the most informative tableware are craters decorated with «face patterns» that are typical for the Mereșeuca local group, Stage BII (as per Taras M. Tkachuk). Tools are made from various raw materials including granitoids, Cenomanian and Turonian flint. The collection includes items related to the production of tools and other products (the attrition mill and the powder-crusher), waste and items of artifacts secondary processing. As far as Kubachivka settlement is concerned, the sample of ceramics materials is rather poor. The most of the items are not sufficiently intact. Upon having analyzed materials, we have been able to confirm the preliminary conclusions of prior researches. Stonework artifacts are also represented in a modest quantity of 9 pcs. These mostly include polished items as well as a hammered stone, plates, and suchlike. In our opinion, the ceramic artifacts discovered thereby should be ascribed to two chronological horizons, specifically: the BI—II and the BII stages. Further investigations will enable more precise chronologies.

Studying of Local Ancient Greek Pottery of Olbia and Borysthenes (Historiographical Aspect)

The article is devoted to the studying of antient Greek pottery on the example of the centers of the Lower Buh River region in the works of Ukrainian and foreign scholars. An analysis of publications on the production of local ceramics, production areas of Olbia and the settlement on Berezan island at different times is offered; the main tendencies of studying the raw material base of the region are considered. The article was prepared as a part of the Scientific and Research Work (SRW) of young researchers of the NAS of Ukraine 2021—2022: «Raw material base as a factor in the development of pottery of the antient centers of the North-Western Black Sea Coast (Olbia and Berezan)» (state registration No. 0121U112024).

Reflection of the family structure of the population at the biritual burial ground of the Saltiv culture in Chervona Hirka

The article presents the preliminary results of the analysis of individual burial complexes discovered at the biritual burial ground of the Saltiv culture in Chervona Hirka (Balakliia district of Kharkiv Oblast). During the work at the burial ground, 313 burials were examined, of which 191 were performed as inhumations, and 122 – cremations. Also, 18 cases were recorded at the burial ground when some burials were inlet into the filling of the burial pits of other burials without destroying the latter. At the same time, most often, the main burial was an inhumation according to the rite, and the burial inlet into the filling of the burial pit belonged to the category of cremations (Table 1). Among the complexes under consideration, the burials performed simultaneously (one-act) and those made after a certain period of time are presented. The latter are numerically dominant over one-act burial complexes. In 18 cases, 11 burials belong to paired ones, in 6 cases a burial contained the remains of three deceased. In the filling of burial No. 75/ k-4, the remains of three deceased were found, deliberately placed there. Thus, in Chervona Hirka burial ground, cases are presented of one burial pit usage for the simultaneous or different graves of 2—4 deceased. In these complexes, we tend to see the burials of close relatives, members of the same family (husband and wife, mother with children, minor children). An analysis of the sex and age composition of people buried in these complex burials allows us to speak of the existence of undivided families of the paternal or fraternal type among the population who left the Chervona Hirka burial ground, along with small families. The most striking evidence of the latter is the fixation of a group of 11 burials (6 inhumations and 5 cremations) on an area of 25 m2, the main one is the burial of a man accompanied by a horse (burial No. 75/ k-4) (Fig. 6: 1). At the same time, in the filling of three graves from this group (No. 75/ k-4, No. 36 and No. 74) there were burial complexes, deliberately placed there: Nos. 37, 38, 58, 59, 64, 71 (Table 1).

New Complex Investigations of the Novhorod-Siverskyi Upper Palaeolithic Site

In the article the materials of the Novhorod-Siverskyi site research both in the 1930's, and relatively recently, are analyzed. First of all, attention is paid to the faunal collection. The faunal associations from old excavations are coherent, typical of a cold steppe environment from the glacial period, near a riparian forest. However, it seems to result to a mix between natural taphonomic complexes and animal remains associated with human activity. Judging by the flint collection from the old excavations, the site was inhabited by representatives of the Pushkari type. New research yielded two archaeological layers that are very poor in flint artefacts. Concerning fauna, the faunal spectrum is restricted in both layers, with the woolly mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, the horse and the reindeer in the lower and upper layers. In the upper layer there are also the bison, the fox and the hare. According to taphonomic observations, the bones had remained for a long time at an open air before being buried, in subsurface in a wet environment but few submitted to precipitations in link with permafrost activities. Particularly in the lower layer (2) some remains appear to be in place, while others seem to have been imported by hydraulic phenomena, either from the top of the promontory or from the Desna River. In the upper layer (1), some bones show possible anthropogenic impacts of breakage, linked to marrow recovery. In both layers we have some cranial and postcranial elements, mainly from adults sensu lato which could correspond to human predation. They could correspond to temporary camps of quite small human groups, potentially occupied at the end of the cold season/beginning of the warm season.

Investigations at the Trypillia settlement near Hlybochok village in Cherkasy Oblast

The Trypillia settlement is located at the western edge of Hlybochok village (former Zvenyhorodka district of Cherkasy Oblast), at the plateau of the western bank of the Hirskyi Tikych River. According to the geophysical surveys, the settlement size reached 100 ha. Its dwellings were organized into two ellipses. The remains of two dwellings (ploshchadki) were excavated in 1994—1995. Ploshchadka No. 1 was located in the southern part of the external construction ellipse, while ploshchadka No. 2 was located in the second internal ellipse at the eastern part of the site. The remains of both houses had a rectangular shape and included several layers of burnt clay. Houses had fireplaces on the lower storey. The second house also included an elevation of rectangular shape with grinding stones. Living areas are associated with the upper storey of houses. The majority of materials, mainly kitchen and table pottery, were found between the layers of burnt clay. Kitchen pottery (6—7 %) is represented by conical bowls and pots with S-shaped profiles with poor ornamentation. Table pottery (92—93 %) is represented by ceramics ornamented with black monochromic painting. Nearly 45 % of pottery forms and 25 % of ornamentation schemes were reconstructed. Ceramic shapes are represented by bowls, goblets, biconical, spherical and conical vessels, amphorae, pear-shaped vessels, leads, craters, pots and binocular-shaped vessels. Anthropomorphic figurines were found in fragments. The Hlybochok settlement is referred to the late phase of Nebelivska group (the end of BII period) of the development of the Western Trypillia culture. The settlement is dated to the range of 3925—3825 BC. The Nebelivska group marks the migration of the Western Trypillia culture populations to the north-eastern direction, towards the Middle Dnieper region. Its further development between the Ros and the Dnieper rivers resulted in the formation of Kanivska local group, which pottery is also characterized by the influence of the Eastern Trypillia traditions. In the indigenous area the Nebelivska local group was replaced by the Tomashivska group.

Zoomorphic Images of the BII Stage Trypillia Settlements in the Middle Buh River Region

Widely known in Trypillia archaeological culture various zoomorphic images clearly represent multisided spiritual world of farmers of Eneolithic period, in particular the spread of domestic animals cult. While retaining common features of zoomorphism throughout the whole range of Trypillia, from the early to later stages, there are certain distinctive features for each region and time of existence. Their study allows us to understand the peculiarities of formation and development of the animal image, manners and styles of its performance. It is important to study the embodiments of the animal image in various types of archaeological materials of Trypillia settlements of the Middle Buh River region at BII stage (plastics, pottery, dwelling models) and determine the territorial and temporal features in comparison with other areas of the Trypillia spread. At the settlements of Voroshylivka, Sosny, Selyshche, Nemyriv and Karolina, the most found plastic items are statuettes of domestic animals, which were made in realistic or stylistic manners. Small and medium-sized figurines, which are classified as bovidae/ovis, dominate here. They had paired legs, small horns and a tail. Sometimes an udder or a penis was imitated, indicating the sex of the animal (cow, bull). Of particular interest are the statuettes and zoomorphic bowls, which had cross holes in their coupled legs. It is possible that they were supplemented with wheels and used in rituals as movable figurines. Common are zoomorphic bowls on four legs with a horned head and a tail on rims, as well as peculiar oval or rectangular bowls on four legs, reminiscent of cattle feeding troughs. They were painted in a zoomorphic ornament, resembling the spine or fur of an animal. It is important to note that no “dog”, “deer” or “bird” ornaments, known in other regions of the Trypillia culture, have been found on the tableware of the Middle Buh local group. There are also zoomorphic features on the cooking ware. The pots had four legs on the bottoms, and small horned heads were stuck on the rims. The zoomorphism can be traced on a well-known dwelling model from Voroshylivka, where the roof timbers above the front and back walls are designed like the horns of a domestic animal. Considering that the model had four high legs, it is reasonable to assume that it could have been used in rituals honoring the dwelling and livestock. The comprehensive analysis of zoomorphic images from the settlements of the Trypillia BII stage of the Middle Buh local group showed some regional differences as well as general trends in the development of ideological views of the ancient agricultural population of the Right-Bank Ukraine. The image of animals, especially cattle, deeply penetrated into consciousness of the holders of Trypillia culture, and the cult of the horned bull became one of the leading in their ideology.

Coins from the “Orient” Excavation Site of the Olbian Necropolis

Research on the “Orient” excavation site of the Olbian necropolis has been conducting for eleven years. During this time, 100 coins were found here in 47 different contexts, and 97 of them were clearly identified. The relatively small number of numismatic finds and archaeological contexts allowed a detailed analysis of the relationship between them. The following conclusions were obtained. On this territory, coins were used in funeral and memorial rites throughout the entire existence of the necropolis here (the middle of the 6th century BC — the end of the 2nd century AD). The composition of the coins by the dates of issue basically corresponds to the main stages of the Olbian coinage. An earlier type of coin (casted dolphin-shaped) and a later type (round minted) are fixated in approximately the same number in different layers of the excavation. The main layers of the excavation were formed mainly in a natural way. This situation makes it possible to assume a fairly active usage of the coin precisely in memorial rites. Coins in situ have been found in only four types of burial structures. The time of construction of the burial objects in which the coins were found in situ is clearly divided into two periods: the middle of the 5th — beginning of the 3rd centuries BC and the second half of the 1st—2nd centuries AD. In each period, coins were placed in the grave regardless of the date of burial, the type of burial structure, age and gender of the deceased. 4. The location of the coins within the boundaries of the burial object is not unified. Often found, but not predominantly, their position in the hand (it does not matter, right or left). All other cases are individual. In funeral and memorial rites, it was allowed using a coin that was no longer in active circulation. Some coins, close in date of issue to the date of burial, even during the life of the deceased served him as «amulets».