Ukrainian Archaeology, 2016 43

Scythian period

Iryna B. Shramko, Stanislav A. Zadnikov *

RIch GRAve of eARly ScythIAn PeRIod At BIlSk necRoPolIS SkoRoBoR

© I.B. SHRAMKO, S.A. ZADNIKOV, 2017

* Shramko Iryna Borysivna, PhD, docent of the V.N. Karazin National University of Kharkiv

Zadnikov Stanislav Anatoliiovych, PhD, research fellow in the Archaeology Museum of the V.N. Karazin National University of Kharkiv

The article presents the results of the works in 2016 at the largest barrow necropolis of Bilsk settlement, Skorobor burial ground. In the centre of attention is the funerary assemblage of local nobility representatives with a set of gold jewellery, rare for the Dnipro River left bank forest­steppe region, of the Early Scythian period.

K e y w o r d s: the Dnipro River left bank region, Bilsk hill­fort; burial mounds; the Early­Scythian period, wooden tomb; burial implements; amber and glass beads; gold plate­applications, Scythian animal style.

Bilsk fortified settlement, the largest fortified set-tlement of the Early Iron Age in Eastern Europe, developed for over four and a half centuries as the centre of the tribal union. It is located in the Dni-pro River forest-steppe left bank region in the in-terfluves of the Vorskla and Sukha Hrun Rivers, has an area of about 5000 hectares and the defence line’s length of more than 35 km. Long-term re-search of this monument, numerous diverse ma-terial and open residential, economic, and funer-al assemblages convince that the settlement main-tained trade relations with the Greek centres of the north coast of the Black Sea in fact at all stages of its history, developed cultural ties with various re-gions of Europe and tribes of the steppe and for-est-steppe belt of the Scythian World. The popu-lation of the ancient settlement had a complex so-cial structure consisting of eleven social strata. The equestrian warriors formed the top of the society (Бойко 1994, с. 32–34).

To the west of Bilsk hill-fort for the centuries of its existence, there were two largest necropolis Sko-robor and Pereshchepyne, within which thousands

of burial mounds were formed (Городцов 1906; Шрамко Б. 1994; Кулатова, Супруненко 2010; Махортых 2009 et al.).

Many burial mounds were robbed in antiqui-ty, some have traces of secondary penetrations, in-cluding relatively recent ones, making it difficult to study the graves.

Owing to such a difficult situation, the funerary assemblage discovered by the authors in 2016 is un-doubtedly of considerable scientific interest. In one of the robbed barrows of the Early Scythian times, it was possible to discover objects of scientific value and to obtain the new important data on the rich burials of noble inhabitants of Bilsk hill-fort in the early period of its existence.

The mound situated in the central part of Sko-robor burial ground (fig. 1). Because of many years of ploughing, the embankment was almost com-pletely levelled, it had a diameter of 24 m; however, it was found out later that its original size was much smaller and was only about 14 m.

The funerary chamber was a relatively shallow pit of a rectangular shape, sunk into the virgin soil from the level of the ancient horizon. The chamber was oriented with a long axis along the line north-east-south-west. Its’ size was 2.80 × 3.40 m. In-side the pit, there was a wooden crypt of rectangu-lar shape, 2.40 × 2.95 m. The bottom of the grave was covered by solid oak boards, 2.1 m in length, about 0.4 m wide, supported by square in the sec-tion hewn logs laid in grooves.

After the burial finished, the pit was covered with wooden plaques packed in several rows, eventual-ly sinking into the grave. The logs were 3.3–3.8 m long, 0.2–0.4 m wide at different parts. Despite the poor preservation of timber and the violation of the integrity of the construction, we can confident-ly say that the cover was quite strong. Its logs were laid at a right angle in two layers. This principle of overlapping was noted earlier (Шрамко Б. 1994,

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с. 103, рис. 2, 7) and was also traced by the au-thors at the burial in 2013 (Шрамко І., Задников 2014, с. 39).

During the ancient robbery, the body of the buried was dragged to the surface through a nar-row hole punched in the northern part of the ceil-ing, so during the clearing of the burial we did not find human remains. Only two teeth found in the southwestern part of the grave, as well as ornaments from the headdress, indicated that the deceased was laid with his head to the southwest. The loca-tion of objects and the dimensions of the chamber with a high probability indicate that a woman was buried in the burial mound, but the possibility of a pair burial cannot be excluded.

As a rule, the burial ceremony was supposed to leave the funeral ware on the grave’s cover. Next to the deceased, they put vessels with food and drinks and his personal belongings. These could be items of armament, details of horse harness, jewellery, and household items.

The burial mound studied by the authors has preserved the features of the funeral rite which was widespread among the local population. On the wooden floor, a crushed bowl on a small foot (fig. 2, 1) and a clay mug (fig. 2, 3) laid. They were found among the wooden half-beams at a depth of 0.8–1.0 m from the level of the benchmark. An-other bowl fell from the sagging logs and was at the bottom of the filling at a depth of 1.3 m between the crypt wall and the grave pit (fig. 2, 2).

In fact, all the artefacts found in the burial chamber were displaced from their original plac-

es, lying in a mesh ground or found in molehills’ filling. Nevertheless, a specific original location in this funerary assemblage can be indicated for most items with a high degree of probability.

Thus, there was a small moulded pot on the bottom (fig. 2, 5) and a clay conical spindle with a scooped surface (fig. 3, 4). A three-bladed bronze arrowhead with a spike and a plaque for cross straps (fig. 3, 2), well known in the Early Scythi-an assemblages of the Ukrainian forest-steppe and the Caucasus, were found on one of the wooden planks (Могилов 2008, с. 67–68, рис. 128, 1–14; Махортых 2016, с. 175, 178, рис. 5, 1–6).

In the north-eastern part of the burial chamber, at a depth of 1.35 m, a cluster of beads, probably part of the necklace, was discovered (fig. 4). Sep-arate beads were found during the cleaning of the wooden flooring and around the alleged location of the skull.

Most beads made of amber (fig. 4, 2), glass (fig. 4, 3), as well as short-cylindrical beads (fig. 4, 4) are common for burials of the Scythian archa-ic times (Ильинская 1968, с. 141; 1975, с. 152–153; Скорий 1990, с. 32–34; Ильинская, Мозолевский, Тереножкин 1980, с. 49, рис. 20, 9–17; Ковпаненко 1981, с. 119; 112, Галанина 1997, с. 138, Петренко 2006, с. 93–96; Білан, Солтис 2014, с. 22, etc.), as well as for the mon-uments of the Hallstatt circle, which suggests their western origin (Klochko 2009, p. 415–438; Дараган 2011, с. 610–611). However, biconical beads of dense red amber could properly have been made in the Ukrainian forest-steppe (Галанина 1997, с. 138).

The most interesting in this set were beads of bi-conical form, made of yellow (golden) glass (fig. 4, 1). Twenty-one beads of this species were found at a depth of 1.35 m. They are not known in the monu-ments of the 7th century BC, but they are common for the next century.

On the territory of the Black Sea north coast, bi-conical golden beads occur not earlier than the first half of the 6th century BC. They were most like-ly produced in Yahorlyk settlement (Островерхов 1978, с. 42; 1981, с. 214–215, рис. 4, 1), the foun-dation of which in the light of the new data can be attributed to the first quarter of the 6th century BC (Bujskich 2013, S. 27). In the 6th century BC, such beads are also known at Berezan and Olbia, as well as at the Scythian sites (Островерхов 1981, с. 215–216). It is important that the same bead was found in one of the ash-hills at Western Bilsk, in the filling of the dugout, which was abandoned in the first quar-ter of the 6th century BC (Шрамко И. 1997, с. 13, рис. 27, 2; Задников 2013, с. 369, рис. 1, 11).

Fig. 1. The location of the burial mound 1/2016 in Sko-robor

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When studying the barrows of the Scythian ep-och in the Vorskla basin, there is always a possibil-ity to discover the noble burials. Well-known are Opishnianka and Vitova Mohyla barrows in the area of Bilsk hill-fort where burials with golden items of the 6th century BC were found (Ковпаненко 1967, с. 99, рис. 47, 48; Вальчак, Демиденко, Фирсов 2010, с. 337–338). In that period, a prosperous stratum of society is already singled out, the repre-sentatives of which were buried with a special splen-dour and with placing golden objects and products made in the Scythian animal style into the burials. However, such objects are rare.

In this regard, the golden objects found by the authors in the funeral became a pleasant surprise for everyone. Products made of gold found in the predatory course and in the grave, are represented by sewn plaques, plaques, applications, and a sus-pension (fig. 5). Plaques are made of a thin sheet of gold. Suspension is cast with soldered eye.

Several whole specimens and debris, most-ly sewn plaques and plaques of appliqués of vari-ous species, were found in the southwestern part of the grave. The ornaments were scattered, evi-dently flew off the suit because of the robbery. It was impossible to follow any system in their ar-rangement, since the objects did not lie in their places. They were found in the filling, in mole-

hills, but within the grave were localized in one specific place, which allows them to be associ-ated with the design of the costume of one per-son. Apparently, they were all sewn or glued onto the headdress’ base. The tradition of using appli-qués of various types for such decorative design is traced according to the materials of other barrows of the Early Scythian period (Ковпаненко 1981, с. 13, рис. 10, с. 51, рис. 41, 42).

Six plaques have a shape of a four-petalled ro-sette. They are rounded, outwardly resembling a flower (fig. 5, 2–5). The facets of the petals create a solar-shaped diamond sign in the form of a four-pointed star. At the edges of the rays, four through holes of 0.15 cm in diameter are punched for at-tachment to the base. Some plaques do not have holes and were glued to the base.

Similar plaques in the form of a four-petalled flower are found in the mound 100 at Syniavka (Ковпаненко 1981, с. 51–52, рис. 41, 7), as well as in several funeral assemblages of the Sula River region: in the mound 13 at Popivka (Ильинская 1968, с. 60, табл. L.II, 17–25; III; 1971, с. 75, рис. 2, 17), barrow 1 at Herasymivka (Ильинская 1968, с. 55, табл. XLV, 33), etc.

Plaque application with zoomorphic image is a thin plate made of gold leaf, oblong in shape, about 3.5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide (high), on which a full-

Fig. 2. Hand-made vessels from the mound 1/2016, Skorobor: 1–2 – bowls; 3 – a mug; 4 – a cup; 5 – a pot

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figure image of a lying mountain goat with a turned back head is made in the technique of stamp (fig. 5, 1). The round eye of the animal is distinguished by a relief ridge, the nostril is marked with a depres-sion, and the mouth is shown with a few impres-sions. The front blade, the thigh and the hind leg are transmitted in large planes, the small pre-com-pressed tail of the animal is clearly shown. With the help of horizontal relief grooves, a craftsman em-phasized the base of the horn, behind which there is a noticeably small smooth depression of trian-

gular shape. There is a massive solid horn below it, represented with relief ribs and resting on the front leg. It partially overlaps the ear of a triangular shape with a relief edging.

On all known images of mountain goats on sty-listically close plaques of this kind (Bobrytsia, 35 and Kotsiubynchyky 1), alongside an ear, the goat’s cheek is shown in relief (fig. 6, 2, 3). In our case, some deviations from the general rule are notice able. Near the ear is another eye, emphasized like the eye of the main image, with a relief platen. A smooth

Fig. 3. Products made of clay and metals found in the barrow 1/2016, Skorobor: 1 – a bronze buckle-piercing; 2 – a bronze arrowhead; 3 – an iron knife; 4 – a clay spindle

Fig. 4. Beads from the burial mound 1/2016: 1 – glass; 2 – amber; 3, 4 – faience

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longitudinal roller running along the line of the horn perhaps transmits the outlines of a neck. Such a thin roller marks the head line. A similar overlap of the two profile images can be seen on the known bone plaques (fig. 7) from Zhabotyn burial mound No. 2 (Вязьмитина 1963, с. 158–169, 162, рис. 4). On the object, the form of hoofs on both legs parallel to each other is worked out well.

In the proposed variant of the image interpre-tation, the ear of the main animal is shown condi-tionally, left by a triangular gap between the base of the horn and the amygdale of the second animal. Of course, such a «reading» of the image depicted on the plate is not indisputable, but in the authors’ opinion, it has a right to exist. It is important that this is a sample of a previously unknown version of a familiar image of a mountain goat with its head turned back.

The image of the mountain goat was quite pop-ular in the Early Scythian art, which is developed un der the influence of the Far Eastern traditions spreading on the territory of forest-steppe Scythia, where it was reproduced by local craftsmen in bone and even in gold (Канторович 2016, с. 96;

Бандрівський 2010, с. 153; Шрамко И. 1995, рис. 1, 25, etc.). In the second half of the 7th cen-tury BC, plaques-appliqués with the image of a ly-ing goat with a turned back head, as well as plaques in the form of triangles, have become popular in the forest-steppe. Spread of the tradition to deco-

Fig. 5. Golden jewellery from the burial mound 1/2016, Skorobor: 1 – a plaque with an image of a mountain goat; 2–5 – plaques in the form of a four-petalled rosette; 6 – teardrop-shaped suspension; 7 – tubular string

Fig. 6. Gold plaques from the forest-steppe mounds of the Early Scythian times: 1 – mound 1/2016, Skorobor; 2 – burial mound 35, Bobrytsia (by Kovpanenko 1981); 3 – barrow 1, Kotsiubynchyky 1 (by Bandrivskyi 2010)

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rate objects with appliqués in forest-steppe Scythia is quite reasonably attributed to the influence of the Hallstatt cultures (Фиалко 2006, с. 61; Дараган 2011, с. 615). Such decor elements are found in women’s burials of the local elite with other pres-tigious things. Such a fashion, in M.M. Daragan’s opinion, could have been spread in the relatively narrow time interval of the middle of the 7th or the third quarter of the century BC, although N.S. Ban-drivskyi attributed the golden sewn plaque from the Kotsiubynchyky 1 burial mound to the second quarter of the 7th century BC (Бандрівський 2010, с. 153). The new excavation materials in Skorobor burial ground do not allow us to soar the date of this group of archaic burials so far and agree with the existence of similar types of objects and the ritual of the burial of local elite for almost a hundred years, and give good reasons to suppose that such a tradi-tion, spread not earlier than the second half of the 7th century BC, continued to exist in the first quar-ter of the 6th century BC.

The rarest part of the headdress decoration not seen earlier in the Early Scythian barrows of the Ukrainian forest-steppe is a gold suspension of a rare shape (fig. 5, 6). The only direct analo-gy to this product so far is the drop-shaped pen-dants on the famous diadem which comes from the mound 3/Ш, 1904 of the burial ground Kelermes (Галанина 1997, с. 186, табл. 30). L.K. Halanina proposed to date this assemblage by 650–627 BC (Галанина 1997, с. 190). It is probable that such decor elements remained relevant in the first quar-ter of the 6th century BC.

Also found was a tubular string (fig. 5, 7) rolled up from a thin sheet of gold, up to 0.01 mm thick. In the predatory course, discovered at a depth of 0.9–1.0 m were a small bowl (fig. 2, 4), a fragment

Fig. 7. Bone plaques depicting elks / goats. Barrow 2 in the village of Zhabotyn (photo from the exposition of the National Museum of History of Ukraine)

of a blade of an iron knife (fig. 3, 3), and also a frag-ment of one of the gold plaques-appliqués.

In general, a new burial discovered in 2016 at Skorobor burial ground belonged to a representative of the local nobility at the beginning of the 6th cen-tury BC. Most objects from this assemblage have a fairly wide chronological framework of functioning, mainly within the second half of the 7th century BC. However, the presence of biconical beads of gold-en glass which are not known in the monuments of the 7th century BC and become widespread in the Black Sea north coast in the first half of the 6th cen-tury BC, as well as finds of such beads in the dugout at Western Bilsk dated from the end of the 7th to the first quarter of the 6th century BC, suggest that burial in the mound of 1/2016 was committed in the first quarter of the 6th century BC.

Thus, the materials of excavations in 2016 al-lowed the authors to make some clarifications in the notions about the nature and possible time range of the existence of rich graves of the nobil-ity with a peculiar set of golden jewellery of certain types.

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