A Scythian Burial-Mound with a Sarcophagus Bearing Painted Decoration
In: Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to SiberiaSearch for other papers by Ekaterina P. Bunyatyan in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Elena E. Fialko in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
In 1976 an expedition of the Archaeology Institute of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic investigated Scythian Burial-mound No. 9 in a group of burial-mounds near the village of Mar’evka in the Zaporozhie District of the Zaporozhie Region. The mound had been erected from blocks of turf in the manner traditional for the Scythians. Later on a Polovtsian shrine was evidently erected on top of the mound but in the post-Medieval period this would appear to have been destroyed (the base and the lower part of a statue have survived intact). The mound was erected over a grave in the form of a catacomb with two entrances and a burial of a bridled horse in a separate pit. The grave was looted in antiquity. Among the remains of grave goods typical for Scythian burials of various levels rare items were also discovered, including fragments of a sword with one cutting edge, a gold ring with a coin used for its bezel (a Pantikapaion stater). The most remarkable find of all was a board from the lid of a sarcophagus bearing painted decoration. The decoration, applied in three tiers, consisted of battle scenes depicting three pairs of fighting warriors. The attire, weaponry and poses of the warriors make it possible to assume that the decoration illustrates one of the motifs from the mythology of Ancient Greece – Amazonomachy.
The dimensions and arrangement of the burial-chamber and the diverse grave goods indicate that a number of individuals had been buried in it – an individual of high rank accompanied by his servants. Details of the funerary rite (the overall lay-out of the grave and its details, features of the horse burial) and also the range of artefacts enable us to date the burial-mound to the very end of the 4th or beginning of the 3rd century BC.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Alekseev A. Yu. , Murzin V. Yu. & Rolle R. Chertomlÿk (skifskiï tsarskiï kurgan 4 v. do n.é.) 1991 Kiev
-
Anokhin V. A. Monetnoe delo Bospora 1986 Kiev
-
Anokhin V. A. Istoriya Bospora Kimmeriïskogo 1999 Kiev
-
Babenko L. I. Pesochinskiï kurgannÿï mogil’nik skifskogo vremeni 2005 Kharkov
-
Bessonova S. S. & Skorÿï S. A. Motroninskoe gorodishche skifskoï épokhi 2001 Kiev-Krakow
-
Bidzilya V. I. Doslidzhennya Gaimanovoï Mogyly. Arkheologiya 1971 n° 1 44 56
-
Boltrik Yu. V. O konskikh mogilakh s materikovÿmi peremÿchkami. AIU v 1978–1979 g 1980 92 93
-
Boltrik Yu. V. Gulyaev V. I. & Ol’khovskiï V. S. Skifskiï kurgan kak edinÿï ansambl’ Skifÿ i sarmatÿ v VII-III vv. do n.é. Paleoékologiya, antropologiya i arkheologiya 2000 Moscow 129 137
-
Boltryk Yu.V. & Fialko O. É. Arustamyan Sh. G. Pruzhynni shyptsi v pobuti skifiv. Muzeini chytannya 1999 Kiev 28 33
-
Boltryk Yu. V. & Fialko O. É. Tolochko P. P. Kin’ yak skladova pokhoval’noi tseremonii skifiv. Starozhitnosti Stepovogo Prychornomor’ya i Krymu 2005 12 Zaporozhie 236 258
-
Boltryk Yu. V. , Treister M. Yu. & Fialko O. É. Importnyi bronzovyi posud z Skhidnoï mogyly Berdyans’kogo kurganu. Arkheologiya 2009 40 52 n° 1
-
Bottini A. & Setari E. Il sarcofago delle Amazzoni 2007 Milan
-
Bunyatyan E. P. Metodika social’nÿkh rekonstruktsiï v arkheologii na materialakh skifskikh mogil’nikov 4-3 vv. do n.é 1985 Kiev
-
Charbonneaux J. , Martin R. & Villard F. Grèce Classique (480-330 avant J.-C.) 1969 Paris
-
Chernenko E. V. Skifskie mechi i kinzhalÿ (svod istochnikov). Nauchnÿï arkhiv Instituta Arkheologii Natsional’noï Akademii Nauk Ukrainÿ. 1985 No. 107 Kiev
-
Chochorowski J. Rings with Panticapaeum staters from the Great Ryzhanovka barrow. Zapiski numizmatyczne 1999 III/IV Kraków 31 41
-
Connolly P. Greece and Rome at War 1998 London
-
Fialko E. E. Chernenko E. V. Kostyanÿe izdeliya iz kurgana Oguz. Skifÿ Severnogo Prichernomor’ya 1987 Kiev 130 140.
-
Fialko E. E. Pamyatniki skifskoï épokhi Pridneprovskoï Terrasovoï Lesostepi 1994 Kiev
-
Fialko E. E. Derevyannÿï sarkofag s polikhromnoï rospis’yu iz skifskogo kurgana. Bosporskiï Fenomen. Iskusstvo na periferii antichnogo mira 2009a St.-Peterburg 525 532
-
Fialko E. Candea I. Wooden Sarcophagus with Polychrome Paintings from Scythian Barrow. The Thracians and Their Neighbors in Antiquity 2010 Braila (in print)
-
Frolova N. A. Problema monetnoï chekanki Bospora 6-2 vv. do n.é. (po povodu vÿkhoda knigi V. A. Anokhina “Monetnoe delo Bospora”. Kiev, 1986). VDI 1988 n° 2 122 143
-
Frolova N. A. Katalog zolotÿkh staterov Pantikapeya 4 v. do n.é. Drevnosti Bospora 2002 5 286 302
-
Galanina L. K. Kurdzhipskiï kurgan. Pamyatnik kul’turÿ prikubanskikh plemen 4 v. do n.é 1980 Leningrad
-
Ganina O. D. Antychni bronzy z Pishchanogo 1970 Kiev
-
Gil’ H. H. Novye priobreteniya moego sobraniya Zapiski imperatorskogo Russkogo Arkheologicheskogo Obshchestva 1892 5 343 360
-
Grebennikov Yu. S. Kimmeriïtsÿ i skifÿ Stepnogo Pobuzh’ya (9-3 vv. do n.é.) 2008 Nikolaev
-
Karÿshkovskiï P. O. Retsenziya na knigu: D. B. Shelov. Monetnoe delo Bospora 6-2 vv. do n.é. SA 1957 n° 1 276 279
-
Karÿshkovskiï P. O. Zametki po numizmatike antichnogo Prichernomor’ya, 7-9. VDI 1961 n° 4 109 119
-
Karÿshkovskiï P. O. Zametki po numizmatike antichnogo Prichernomor’ya. VDI 1964 n° 1 130 139
-
Kolpinskiï Yu. D. Velikoe nasledie antichnoï Élladÿ i ego znachenie dlya sovremennosti 1977 Moscow
-
Kovpanenko G. T. , Bessonova S. S. & Skorÿï S. A. Pamyatniki skifskoï épokhi Dneprovskogo Lesostepnogo Pravoberezh’ya 1989 Kiev
-
Kulatova I. M. Ryativni doslidzhennya na poselenni skifs’kogo chasu v urochishchi Lisovyi Kut u Bil’sku. Arkheologichnyï Litopys Livoberezhnoï Ukrainy 2008 1-2 137 147
-
Loseva N. M. & Sidorova N. A. Iskusstvo Étrurii i drevneï Italii 1988 Moscow
-
Marchenko K. K. Lepnaya keramika 5-3 vv. do n.é. s gorodishcha u stanitsÿ Elizavetovskoï na Niznem Donu. SA 1972 n° 1 131 143
-
Marchenko K. K. Varvarÿ v sostave naseleniya Berezani i Ol’vii 1988 Leningrad
-
Melyukova A. I. Vooruzhenie skifov (SAI D1-4) 1964 Moscow
-
Mozolevskiï B. M. Tovsta Mogyla 1979 Kyiv
-
Ol’khovskiï V. S. Mÿts V. Khozyaïstvo i material’naya kul’tura skifov Krÿma (kon. 7-4 vv. do n.é.). U Ponta Evksinskogo (pamyati P. N. Shul’tsa) 2004 Simferopol 79 99
-
Otroshchenko V. V. , Bessonova S. S. & Boltrik Yu. V. Otchet Zaporozhskoï arheo-logicheskoï ékspeditsii za 1976 g. Nauchnÿï arkhiv Instituta Arkheologii Akademii Nauk Ukrainÿ 1976 No. 1976/6.
-
Petrenko V. G. Pravoberezh’e Srednego Dona v 5-3 vv. do n.é. (SAI D1–4) 1967 Moscow
-
Petrenko V. G. Ukrasheniya Skifii 7-3 vv. do n.é. (SAI D4–5) 1978 Moscow
-
Regling K. Der griechische Goldschatz von Prinkipo. Zeitschruft für Numismatik XLI 1931 1 36
-
Romashko V. A. & Skorÿï S. A. Bliznets-2: skifskïi aristokraticheskiï kurgan v Dneprovskom pravoberezhnom Nadporozh’e 2009 Dnepropetrovsk
-
Rudynskiï M. Ya. Arkheologichni zbirky Poltavs’kogo muzeya. Zbirnyk, prysvyachenyï 35-richchu Muzeya 1928 1 29 62
-
Shelov D. B. Monetnoe delo Bospora 6-2 vv. do n.é 1956 Moscow
-
Shramko B. A. Arkhaicheskaya keramika Vostochnogo ukrepleniya Bel’skogo gorodishcha i problema proiskhozhdeniya ego obitateleï. ASGÉ 1983 23 73 92
-
Shramko B. A. Bel’skoe gorodishche skifskoï épokhi (gorod Gelon) 1987 Kiev
-
Skorÿï S. A. Osnovÿ arkheologicheskogo datirovaniya Bol’shogo Rÿzhanovskogo kurgana. Material i Sprawozdania Rzeszowskiego Ośrodka Archeologicznego 1998 19 Rzeszów 119 137
-
Sokol’skiï N. I. Antichnÿe derevyannÿe sarkofagi Severnogo Prichernomor’ya (SAI G1–17) 1969 Moscow
-
Sparkes B. A. & Talcott L. Black and plain pottery of the 6-th, 5-th and 4-th centuries B.C (The Athenian Agora XII) 1970 New Jersey
-
Terenozhkin A. I. Skifskiï kurgan v g. Melitopole KSIA 1955 5 23 324
-
Vaulina S. & Wasowicz A. Bois Grecs et Romains de l’ Ermitage 1974 Wroclaw
-
Zograf A. N. Antichnÿe monetÿ MIA 1951 16
-
4
Boltrik 2000, 130-133.
-
5
Boltrik 1980.
-
6
Boltryk & Fialko 2005, 246.
-
7
Chernenko 1985, 107, figs. 64-65.
-
8
Rudynskiï 1928, pl. VII, 11; Melyukova 1964, pl. 18, 11; Chernenko 1985, pls. 44 and 57.
-
9
Melyukova 1964, 51.
-
10
Fialko 1994, fig. 10.
-
11
Ol’khovskiï 2004, fig. 4.
-
12
Bunyatyan 1985, 95.
-
13
Petrenko 1967, pl. 8, 6-9.
-
14
Shramko 1983, fig. 11; 1987, fig. 51.
-
15
Bessonova & Skorÿï 2001, fig. 39.
-
16
Marchenko 1972, fig. 2.
-
17
Kulatova 2008, fig. 6.
-
18
Marchenko 1988, figs. 29, 32.
-
19
Sparkes & Talcott 1970, pl. 44.
-
21
Marchenko 1988, 101, fig. 32, 5.
-
22
Alekseev, Murzin & Rolle 1991, No. 92.
-
23
Grebennikov 2008, fig. 37, 4. M. Yu. Treister defines these vessels as large hemispherical bowls of a Macedonian type.
-
24
Ganina 1970, fig. 23; Galanina 1980, pl. 8; Boltryk, Treister & Fialko 2009, fig. 7.
-
26
Boltryk & Fialko 1999, fig. 1; Babenko 2005, fig. 18.
-
27
Petrenko 1978, 63.
-
28
Anokhin 1986, Nos. 115–116.
-
29
Gil’ 1892, Nos. 22, 23.
-
30
Chochorowski 1999, fig. 2.
-
32
Frolova 1988, 135; 2002, 291. E. Turovskiï, to whom we should like to express our sincere gratitude for his consultation, also supports the latter date.
-
33
Anokhin 1986, 141; 1999, 76; Skorÿï 1998, 124.
-
34
Zograf 1951, 42–43; Karÿshkovskiï 1961, 119.
-
35
Connolly 1998, 45.
-
36
Charbonneaux, Martin & Villard 1969, fig. 253; Kolpinskiï 1977, figs. 324–325.
-
40
Loseva & Sidorova 1988, 55; Bottini & Setari 2007.
-
41
Fialko 2009a, 525-532; 2010.
-
43
Fialko 1987, 133-136, fig. 5.
-
44
Romashko & Skorÿï 2009, fig. 16, 53, 57.
-
45
Bidzilya 1971, 46.
-
46
Mozolevskiï 1979, 110.
-
47
Alekseev, Murzin & Rolle 1991, 56.
-
48
Terenozhkin 1955, 23–24.
-
50
Sokol’skiï 1969, pls. 12, 1; 11, 1; 3, 4–6.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 523 | 89 | 6 |
| Full Text Views | 141 | 10 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 206 | 23 | 0 |
A Scythian Burial-Mound with a Sarcophagus Bearing Painted Decoration
In: Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to SiberiaSearch for other papers by Ekaterina P. Bunyatyan in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Elena E. Fialko in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
In 1976 an expedition of the Archaeology Institute of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic investigated Scythian Burial-mound No. 9 in a group of burial-mounds near the village of Mar’evka in the Zaporozhie District of the Zaporozhie Region. The mound had been erected from blocks of turf in the manner traditional for the Scythians. Later on a Polovtsian shrine was evidently erected on top of the mound but in the post-Medieval period this would appear to have been destroyed (the base and the lower part of a statue have survived intact). The mound was erected over a grave in the form of a catacomb with two entrances and a burial of a bridled horse in a separate pit. The grave was looted in antiquity. Among the remains of grave goods typical for Scythian burials of various levels rare items were also discovered, including fragments of a sword with one cutting edge, a gold ring with a coin used for its bezel (a Pantikapaion stater). The most remarkable find of all was a board from the lid of a sarcophagus bearing painted decoration. The decoration, applied in three tiers, consisted of battle scenes depicting three pairs of fighting warriors. The attire, weaponry and poses of the warriors make it possible to assume that the decoration illustrates one of the motifs from the mythology of Ancient Greece – Amazonomachy.
The dimensions and arrangement of the burial-chamber and the diverse grave goods indicate that a number of individuals had been buried in it – an individual of high rank accompanied by his servants. Details of the funerary rite (the overall lay-out of the grave and its details, features of the horse burial) and also the range of artefacts enable us to date the burial-mound to the very end of the 4th or beginning of the 3rd century BC.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 523 | 89 | 6 |
| Full Text Views | 141 | 10 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 206 | 23 | 0 |
