Scythian and other Eurasian Nomadic Horse Warrior Cultures

This paper analyses a unique single-edged sword recovered from the Scythian grave 2, barrow 2, excavated near the village of Myrne in the Kherson Region, and provides typological and chronological analyses of similar artifacts from the North Pontic region. The paper also looks at the origin of such swords.

Some findings on the territory of ancient Britain, such as the "tamgas" of oriental origin used by nomads of the steppes, attest to the presence of Sarmatian Cavalrymans in antiquity. Tamgas are very peculiar elements of the steppe populations, emblem of a particular tribe, clan or family. They were common among Eurasian nomads during antiquity and in the Middle Ages also among populations of Iranian origin (Alani, Sarmatians, Scythians), Mongols and Turkish peoples and reflect "the heraldry of the steppe".

Archaeological Jew’s Harps from Ancient Nomadic Cultures of
Eastern Eurasia

Until now only musical instrument from Xiongnu archaeological monuments was a Jew’s harp unearthed by Prof. D.Tseveendorj in 1989 in Morin Tolgoi burial ground, Central Mongolia. This laminare bone instrument was a unqiue piece to the study of the origin and development of not only Xiongnu but also Eurasian ancient nomad’s musical culture. Recent years more examples of similaire musical instrument found in different areas of Eastern Eurasian nomadic cultures which stimule further researches on the origin of this anicent musical instrument.
This article covers 10 pieces of laminare Jew’s harp, in bone or bambou sticks, from early nomads period or Bronze-Early Iron-Xiongnu periods of the Eastern part of Eurasian Steppe. These pieces were discovered in Mongolia, North China, Inner Mongolia, Tannu-Sayan region or Tuva and Minus hollow, all from burial monuments of different archaeological cuiltures. Some of those pieces were identi ed initially by researchers as “bone instrument” or “weaving shuttle” etc.
The oldest known Jew’s harp from nomadic world, and even in the world is a bone instrument from Xiajiadian from late Bronze Age, and the most recent archaeological Jew’s harp comes from Sakhsar burial from Tashtyk culture or Post-Xiongnu period in Minus hollow region. The Morin Tolgoi burial Xiongnu Jew’s harp together with Aimyrlyg (Tuva) played important role in the distribution of this musical instrument throughout Eurasia by the means of Xiongnu (Hun) Great Migration or/and Silk Road.

The discovery of a fragment of a Hunnic cauldron by a metal detectorist acted as the springboard of this study, in which various aspects of Hunnic cauldrons are discussed: their findspots and find contexts, their typology, their dating and their origins. Questions regarding the broader cultural context of Hunnic cauldrons in the Roman and the Hunnic Empires are also addressed, as are their functional, ritual and social dimensions. The archaeological findings are complemented by metallographic analyses that shed light not only on the composition of the cauldron, but also on its possible use.

Preprint version, published in Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 68 (2017) 75–136.
https://doi.org/10.1556/072.2017.68.1.4
http://dx.doi.org/10.1556/072.2017.68.1.4

Egy sajátságos fokos Nagyhalászról. / Scythian Age hatchet - sagaris - from Nagyhalász (Hungary) AD HOC 2018
Rövid ismertetés a nagyhalászi griff6sasfejben végződő karú vas díszfokosról. / The short introduction of the Scythian Age griffin/eagle headed iron hatchet, called sagaris from the vicinity of Nagyhalász (Hungary)

80th anniversary of Mark B. Shchukin, member of Stratum plus editorial board / 80 лет со дня рождения члена редколлегии журнала «Stratum plus» Марка Борисовича Щукина

Content

AD MEMORIAM 

O. V. Sharov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation)
M. B. Shchukin’s 80th Birthday Anniversary: 10 Years After…17

TRANSFER OF IDEAS AND TECHNOLOGIES 

V. V. Anisimov (Moscow, Russian Federation)
On the Methods of Fashion Distribution in Barbaric Societies: the Social Elite, Craftsmen and Mobility (as illustrated by La Tène Celts)25
A. V. Dedyulkin (Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation), N. F. Shevchenko (Krasnodar, Russian Federation)
Body Armour from the Burial of the Early 1st Century AD in the Mezmay Necropolis. Chain Mail Armour on the North-Western Caucasus47
T. N. Smekalova (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation), F. N. Lisetskii, Zh. A. Buryak (Belgorod, Russian Federation)
Study of the Late Scythian Settlement and Agricultural-Residential Complex of Borut-Khane in the Piedmont Crimea by Natural Science Methods57
D. P. Shulga (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation)
Main Development Tendencies of North China “Nomadic” States in 5th Century BC — 3rd Century AD81
P. V. Shuvalov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation)
The Twist, the Strop, the Ladder, the Step, the Ring. Reflections on the First Stirrups89

PRODUCTION AND EXCHANGE IN ANCIENT AND BARBARIAN WORLD 

M. M. Choref (Nizhnevartovsk, Russian Federation)
Newly Found Ancient Lead Seal of Tauric Chersonesos99
M. S. Kasenov (Atyrau, Kazakhstan), M. K. Seitkaliev (Almaty, Kazakhstan)
Random Archaeological Finding of “Millingen” Type Patera Handle in Northern Caspian Region115
O. K. Savelyev (Odessa, Ukraine)
Roman Import of the 1st Century AD in Tyras and Some Matters of Roman-Barbarian Contacts in the North-Western Black Sea Region119
I. N. Khrapunov (Simferopol, Crimea)
Another Germanic “Footprint” in the Crimea135
O. S. Rumyantseva (Moscow, Russian Federation)
Glass Working beyond the Limes: New Data on the Manufacturing Organization and the Chronology of the Komarov Workshop141
I. A. Saprykina, A. V. Mastykova (Moscow, Russian Federation)
Gold Items from the Mukhino-2 ‘’Princely’’ Burial Ground of the Hunnic Period in the Upper Don: rare manufacturing techniques?165
R. P. Smirnov (Sevastopol, Crimea)
Brickstamps with the Indiction Date and Current Issues of the Archaeology of Late Antiquity in Tauric Chersonesos181

ROME AND BARBARIANS: CENTERS OF POWER AND PRODUCTION 

N. Yu. Limberis, I. I. Marchenko (Krasnodar, Russian Federation)
Graves with Fibulae from the Burial Ground of the Maeotian Settlement Spornoye201
T. I. Slobodyan (Kiev, Ukraine)
Early Roman Time Funerary Sites in the Subcarpatian Region: Chronology and Period of Existence215
I. V. Bruyako, A. N. Dzigovskiy (Odessa, Ukraine), R. Madyda-Legutko (Kraków, Poland)
Studia Baltica et Pontica (Sarmatian-Germanic complex at the Kartal Hillfort on the Lower Danube)233
A. S. Churkin, I. I. Shkribliak (Simferopol, Crimea)
New Necropolises in the Central Crimea in Late Antiquity Period265
R. D. Goldina (Izhevsk, Russian Federation)
Tarasovo Burial Ground on the Middle Kama and Issues of the Volga-Kama Migrations (3rd—5th cent.)295
V. N. Yagodin (†), E. P. Kitov (Moscow, Russian Federation), V. V. Yagodin (Nukus, Uzbekistan)
The Typology of Funerary Complexes of the Kazybaba I Cemetery in 2nd — 4th Centuries AD (on the origins of the nomads of the Ustyurt south-east edges)357

FROM THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE 

I. L. Tikhonov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation)
Petrograd’s Archaeologists during the Revolution and the Civil War383
E. G. Zastrozhnova, O. V. Sharov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation)
The Marfovka Hoard of 1925 (publication of archival materials)395

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

List of Abbreviations411
Submissions415

Содержание

AD MEMORIAM 

О. В. Шаров (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
80 лет М. Б. Щукину: 10 лет спустя... Free!17

ТРАНСФЕРТ ИДЕЙ И ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ 

В. В. Анисимов (Москва, Россия)
О способах распространения моды в варварских обществах: социальные элиты, ремесленники и мобильность (на примере кельтов эпохи латена)25
А. В. Дедюлькин (Ростов-на-Дону, Россия), Н. Ф. Шевченко (Краснодар, Россия)
Доспех из погребения рубежа эр могильника Мезмай-1. Кольчуги на Северо-Западном Кавказе47
Т. Н. Смекалова (Санкт-Петербург, Россия), Ф. Н. Лисецкий, Ж. А. Буряк (Белгород, Россия)
Изучение позднескифского поселенческого и агрохозяйственного комплекса Борут-Хане в Предгорном Крыму естественнонаучными методами57
Д. П. Шульга (Новосибирск, Россия)
Основные тенденции становления «кочевых» государств Северного Китая в V в. до н. э. — III в. н. э.81
П. В. Шувалов (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Скрутка, строп, лестница, ступень, кольцо. Размышления о первых стременах89

ПРОИЗВОДСТВО И ОБМЕН В АНТИЧНОМ И ВАРВАРСКОМ МИРАХ 

М. М. Чореф (Нижневартовск, Россия)
Новая античная свинцовая печать из Херсонеса Таврического99
М. С. Касенов (Атырау, Казахстан), М. К. Сейткалиев (Алматы, Казахстан)
Случайная находка ручки патеры типа «Millingen» в Северном Прикаспии115
О. К. Савельев (Одесса, Украина)
Римский импорт I в. н. э. в Тире и некоторые вопросы римско-варварских контактов в Северо-Западном Причерноморье119
И. Н. Храпунов (Симферополь, Крым)
Еще один германский след в Крыму135
О. С. Румянцева (Москва, Россия)
Стеклоделие за лимесом: новые данные об организации производства и хронологии мастерской в Комарове141
И. А. Сапрыкина, А. В. Мастыкова (Москва, Россия)
Золотые изделия из «княжеского» погребения с поселения Мухино-2 гуннского времени на Верхнем Дону: редкие техники изготовления?165
Р. П. Смирнов (Севастополь, Крым)
Плинфа с индиктными клеймами и актуальные проблемы археологии позднеантичного Херсонеса181

РИМ И ВАРВАРЫ: ЦЕНТРЫ ВЛАСТИ И ПРОИЗВОДСТВА 

Н. Ю. Лимберис, И. И. Марченко (Краснодар, Россия)
Погребения с фибулами из грунтового могильника меотского городища Спорное201
Т. И. Слободян (Киев, Украина)
Погребальные памятники раннеримского времени Прикарпатья: хронология и время функционирования215
И. В. Бруяко, А. Н. Дзиговский (Одесса, Украина), Р. Мадыда-Легутко (Краков, Польша)
Studia Baltica et Pontica (Сармато-германский комплекс на городище Картал в низовьях Дуная)233
А. С. Чуркин, И. И. Шкрибляк (Симферополь, Крым)
Новые позднеантичные некрополи в Центральном Крыму265
Р. Д. Голдина (Ижевск, Россия)
Тарасовский могильник на Средней Каме и проблемы миграций в Волго-Камье (III—V вв.)295
В. Н. Ягодин (†), Е. П. Китов (Москва, Россия), В. В. Ягодин (Нукус, Узбекистан)
Типология погребальных комплексов могильника Казыбаба I во II—IV вв. н. э. (к вопросу о происхождении кочевников юго-восточного чинка Устюрта)357

ИЗ ИСТОРИИ НАУКИ 

И. Л. Тихонов (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
Археологи Петрограда в годы Революции и Гражданской войны 383
Е. Г. Застрожнова, О. В. Шаров (Санкт-Петербург, Россия)
«Марфовский клад» 1925 г. (публикация архивных материалов) 395

ДОПОЛНИТЕЛЬНАЯ ИНФОРМАЦИЯ 

Список сокращений 411
Авторам 415

The report is devoted to the analysis of invariant features of deer stones. These features include: the front on a narrow vertical side of a stone; the tiered composition formed by the image of a belt and a necklace; the image of an arms set; the inclined line at the top of the front. It is concluded that the composition of deer stones models not a human figure, but a wooden pole, on which a belt with of the deceased warrior’s arms and other elements of individual equipment are fixed. Over time, the custom of using original items was replaced by their image on a pole, and this composition was transferred to a more resistant and prestige material – a stone. The tradition of installation of wooden poles, on which clothes and arms were hung to create a conditional image of a
human, was recorded in rock art of the Sayan-Altai and Khangai as far back as in the early Bronze Age. The earliestin the region images of the inclined line on a face are connected with the same epoch.

The article presents the silver gilt phalerae found in the course of earthworks in the area of Kuban stanitza Uspenskaya in 1866 and now kept in the State Museum of Georgia. The central part of two large phalerae is decorated with rosettes framed with garland, the sloping middle part — with curly rosettes, the edge bent outwards — with guilloche pattern. The small phalera bears a bull protome with small curly rosettes on the forehead and on the shoulder. The compositional and stylistic analysis of the large phalerae causes doubts in M. Pfrommer’s attribution considering the Uspenskaya phalerae to have been later specimens (2nd century BC) made after some earlier prototypes. Their most probable date may be restricted to the period of the last quarter of the 3rd — first quarter of the 2nd century BC. It is evident that the large shoulder phalerae from Uspenskaya (Figs. 1–4) like that from Fedulov Treasure having similar dimensions (ca. 30–31 сm in diameter) (Fig. 7) belong to the earliest finds of that kind in the North Pontic area as it was suggested by V.I. Mordvintseva. The high level of their execution differs greatly from that of the speci
mens dated to the 2nd — early 1st century BC. The phalerae from Uspenskaya had been probably long time in use, judging by the losses and remains of careful restoration, as a result of which the tornoff part of one of the phalerae was «sewn» to its main
part (figs. 1; 3. 3; 4). A bull protome on the Bosporan coins similar to the one on the small phalera can hardly be a decisive argument in favour of its attribution as a Bosporan article. It is rather an ornamental ropelike border, which speaks in favour
of such a hypothesis. The character of the surface treatment suggests manufacturing of the large phalerae with rosettes and the small one with the bull protome in different workshops. Having in mind the suggested dating of the phalerae, with all the reservations against the total attribution of imports uncovered in the Sarmatian complexes as booty captured by the Sarmatians in Asia Minor, in the given case one cannot exclude the possibility of the large phalerae being a diplomatic gift received during concluding a treaty between the King of Pontus, Phranakes I and the states of Asia Minor, one of the guarantor of which, according to Polybius (Polyb., XXV, 2), was a Sarmatian King Gatal.

""En Filipo II y el Arte de la Guerra tendremos la oportunidad de conocer en profundidad a uno de los más grandes reyes de la antigua Macedonia. Gracias a su habilidad como estratega, diplomático, político y soldado, heredó un reino pobre, débil y acosado por innumerables enemigos y lo transformó en el más poderoso de toda Grecia.

A lo largo de sus páginas podremos conocer la historia del reino Macedonio, desde sus orígenes míticos hasta la formación de un imperio, de la mano del que, a la postre, se convertiría en el padre del mítico Alejandro Magno y en el forjador de un nuevo ejército que cambiaria el devenir de la guerra en la Antigüedad. Filipo II fue el creador de la falange macedonia, formación que se demostraría como inigualable en el campo de batalla y que reportaría incontables victorias sobre poderosos enemigos, como los ilirios, los tesalios, los tracios, los beocios o los atenienses. Pero no sólo eso, logró integrar en el campo de batalla a la infantería y a la caballería para emplearlos en nuevas formaciones tácticas: armó a sus soldados con las míticas sarissas y apreció como pocos las posibilidades militares que la maquinaria de guerra podía proporcionarle, siendo el mecenas de numerosos avances en este campo. Soñó con conquistar el Imperio persa, cuando ya había logrado lo que nadie antes fue capaz: el control de Grecia.

Sólo la muerte le arrebató esa hazaña, pero sentó las bases de lo que más tarde conseguiría su propio hijo. Su figura levantó tanto odios como pasiones; se le conocía como mujeriego y bebedor, pero también por su habilidad para la oratoria, por sus astucia, determinación y valor. Siempre luchó en primera línea junto a sus soldados y nunca permitió que éstos le llamaran rey, sino solo "General".

Pazyryk Tattoos as an Artistic Testimony of Ancient Wars and Marriages.
Azbelev, Pavel Petrovich (The State Hermitage Museum, Educational Department)

Abstract. The Pazyryk culture of the Altai mountains (second half of the 1st millennium ВСЕ) is famous for its well-preserved organic materials which survived due to the permafrost beneath the barrows. Of all the extant objects that come from five burials the oldest tattoos in Animal style, found on seven human mummies, attract special attention. Pioneering is the author’s approach to the finds based on the principles of mapping main tattoos on the body with its interpretation: the development of the principles is traced according to territorial and chronological spreading of iconographic analogues. Finds of this kind allow us to propose certain preliminary systematization: it is possible to distinguish sustainable sets of images different for males and females.
Meaning of a tattoo correlates to the role which a body part that bears it played in a person’s life. Large images of predators placed closer to the heart make us recall that it is heart that is often considered to be the seat of courage, rage, and other characteristics by many folks associated with large predators. Ungulates shown in agony as defeated animals or victims are placed on forearms — it is with their hands that people fight, hunt, and make sacrifices. On legs, which are to be fast and strong, there are running herbivore animals chosen from among the most fast and hardy. All this is common for Animal style as a magic mascot that was believed to influence the carrier of a certain image.
An image of a hoofed griffin is quite a special phenomenon originating from Northern China and Mongolia. The Pazyryk images of these griffins are imitative; the Altai nomads should have associated the image of this monster with their neighbours endowing it with the idea of victim, and not only they knew the “owners” of the image, but also feuded and fought with them.
Analogies to the composition with predators surrounding tortured ungulates are found to the West of the Altai mountains. Communicative vector which is presented here corresponds with the Western analogies to the finds and imported items that come from the Fifth Pazyryk barrow. Perhaps, the woman buried there, born in Eastern Kazakhstan or in South-West of Siberia, could have arrived to the Altai via marriage as a result of strengthening ties between the Pazyryk culture and the West, to the detriment of connections with South-Eastern neighbours. It is possible that the Pazyryk tattoos in Animal style depict the system of the Pazyryk culture’s contacts and their dynamics in the 4th–3rd centuries ВСЕ.

S. A. Gorbanenko
The soil filtration from the object in Tsaryna Mohyla tract and palaeoethnobotanical analysis
The article published the results of soil filtration from the object which was found under the rampart in Tsaryna Mohyla tract of the Bilsk hillfort. At the first time in the history of research palaeoethnobotanical materials were obtained in the course of targeted searches by the flotation method. The paleoethnobotanical mass spectrum is represented by approximately 2/5 of Hordeum vulgare and Panicum miliaceum, as well as 1/10 parts of Secale cereale and Triticum dicoccon. The high indicators of the first two cultures are typical to the early Iron Age. Secale cereale is much rarer. Minor weeds can indicate that the surrounding fields were fairly clean. It is not excluded that this indicates an initial period of development of the potential resource zone around the settlement.
The results of soil washing are also briefly described.
Keywords: Bilsk hillfort, Scythian time, filtering the soil, palaeoethnobotany, grain farming.

В предлагаемом издании представлен ценный материал по археологии и этнографии Казахского Алтая начиная с эпохи палеолита до этнографической современности, свидетельствующий о самобытной культуре, живших на этой территории народов.
Книга адресована широкому кругу читателей,особенно полезна она тем,
кто неравнодушен к истории своего народа.

Based on existing classifications of the horse-bits and cheek-pieces of the North Caucasus and Eastern Europe, the paper outlines a classification of bronze cheek-pieces made of a twisted core and non-bonding three-hole cheek-pieces from Azerbaijan. Burials where objects under the study originate from are dated back to the second half of the 8 th and the 7 th centuries BC. Most of the studied bits with non-bonding three-hole cheek-pieces of Azerbaijan come from the burial grounds where Scythian type objects were discovered or where a burial rite has analogies to those in the forest-steppe on the right bank of the Dnipro River. This data indicates the connection of the studied artifacts with the cultures of the Cimmerians and the Scythians.

Companions in the Afterlife: The Role of Horses in Mortuary Archaeology

Since ancient peoples first harnessed equids, horses have played an important part in human civilization. They were a mode of transportation for ancient peoples, as well as a food source. The horse opened up a vast new world for the nomadic people of the steppe. Horses also gave early people a new way of waging warfare upon other tribes and civilizations. These attributes made the horse a central figure in the lives of these early cultures, which is possibly why the horse became an important accompaniment in early civilizations' graves. Horse burials can be an intriguing and sometimes confusing archaeological puzzle.The study of horse burials, particularly human-horse burials can sometimes give us an understanding of the rituals that took place in conjunction with a high status, or even sometimes a low status burial. Could some of these horse burials be based on the management of livestock belonging to a nomadic tribe? Perhaps some horse burials that took place could quite possibly be the ritualistic slaughter of horses that were intended to accompany the individual to the afterlife? Perhaps some burials could possibly be offerings to the Gods for a good crop, or a victory in a coming battle? These are just some of the questions that have, like the horses themselves, accompanied horse burials discovered in the archaeological record.

The article concerns results of radio-carbon dating of the horse bones found during excavation of funeral complexes in Altai dated by II century BC – V century AD. It is part of system studying of ancient and medieval horses from archaeological sites. This work is carried out for two last decades with involvement of different experts from the natural-science sphere of knowledge. The analysis of osteological materials from the necropolises Yaloman-II and Stepushka-I relating to various stages of Bulan-Koby culture is so far carried out. The received data have essential value not only for definition of date of creation of each object and specification of a chronological framework of certain animal populations existence. It also gives the chance for consideration of the fixed objective information in a historical context with an exit to private and general reconstruction.

相馬拓也（2012）中央アジアにおける騎馬鷹狩の民族考古学

《キーワード》
民族考古学、遊牧社会、鷹狩、中央アジア、天山山脈、キルギス、モンゴル西部、文化人類学、古代史、スキタイ、動物文様

《Keywords》
Ethno-archaeology, Nomadic Society, Falconry/ Hawking, Central Asia, Tienshan Mountains, Kyrgyz, Western Mongolia, Cultural Anthropology, Ancient History, Scythians, Animal Motif

Abstract

ORIENTATION:
My paper focuses on significances of the long tradition of “falconry” in East Asia. In reference to archaeological evidences, animal-herders lived in the mountainous region of Altai and Tienshan have been kept and succeeded extraordinary knowledge and arts to tame raptor, especially Golden Eagles for hunting activities since more than 3000 years ago. Through ethnoarchaeological studies, the original context of falconry with meaningful history of human-raptor cooperation is described in answer to the special theme for “Sustaining the Future”. Besides, the role of archaeologist/ anthropologist in the record and memory of intangible heritage will be also under reconsideration.
SCOPE & METHODOLOGY:
The research is based on combination of archaeological research and ethnographic interpretation. (1) Archaeological evidences of falconry lead to reconstruct a classical form of falconry in ancient East Asia. Besides, (2) Fieldworks and concentrated participant observation of contemporary Altai-Kazakh Falconry and Falconers in Bayan-Ölgii Prefecture (western Mongolia) guide to deepen understanding of falconry. Through these researches, (3) sustainability of traditional falconry for future will be scientifically endorsed from ethnoarchaeological aspects.
RESULTS:
Own ethnoarchaeological researches are gradually clarifying the reasons for supra-generational tradition of “eagle-obeyed falconry” in Mongol-Altai regions. The original form of falconry had been developed in the “nomadic” society neither royal activities nor fan-sporting game. Especially, “the horse-riding falconry” is rather practiced for actual fox-hunting in winter pasture. Besides, the number of Golden Eagles would have been stabilized due to the fact that eaglets are well tamed by local falconers. Namely, Kazakh falconers and raptor have been in coexistence and have raised each other up to exchange their utilities in traditional transhumant society. It is therefore able to suppose that to keep activating the transhumant animal-herding is the only thing to preserve/ sustain tradition of horse-riding falconry for future. 　

Вміщено публікації за результатами наукових досліджень, здійснених на території Більського археологічного комплексу та в його окрузі в 2018 році.
Для археологів, істориків, краєзнавців, фахівців пам’яткоохоронної справи, працівників
музеїв, широкого загалу шанувальників стародавньої історії.

On having referred to the ancient arts of the divination, the prediction or the knowledge of the fortune we remember the famous oracle of Delphi or the well-known sibylline books. Nevertheless in that epoch numerous cultures were provided with rituals, places of worship, mystic centers and personages who were devoting themselves to these tasks with big reputation and not minor benefits. Between these controversial figures, the classic sources mention briefly the existence of a few important personages who were a part of the scythia culture and who were famous for revealing the fortune and the future to whom they wanted to know his future. It is a question of the acquaintances as aneraeans, priests or prophets that, by means of arcane arts they were offering his services and who attracted attention of the Greeks for his aspect and effeminate clothing that has led to thinking that it was a question of eunuch. Legends and myths on his origin have been described without very much detail and for this motive scarcely we know nothing on a caste which importance between the nomads of the steppes provided to them a high position and the social recognition. It is told that long ago, warriors scythians profaned the temple of Aphrodite Urania in Ascalon, receiving the anger of the goddess but it provided to them the power of the prediction. In this exhibition we will explain to these fortune-tellers whose talent exceeded the mistrust that his appearance was reflecting between the Greeks.

Miklós Banai PhD and Prof. Béla Lukács PhD, held a lecture about their research on the origins of Central Europe's peoples, by the invitation of the Széll Kálmán Foundation, on the 28th of November, 2014.
They have established the fact that Central European identity has dual roots and it originates in two contemporary Bronze Age civilizations. While the identity of the Western part stems from the traditions of the well-known Mycenaean culture, the Eastern part stems from the much less known Andronovo culture. Incorporating these findings in European public discourse could significantly shape and strengthen Central European peoples' alliance.

The article examines stone dishes (29 items) from the Scythian burials of the forest-steppe Dnieper region. This region is the main area of distribution of these objects in the south of Eastern Europe in the VII-VI centuries BC. The most numerous categories of artifacts
are: 1) oval-shaped dishes without side protuberances (17 items); 2) oval-shaped dishes with a protuberance on the one side (7 items). In some cases, the protuberance on the latter category of dishes was shaped as an animal head. The concept of «zoomorphic» dishes originates from the Ancient East and was adopted by the Scythians in the end of the 7th century BC at the final stage of their Near Eastern campaigns. Dishes with protuberances on the one or two sides do not find analogies in the eastern regions of Eurasia and constitute
the local North Black Sea variations of this category of Scythian material culture. The finds examines in the article are divided into two groups: 1) the early group (the late VII and/or the first half of the 6th century BC); and 2) the late group (from the middle to the second half of the 6th century BC). The period of the most widespread distribution of stone dishes in the forest-steppe Dnieper region falls on the first half – the middle of the 6th century BC.

Този доклад е продължение (втора част) на лекцията озаглавена “Причерноморието – люлка на европейската цивилизация и Тракия като арийска сърцевина”, изнесена пред Международната научна конференция “Древна Тракия – сакрално и профанно. България, Балканите и Черноморската област”, Пловдив, 2019. Докато в първата част вниманието е фокусирано върху аргументи в полза на тезата за депресията, която днес е леглото на Черно море, като не само подслон за преживяване, но и “люлка” за създаване на генетичен резервоар благоприятстващ развитие на подслонената общност, втората част разглежда доказателствата за твърдението, че тук се развива бъдещата хронологически първа за човечеството цивилизация – тази на Арите (Арийците), които по-късно биват наричани също и Пеласги, Траки, Кимери, Илири и пр. Представени са няколко образци на урбанизирани общности на средна възраст около 7000 години, тоест, предхождащи всички други известни на човечеството. Представени са и оцелели във времето образци на протописменост, разпръснати преимуществено из Арийския континуум на Блаканите, тоест в ареала на Траките. В заключение е публикуван апел към всички – в научните среди, както и в кръговете на местния патриотизъм, за употреба на точна терминология, без ограниченията на политическата коректност и каквито и да е други съображения отвъд обективната реалност, за да се спрат спекулациите с нашето историческо и културно наследство.

Desde Escitia a la Península Ibérica, de la Edad de Bronce -si no antes- a los primeros siglos de nuestra Era, diversos seres antropomorfos, humanos o mitológicos, han sido representados luchando contra el grifo -id est, la grifomaquia- a lo largo de milenios y kilómetros con distintos significados, muchos de los cuales aún suponen una incógnita para la arqueología...

The article discusses how eastern chronological benchmarks can contribute to the absolute chronology of archaic Scythia. Given the dates of the fall of Urartu (ca. 640 BC) and the Rysaikino inscription (the late 8th century BC), the early Scythian chronology shows up as follows: the Scythians appeared in the North Caucasus as early as in the mid-8th century BC; they invaded Transcaucasia and the north-western Iran in the late 8th century BC; articles executed in the Scythian animal style and weapons from the destroyed centres of Urartu should be dated to the mid-7th century BC at the latest.

Things have reached a point to study carefully the depictions of arms on the
Bosporan gravestones and to correlate them with archaeological finds, both from the area of the Bosporan Kingdom and from the nomadic cultures of Eurasia and from the Near East. Such an analysis allows us both the better understanding of the genesis of certain types of arms, used in the Bosporus in the first centuries AD and the social and historical context of the possible adoptions.

My analysis is concentrated on three categories: the daggers, which were carried fastened with belts to the right thighs, long swords fastened to the quivers of the so-called Scythian type, as well as quivers of the so-called Hunnic or Central-Asian type. The catalogue, making the basis of the study, includes 75 Bosporan grave stelae, primarily with the images of the horsemen; from the late 1st century BC to the first half of the 2nd century AD which show the arms of the abovementioned types, found or acquired primarily in Kerch and its vicinities. Detailed analysis both of the specific details shown on the Bosporan, Commagene, Parthian stelae, sculptures, frescoes, terracottas and small bronzes in comparison with the finds
of corresponding arms both in the area of the Bosporan Kingdom as well as in the nomadic burials of Eurasia reveals Central Asian, in some cases Chinese prototypes of them.....

The review gives a critical assessment of the monograph (Kullanda S.V. The Scyths: Language and Ethnogenesis. Moscow: Russian Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Science, 2016. – 232 p.), dedicated to the study of Scythian history and culture through the prism of linguistic data.

В статье описываются результаты раскопок 2019–2020 гг. на территории поселенческого комплекса Акбауыр. Здесь было открыто овальное помещение, возле которого располагаются остатки нескольких производственных строений, свыше десяти очагов, предназначавшихся для производственных процессов – обжига керамики, металлообработки и др. Эти производственные объекты, а также большое количество каменных, керамических, костяных изделий, наличие металла (медный слиток и обломок бронзового предмета), свидетельствуют о функционировании здесь специализированного производственного центра в начальный период становления раннесакского культурного комплекса (примерно, X–VIII вв. до н. э.).
Ключевые слова: раннесакский период, специализированный производственный центр, керамическое производство, ремесло, металлообработка