Arheologia

Flint Artefacts of Layer 4 at the Fatma Koba Site, Cimea, Ukraine

V. O. Manko, S. A. Telizhenko — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:05:14 +0200

The Early Holocene complex of Layer 4 at the Fatma Koba is associated with a change from the Shpan Koba to the Murzak Koba culture. The change is marked by the appearance of pressure lamellar technology. The beginning of the transformation relates to the migration of Darkveti population from the South Caucasus. It is significant that the change in the technology of knapping did not lead to a change in the typology of the complex of modified pieces.

Painted Glassware from Olbia Pontica

O. O. Puklina — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:06:19 +0200

Painted glassware from Olbia Pontica is a rare category of ancient artefacts. It is of great importance for studying cultural contacts in the Northern Black Sea region. The publication is devoted to the study of painted glassware and examines the technological methods used in its manufacture.

Hun Assemblage from the Dnipro River Lower Region

D. M. Sikoza — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0200

n the spring 1966, 5 km west of the Proletarka village of the former Tsiurupynsk district, the Kherson Oblast, during ploughing the tractor drivers A. Pulinets and M. Horshkov destroyed an ancient burial. Pupils and teachers of the local school came to the place to examine it. As a result a golden diadem, golden earrings, a golden necklace with pendants, silver shoe buckles, thin gold plates, amber beads, a knife and a clay spindle whorl were brought to the Kherson Local History Museum.
The reconstruction of the burial rite is very difficult. Dr. Ratner classified it as a “female burial with a horse” and subsequently all researchers referred to this definition. Only three molars, two animals and one human, survived from the remains. However, animal teeth from the assemblage belong to a large representative of cattle.
Scholars attribute this burial to the “western” group of Hun sites and associate it with the migration of “royal” Huns. According to the chronology of J. Teyral, they date Proletarka assemblage to the period D2 (380/400–440/450) and the initial phase D2/D3 (430/440–440/450) like the most Hun’s burials of the region. According to О. V. Komar’s correlation of the Hunnic Age relics the assemblages can be classified to the group C2 which is synchronous to the European stage D2 (Unterzibenbrunn horizon); in the Northern Pontic region this stage is dated to 420–445. I. P. Zasetska classified this burial to the first chronological group, subgroup 1 “b” and dated it to 425–454.
The analogies allow us to attribute the burial from Proletarka to the early chronological group of sites of the late 4th — first half of the 5th centuries. The correlation of chronological markers narrows this dating to the second quarter of the 5th century.
The diadem from the burial belongs to the single-part and not triple-part ones, as was mistakenly defined in previous publications. The number of objects made of precious metals and the peculiarities of the costume of buried women allow considering her as a noble in the Hun society. The necklaces with conical pendants, similar to those found in Proletarka are a typical element of “princely” female burials of the Horizon Untersiebenbrunn. The finding of the spindle whorl in the burial is also unusual element for the nomadic Hun burials. All these peculiarities emphasise the specificity of the burial and may indicate close contacts with the settled population of the Danube region and the Crimea, or the fact that woman buried in Proletarka originally came from this population. The grave goods prove this hypothesis. However, we cannot confirm or refute this opinion, since no anthropological materials of the burial have survived.

Catacombs of a Specific Type within the Verkhnii Saltiv Necropolis

V. S. Aksionov — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:09:06 +0200

The main type of burial structure of the Alanian population of the Saltiv culture is a T-type catacomb. The expedition of the N. F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum during 1984–2021 investigated 70 catacombs with a longitudinal arrangement of the chamber in relation to the dromos (type ІІ according to K. F. Smirnov) at three sites of the Verkhnii Saltiv necropolis: 37 catacombs at VSB-І, 16 catacombs at the Verkhnii Saltiv burial ground (VSB) III and 17 catacombs at VSB-IV (table 1). According to their dimensional indicators (length, width, depth of the dromos, dimensions of the chamber and others) catacombs of the type II at all areas of the necropolis (VSB-І, VSB-ІІІ, VSB-IV) did not differ significantly from the T-shaped catacombs of the Verkhnii Saltiv necropolis. They do not differ from T-like funerary structures and the number of people buried in them. Burial chambers of catacombs of the type II contain single, paired and collective burials (table 1). The burial inventory from catacombs of the type II finds the widest analogies in the antiquities of the Saltiv culture of the second half of the 8th and first half of the 10th centuries, and does not vary either numerically or typologically from the inventory of the T-type catacombs. According to the elements of the belt set found in the objects studied, it is clear that the population of Verkhnii Saltiv buried the deceased in catacombs with a longitudinal arrangement of the chamber in relation to the dromos for a long time from the second half of the 8th century (catacombs nos. 13, 15 VSB-III; 141, 146 VSB-IV) and until the end of the third quarter of the 9th century (catacombs nos. 71 VSB-І; 6, 20 VSB-IV). The complex found in catacombs of the type II indicates that people of different property status were buried in this type of funerary structures. Thus, both the poorest representatives of the ordinary population of Verkhnii Saltiv were buried in them (catacombs nos. 3 VSB-II; 45, 68, 141, 146 VSB-IV; 8, 9 VSB-II) and representatives of the military upper class (catacombs nos. 29 VSB-І; 6, 25 VSB-III).

Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Assemblages of the Voitsekhivka Cemetery (based on research of 2013)

S. D. Lysenko, S. S. Lysenko — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:10:00 +0200

Studies of the Voitsekhivka cemetery, located on the left bank of the Sluch River middle region in Eastern Volyn, started in 1924, continued in 1948–1949, and renewed by the Fastiv Archaeological Expedition in 2011–2013. Most of the excavated barrows are dated from the middle to the third quarters of the 2nd millennium BC, and refer to the classical horizons of the Komariv culture of the Trzciniec cultural circle. Three kurgan-like eminence were studied in 2013 at different places of the site, containing materials from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. One mound was a ritual assemblage, possibly a cenotaph; the other two were natural hills into which the objects of the indicated periods were sunk. The research in 2013 significantly extended the chronological range of the site’s existence, and also allowed considering the question of using landscape features when performing ritual activities on the cemetery.
The authors also analyse a set of metal items of the Late Bronze Age discovered in 2013 by the Fastiv Archaeological Expedition in the ploughed layer of the barrow group no. 6 of the Voitsekhivka cemetery. The collection includes 31 items, mostly fragmented. These are seven knives, five sickles, foursocketed axes, three knives-daggers, a fragment of a sword blade, four spearheads, a cheekpiece, a fragment of a pin-wand of a Hordiivka type, two bracelets, a fragment of a rod, two bronze ingots. Finds can be dated preliminary to the BrD–HaA period. It cannot be excluded that at least some of the finds were part of a plowed-up hoard/hoards buried at the cemetery’s territory.
All metal finds of the Late Bronze Age can be divided into two groups of different sizes. The first group (“import”) includes single-edged knives, sickles, celts, double-edged daggers, a fragment of a sword blade, spearheads, and bracelets. All these products find many analogies in the archaeological cultures of the Carpathian-Danube basin. The second group of finds (“autochthonous”) is represented by items associated with local cultures of the Northern Black Sea region. These include a rod-shaped three-hole cheekpiece and a fragment of a Hordiivka-type pin-wand, as well as a metal rod (a bracelet blank?) and metal ingots.

Black-Glazed Ware in the Col-lection of Classical Antiquities of the Altes Museum (Berlin, Germany): Perspectives from the Northern Black Sea Region

I. O. Chechulina — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:11:34 +0200

The collection of classical antiquities at the Berlin Museum is considered one of the richest in Europe. Attic ceramics, including black-glazed ware, hold a special place among the numerous artefacts stored in the museum. However, for a considerable period, these items have remained largely unexamined and unpublished by researchers.
During recent project, approximately 200 different objects were analysed, and 156 vases were selected for publication in the future catalogue. Among these are Italian imitations (primarily Campanian and Puglian) and one Boeotian krater. To differentiate Attic ware from its imitations, defining visual features were used, such as the nature of raw materials, black-glazed coating, stamped ornaments, the decoration of the outer surfaces of the bases, and morphological elements of the form.
For publication purposes, the material was categorised into “open” and “closed” forms. The first group (60 %) comprises vessels used for the consumption of wine (cups, skyphoi, kantharoi) and food (plates, stemmed dishes, bowls, and saltcellars). The second group consists of closed-type vessels (38 %), including those used for storing wine, water, and oil (oinochoai, pelikai, lekythoi, askoi, among others). The smallest share consisted of special-purpose vessels, such as lekanides and pyxides (2 %).
The article describes nine objects originating from the Northern Black Sea region. These include a skyphos, cups, bowls, a stemmed dish, and a lekythos. Most of the vessels were acquired by museum staff in the latter half of the 19th century. Additionally, four of these objects were purchased in the early 20th century in the area known then as ‘Southern Russia’, indicating their discovery in the Northern Black Sea region. Two of these vases have clear indications of their places of origin — Olbia Pontica and Panticapaeum in Taurica.
These objects exemplify Attic production and are of significant value among similar materials. Although the vases themselves are standard, mass-produced items, their ornamentation system, unique inscriptions, and graffiti elevate them to the status of the renowned painted ancient vases. Moreover, the publication of these previously unknown and unpublished materials from Ukraine enriches our understanding of the region’s antique artefacts and fosters enhanced scientific cooperation between Ukraine and global museum institutions.

Lamps from the Roman Citadel of Tyras

K. S. Savelieva, O. K. Saveliev — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:12:26 +0200

The present paper discusses 37 lamps discovered in the area where the Roman garrison of Tyras was stationed during the 2nd century and the first half of the 3rd century AD. Attention is focused on the distribution of lamps in the area under consideration and their typology. In total, three types of moulded lamps and one type of wheel-made lamps were identified.

Technological Traditions of Ceramics Production of the Final Bronze Age Population in the Samara River Basin

I. M. Butskyi, O. V. Myshusta — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:13:19 +0200

In the article, the following aspects of pottery production technology at the Late Bronze Age settlements in the Samara River basin are analysed: the formation of clay pastes and the method of vessel formation, surface treatment, and firing. An attempt is made to interpret the data, in particular, to trace certain clusters of settlements and their microchronology based on changes in the range of recipes used across different stratigraphic horizons. The study also considers the existence and distribution of pottery with a special firing that gave the vessels a white colour.
At the final stage of the Bronze Age, the Samara River basin area appeared to be relatively homogeneous in terms of the traditions of pottery production. With certain variants, the same recipes for clay pastes and methods of forming pottery were used. We can assume, with a high degree of probability, the existence of two chronological stages within the same culture, at least in one case stratigraphically and in one case planigraphically, and there are reasons to believe that some settlements have two horizons, the lower one containing a certain significant amount of ware with the addition of organic inclusions in the clay pastes, and the upper one without them.
Settlements with similar recipe complexes form noticeable clusters when mapped, and at the same time show approximately equal distances between clusters of settlements, which allows for a better assessment of the settlements’ resource zones boundaries.
The presence of unusual vessels with a white surface colour also allows us to trace the intensity of connections between clusters of settlements and the distances over which such products were distributed, although it is currently difficult to say how and for what purpose such pottery was distributed.

Bronze Age Flint Dart Point from Crimea

O. O. Popelnytska — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:03:33 +0200

The article is devoted to the publication of a flint dart point — a chance find from a destroyed burial near Topchi-Koi village in Crimea (now Dolynne village, Bakhchysarai district of the Autonomous Republic Crimea), researched by Mykola Ernst.
In November 1926, near Topchi-Koi village in Crimea, local residents accidentally discovered a burial with a flint item, which was transferred to the Central Museum of Tavryda in Simferopol, the archaeological department of which was headed by Mykola Ernst at the time. Having received a message about this find on April 14, 1927, M. L. Ernst conducted a survey of the place where this find was discovered on April 22–23, 1927. M. L. Ernst’s drawing with the image of the specified find, two handwritten plans and a section of the place of its discovery, as well as two reports on the results of a the fieldwork in 1927 to Topchi-Koi village are currently stored in his personal archive in the Scientific Archive of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. Information about the find of 1926 from the village of Topchi-Koi has not yet been introduced into scientific circulation. The location of this artefact is currently unknown, but M. L. Ernst’s perfectly executed drawing allows us to get an idea of the find.
The burial pit was located on a top of a clay hill 2 m high and had no embankment. The burial pit, 0.9 m deep, was half destroyed during clay mining. The pit was rectangular, 1.2 m wide, oriented to the north-west. Its original length had not been preserved. The skull, clavicles, shoulder blades, part of the vertebrae and ribs of the buried person were found in the object. The shoulder bones were laying parallel to the trunk. The rest of the skeleton was destroyed. Under the head of the deceased there was a flint “dagger”. No other items were found with the buried person.
Detection near Topchi-Koi village (Dolynne) in 1895 and 1955, mounds with burials that have signs of the Kemi-Oba, Yamna (Pit Grave culture or Ochre Grave culture) and Сatacomb archaeological cultures allow making the assumption that the burial was discovered in the village in 1926. Topchi-Koi site may belong to one of these cultures. the assumption that the find belongs to Topchi-Koi industry is also supported by the inclusion of similar flint dart points (or daggers) by researchers (V. I. Klochko, S. M. Razumov and others) into the Yamna cultural community.