Nowadays Scythian barrow is considered to be a complicated burial construction over the main deceased. The vast majority of the monuments were graves of people dependent on their master except for the central one. The remains of funeral procession included the deceased together with the horses and funeral train/transport.
Bodies of dependent people were buried in underground burial places or small graves. Warriors, guards (Oguz, Diyiv, Bratolubivsky barrow and others) and stablemen (Chortomlyk, Kozel, Tovsta Mogyla, Solokha), were buried in separate graves. Інших супроводжуючих крім головної поховальної камери, залишали: в нішах біля побутового начиння. The rest of those who accompanied remained in niches by the domestic articles (Gaimanova, Mogyla) in dromoses and special cavities made by them (Oguz, Kara-Tube, Nosaki barrow 4). There is rather interesting occurrence of burial of dependent teenagers’ bodies in shallow holes which looked like they locked the gap of circular ditch (Velika Znamyanka barrow 8, grave 3, Sahnova Mogyla, Gyunivka barrow 11, Novo-Mykolaivka barrow 11 etc.).
Horses occupied a special place in life of the Scythians. They symbolized prestige, a sign of wealth and certain liberties. The horses’ graves were found in 13.3 % of barrows. Horses were usually buried separately from their owners in special holes, outside the underground burial construction. There were cases when horses were buried with the stablemen. There are four types of horse graveyards. The pits were of square, rectangular, oval shapes or undercut ones. The pit shape depended on the number of horses buried there. The oval pits were made for burial of one horse. Two to four horses were buried in square shaped pits and six to ten were put in rectangular ones (Velika Tsimbalka and Chmireva Mogyla). In rare cases, horses were left on the funeral road by the western trail of barrow. Horses were placed in under borrow space according to the burial ceremony since in most cases (92%) they were connected with the main deceased.
The remains of the horse-drawn vehicles were left in the entry pits or dromoses connected with them after the dismantling of funeral procession. Sides and shields of the horse-drawn vehicles, wheels blocked the entrances to the burial chamber from the entry pits’ side. The archeological finds of horses-drawn vehicles parts occurred in over twenty complexes. The usage of covered horse-drawn vehicles in the funeral procession is indicated by finds of bronze pole tops. (4th century B.C). Those artifacts served as decoration of roof corners (deer, griffons) and crest tipping of birds. Figurative number of poletops points to the main function of the vehicles, that is motion. It is possible that poletops signified the polysemantic meaning. On the one hand they represented different models of the universe and on the other hand they symbolized motion of the vehicle, dwelling of nomads.
The decoration of the vehicles’ tents is seen on the finds made of sheet bronze in the form of metal plates mostly of round and triangle shape and small bronze bells. These artifacts originate from the cluster of barrow outside the mound, entry pits or dromoses. The most numerous sets of bronze plates were found in Oguz (2200 specimens/pcs), Aleksandropol, Krasnokutskiy barrow, Chortomlyk, Tovsta, Ploska, Hajmanova, Babyna, Tetyanyna Mogylas and others. In Steppe Scythia burials/graves, plates of that sort are commonly correlated with articles for the funeral vehicles. Various elements/components of carts/vehicles appeared in Scyths graves (mostly of the rich) since the 4th century B.C.
Nowadays Scythian barrow is considered to be a complicated burial construction over the main deceased. The vast majority of the monuments were graves of people dependent on their master except for the central one. The remains of funeral procession included the deceased together with the horses and funeral train/transport.
Bodies of dependent people were buried in underground burial places or small graves. Warriors, guards (Oguz, Diyiv, Bratolubivsky barrow and others) and stablemen (Chortomlyk, Kozel, Tovsta Mogyla, Solokha), were buried in separate graves. Інших супроводжуючих крім головної поховальної камери, залишали: в нішах біля побутового начиння. The rest of those who accompanied remained in niches by the domestic articles (Gaimanova, Mogyla) in dromoses and special cavities made by them (Oguz, Kara-Tube, Nosaki barrow 4). There is rather interesting occurrence of burial of dependent teenagers’ bodies in shallow holes which looked like they locked the gap of circular ditch (Velika Znamyanka barrow 8, grave 3, Sahnova Mogyla, Gyunivka barrow 11, Novo-Mykolaivka barrow 11 etc.).
Horses occupied a special place in life of the Scythians. They symbolized prestige, a sign of wealth and certain liberties. The horses’ graves were found in 13.3 % of barrows. Horses were usually buried separately from their owners in special holes, outside the underground burial construction. There were cases when horses were buried with the stablemen. There are four types of horse graveyards. The pits were of square, rectangular, oval shapes or undercut ones. The pit shape depended on the number of horses buried there. The oval pits were made for burial of one horse. Two to four horses were buried in square shaped pits and six to ten were put in rectangular ones (Velika Tsimbalka and Chmireva Mogyla). In rare cases, horses were left on the funeral road by the western trail of barrow. Horses were placed in under borrow space according to the burial ceremony since in most cases (92%) they were connected with the main deceased.
The remains of the horse-drawn vehicles were left in the entry pits or dromoses connected with them after the dismantling of funeral procession. Sides and shields of the horse-drawn vehicles, wheels blocked the entrances to the burial chamber from the entry pits’ side. The archeological finds of horses-drawn vehicles parts occurred in over twenty complexes. The usage of covered horse-drawn vehicles in the funeral procession is indicated by finds of bronze pole tops. (4th century B.C). Those artifacts served as decoration of roof corners (deer, griffons) and crest tipping of birds. Figurative number of poletops points to the main function of the vehicles, that is motion. It is possible that poletops signified the polysemantic meaning. On the one hand they represented different models of the universe and on the other hand they symbolized motion of the vehicle, dwelling of nomads.
The decoration of the vehicles’ tents is seen on the finds made of sheet bronze in the form of metal plates mostly of round and triangle shape and small bronze bells. These artifacts originate from the cluster of barrow outside the mound, entry pits or dromoses. The most numerous sets of bronze plates were found in Oguz (2200 specimens/pcs), Aleksandropol, Krasnokutskiy barrow, Chortomlyk, Tovsta, Ploska, Hajmanova, Babyna, Tetyanyna Mogylas and others. In Steppe Scythia burials/graves, plates of that sort are commonly correlated with articles for the funeral vehicles. Various elements/components of carts/vehicles appeared in Scyths graves (mostly of the rich) since the 4th century B.C.