We examined whether Scythian-era populations living in different ecological zones had distinctive oral health patterns during the Iron Age. Our interdisciplinary approach should clarify whether these populations had different diets or behavioral practices. A total of 36 individuals were analyzed for caries, calculus, abscesses, ante-mortem tooth loss, and dental wear. In addition, previously published stable isotope analyses of tooth enamel bioapatite on 51 individuals were compared with oral health and dental wear. Sites were located in distinct vegetation zones, with Bilsk and Medvin located in the northern and central forest-steppe and Mamai-Gora situated in the southern steppe. Dental wear was significantly higher for individuals at Mamai-Gora when compared with populations at Medvin and Bilsk. This difference was supported by stable isotope evidence. Among individuals at Bilsk, those who consumed higher levels of millet had lower levels of dental wear, while those at Medvin had the opposite effect, where greater dental wear was linked to moderate levels of millet consumption. Dental pathologies at Mamai-Gora indicate a coarse diet, and isotopic results indicate a greater consumption of wheat and barley at this site. The combination of evidence from stable isotopes and dental attrition indicates that variation in consumption patterns was relative to local ecologies and further supports diverse subsistence strategies for Scythian-era populations. Further, differential dental wear between populations with similar diets suggests that a diversity in the processing of grains may be the root cause of variation in oral health.

The Scythians, often described as mounted horse-back warriors of the Iron Age steppe with lavish burial goods, have attracted increasing scientific interest over the past years. Recent genetic and multi-isotopic studies have uncovered that the 'Scythians' were neither a homogenous political nor a cultural group, but rather diverse populations of heterogeneous origins with intricate socio-political systems. Although populational differences in agro-pastoral subsistence regimes of Northern Black Sea Region groups have previously been identified through stable isotope analysis, it remains unclear which animal products were consumed. Here we investigate the dietary systems of two Scythian-era populations in present-day Ukraine using protein analysis of ancient dental calculus. Various dietary proteins and their taxonomic origin were identified revealing the consumption of milk from ruminant and equine species. This study supplements previous findings that Scythians engaged in complex, agro-pastoralist subsistence strategies in forest-steppe and steppe environments.

The article is devoted to the analysis of archaeological evidence of the 7th - 6th centuries BCE for the presence in Iran of nomadic peoples from the south of Eastern Europe, generally considered to be Scythians.

The Holocene vegetation dynamics of the Eurasian steppe are underinvestigated despite its vast extension, chiefly because of the scarcity of suitable sites for palaeoecological research. Here, we present a palaeoecological reinvestigation from Kardashynskyi mire (southern Ukraine), approximately 4 km from a previously cored site. Using pollen, spores and microscopic charcoal, we have reconstructed vegetation dynamics, fire history and land use for the past c. 8300 years. Regionally, steppe vegetation with Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Artemisia was always dominant. However, pollen assemblages also reflect the presence of floodplain and upland tree stands. At the beginning of the sequence, c. 8300 years ago, Pinus stands were growing on the sandy terraces of the Dnipro dry upland sites. Later, at c. 7950 cal yr BP, diverse stands with Quercus, Ulmus, Fraxinus, Tilia and Alnus established along the riverbanks, where moisture availability was sufficient. Around 6100 cal yr BP, those deciduous broadleaved stands experienced a severe decline, likely in response to changing water table levels. Cultural indicators suggest land use activities after c. 7900 cal yr BP. During the Bronze Age, human impact intensified. Overall, both climate and humans drove vegetation dynamics in the Pontic steppe for millennia. Nowadays, this once extensive biome has almost completely been converted to cropland. Similarly, the wetland vegetation, the riparian forests and, above all, the pine forests growing on the sandy terraces were strongly reduced by millennial-long land use. Under the current conditions, even the last remnants of these special vegetation types are severely threatened.

The numerous Scythian (broadly speaking) artifacts have been discovered in the Urartian fortresses Ayanis and Karmir-Blur. They include the weapons (bronze socketed arrowheads), trappings (iron and bone cheekpieces, harness fittings, etc.), and objects decorated in the Scythian animal style. These findings is the important source of archaeological data and serve as independent chronological indicator that advances our current understanding of the periodization and character of the interrelations between the nomads and various Middle Eastern states. The typological and chronological analysis of the Scythian antiquities in the Urartian historical and cultural context indicates that these antiquities belong to the different periods. It also allows us to identify the earlier and later sets of artifacts. The materials from Ayanis belong to the oldest antiquities and could be associated with the contacts between the Scythinas and Urartu in the second — the beginning of the third quarter of the 7th century BC. These finds are represented by bilobate arrowheads with rhomboid and oval heads, a scabbard chape decorated with the image of a curled animal without clear features of feline predators, iron straight three-looped and bone zoomorphic cheekpieces ornamented with an image of ram’s head. On the contrary, nomadic materials from Karmir-Blur are a bit later and are indicative of active contacts between the Urartians and the Scythians in the second half of the 7th century BC and the beginning of the 6th century BC. These finds include the wide range of bronze socketed arrowheads, among them the numerous trilobate of various modifications, the bouterolle decorated with schematic image of curled predator, three-hole bone cheekpieces with the animal hoof on the lower end and rectangular protrusion in the middle of the bar, bronze zoomorphic harness fittings ornamented with the image of ram’s head, etc. Thus, available data do not confirm the hypothesis about the simultaneous destruction of Urartian fortresses and the complete destruction of Urartu in the middle of the 7th century BC.

The layer B is one of the lower layers of the long stratigraphic sequence of the Kamyana Mohyla 1 site. The layer B received eight new AMS radiocarbon dates that clarified its chronology: 7950–7300 calibrated years BC. They are in a reasonable correspondence with the dates for lower and upper layers. The lithic assemblage belongs to Kukrek cultural aspect. It is characterized by pencil-like conical cores, Kukrek inserts, Kukrek burins and Dęby burins, nongeometric microliths (oblique points). The assemblage finds close parallels in the sites of Kukrek, Ihren VIII, Melnychna Krucha SU4 and Domchi-Kaia. They can be united into Kukrek sensu stricto cultural unit. The overlying layer C yielded somewhat different complex that finds parallels in the materials of the so-called “Kukrek cultural tradition.” Due to clear stratigraphic position of these units in the Kamyana Mohyla 1 sequence, we are able to differentiate Kukrek sensu stricto and “Kukrek cultural tradition” and suggest their respective chronological positions.

Metal (copper and bronze) knives is one of the most striking categories of artefacts in the materials of the Black Sea cultures of the Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age. In addition to introducing new archaeological evidences to scientific community, the paper aims to analyze the place of a representative series of knives (8 items) from the vicinity of Kamyana Mohyla (Zaporizhzhya region) in the cultural and chronological coordinate system of the southern part of Eastern Europe Bronze Age. Three knives came from the Yamna culture burials. The one with an oval blade of the Zarechnoe type (kurgan 1, burial 8) is similar to those used on the vast area from the North-Western Black Sea region to the North Caucasus. Knives from Novopilipovka (kurgan 6, burial 5) and Semenovka (kurgan 2, burial 1) introduce some local features and were probably produced by the local metalworking center. Four other knives are related to the Catacomb culture. The one with a sub-triangular blade and an accented handle from Zarechnoe (kurgan 7, burial 1) belongs to the artefacts that occure rarely during the Catacomb time, but was common for the Yamnaya culture in Crimea and in the Dnieper region. Other types of artefacts do not meet the analogies in Yamnaya culture burials. Knives with a leaf-shaped short blade and maximum widening in their upper part (Zarechnoe, kurgan 17, burial 4) are usually attributed to the Catacomb culture of the Seversky Donets basin and to the east of the Don river. Knives of the Kamyana Mohyla 5 type with a leaf-shaped blade and a long handle are also usually found at the Catacomb sites of the Seversky Donets basin. Knives of the Sekiz 3 type with a long handle and a short sub-rhombic blade originated in the Catacomb culture and the final Novotitorovka group. They are localized in the eastern regions (the Don basin, the Lower Volga, and the North Caucasus). A knife from the Terpinnya site is associated with the monuments of the second period of the Berezhno-Mayevskaya Srubnaya culture and is similar to the finds coming from the archaeological sites in the steppe Dnieper region and Azov Sea region in the second half of the second millennium BC. The large number of metal knives found in the studied area during the Bronze Age, which originate both from burials and settlements was probably related to the use of Kamyana Mohyla Hill as a ritual place.

Observing natural vegetation dynamics over the entire Holocene is difficult in Central Europe, due to pervasive and increasing human disturbance since the Neolithic. One strategy to minimize this limitation is to select a study site in an area that is marginal for agricultural activity. Here, we present a new sediment record from Lake Svityaz in northwestern Ukraine. We have reconstructed regional and local vegetation and fire dynamics since the Late Glacial using pollen, spores, macrofossils and charcoal. Boreal forest composed of Pinus sylvestris and Betula with continental Larix decidua and Pinus cembra established in the region around 13,450 cal bp, replacing an open, steppic landscape. The first temperate tree to expand was Ulmus at 11,800 cal bp, followed by Quercus, Fraxinus excelsior, Tilia and Corylus ca. 1,000 years later. Fire activity was highest during the Early Holocene, when summer solar insolation reached its maximum. Carpinus betulus and Fagus sylvatica established at ca. 6,000 cal bp, coinciding with the first indicators of agricultural activity in the region and a transient climatic shift to cooler and moister conditions. Human impact on the vegetation remained initially very low, only increasing during the Bronze Age, at ca. 3,400 cal bp. Large-scale forest openings and the establishment of the present-day cultural landscape occurred only during the past 500 years. The persistence of highly diverse mixed forest under absent or low anthropogenic disturbance until the Early Middle Ages corroborates the role of human impact in the impoverishment of temperate forests elsewhere in Central Europe. The preservation or reestablishment of such diverse forests may mitigate future climate change impacts, specifically by lowering fire risk under warmer and drier conditions.

Quiver sets and and their associated grave goods are extremely important for studying different aspects of the Early Scythian culture, and, in particular, for determining the chronology of the Early Scythian period. This article is devoted to an analysis of quiver sets found in the south of Eastern Europe together with imported transport and painted Greek amphorae of the first half of the 6th century BC, which are represented by the Miletus, Klazomenai, and Theos production types. Burial complexes which include these items are located on the territory from the Kuban region in the east to the forest-steppe areas of the right bank of Dnieper in the west (Lebedi V, kurgan 11 burial 8; Novoaleksandrovka, kurgan 7 burial 8; Khapry, kurgan 1 burial 25; Bushuika, kurgan 2 burial 10; kurgan near the Kitaigorod village; Repyakhovataya Mogila, burial 2). Arrowheads, which are mainly represented by bronze socketed types, are characterized by significant typological diversity. Among the biblade and triblade arrowheads, several typological groups stand out. The distribution of some groups can be correlated use in the first half of the 6th century BC. Among the biblade arrowheads, these are specimens with an oval-shaped head and a long socket without a barb and barbed arrows with a vaulted blade, with a wide lower part and beveled ends for the blades. Among the triblade arrowheads, there are specimens with a tower-like head without a barb and the items with leaf-shaped heads. The latter arrowheads have a maximal widening of their lower section and the ends of the blades are often beveled as well as a long socket with a barb, which extends about half the length of the arrowhead. The importance of the above complexes lies not only in the presence of reliable chronoindicators (amphorae and some other objects), but also in informativeness and representativeness of the quiver sets, which makes them a trustworthy source for studying the peculiarities of the development of Scythian shooting arms in the 6th century BC.

In the first half of the 3rd millennium BC in the steppe Ukraine, stone tombs with an entrance appeared which are similar in design to the burial structures of the Globular Amphora culture. Two were investigated in the Molochnaya River basin near the Kamyana Mohyla monumental site. These unique structures differ from the stone cists of the Yamnaya culture as well as the burial constructions of the preceding Eneolithic period. Probably, the distribution of stone tombs with an entrance in the North Pontic area is connected with the influence of the Globular Amphora culture.

The Scythians are frequently presented, in popular and academic thought alike, as highly mobile warrior nomads who posed a great economic risk to growing Mediterranean empires from the Iron Age into the Classical period. Archaeological studies provide evidence of first millennium BCE urbanism in the steppe while historical texts reference steppe agriculture, challenging traditional characterizations of Scythians as nomads. However, there have been few direct studies of the diet and mobility of populations living in the Pontic steppe and forest-steppe during the Scythian era. Here, we analyse strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope data from human tooth enamel samples, as well as nitrogen and carbon isotope data of bone collagen, at several Iron Age sites across Ukraine commonly associated with 'Scythian' era communities. Our multi-isotopic approach demonstrates generally low levels of human mobility in the vicinity of urban locales, where populations engaged in agro-pastoralism focused primarily on millet agriculture. Some individuals show evidence for long-distance mobility, likely associated with significant inter-regional connections. We argue that this pattern supports economic diversity of urban locales and complex trading networks, rather than a homogeneous nomadic population.

ОБ ОДНОЙ РАЗНОВИДНОСТИ РАННЕСКИФСКИХ ЗООМОРФНЫХ БУТЕРОЛЕЙС

The paper presents the unique Early Bronze Age burial complex excavated during 2017 field season nearby the hill of Kamyana Mohyla in Zaporizhzhya region (South-Eastern Ukraine). The tomb located 200 m from the Kamyana Mohyla complex is obviously connected with the prehistoric processes of the region. The Structure-for-motion photorgammetric modeling of the tumuli was provided in addition to archaeological, anthropological and microscopc research. The model was studied to provide additional information on the details of the complex in general and its construction features. Moreover, it makes the unique object available for publishing and demonstration. Paper presents burial and ritual complexes that show important data on the ritual worldview of the Early Bronze Age habitants of Ukrainian Steppe. The radiocarbon dating returned the timelap of 2831—2675 cal BC for the burial 2 and 2554—2478 cal BC for the ritual complex nearby. It means that the space around the Kamyana Mohyla was habitated by late Yamnaya culture population and used for the burial rituals and other sacral activities. The surface grave made of huge sandstone blocks, sometimes having a weight of approximately 700 kg is the first object of this kind in Ukrainian Steppe. Those graves that were excavated and studied here before, has been constructed inside the tumuli (i. e. kurgan). The stone used as a material for the construction was taken from the Hill of Kamyana Mohyla. This links the site with a number of previously excavated Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age burials in the closes Kamyana Mohyla surroundings. Complex shows traces of the Early Bronze Age rituals that took place in the Northwest Azov Sea region — the bull’s sacrifice and a vessel upturning. The pottery artifacts similar to those found in 2017 are known from the Late Yamnaya and Catacombnaya culture burials of the region. This is evident of the close rituals and beliefs of these cultures or of the Yamnaya component in the Catacombnaya rituals of the region. Same can be stated by the numerous features of the funeral rite.

The article is devoted to the examination of the early Scythian bronze and bone scabbard ends decorated with images of a coiled animal, which were found in the Caucasus and the forest-steppe Dnieper area. It provides the morphological and chronological analysis of the artifacts and discusses the origin of this particular type of zoomorphic chapes.

The article is devoted to the analysis of gold plaques on wooden vessels from the Pereshchepino cemetery near Belsk, which are among the brightest indicators of Scythian culture and mark the distribution of this category of funeral equipment in the Dnieper forest-steppe Left Bank in the middle — second half of the 5th century BC. Items considered are represented by several subject-stylistic groups, among which there are plaques decorated with geometric patterns (a double row of convex points), and plaques with various zoomorphic motifs (recumbent stag, head of a bird of prey). The images differ in local specificity and have an original interpretation of individual details. First of all, it concerns the motif of recumbent stag, which demonstrate iconographic dynamics and with the involvement of materials from neighboring territories indicate the formation in the «late» V — first decades of the 4th centuries BC a «forest-steppe» type of images of this animal. Objects of animal style from forest-steppe areas of Ukraine are an important component of the Scythian art of Eastern Europe and must be taken into account when analyzing the genesis of this phenomenon.

High mobility among Scythian populations is often cited as the driving force behind pan‐regional interactions and the spread of new material culture c .700–200 bce , when burgeoning socioeconomic interactions between the Greeks, Scythian steppe pastoralists and the agro‐pastoral tribes of the forest‐steppe played out across the region. While interregional mobility central to warrior lifestyles is assumed to have been a defining feature of Scythian populations, strikingly few studies have investigated human mobility among communities located along the steppe and forest‐steppe boundary zone. Here, we document movement and dietary intake of individuals interred at Bel'sk, a large urban settlement in Ukraine, through strontium, oxygen and carbon isotope analyses of human tooth enamel. The results provide direct evidence for limited mobility among populations from Bel'sk, demonstrating the movement into, and out of, urban complexes. Strontium and oxygen isotope analyses reveal that groups at Bel'sk remained local to the urban complex. Dietary intake, reflected in carbon isotopes, was based on domesticated crops and livestock herding. The combination of low mobility alongside dietary evidence suggests local groups engaged in sedentary agro‐pastoral subsistence strategies that contrast sharply with the picture of highly mobile Scythian herders dependent on livestock portrayed in historical sources.

Aim: We provide the first European-scale geospatial training set relating the charcoal signal in surface lake sediments to fire parameters (number, intensity and area) recorded by satellite moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors. Our calibration is intended for quantitative reconstructions of key fire-regime parameters by using sediment sequences of microscopic (MIC from pollen slides, particles 10-500 mu m) and macroscopic charcoal (MAC from sieves, particles > 100 mu m). Location: North-south and east-west transects across Europe, covering the mediterranean, temperate, alpine, boreal and steppe biomes. Time period: Lake sediments and MODIS active fire and burned area products were collected for the years 2012-2015. Methods: Cylinder sediment traps were installed in lakes to annually collect charcoal particles in sediments. We quantitatively assessed the relationships between MIC and MAC influx (particles/cm(2)/year) and the MODIS-derived products to identify source areas of charcoal and the extent to which lake-sediment charcoal is linked to fire parameters across the continent. Results: Source area of sedimentary charcoal was estimated to a 40-km radius around sites for both MIC and MAC particles. Fires occurred in grasslands and in forests, with grass morphotypes of MAC accurately reflecting the burned fuel-type. Despite the lack of local fires around the sites, MAC influx levels reached those reported for local fires. Both MIC and MAC showed strong and highly significant relationships with the MODIS-derived fire parameters, as well as with climatic variation along a latitudinal temperature gradient. Main conclusions: MIC and MAC are suited to quantitatively reconstructing fire number and fire intensity on a regional scale. However, burned area may only be estimated using MAC. Local fires may be identified by using several lines of evidence, e.g. analysis of large particles (> 600 mu m), magnetic susceptibility and sedimentological data. Our results offer new insights and applications to quantitatively reconstruct fires and to interpret available sedimentary charcoal records.

The article is devoted to the analysis of different types of metal and bone harness fittings of VII—VI centuries BC which were found in the South Caucasus and the Near East. Among those fittings, which are constituted about 50 artifacts, two major groups could be distinguished: plain fittings of various geometric shapes and fittings with zoomorphic decorations. The latter group dominates and constitutes about 80 % of the total number of findings. The major regions of distribution of these horse harness attachments are Armenia and Turkey. The cylindrical harness fittings of the first type from the group 1 were the most widespread among the geometrical samples (8 items), while among the zoomorphic ones — claw-shaped, or beak-shaped objects of type 1 from the group 2 (19 items). It should be noted that the majority of the analyzed finds were found not in burial monuments, as in the Northern Caucasus and in the Ukrainian forest-steppe, but at settlements. The emergence of the tradition of manufacturing, as well as the widespread using of various types of harness fittings, and primarily the zoomorphic ones, to the South of the main Caucasian ridge, was the result of the staying and activity on this territory of the Scythians of the South of Eastern Europe. The main period of existence of strap-dividers in Transcaucasia and the Near East was the second half of the VII — the first half of the VI centuries BC.