Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe in the VII—VI centuries BC
The analysis of the Scythian burials of the 7th—6th centuries BC in the south of Eastern Europe, allowed the author to identify several groups of monuments located in the North Caucasus and Ukrainian forest-steppe: Central Ciscaucasian, Kuban, Posulsko-Vorsklinskaya and Kyiv-Cherkasskaya. The cluste...
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irk-123456789-1671882020-03-22T01:25:20Z Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe in the VII—VI centuries BC Makhortykh, S.V. Статті The analysis of the Scythian burials of the 7th—6th centuries BC in the south of Eastern Europe, allowed the author to identify several groups of monuments located in the North Caucasus and Ukrainian forest-steppe: Central Ciscaucasian, Kuban, Posulsko-Vorsklinskaya and Kyiv-Cherkasskaya. The clusters of kurgans associated with these groups include burials of the Scythian military elite together with large «royal» tumuli. VII—VI ст. до н. е на півдні Східної Європи пов’язується із появою та активною діяльністю скіфів. Кочівники брали участь у найважливіших подіях світової історії та контактували із такими провідними державами Передньої Азії як Урарту, Ассирія, Мідія, а також грецьким полісами Північного Причорномор’я. Аналіз скіфських поховань доби архаїки на півдні Східної Європи дозволив виокремити кілька груп пам’яток, що локалізуються на Північному Кавказі і у лісостеповому Подніпров’ї, зокрема Центральнокавказьку, Кубанську, Посульсько-Ворсклінську і Києво-Черкаську. 2019 Article Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe in the VII—VI centuries BC / S.V. Makhortykh // Археологія і давня історія України: Зб. наук. пр. — К.: ІА НАН України, 2019. — Вип. 4 (33). — С. 74-79. — Бібліогр.: 25 назв. — англ. 2227-4952 http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/167188 904.5(477+470.6)“638” en Археологія і давня історія України Інститут археології НАН України |
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Статті Статті Makhortykh, S.V. Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe in the VII—VI centuries BC Археологія і давня історія України |
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The analysis of the Scythian burials of the 7th—6th centuries BC in the south of Eastern Europe, allowed the author to identify several groups of monuments located in the North Caucasus and Ukrainian forest-steppe: Central Ciscaucasian, Kuban, Posulsko-Vorsklinskaya and Kyiv-Cherkasskaya. The clusters of kurgans associated with these groups include burials of the Scythian military elite together with large «royal» tumuli. |
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Makhortykh, S.V. |
| author_facet |
Makhortykh, S.V. |
| author_sort |
Makhortykh, S.V. |
| title |
Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe in the VII—VI centuries BC |
| title_short |
Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe in the VII—VI centuries BC |
| title_full |
Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe in the VII—VI centuries BC |
| title_fullStr |
Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe in the VII—VI centuries BC |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe in the VII—VI centuries BC |
| title_sort |
concerning the problem of identifying the scythian centers of power in eastern europe in the vii—vi centuries bc |
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Інститут археології НАН України |
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2019 |
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Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe in the VII—VI centuries BC / S.V. Makhortykh // Археологія і давня історія України: Зб. наук. пр. — К.: ІА НАН України, 2019. — Вип. 4 (33). — С. 74-79. — Бібліогр.: 25 назв. — англ. |
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Археологія і давня історія України |
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74 ISSN 2227-4952. Археологія і давня історія України, 2019, вип. 4 (33)
УДК 904.5(477+470.6)“638”
S. V. Маkhortykh
CONCERNING THE PROBLEM OF IDENTIFYING
THE SсYTHIAN CENTERS OF POWER IN EASTERN EUROPE
IN THE VII—VI centuries BC
The analysis of the Scythian burials of the 7th—
6th centuries BC in the south of Eastern Europe, al-
lowed the author to identify several groups of monu-
ments located in the North Caucasus and Ukrainian
forest-steppe: Central Ciscaucasian, Kuban, Posulsko-
Vorsklinskaya and Kyiv-Cherkasskaya. The clusters of
kurgans associated with these groups include burials of
the Scythian military elite together with large «royal»
tumuli.
Keywords: Scythians, centers of power, 7th—6th cen-
turies BC, North Caucasus, Ukrainian forest-steppe.
Introduction. In the south of Eastern Europe,
the 7th—6th centuries BC are associated with the
emergence and activity of the Scythians. These
nomads were directly involved in the most im-
portant events of the world history, coming into
contact with such leading powers of Western
Asia as Urartu, Assyria, Media, as well as Greek
city-states of the Black Sea coastal area. At the
same time, the structure of the early Scythian
tribal community remains poorly studied. Writ-
ten sources report that in the 7th century BC the
Scythians had tribal chiefs (for example, Ishpa-
kai), king Bartatua and own territory (Iskuza
country; Хазанов 1975, c. 218). The benefit for
the king of Assyria from the marriage of his
daughter with the king of the Scythians and
transfer of power to Madys, the son of Bartatua,
testifies to the hereditary character of the royal
power of the Scythians. Based on the data from
medieval sources, one can speak of various func-
tions that rulers of nomads performed (supreme
commander, judge and administrator, resource
manager, carrier of sacral functions, etc.), which
demonstrates the complex nature of power with
several levels of its manifestation: mythologi-
cal, generic, state and historical (васютин 2015;
Трепалов 2004). On the other hand, performance
of these functions implies existence of centers of
their concentration in the habitats of the Scythi-
ans. These habitats are fixed for the 7th—6th cen-
turies BC based on the concentration of Scythian
funeral sites. For this time, the main regions of
their distribution are the North Caucasus (about
80 graves) and the forest-steppe Dnieper region
(on the left bank of the Dnieper — more than
150 burials, and on the right one — 177). Given
the militarized nature of the Scythian society
and the existence of «tsars», it can be assumed
that the centers of power should mark, first of all,
the concentration of elite military graves and the
presence of large «royal» kurgans. For the early
Scythians, the clan-tribal nature of their com-
munity is also undoubted, which, in turn, is re-
flected in the specifics of the funeral rites avail-
able for archaeological analysis proposed in this
article.
North Caucasus. In the North Caucasus, there
are two main areas of concentration of the early
Scythian monuments: the Central Ciscaucasus
and the basin of the middle Kuban. They are rep-
resented mainly by kurgan-type burial mounds
(Krasnoe Znamia, Novozavedennoye II, Nartan,
Kelermes, etc.) (батчаев 1985; Махортых 1991;
Галанина 1997; Петренко 2006). A character-
istic feature of the Scythian burials of Stavropol
area and the neighboring Kabardino-Balkaria
is their primary position in specially construct-
ed kurgans, while in the North-West Caucasus
Scythian graves are known to be secondary to
the Bronze Age barrows, or «dumped in» on top
of them (for example, Kostromskoy kurgan, Kel-
ermes, kurgan 19, burial 5, etc.). Tumuli, espe-
cially in the territory of the Central Ciscaucasia, © S. V. МАKHORTYKH, 2019
75ISSN 2227-4952. Археологія і давня історія України, 2019, вип. 4 (33)
Маkhortykh, S. V. Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe
often had stone facing of the mantel or were lined
with a layer of cobblestone.
Scythian burials of the 7th—6th centuries BC in
the North Caucasus were made at the level of the
ancient horizon (at least 20) and in ground pits
(about 60).
At the buried soil level, several types of buri-
al structures stand out, among which burials in
stone and wooden tombs are dominant. Such fu-
nerary constructions were sometimes overlapped
by 11—15 meters high kurgans, which belong to
the category of «royal» ones (kurgan 1 Krasnoe
Znamia, kurgan 1/1898 Ulsky necropolis).
The main area of above-ground stone tombs
distribution, which have a square and more
rarely rectangular form, is the Central Ciscauca-
sia (kurgans 1, 4, 8 Krasnoe Znamia; 1924 and
1984 near the city of Stavropol), while in the
Kuban area they are sporadic (kurgan 41 of the
Klady cemetery) (Лесков, Эрлих 1999, рис. 39;
Петренко 2006, с. 49). Their sizes vary from 2.7 ×
2.3 m to 10.8 × 10.3 m. Tombs orientation is usu-
ally unstable: latitudinal or angles to the cardinal
points. Burned grave structures as well as pres-
ence of ceilings supported by retaining pillars in
the center or at the corners are typical for this
type of burial constructions. Some tombs have
entrances — dromoses, leading into the chamber
from the west or south. The main period of exist-
ence of ground stone tombs covered by kurgans
coincide with the 7th century BC.
Above-ground wooden tombs under barrows
concentrate on the left bank of the middle Kuban
river 1. In addition to the Kostromskoy kurgan,
most of these structures are associated with the
Ulsky necropolis, which was mainly excavated in
the late 19th — early 20th centuries, unfortunately,
with no satisfactory fixation of the details of the
funeral rite. According to extant information,
wooden tombs of rectangular (7.45 × 5.7 m) and
square (5 × 5 m) shapes were opened in the 1/1898
and 1/1909 kurgans, at four corner pillars, where
numerous horse skeletons were located into the
west and east off these tombs (Отчет… 1898, c. 30,
рис. 42; 1909 и 1910, c. 147; Ульские… 2015).
More reliable information was obtained as a
result of the excavations of the 10th Ulsky kurgan
by A. M. Leskov in 1982 (Сокровища… 1985). An
earthen platform was opened under the mound,
the top of which had the appearance of a flat
ground with a diameter of 20 m with gentle slop-
ing ramp on the south side. There was a wood-
en tomb in the center of the construction with a
ritual area inside. There were remains of twen-
1. It is necessary to mention the burials found on the
same territory, made at the level of the ancient sur-
face without any signs of wooden or stone construc-
tions, but with horse sacrifices and / or mournful of-
ferings in the form of ceramics, etc. (kurgans — the
10th Razmennyi; the 1st Goverdovsky, 23/1986 and
29/1988 Kelermes (Галанина 1997; Эрлих, Нехаев
2011; Рябкова 2014).
ty-nine horse skeletons around it, covered with
a wooden canopy. Similar ground structure was
also traced in one of the Ulsky tumulus (suppos-
edly, kurgan 2/1909) excavated by V. R. Erlikh in
2007 (Эрлих 2010).
It is worth to mention the recent reinvestiga-
tion of the famous Kostromskoy kurgan, which
resulted in establishing that it was erected above
a kurgan of the Bronze Age, on a specially pre-
pared under-kurgan ground in the form of an ex-
tended circle of 26 × 24 × 0.8 m size with a flat
top. There was a tomb of logs on the surface of the
ground in three or four row of beams. A wooden
frame was a bearer of the tomb. Stubs hammered
into the surface of the ground and fixed from the
inside of the frame served as the reinforcement of
the walls of this structure (Рябкова 2014).
In the pre-Scythian and Scythian time, buri-
als at the level of the ancient horizon were also
spread on the right bank of the middle Dnieper
region (Ильинская 1975, с. 83; Ковпаненко
1981; Махортых 1991). The following features
bring them closer to those of the North Cauca-
sus: destroying by fire or burning of the burial
structure; the entrance to the tomb is often from
the south; the presence of lateral and central pole
holes from pillars supporting the ceiling; use of
stone and wood for the construction of funeral
structures.
The most numerous variety of the Scythian
grave constructions of the 7th—6th centuries BC
in the North Caucasus are burials in ground
pits. The following types of such burials are dis-
tinguished: 1) in simple ground pits; 2) in wood-
en pillar tombs; 3) in wooden log «cabins»; 4) in
a stone tomb lowered into a ground pit with a
wooden ceiling; 5) in a tomb combining wooden
and stone structures in the walls and ceilings
(Махортых 1991). The first three types of burials
(Krasnoe Znamia, Novozavedennoye II, Nartan
and Kelermes cemeteries) are the most common,
while the burials in pits with stone structures in-
side are occasional (Krasnoe Znamia, kurgans 2,
7).
To ceil a grave pits, wood and reed as well as
stone covering from several layers of cobblestone
were used, often leaning on longitudinal beams
supported from the inside of the grave by pil-
lars. It is necessary to note the presence of over-
a-grave constructions consisting of a ritual reed
platform round the grave, a throw ring covered
with stone or reed, as well as traces of rituals and
funeral feasts (hearths, coals, bits and pieces of
vessels, animal bones), are found accumulated
in mounds and in fillings of ditches (Петренко,
Маслов, Канторович 2009).
Burials were committed in the sub-square
(2.8 × 2.8 m — 6 × 6 m) and rectangular (2.8 ×
2.4 m — 8.5 × 6.5 m) pits with various orienta-
tions: with respect to latitude, along the north-
west, southeast line; with respect to angles to the
cardinal points, etc.
76 ISSN 2227-4952. Археологія і давня історія України, 2019, вип. 4 (33)
Статті
Because of the general robberies of graves,
information about the posture and orientation
of the dead is scarce. One can speak of the pre-
dominance of the extended position of skeletons
headed to the south and, more rarely, to the west,
sometimes with deviations (Krasnoe Znamia;
Novozavedennoye II, Novopavlovsk, Kelermes).
An interesting specificity of the ritual is plac-
ing of stele-shaped stones over the graves of the
most notable dead, the presence of stone slabs
and less often altars as well as heaps of pebbles
in burial grounds.
Among the characteristic features of the buri-
al rite of the Scythian sites of the North Cauca-
sus, there are numerous horse burials laid in the
same grave as the buried, or outside the burial
chamber, along its walls, emphasizing the special
importance of the role of cavalry warriors. It is
noteworthy that in the forest-steppe Dnieper re-
gion it was practiced to replace horse sacrifices
by placing a large number of horse bridles in the
graves.
The local peculiarities of some North Cauca-
sian burial grounds are manifested in the origi-
nal arrangement of the bottom of the grave pits,
where the eastern part is allocated for burial
places for humans, and the western part raised
to the east by 20—25 cm and used to bury horses
(Krasnoe Znamia); in laying the dead on the bed-
ding of wooden cross-bars or on organic spread-
ing (Novozavedennoye II) (Петренко 2006). De-
sign features are different in some of the Nartan
graves. Thus, there are special «hangers» ar-
ranged in kurgan 11, and the chamber had oval
corner ledges in kurgan 19.
Thus, in the North Caucasus, two main groups
of funerary sites are fixed, the first of which is lo-
calized in the Kuban region, and the second in the
Central Ciscaucasia. Their coexistence shows the
complex composition of the tribal community that
lived on north side of the Great Caucasus range.
Presence of the Scythians in this region was as-
sociated not only with the Near Eastern military
campaigns, but also with their subsequent resi-
dence here in the 6th century BC, as evidenced
by the materials of the cemeteries Novozaveden-
noye II, Nartan, etc. This circumstance, along
with the spread of Scythian monuments in the
forest-steppe Dnieper region in the 7th century
BC (for example, Medvin 2, Teklino 346, Zhabo-
tin 524, etc.), allows correcting the point of view
about the movement of the center of Scythia from
Ciscaucasia to the steppes of the Northern Black
Sea coast in the 6th century BC (Мурзин 1984).
In my opinion, it is more correct to talk about
existence of several Scythian centers of power in
the south of Eastern Europe in the archaic epoch,
which could function in parallel with each other.
Forest-steppe Dnieper region. There are two
main areas of the Scythian antiquities of the 7th—
6th centuries BC concentration in the Ukrainian
forest-steppe: the Kyiv-Cherkasskaya one on the
right bank and the Posulsko-Vorsklinskaya one
on the left bank of the Dnieper. In the right-bank
Ukraine, most of the monuments are located in
Porosye (68 graves) and the Tiasmyn river basin
(109 graves); on the left bank — in the basins of
the Sula river (80 graves) and the Vorskla riv-
er (97 graves) (Ковпаненко 1967; Ильинская
1968; Ковпаненко, бессонова, Скорый 1989;
Махортых 2013).
Despite the fact that the Kyiv Dnieper region
is the most northern and sparse distribution area
of the Scythian antiquities, this is where the larg-
est kurgans of the archaic period of the Dnieper
forest-steppe right bank are concentrated: Gleva-
kha (8.7 m), Perepyatykha (11 m), etc. Even more
grandiose «royal» kurgans of the early Scythian
period were discovered on the territory of the for-
est-steppe left bank of the Dnieper, where they
are concentrated mainly in the Posulye area near
the villages of Aksyutintsy and Volkovtsy. The
height of their mounds ranges from 7—8.5 m
(kurgans 10, 11, 14 in the Staykin Verkh tract)
up to 19—20 m (Starshaya Mohyla, Shumeiko).
Both in Kyiv region and in Posulye, the above-
mentioned elite «cemeteries» are brought to-
gether by a similar location in peripheral areas
hard-to-get and remote from the steppe Black
Sea coast in the northern part of the forest-steppe
Dnieper region. In this case, a connection can be
traced between the archaeological materials and
the surviving written evidence of Herodotus (IV,
127) about the father’s graves safely sheltered
from enemies and protected by the Scythians,
with which, in my opinion, the above-mentioned
early Scythian tribal tombs of the nomadic for-
est-steppe Ukraine nobility should be associated
(Махортых 2012).
Among the grave constructions under kurgans
in the Dnieper forest-steppe right bank and left
bank regions burials in the pits dominate, con-
stituting, respectively, 87 % and 99 % of the to-
tal number of fixed burial structures of the 7th—
6th centuries BC. They are mainly represented by
burials in simple ground pits (64 % of the right
bank and 59 % of the left bank) and in pits with
wooden structures inside (32 % of the right bank
and 38 % of the left bank). Judging by the availa-
ble data, the north-south orientation of grave pits
(18 %) prevails in Porosye on the right bank of
the Dnieper, and latitudinal (21 %) predominates
on the Tiasmyn river.
The peculiarity of the internal space of burial
chambers of the Porosye barrows (Bobrytsa kur-
gan 40, Stepantsy kurgan 11, etc.) is the presence
of an internal partition dividing them into two
compartments (Ковпаненко 1981). A series of
pillars (Glevakha, Flyarkovka and other tumuli
of the forest-steppe right bank region), dividing
the grave into separate sections and located along
the walls and/or in the central part of the tomb,
could similarly perform such a «demarcation»
function (besides a support for the ceiling). On
77ISSN 2227-4952. Археологія і давня історія України, 2019, вип. 4 (33)
Маkhortykh, S. V. Concerning the problem of identifying the Scythian centers of power in Eastern Europe
the left bank of the Dnieper, similar structures
have not yet been identified.
To the west of the Dnieper, wooden structures
in the mounds and pits were quite often set on fire
with a ceremonial purpose, whereas, in the left
bank region, this tradition was not widespread.
At the same time, a different custom is distinctly
expressed in the basins of the Sula and the Vor-
skla rivers which is strewing the bottom of the
grave with lime, ashes and other symbols of fire
(Ильинская 1968).
Turning to the orientation of the deceased, it
is necessary to point out that on the right bank it
is rather unstable. Despite the diversity, both in
Porosye and at the Tiasmyn river the western ori-
entation of the buried (24—33 %) is dominating,
and the second place is occupied by the southern
(14—19 %) one. The northern (14 %) and eastern
orientations of the skeletons (10 %) are quite rep-
resentative (Ковпаненко, бессонова, Скорый
1989).
The peculiarity of the Dnieper forest-steppe
right bank region is also manifested in the wide-
spread cremation rite, which was recorded in
71 cases, making more than 36 % of the total
number of burials. The left bank Scythian burials
look uniform with a predominance of the south-
ern orientation and inhumation rite (Махортых
2012).
It can be assumed that during and after the
end of the period of nomadic invasions to the
Near East into the forest-steppe regions of the
Dnieper region, several Scythian tribal or clan
groups migrated. On the left bank, one of these
groups center was located in the Sula river basin,
where a steady tradition of construction magnifi-
cent «royal» tumuli had established, which con-
tinued to exist even later, in the 5th—4th centuries
BC (kurgan 2 Aksyutintsy — 10.6 m, kurgan 1
(1897) Volkovtsy — 13.5 m, etc.). Their monu-
mentalism presupposed the use of labor of a sig-
nificant number of people, which indicates the
large number of the members of this group. It
retained historical continuity and power over the
next few centuries.
A somewhat different picture emerges from
the materials of the archaic Scythian sites of
the right bank forest-steppe, where several clan
groups migrated with the western, northern and
eastern orientations of the dead. The lesser con-
solidation of their members did not allow them to
create an analogue of the Posulye center with ex-
tensive burial grounds and gigantic «royal» kur-
gans, reflecting the complex internal hierarchy of
the society. The same reason could have caused
a significant amount of secondary burials to the
kurgans of the Bronze Age, in contrast to the left
bank forest-steppe, where human resources al-
lowed to create new tumuli for their dead. How-
ever, probably due to its relative internal small
size, the Scythian groups of the right bank region
maintained close, first of all, marriage contacts
with the local sedentary population, which found
reflection in the spread of a cremation rite. Its
origins in the Middle Dnieper region date back to
the epoch of copper and bronze (Ильинская 1975,
c. 78; Скорий 1990). As an influence of the Cim-
merian predecessors, one can consider burials at
the level of the ancient horizon, tent and some
other funeral constructions known in the Dnieper
right bank region in the pre-Scythian and early
Scythian time (Махортых 2012).
Single large kurgans, known on the right bank
in the Kyiv Dnieper region, can be considered
as burial places of the ruling top of local tribal
groups, which, unlike in the Posulye center, func-
tioned for a relatively short period of time during
the late 7th and / or early 6th centuries BC.
Conclusions. The above mentioned data indi-
cate that in the south of Eastern Europe in the
7th—6th centuries BC there were several centers
of power, one of the most reliable and informative
archaeological markers of which are the Scythian
funerary monuments, and in particular burial
grounds.
Common features of the Scythian funerary
monuments of the 7th—6th centuries BC are the
following:
• domination of the kurgan burial rite;
• construction of the barrow, mainly for one
burial with rare cases of secondary burials;
• construction of «royal» kurgans up to 8—20 m
high;
• prevalence of simple ground pits and wooden
pillar tombs among burial structures;
• a significant spread of funeral feasts and a
ritual use of fire;
• domination of the extended inhumation on
the back with the few cases of the crouched posi-
tion of the dead.
• predominance of the burials of male warri-
ors.
Regional specificity is manifested in the fol-
lowing:
• interments under specially constructed
mounds are more characteristic for the Central
Ciscaucasia and the Dnieper left bank region,
while Scythian secondary burials in the kurgans
of the Bronze Age were more widely spread in the
Kuban and the Dnieper right bank regions;
• the main concentration of burials made at
the level of the ancient horizon is recorded in the
North Caucasus and the Middle Dnieper area;
• division of the burial chamber space into
a number of sectors is fixed in the Central Cis-
caucasia (with the help of ground ledges) and in
the Dnieper right bank region (by wooden parti-
tions);
• for the forest-steppe Dnieper left bank area,
there is a characteristic arrangement of wooden
flooring at the bottom of the grave pits, supported
on bars, laid in specially dug grooves (logs);
• large number of horse burials in the Scythian
monuments of the North Caucasus, which in the
78 ISSN 2227-4952. Археологія і давня історія України, 2019, вип. 4 (33)
Статті
forest-steppe Dnieper region were substituted by
placing horse bridles into a grave;
• in the North Caucasus and in the forest-
steppe Dnieper right bank region, wooden con-
structions in the kurgans were set on fire with
a ceremonial purpose, whereas the tradition of
powdering the bottom of pits with ash, lime and
red paint spread on the left bank area;
• the use of cremation in the Central Ciscau-
casia and on the right bank of the Dnieper, not
characteristic of the left bank region;
• southern and those close to it (southwestern
or southeastern) orientations of the deceased are
typical mainly for the forest-steppe Dnieper left
bank and, judging by the few data, for the North
Caucasus, while the western one dominates on
the right bank, where eastern and northern ori-
entations also quite common.
The above proposed features of the Scythian
monuments of the 7th—6th centuries BC in the
south of Eastern Europe, the list of which can
be continued, testifies to the heterogeneity of
the Scythian nomadic communities localized
here. There are several peculiar groups of monu-
ments — Central Ciscaucasian, Kuban, Posul-
sko-Vorsklinskaya and Kyiv-Cherkasskaya. The
first two can be considered in the framework of
the North Caucasian center of power that existed
during the 7th—6th centuries BC. In the Dnieper
region, two such centers can be identified. The
first of them, in the forest-steppe right bank, ap-
parently belonged to several heterogeneous trib-
al groups and ended its existence in the second
half of the 6th century BC. The second center, in
the forest-steppe left bank area, was associated
with a homogeneous and numerous groups of the
Scythian people who had lived there from the
7th—6th centuries BC up to 4th century BC.
The tribal diversity, combined with the distin-
guishing «centers of power» marked by clusters of
kurgans with the burials of the Scythian military
aristocracy, determine the ethno-cultural specif-
ics of various regions of the south of Eastern Eu-
rope in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. New studies
will make it possible to specify the question of the
principles on which the administrative-territorial
division of the Eastern European Scythia was
based in the 7th—6th centuries BC, as well as to
trace the further historical fate of the Scythian
tribal formations localized there.
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С. В. Махортих
до проБлеМи ВиділеннЯ Цент-
ріВ ВлАди У скіФіВ східної ЄВ-
ропи У VII—VI ст. до н. е.
VII—VI ст. до н. е на півдні Східної європи
пов’язується із появою та активною діяльністю скіфів.
Кочівники брали участь у найважливіших подіях світо-
вої історії та контактували із такими провідними держа-
вами Передньої Азії як Урарту, Ассирія, Мідія, а також
грецьким полісами Північного Причорномор’я. Аналіз
скіфських поховань доби архаїки на півдні Східної єв-
ропи дозволив виокремити кілька груп пам’яток, що
локалізуються на Північному Кавказі і у лісостеповому
Подніпров’ї, зокрема Центральнокавказьку, Кубанську,
Посульсько-ворсклінську і Києво-черкаську. з цими
групами пов’язані скупчення курганів, що включають
поховання скіфської військової еліти, а також великі
«царські» кургани, які ідентифікують центри скіфської
влади і визначають етнокультурну специфіку різних
регіонів Східної європи у розглянутий період. Скіфські
центри влади VII—VI ст. до н. е мали свої локальні особ-
ливості, які визначалися кількістю наявних у їх розпо-
рядженні людських ресурсів, етно-культурним складом,
характером взаємин із місцевим населенням та іншими
факторами. Центральнокавказьку та Кубанську групи
пам’яток слід розглядати у контексті північнокавказь-
кого центру влади, який існував протягом VII—VI ст.
до н. е. У Подніпров’ї виділяються два центри скіфської
влади. Перший (Києво-черкаська група пам’яток) роз-
ташовувався у лісостеповому Правобережжі, і ймовірно,
належав кільком гетерогенним родовим групам. Дру-
гий центр у лісостеповому Лівобережжі (Посульсько-
ворсклінська група пам’яток) був пов’язаний із більш
однорідною і численною групою скіфського населення,
що мешкало тут у період між VII—VI ст. до н. е. та IV ст.
до н. е. Нові дослідження дозволять конкретизувати пи-
тання про те, на яких засадах існував адміністративно-
територіальний поділ східноєвропейської Скіфії в VII—
VI ст до н. е., а також простежити подальшу історичну
долю скіфських племінних утворень, що локалізували-
ся у цьому регіоні.
ключові слова: скіфи, центри влади, VII—VI ст.
до н. е., Північний Кавказ, лісостепове Подніпров’я.
Одержано 01.07.2019
МАхортих сергій Володимирович, доктор істо-
ричних наук, провідний науковий співробітник, Ін-
ститут археології НАН України, пр. Героїв Сталінг-
рада, 12, Київ, 04210, Україна.
MAKHORTYKH Sergey, Doctor of Historical Sciences,
Chief Research Fellow, Institute of Archaeology,
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Heroiv
Stalingradu ave., 12, Kyiv, 04210, Ukraine.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7711-8117, e-mail:
makhortykh@yahoo.com.
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