Barrow of the Eneolithic – early Bronze Age at the village of Chumay

Abstract

Aim. To introduce into scientific circulation materials from the excavations of the burial mound 1 of the Eneolithic period near the village of Chumay, investigated during the archaeological conservation work at the end of 2015. This monument characterizes a series of steppe cultures in the Northwestern Black Sea region.

Methodology. The article reviews a specific archaeological monument in the Budjak steppe, erected in the Eneolithic era. The methods of observation, generalization and interpretation of the results of the field research were applied during the study.

Results. During the rescue work carried out in the mound, 12 burials of various cultural and historical epochs were examined. The most ancient was burial 7, in which there was an elongated skeleton of a child with a fragment of a vessel. It dates back to the late Eneolithic period (the end of the IV millennium BC). Most of the burial mounds represent the Yamnaya culture and constitute the second chronological horizon (III millennium BC). The third chronological horizon is associated with the burial of the 12th Sarmatian culture, which contained the burial inventory of the I–II centuries AD. The latest, the fourth horizon of the mound, is represented by 4 hearths and 21 pits of the Late Middle Ages (XVIII century). These complexes are most likely connected with the seasonal parking of the Nogai Tatars.

Research implications. The results of the excavations to a certain extent expand the range of sources on the cultures of the Budjak steppe from the Late Eneolithic to the Middle Ages. Among the finds the most interesting and rare are the main burial 7 of the Copper-stone age and a ceramic vessel of the ascos type from the pit burial 11.