BARROW WITH THE AMAZON’S GRAVE FROM THE MAMAI-HORA NECROPOLIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37445/adiu.2025.02.05Keywords:
Black Sea steppe, barrow, Mamai-Hora necropolis, burial of a female warrior, Scythians.Abstract
The burial assemblage of barrow 360, discovered in 2018 by the expedition of the Zaporizhzhya National University headed by Dr. Toshchev in the Mamai-Hora necropolis is published in the paper. The barrow mound was destroyed by plowing and building work. Despite the fact that the barrow was looted in ancient times, it was possible to trace the main features of the burial structure and ritual. The ring ditch and three graves have been excavated in the barrow. Two graves were looted (Nos. 1 and 3) while another (No. 2) was left intact by the looters. All grave were of different construction such as the regular pit, the catacomb, and a niche grave. In the grave 1 a man was buried; the gender of the deceased in grave 3 is unknown. Only one arrowhead survived in each of these two graves. Among other artefacts the Heraclean amphora was found in the ditch. It dates back to the late 5th — early 4th century BC. In grave 2, a young woman of 17—23 years old was buried in a typical Scythian position — lying supine, directed with her head to the west. The set of grave goods included the knife, mirror, black-lacquered lekythos, a pair of spindle whorls, and a set of 18 arrows. The composition of the items allowed us to identify the woman as an Amazon. Taking into account the shape of the burial structure and the range of parallels to the elements of the grave goods, the grave of the Amazon (No. 2) dates back to the first half of the 4th century BC. The date of other two graves, according to their construction, can be determined somewhat more broadly — within the 4th century BC. And the general date of the barrow is determined within late 5th — 4th centuries BC. This date corresponds to the chronology of the Scythian assemblages of the Mamai-Hora necropolis. Barrow 360 demonstrates the close burial traditions of the local population of the Scythian Age and has certain correspondences among the barrows of the Mamai-Hora necropolis. Grave 2 belonged to a young woman who was buried with her personal weapons. The burial structure and the composition of the grave goods reflect the Scythian regulations. Thus, this burial completes the series of 12 graves of Scythian Amazons of the Mamai-Hora necropolis, which were studied earlier.
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