Kurgan group VІІ next to Novofedorivka village. The complex contained 10 kurgans, banks No.No.2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 were the subjects to surveys, the most interesting ones in the archaeological perspective were banks No.No.2 and 8.
Kurgan 2. It was filled over a pit burial site with a set of flint objects like item splits and fragments (a craftsman’s set?). Closer to the floor of the original embankment there was a burial site of the Babyn culture representative, got down into the kurgan and sprinkled with chalk.
Kurgan 8. The part of the embankment floor and the section outside its area appeared to be the place for the Cherniakhiv culture ground burial site. The kurgan was filled over the Pit cultural and historical community burial site without any inventory. The set of burial complexes also dates back to the times of the embankment construction: ritual areas with the remains of a broken pot, animals’ bones and several pits. The original kurgan contained the late Pit culture burial site; several other pits were also discovered around it. One more burial site of the Pit cultural and historical community was found beyond the kurgan area. It was probably placed under another completely levelled kurgan.
The Cherniakhiv culture ground burial complexes were placed among the above–mentioned burial site and the original embankment of kurgan 8. The children’s or adolescents’ burial sites (objects 9, 14, 15) provoked certain interest because of their unusual shape (with backing; oval; elongated ditch). All of them contained features of the skeleton posthumous destruction and inventory items. In object 9 the pit with backing also contained two raw-glazed dish ware items – a jug and a bowl placed in the corner on the floor. The child’s bones in this burial site were destroyed and scattered to the step-stone and the entrance of the burial chamber, there were no bones found on the backing floor. Another pit (object No.14) had an oval shape and contained scattered child’s bones in its filling. A carnelian bead had been discovered in this burial site.
The most interesting burial site (young girl’s?) (object No.15) was discovered in the deep and narrow ditch. The bones of the deceased were scattered across the whole tomb. The placed inventory included a bi–metal crossbow clasp, fragments of the ancient Greek red clay dish, an iron knife, a clay open–worked slate and a charm made of a shell.
Similar burial sites of the Cherniakhiv ethnicity representatives (4th – the beginning of 5th c. AD) are rather unusual for Poltava region, but they also have a certain connection to burial mounds (most of such burial site are ground, without embankments). Probably, such a peculiarity can serve as an evidence of the impact of the Sarmatian and the Alani burial traditions on this cultural community.
Kurgan group VІІ next to Novofedorivka village. The complex contained 10 kurgans, banks No.No.2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 were the subjects to surveys, the most interesting ones in the archaeological perspective were banks No.No.2 and 8.
Kurgan 2. It was filled over a pit burial site with a set of flint objects like item splits and fragments (a craftsman’s set?). Closer to the floor of the original embankment there was a burial site of the Babyn culture representative, got down into the kurgan and sprinkled with chalk.
Kurgan 8. The part of the embankment floor and the section outside its area appeared to be the place for the Cherniakhiv culture ground burial site. The kurgan was filled over the Pit cultural and historical community burial site without any inventory. The set of burial complexes also dates back to the times of the embankment construction: ritual areas with the remains of a broken pot, animals’ bones and several pits. The original kurgan contained the late Pit culture burial site; several other pits were also discovered around it. One more burial site of the Pit cultural and historical community was found beyond the kurgan area. It was probably placed under another completely levelled kurgan.
The Cherniakhiv culture ground burial complexes were placed among the above–mentioned burial site and the original embankment of kurgan 8. The children’s or adolescents’ burial sites (objects 9, 14, 15) provoked certain interest because of their unusual shape (with backing; oval; elongated ditch). All of them contained features of the skeleton posthumous destruction and inventory items. In object 9 the pit with backing also contained two raw-glazed dish ware items – a jug and a bowl placed in the corner on the floor. The child’s bones in this burial site were destroyed and scattered to the step-stone and the entrance of the burial chamber, there were no bones found on the backing floor. Another pit (object No.14) had an oval shape and contained scattered child’s bones in its filling. A carnelian bead had been discovered in this burial site.
The most interesting burial site (young girl’s?) (object No.15) was discovered in the deep and narrow ditch. The bones of the deceased were scattered across the whole tomb. The placed inventory included a bi–metal crossbow clasp, fragments of the ancient Greek red clay dish, an iron knife, a clay open–worked slate and a charm made of a shell.
Similar burial sites of the Cherniakhiv ethnicity representatives (4th – the beginning of 5th c. AD) are rather unusual for Poltava region, but they also have a certain connection to burial mounds (most of such burial site are ground, without embankments). Probably, such a peculiarity can serve as an evidence of the impact of the Sarmatian and the Alani burial traditions on this cultural community.
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