E ARLY I RON A GE M OUND N EAR THE V ILLAGE M ALYNIVTSI IN P ODILLIA

inhumation and cremation rites. Analogies to them can be found in the Middle Dniester region and they are associated with both pre-Scythian and Scythian times. The pre-Scythian features include the presence of a group of graves under one mound, burial in a cist, group burials are more common, and the peculiar positioning of the dead in one tomb with their heads in different directions. The northwestern orientation of bodies also prevails in the pre-Scythian period and could be found in most necropolises of that time. At the same time, a number of features already have parallels in the Scythian times: the topography of the necropolis on the watershed, and the burning down of the wooden constructions of the tomb. The inventory complex contains mainly handmade pottery. Tulip-shaped vessels are characteristic of the pre-Scythian period. Pots with a roller on the rim and body, or only on the rim, existed both in the pre-Scythian and Scythian times. However, the first type is not yet known among the burials of the Western Podillia group of the Scythian period. Thus, according to the combination of features of the funeral rite and inventory, Mound 1 near the village of Malynivtsi can be attributed to the turn of the Pre-Scythian and Scythian periods.


INTRODUCTION
The advent of the Scythian period in the Northern Black Sea region, and the emergence of a wave of nomads in the steppes had a substantial influence on the cultural genesis of the population of southern Eastern Europe forest-steppe zone.That was manifested primarily in the spread of advanced for that time weapons and horse trappings in the region.Transformations also occurred in the funeral rite of the native population.This is fully illustrated with the materials of the Scythian period from the Middle Dniester region where researchers have singled out the Western Podillia group of sites.One of the burial complexes, which illustrates those changes, was studied by Kamianets-Podіlskyi State University expedition in 2003.5 -cremation in an urn; 6 -contours of burial 1; 7 -mainland.

RESULTS
The mounds near the village of Malynivtsi, Kamianets-Podilskyi raion, Khmelnytska oblast were located south of the village on a plateau that had a slope to the Dniester river, on the bank of which ancient settlements were found, whose inhabitants could have used the necropolis1 .A total of 4 mounds were excavated there.
Mound 1, located 0.5 km from the southwestern outskirts of the village and 0.6 km from the river, is of particular interest.It was 0.5 m high with a diameter of 15 m.The mound was made of earth and stones that protruded from the ground.During clearing and surveying the ground of the top layer, stones protruded everywhere, covering an oval area of 12×13 m with a layer of up to 0.3-0.4 m.Small stones (up to 2-3 kg) prevailed, but there were also bigger ones.When the clearing of the stone layer was completed, it turned out that it did not completely cover the mound.Between the accumulation of stones in the center of the mound and on its periphery, there was a gap in the form of a stone-free ring (except unit 6-Д) 0.4-0.9m wide (fig.1), which seemed to separate the sides of the mound from its center.
In the mounds of the Scythian period studied in Podillia in previous years, in the place where the specified stone-free zone was found in the first Malynivtsi mound, as a rule, large stones were located, which were a kind of foundation of the structure and surrounded the central part with a vault.In the central part, the remains of burned-out wooden constructions were found, from which two strips of burned soil and stones with interspersed ash and embers remained.Those strips were 2.15 m apart and ran parallel to the walls of the primary burial, with which, probably, they formed one complex and stretched in the direction northwest -southeast.They were about 4 m long, 0.4 to 1.2 m wide, and 0.1 to 0.15 m thick.In general, the strips limited the square space around the primary burial with dimensions of about 4×4 m.There is no doubt that the indicated burned-out strips were the remains of some wooden structural parts, like a wall.It was not yet the classic wooden column tomb of the Early Scythian period with characteristic wooden structures burned out during the burial ceremony.But there could already be its ancestral form.The mound contained 4 burials: the primary one (No.1), the cenotaph (No. 2) on the western side of the main tomb, Nos. 3 and 4 on the northern periphery.
Burial 1 was made under the center of the mound at the level of the ancient horizon, in a small rectangular cist with walls formed using the slabs (fig.2).There were traces of the aforementioned burned-down wooden construction all around the area of 4×4 m.External dimensions of the cist were 2.1×1.05m, internal -2.1×0.7 m.It is oriented with a long axis from northwest to southeast.The longer walls were formed with specially selected oblong stones of regular shapes.They were placed in parallel to the burned stripes at a distance of 0.8 m from them.The narrower walls had no such a frame.
There were remains of two people's skeletons: a man of the age 35-40 and a woman of the age 20-25 in that specific cist.They were placed together in a crouched position, with their heads northwest.The anatomical integrity of the skeletons was violated but nevertheless, analyzes showed that the man was buried the first and  after some time, the woman's body was buried there, too.Bones were in bad condition, and in addition, they were mixed.The fragments of a man's skull were in the northwestern corner, with two femurs placed parallel to each other on top of it.The left arm of the woman, who could be placed on her right side, was with an elbow bent at right angles.Perhaps the right arm was in the same position.
A crushed clay bowl was found farther to the north of the man's skull, at the edge of the grave (fig.3, 1).The rim is rectilinear, slightly folded inward, and smoothly sloping to the walls and bottom.The vessel resembles a hemispherical cup with a height of 5.5 cm, the rim diameter of 16.2 cm.30 cm north of the bowl, a stone bead and a fragment of a pot were found.The bead is made of a white stone slab with a width of 0.4 cm, and a diameter of 2 cm (fig.3, 2).The hole has a regular round shape with a diameter of 0.7 cm.The fragment of the pot's wall was of brown color (fig.3, 3).
The cenotaph burial 2 was found 3.6 m to the west of the primary grave.A rounded pit with a depth of 0.45 m and a diameter of 0.6 m was excavated there; there was no skeleton or its remains in the pit.The filling of the pit consisted of soil and individual stones.At its bottom, there was a clay mug-shaped ladle with a handle.Its shape is quite specific.It has an unusual for that time somewhat flattened shape of the body, which is why both the bottom and the rim are oval rather than round.The walls are almost straight, narrowing to the bottom, and the rim is slightly bent inwards and beveled in a horizontal plane towards the handle.Because of this, the front part is higher at 1 cm.The diameter of the base is 6-7 cm, the rim is 10-12 cm, and the height -10.2 cm.The handle is broken.It was round in section, attached to the rim and lower part of the body (fig.3, 4).Burial 3 was unearthed 3.7 m to the north from the first burial (fig.4, 1).In an oval pit with dimensions of 1.3×0.8m and a depth to 0.3 m, closed up with stones, a biritual burial was found: cremation in urns and two crouched inhumations of children.The earlier one was the urn cremation located deeper.It is partially destroyed by the later burials.Some parts of that vessel were found on top of the stones that covered the grave.The urn was a pot that was only partially preserved.
Given the preserved upper part, it was a tulip-shaped vessel or something between a tulip-shaped or a jar-shaped form (fig. 5, 1).Under the rim and along the body, it is decorated with an applicated roller with pinches and indentations.There are also through punctures along the upper roller.Rim diameter -18 cm, body -21.5 cm.The iron ring with an external diameter of 3.5 cm was found near the parts of the urn.It was made of a round in section iron rod almost 0.4 cm thick (fig.5, 2).
Over the aforementioned cremation, there were also children's burials: two skeletons with their heads in opposite directions.One skeleton belonged to a child of the age 6-7 and was placed in a crouched position on his right side with his head to the northwest; the hands with their palms turned to the face.The other child had southeastern orientation and was several months old, and his position was probably crouched, too.But due to the bad condition of the bone remains, it was hard to say definitely about that.Burial 4 was also discovered in a northern section of the mound, 0.2 m to the east of the southern edge of the grave 3 (fig.4, 2).A narrow crushed pot contained burned bones belonging to an adult.The urn pot was a high vessel with up to 30 cm of slender proportions preserved for more than ¾ of its height (except for the upper part).It could be close to tulip-shaped vessels.The diameter of the body -23 cm, of flat bottom with a rounded edge -15 cm (fig.5, 3).
The complex of funerary gifts was discovered in the southeastern part of the mound in units 5-Д and 6-Д at the level of the old ground surface.There, among the stones in the area of approximately 1 m 2 the fragments of several handmade vessels were unearthed.It was impossible to renew completely their shape.But it was determined that those were among them that belonged to the pots with a roller under the rim.During the research, taking into account the find in burial 3, the authors did not exclude that such rollers could be found on the body of those pots.However, it was hard to check that hypothesis due to the absence of their corresponding parts.
The following forms were the subject to reconstruction from collected fragments: Large pot having a rounded body and thickened everted rim (fig.6, 1).The fragments of the neck are decorated with shallow horizontal fluting.The rounded body with projections-applications with three directed downward stripes along the upper part of the body is preserved a little bit better.The bottom is flat, rising smoothly into the walls.Height -29 cm, diameter of a rim -21 cm, neck -16 cm, body -27 cm, bottom -10 cm.
Fragment of the lower part of the pot's body with a diameter of up to 27 cm.Width of the wall is up to 1.5 cm (fig.6, 2).
Fragment of the pot's rim with a diameter of up to 14 cm, that according to its profile, is mean between tulip-shaped and jar-shaped.It is decorated with a low partitioned roller with pinches and punctures along the rim.There are also two deepened slightly profiled horizontal grooves on it (fig.6, 3).
Upper part of the pot with the roller with indentations and through punctures.Diameter -up to 14.5 cm (fig.6, 4).
Part of the pot bottom, diameter -9 cm.The bottom is flat; the walls rise steeply (fig.6, 5).
The fragments of the ladle's handle are cylindrical in section.One of them clearly shows how the handle was attached to the vessel.Its edge was thinned and after attaching it was thoroughly smoothed (fig.6, 6).
There were 6 persons buried in the mound 1 near Malynivtsi in 4 graves (one of which, probably, was a cenotaph) of which 3 adults (a man and a woman) and 2 children were identified.Most of the bodies were buried in crouched positions (4 skeletons). 2 urn cremations in other places were studied as well.
The first Malynivtsi mound is located in the area where in the pre-Scythian times Chornyi Lis-Zhabotyn sites were located.In the Early Scythian times, they were replaced by the antiquities of the Western Podillia group.The mound that is being published is interesting for the presence of the pre-Scythian features as well as the Scythian ones, which illustrate the development of funeral rites in the Middle Dniester region.As of today, funeral sites of the pre-Scythian period in the region have been well studied 2 .It allows us to characterize the funeral rite of that time 3 .Necropolises were characterized by their location mainly in river valleys and adjacent slopes.The complexes at the watersheds are found only in the east of the region.Mound and underground burials were widespread similarly.Both mound and underground burials were equally common, and necropolises could be mound, underground, or mixed.Under mounds that often had stone constructions, several graves as well as single ones could be found (but then there were cases when there were several bodies in it).Cists and simple pit-graves, as well as burials located on stone layings or with a stone paving floor, are known.There were individual, double, or collective burials.Inhumations in crouched positions prevailed.Those with extended burials were very few.Cremation burials (mainly in urns) were even less in number.Inventory was quite modest and monotonous with the prevalence of handmade pottery, which shows that property and social differentiation were not yet well developed.
Burial sites of the Scythian times of the region, allocated to the Western Podillia group, are studied better4 .Taking into account the earlier publications, it can be stated that the funeral rite of the Middle Dniester region compared with the pre-Scythian times had undergone changes 5 .Necropolises had moved from river backwaters and slops to the watersheds.The underground and mound rite was replaced by the predominant mound one.The size of the mounds and the range of inventory began to vary greatly, reflecting the social and property stratification.Stone layings in the mounds continued to be found regularly.Together with it, such a detail as a stone rampart around the tomb appeared.Mostly there was only one grave under the mound, and cases with more than one grave were much less in number.Wooden tombs became widespread; stone paving could be still often found as well.The cases of cremation (in another place, with pouring ash into the urn or to the bottom of the tomb or burning down together with a tomb) increased highly in number and, along with inhumations, became widespread.
Knowing these details of the development of funeral rites of the Middle Dniester region population, we will try to characterize mound 1 in Malynivtsi.
The topography of Malynivtsi necropolis, its location on the slope of the plateau, is associated rather with the Scythian times, when the burials moved to the watersheds 6 .Their location in river valleys or on their slopes in the region is mainly characteristic of the pre-Scythian times: Luka-Vrublivetska 7 , Bernashivka 8 .Mounds from Mervyntsi and Bandyshivka 9 tending to the plateau are located in the very east of the region and distant from Malynivtsi complex.
Mound burials dated to the pre-Scythian times are well known in the Middle Dniester region.At that time there were mound necropolises: Luka-Vrublivetska 10 , Mervyntsi 11 , Dnistrivka 12 , underground necropolises: Lomachyntsi 13 , and also mixed ones, with burials under the mound as well as underground ones that prevailed: Bernashivka 14 .In the Scythian period, mound necropolises were dominant 15 , while some underground burials, are known only in the west, on the former Vysotsko and Holihrady lands 16 .
The small size of the mound is associated rather with the pre-Scythian tradition when the mounds usually did not exceed 1-1.1 m (but they often were lower).At the same time, in the Scythian times, because of social stratification, they began to vary greatly in size 17 , from barely noticeable -up to 1-2 m and bigger -up to 4.5 m 18 .
The tradition of making stone mounds in Podillia dates back to the Bronze Age 19 .During the pre-Scythian times, that rite continued to develop: Bernashivka 20 , Mervyntsi 21 , Luka-Vrublivetska 22 , Bandyshivka 23 .It dominated in the Scythian period when there were a majority of such mounds 24 .
The spreading of mounds with one grave as well as with several ones was typical for the pre-Scythian times.The first group includes complexes 1 and 2 in Mervyntsi, 2 and 3 near Luka-Vrublivetska, and 2 near Bernashivka.Mound 1 near Dnistrivka, 1, 4-8 in Luka-Vrublivetska, and 1 near Bernashivka 25 belong to the second one.In the Scythian times, one primary but as a rule, a larger grave prevailed 26 .Cases with additional graves were rare: mounds 4 and 5 near Spasivka and Ivankivtsi 27 , 1 in Shydlivtsi 28 , and 7 near Shutnivtsi 29 .
Wooden details of the graves in the Eastern European Forest-Steppe have been known since the Bronze Age 30 .Cases of their burning down have also been recorded 31 .There were some cases in the region dated to the pre-Scythian times 32 .Wooden constructions were used by the Cimmerians as well 33 .They are not an exception for Middle Europe 34 .But in the Middle Dniester region of that time, such cases were quite rare and are more often associated with the east of the region but not with the western periphery of Late Chornyi Lis-Zhabotyn tribes where Malynivtsi mound was studied.Therefore, it is possible that the primary tomb of mound 1 of Bernashivka burial ground could have had wooden vaulting 35 .The tent-shaped vaulting is found on the grave of mound 1 near Bandashivka 36 .Some structures that looked like walls or fence based on thin wooden poles were found only in burial 1 of mound 1 near Luka-Vrublivetska 37 .It is interesting that there, like in Malynivtsi mound, they were constructed around the cist.
Tombs with wooden pillars dated to the Scythian times became widespread at the sites of the Western Podillia group 38 .Usually, the whole construction of the tomb was made of wood.In Malynivtsi mound 1 beyond burned layers, only two parallel walls were found.Probably, there we had an example of the formation of the wooden vault tradition in the Middle Dniester region which would acquire its classical form during the Early Scythian period.
Burning down of wooden constructions of the tombs was also not typical for the Middle Dniester region in Late Chornyi Lis-Zhabotyn times.Only one case with tentshaped construction of mound 1 in Bandashivka, located in the very east of the area, can be mentioned 39 .Mound 1 near Malynivtsi was the evidence of such rites formation in the region.Fire funeral rites were not too typical for the pre-Scythian Dniester sites.Among them, we can only mention light traces of burning on two stone layings with ware on them, which could be cenotaphs, in mounds 4 and 5 near Luka-

ЕМІНАК
Eminak, 2023, 2 (42)   122 Vrublivetska, and also charcoals in the first mound aforementioned 40 .Cremations of bodies can also be attributed to such evidence.However, they, as it was mentioned, were few in number in the region.At the same time, it should be added that in the culturally close region of the Middle Dnipro region, the fire in funeral rites was used much more often 41 .The mass burning of wooden tombs in the Middle Dniester region became widespread only in the Scythian times 42 .Mound 1 being studied, shows an initiation of that tradition.
Most of the additional graves in Malynivtsi were small pits, quite a universal type of burial during the whole Early Iron Age.Their small sizes still look like their pre-Scythian analogues, such as the burials from Bernashivka 43 , 6 of mound 1 near Dnistrivka 44 , 6 of mound 4, 1 and 2 of mound 5 near Luka-Vrublivetska 45 .The Scythian tombs, even of relatively small size, generally differ, firstly, by their larger size, and secondly, by their wider proportions, like mounds 5 near Spasivka 46 , and 1, 2, and 3 near Kolodiivka 47 .Narrow shallow cist made of slabs has also analogues in the region dated to the pre-Scythian times -burials: 1 of mound 1, 4 of mound 4, 2 of mound 7 near Luka-Vrublivetska 48 , and mound 2 in Mervyntsi 49 .
In Malynivtsi, single, double, and collective burials were found.Such a phenomenon in the region is dated to the pre-Scythian 50 as well as Scythian times 51 .However, in the Early Scythian period, as a rule, larger and wider graves were used for double and collective burials.
In the region, cremation in urns is a minority of burials among Chornyi Lis-Zhabotyn antiquities: 4 of mound 1 in Dnistrivka, 3 of mound 6, and 1 of mound 8 in Luka-Vrublivetska 55 .A certain number dated to the next era were also found in the antiquities of the Western Podillia group -mounds: 2 in Tarasivka 56 , 19 near Kolodyivka 57 , and 1 not far from Spasivka 58 .It happened against the background of the fact that in the region during the Scythian period, the role of fire in funeral rites increased (both in the form of burning wooden tombs and the cremation of the bodies of the dead).
We should note the biritualism of the rite among those buried under one mound in Malynivtsi, where the researchers found the evidence of both cremation and inhumation.Such a phenomenon is associated with the Dniester region of the pre-Scythian times -mounds: 6 near Luka-Vrublivetska, and 1 near Dnistrivka 59 .There were also such cases dated to the Early Scythian period, and they illustrate the constancy and gradual development of some funeral rites -mounds: 3 and 5 near Perebykivtsi 60 , 3 near Kupyn 61 , 4 and 12 near Kolodiivka 62 .
In the mound near the village of Malynivtsi, the northwestern orientation of the bodies prevailed.That is how the dead were laid in the primary grave, including the lower-placed man, in whose honor the construction of the mound began.The older child from complex 3 was also positioned the same way.At the same time, another baby from the mentioned tomb was placed with its head in the opposite direction, to the southeast.In general, the positioning of bodies with the head in the northwest sector (in the interval from west-northwest to north-northwest) prevails in the pre-Scythian complexes of the Middle Dniester region.That was how the smaller number of skeletons in Luka-Vrublivetska 63 , and almost half of the deceased in Dnistrivka 64 , buried in Bernashivka mounds, were positioned 65 .

ЕМІНАК
Eminak, 2023, 2 (42)   124 Placing the dead in one tomb with their heads in different directions is a typical pre-Scythian Middle Dniester tradition.Evidence of that could be seen in burials 2 and 3 of mound 1 in Dnistrivka 66 , 1 of mound 1, 1 and 3 of mound 4 near Luka-Vrublivetska 67 .
The inventory complex of the mound with a predominance of handmade ceramics is a general characteristic of the Dniester region and is dated to both the pre-Scythian and Scythian periods; although the number of complexes with metal and glass produced items (weapons, bridles, ornaments) of the Scythian period is larger.Pots with a tulip-shaped profile are characteristic primarily of the pre-Scythian period 68 .Their variants with rollers both under the rim and on the body are transitional forms to the Early Scythian jar-shaped pots.Such vessels emerged in the pre-Scythian period and were used in the Scythian archaic period, at pre-Kelermesskaia sites, and even in the Early Kelermesskaia period.In the Middle Dniester region, they were found at settlements near Luka-Vrublivetska 69 , Dnistrivka 70 , in mound 8 near Luka-Vrublivetska 71 and were dated to the pre-Scythian times.They also came from more eastern forest-steppe regions among which Nemyriv settlement 72 .Decoration in the form of two rollers can be occasionally found on vessels of Basarab-Sholdenesht culture 73 .
The analogues dated to the Early Scythian times are sometimes found in the Dniester region, for example, the settlements of Dolyniany 74 and Neporotove 75 .However, most of the analogies came from the Right Bank Forest-Steppe Dnipro region.Mound 6 near Yasnozoria is dated to pre-Kelermesskaia period 76 .Mounds near Mala Ofirna 77 and Ivankovychi 78 are dated back to Kelermesskaia period.Similar Early Scythian wares came from Nemyriv giant settlement in the Forest-Steppe Buh region 79 , and the Western Bilsk settlement in the Vorskla region 80 .
It should be noted that such pots seem to be unknown in the Western Podillia mounds of the Scythian period.However, the fact of the use of a similar item as an urn dated to the pre-Scythian times is recorded in the mentioned burial near Luka-Vrublivetska.
Some produced items of this type were also found in the eastern forest-steppe lands.In the Buh region, the mentioned kitchenware is known from Vyshenky-2 93 .In the Right Bank Dnipro region, such produced items are found en masse in the late pre-Scythian antiquities 94 .They also came to Moldova, where they are known in Sholdanesht layers 95 .
Such pots became the predominant variety in the Early Scythian period.Although in the Dniester region during pre-Kelermesskaia period, they still seemed to be in the minority 96 .At least this can be assumed for some settlements: Kozliv 97 and the upper layers of Neporotove-II 98 .They became the dominant type during Kelermesskaia They were found, for example, in mound 4 in Teklivka in Podillia 119 , Cherepyn, and Lahodiv in the Upper Dniester region 120 .
Large pots with a rounded body and everted rim are also characteristic of the pre-Scythian and Early Scythian sites of the region.However, at the Scythian times, they often had an asymmetry of the body with an elongated upper part, and often a sharper transition in the center of the body 121 , which is not observed on the large pot from Malynivtsi.With its more symmetrical roundness of the body, it is closer to some pre-Scythian large pots from Hryhorivka 122 and Rudkivtsi 123 settlements of the Dniester region.Large pots decorated with a fluting spread at Chornyi Lis-Zhabotyn sites of the Dniester region under the influence of fluted Hallstatt cultures.It is also subject to such a type of decoration as a fluted neck.In general, it was not a very common type of decoration in the region at that time.Its samples are known on vessels from settlements in Komarove 124 , Dnistrivka 125 , and Neporotove 126 .Such a decoration can sometimes be found among synchronous antiquities of the Forest-Steppe Dnipro region 127 .
Dated to the Early Scythian period, large pots with a fluted neck at the sites of the Western Podillia group are found only occasionally: mounds in Kachanivka 128 and Loievtsi 129 .On some vessels, the stylization of the motif occurred, and the decoration obtained the form of drawn rollers 130 .The mentioned decoration, dated to the same time, is known to be found further east, in the Buh 131 and Dnipro 132 regions.
The ornamentation of large pots with knobs is also typical for the Middle Dniester region in the Early Iron Age.This detail is believed to be spread there under the influence of the fluted Hallstatt cultures 133 .Such decor is associated in the region with the finds dated to the pre-Scythian 134 and Scythian 135 times.However, mostly these are simple conical applications.The large pot from Malynivtsi is characterized by a rare applied volute, with three vertical stripes.Among the few analogies, we can name the fragments of large pots, where 2 or 3 stripes run from the applied volute downwards.They were found at the Early Scythian Trakhtemyriv fortified settlement 136 .On the fragment from the pre-Scythian settlement in Teremtsi, the applied volute is moon-shaped, and the projecting parts directed downwards are small 137 .
The ladle has a rather non-standard shape, similar to a mug.The traditions of making vessels with such a body in the Middle Dniester region date back to the Late Bronze Age 138 .For the pre-Scythian and Early Scythian times of the region, such forms are uncharacteristic.Sometimes they are found at the sites dated to Vysotska culture 139 .
Thus, the set of wares includes a number of features that in the Middle Dniester region can be considered predominant for the pre-Scythian period.A pot with two rollers, more likely -a large pot and a ladle, which, despite its rare shape, looks quite archaic.On the other hand, pots with a roller under the rim, although they are sometimes found in the pre-Scythian mounds, mostly belong to the Early Scythian period.
So mound 1 in Malynivtsi has a number of both pre-Scythian and Scythian features.The stone layer and biritualism in funeral rites are common features.Among the pre-Scythian ones, we should note a group of graves under the mound, their small size, such types as a narrow pit or a cist, the bodies positioned in different directions in one tomb, and the burial method (predominance of crouched inhumations at the same time with the presence of cremations in urns).Although the percentage of burials in vessels seems to be somewhat high.Most of the inventory also resembles the pre-Scythian assortment: a few decorations, no weapons, and too few metal objects in general.Belonging to the mentioned period, if we consider burials, it could be the pots with two rollers and a large pot, as well as a ladle, because of its shape.Pots with a decorated upper part would seem to be closer to wares from the Early Scythian burials, although they are known to emerge as early as the pre-Scythian period.The complex of laid ceramics was located at the level of the ancient horizon under the stone layer and can be stratigraphically associated with the earliest primary burial No. 1.We should also note that the stone bead looks unusual for the Scythian times.
The topography of the necropolis on the watershed should be counted among the Scythian features, albeit with a slope toward the river valley.Burned-down wooden tombs are mainly attributed to that period, although mound No. 1 in Malynivtsi seems to demonstrate only the formation of such rites.As a secondary argument, one could add the fact that Malynivtsi necropolis continued to exist in the Early Scythian period (to which most of its mounds are dated).
Therefore, based on the totality of facts, mound 1 in Malynivtsi should be attributed to the turn of the pre-Scythian and Scythian periods.Unfortunately, no chrono-indicators were found in the complex that could specify such a position (weapons, bridles, jewelry, etc.).In absolute terms, the time of its construction can be close to the end of the 8 th -the beginning of the 7 th century BCE.Chronologically, the earliest burial under the mound was the primary burial 1, and the complex of ceramics from the southeastern part of the mound might belong to it.Later are secondary burials 3 and 4, but their mutual sequence is not clear.Within burial 3, the earliest was an urn burial.
In social attribution of the buried, the size of their burial mound is important in comparison with the synchronous burials of the region.In the case of the burial that is being published, such attribution is somewhat complicated with its mid period chronological position, because the mounds of the pre-Scythian and Scythian times have their individual, sometimes different, features.Low mounds are characteristic of the first of the periods, and their variability from barely noticeable to 2-4.5 m high is typical for the second one.In addition, the complexes of that time, with possible more or less exact dating, can already be attributed to Kelermesskaia period, which is much later than the mound from Malynivtsi.Given this, as well as the size of the mound and the predominance of the pre-Scythian rites, in our opinion, the attribution of the complex to the pre-Scythian burials looks more promising.We should note that the mound illustrates the end of that range of antiquities with the transition to the Scythian phase.
Sociological analysis should be started with the assumption that the concentration of a group of burials under one mound in Malynivtsi can testify in favor of the kinship of the buried, their belonging to the same family or clan.The small size of the burial complexes and the modest inventory indicate that property stratification probably did not go far within clans or the local community.It is assumed that the small necropolises of the Scythian period in the Middle Dniester region could hardly be the burial place for all the members of numerous local communities, who could also be buried in little-studied underground necropolises in settlements, following the rites that had left little archaeological evidence 140 .These assumptions can also be applied to the slightly earlier Malynivtsi mound.It is unlikely that 8 people buried there represented the entire population of the settlement.Pre-Scythian necropolises (Bernashivka, Lomachyntsi) indicate the existence of underground burials at that time.Their predominance in the mixed burial ground in Bernashivka can indicate the fact that the elite were buried in the few mounds and ordinary members of the community -mainly in underground complexes.Despite the larger size of the primary burial mound tombs, their variability and social stratification in Bernashivka community are also not as noticeable as in some Scythian necropolises.The elite of the pre-Scythian times can be better distinguished by analyzing the materials of the Bandyshivka mounds with large tombs.Talking again about the first Malynivtsi mound, we consider it quite possible that part of the population of the local community could also be buried following the mentioned moundless rites, however, such locations have not been discovered yet.In this case, the mound burial could stand out significantly, representing a wealthier and socially significant family.However, the dimensions of the graves of Malynivtsi complex are approximately identical to the synchronous underground graves of the region.Therefore, with such a model, population stratification was still in an early phase. 140Гуцал А.Ф., Гуцал В.А., Могилов О.Д.Ранньоскіфський курган… С. 51.

CONCLUSIONS
When determining the place of the mound among the pre-Scythian sites of the region, we should note that all the mounds of that time had relatively small dimensions of up to 1-1.1 m, indicating the absence of a notable stratification of communities.According to the size of the hillocks and tombs, only the mounds near Bandyshivka can stand out.There, the elements of the bridle, which are rare in the region, were found.Whereas according to the variety and larger scale of the constructions, the mounds in Bernashivka can also stand out, but to a lesser extent.It is probably possible to add here the one-meter-high mound 1 near Mervyntsi, where details of the horse trappings were also discovered.
Malynivtsi mound can illustrate the next social group of burials.The level of their stratification changes gradually.The largest are the one-meter-high mounds 8 and 9 in Luka-Vrublivetska, with a diameter of 9-10 m.However, they covered several graves.The mound under consideration can stand, if not in parallel, then immediately behind them.Despite half the height, it has a larger diameter.This series is continued by smaller Dniester region mounds, which, as a rule, cover several burials.After them, there are simple underground graves.
Therefore, mound 1 near Malynivtsi may be the burial of a family that insignificantly, but still stood out in one of the Middle Dniester region communities.Perhaps its status was at the stage of the initial, but already noticeable social formation of the tribal nobility at the level of local communities.As evidenced from other chronologically close burial complexes of the Middle Dniester region, such processes occurred there everywhere, but particular progress they had in the east of the region.It is possible that it was facilitated by the close proximity to the more socially stratified population of the Middle Dnipro region and the nomadic steppe.

Fig. 6 .
Fig. 6.Handmade vessels from a complex of accompanying laying of ceramics.