Bronze Age Burial Mound near Prohresivka Village on the Left Bank of the Tylihul Estuary

Abstract

The results of rescue work at the damaged archaeology site (barrow) on the territory of Tashyne village council, Berezanka District, Mykolaiv Region located to the north of Prohresivka village are highlighted in the paper. The damage was found during the frontal and local archaeological survey carried out in the frame of Tashyne village council expert examination regarding the presence or absence of archaeological sites in the area of the wind farm and related facilities installation. The history of archaeological works in Berezanka area is analyzed from the first archaeological surveys at the end of the 19^th century, works during the 20^th century with their stages to the description of the latest studies at the beginning of the 21^st century.

The studied area is very rich in archaeological sites in a wide chronological range. Basically, these are burial complexes (barrows) from the Late Neolithic to the Early Iron Age and the settlements of the Bronze Age. There are many archaeological objects of ancient times (settlements and burial grounds) belonging to the Olbia rural district (choras) dated from the 5^th century BCE to the beginning of the CE.

A brief description of the studied burials and their preliminary identification is given. Three burials, one of which is a double one, are described in detail.

Two burials belong to Babyne historical and cultural circle dated to the end of the 1st quarter – beginning of the 2^nd quarter of the 2^nd millennium BCE. The double burial is in a small catacomb with a niche, and a separate one is in a stone box (made of large and medium limestone slabs). The inventory and the location of the skeletons in the graves are given.

One burial, taking into account the typology of the skeleton position and the location of the entrance grave relative to the probable center of the mound and the main burial of an earlier historical epoch, is more likely may be dated to the beginning of CE (Sarmatian time, Middle Sarmatian archaeological culture).

Taking into account the achieved results the further work at the site will enable: to complete the study of the burial complex; to conduct a comprehensive analysis of anthropological, zoological and material evidence; to set the bounds of the site; to identify the main burial; to separate the primary mound from the later layers (additions) of the mound; to introduce new data on the presence of the nomads of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age in the North Black Sea region; to separate or fill the contact areas of different local population groups of one cultural and historical community; to study the migration and trade and economic relations of the region in the specified historical period.