Catacombs With Several Asynchronous Entrance Pits Among the Scythians: Social and Ritual Aspects
Abstract
The purpose of the research paper is to systematize and analyse data on Scythian catacombs with two or more asynchronous entrance pits in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region that were used for secondary burials.
Scholarly novelty. For the first time, the article presents an analysis of a large sample of 180 such catacombs, which reveals a wide range of gender and age combinations and burial sequences. Various patterns in primary and secondary burials are identified, such as ‘first a man, then a woman’ and vice versa. The results indicate that the burial practice was flexible and determined by specific life circumstances, including paired burials of men and women, men with children, women with children, multiple men, and other combinations. It has been established that catacombs with multiple entrances were not the exclusive privilege of the highest nobility but were widespread among various strata of the Scythian aristocracy and were associated with specific semi-sedentary clan groups.
Conclusions. Catacombs with two or more asynchronous entrance pits served as family or clan burial vaults, the structure and contents of which reflected specific demographic events within these families or clans.
The absence of a rigid, unified ritual and the diversity of burial combinations clearly demonstrate the flexibility of Scythian burial practice, which adapted to the need for the posthumous unity of relatives. The widespread nature of this rite, as established in the study, is a marker of profound socio-economic processes. It indicates the stabilization of the clan structure of Scythian society and its nomadic economy by the middle of the 4th century BC, as evidenced by the formation of semi-sedentary groups with clearly defined clan cemeteries. Such catacombs were not merely places of eternal rest but also a material embodiment of kinship ties that legitimised the clan’s rights to a particular territory.
The identified variable models (paired burials of men and women, burials with children, etc.) point to a complex demographic history of families, reflecting losses, marital alliances, and hierarchy within the clan. Thus, the study of these monuments allows us to move beyond purely archaeological typology and approach a reconstruction of key aspects of the social organisation, mobility, and worldview of the Scythians during the peak of their culture.
Funding. The article was prepared while working on the project ‘Scythian kurgans of the Northern Sivash Region (Ukraine): Formation and Functioning of Family Burial Grounds’, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation.
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