KNIVES OF THE SKYTHIAN PERIOD IN THE SOUTH OF THE DNIPRO FOREST-STEPPE RIGHT BANK REGION (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE SVITLOVODSKY BURIAL GROUND)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/cusu-hist-2026-1-4Keywords:
Scythian period, knife, burial, mound, burial ground, Dnipro Right Bank Forest-Steppe regionAbstract
The article examines knives of the Scythian period discovered in the southern part of the Dnipro Right- Bank Forest-Steppe, specifically those recovered from the Svitlovodsk burial ground in the Kirovohrad region. The Svitlovodsk burial ground is one of the largest and best-studied Early Iron Age burial sites in the Northern Black Sea region. Excavations were conducted over eleven field seasons in 1975–1986 and 1989–1990 by expeditions of the Kirovohrad Regional Museum and the Kirovohrad Pedagogical Institute under the direction of N. M. Bokii and I. A. Kozyr. A total of 161 Scythian burials have been investigated at the site. Several of them date to the Middle Scythian period, while the majority belong to the 4th century BC. The necropolis is believed to have belonged to a relatively large but socially ordinary community. The most common categories of grave goods include weapons and jewelry. Knives represent one of the most frequent tools deposited in the graves with the deceased. In total, 71 knives were recovered from 62 burials (over 38% of the total number). Evidence from undisturbed graves suggests that the proportion of burials containing knives may originally have been much higher (up to 73%). In most cases knives were placed together with food offerings for the deceased (40 out of 44 cases where the position of the artifact could be established). In two additional cases knives were found together with a horytos. In most burials only one knife accompanied the deceased, while two knives were recorded in nine graves. All knives from Svitlovodsk are made of iron. Specimens with bone handles significantly outnumber those with wooden handles (62 % versus 37 %). The handles were attached to the blade tang with iron rivets. The large number of knives discovered at the Svitlovodsk burial ground demonstrates their widespread use in various aspects of everyday life among the population of the Scythian period.
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