У статті розглядається питання послідовності спорудження бічних могил в скіфських курганах. Помилкова оцінка стратиграфічних позицій
цих могил призводить до спотворення внутрішньої хронології цих пам’яток. Зрозуміти ситуацію з
бічними могилами допомагає встановлення факту існування первісного обвалування місця похорону.
На прикладі Гайманової Могили спростовується помилкова оцінка бічних могил як впускних.
Вопрос о последовательности сооружения отдельных могил в кургане по-прежнему вызывает дискуссии. Неверная оценка стратиграфических нюансов в сооружении курганов скифской элиты привела
к искажению внутренней хронологии этих памятников. Эта ситуация, в свою очередь, отразилась на
общей картине хронологии ключевых погребальных памятников IV в. до н. э.
The question of the order of the construction of separate
graves in a kurhan still provokes the debates. The
incorrect evaluation of the stratigraphic nuances in
the construction of kurhans of Scythian elite has led to
a distortion of the internal chronology of these monuments.
This situation, in turn, affected the overall picture
of the chronology of key funerary monuments of
the 4th century BC.
The core of the problem consists in the estimation
of the chronological interval between the centre and
the lateral (side) graves in the kurhans of the Scythian
elite. If these graves are dug up into the existing barrow
mound, the date of their commission will be later
than the date of the main burial mound. And in this
case the date of the entire complex would be enlarged.
If the lateral graves were made at the same time as the
construction of the barrow mound of the kurhan, then
the persons buried there accompanied the main buried
and represented his retinue. In this instance, the date
of the complex is narrowed to one year.
Establishing the existence of the original circular
embankment at the moment of the funeral process
helps to understand the situation with the lateral
graves. The circular embankment was represented as
an earthen wall, built with the blocks of greensward. It separated the central tomb from the surrounding
steppe. The side graves were placed along the perimeter of this embankment, most likely by the time of the
main burial. Wrong evaluation of lateral graves as secondary
ones is refuted by the example of Gaimanova Mogyla. This adjustment is done through the analysis of the
general scheme of the space under the kurhan and the traces of «incision» of the barrow mound made by the
lateral graves’ mines. A careful examination of these tracks shows the layers of clay, which were placed into
the body of the embankments at the same time as its construction. Thus, the lateral graves turn out being simultaneous
additional elements in a single compound funerary complex.
