In east-central Ukraine excavations of a unique kurgan or burial mound have been underway for more than 1.5 months. The discovery was made during road works in the village of Novooleksandrivka, some ten kilometers south of the large town of Dnipro.
"It has very thin topsoil, literally 10 cm. This is very little
and it is causing it to swell, deteriorate, etc. This is why it was decided to
investigate it", says Dmitry Teslenko, head of the Dnieper archaeological
expedition of the Ukrainian Archaeological Guard Service.
The burial mound is of exceptional dimensions, measuring some 120m by
80m in size and a height of 7m. Bulldozers were therefore employed to remove
entire layers of earth. "The central part is being explored now. There is
a lot of manual work. We also use machinery. But I would like to point out that
all the machinery works solely under the supervision of archaeologists. The
bulldozer removes several centimeters of the soil layer and if we see that something
is wrong, the work stops," said field archaeologist Yaroslav Yaroshenko.
A mound is an embankment over a burial. It rarely happens that there is
one burial, one embankment. With each burial, the volume of a mound only
increased. The Kurgan in Novoaleksandrovka was no exception. During the course
of excavation, archaeologists have discovered and examined 24 burials from the
Bronze Age, Scythians to the Middle Ages.
The greatest excitement arose around a stone structure found in the
inner part of the mound. Stone blocks several meters high and forming a circle
with a diameter of 18 meters had been erected. This feature is called a
"cromlech".
Ceramics fragments date the mound's construction to approximately 5,500
years ago, that is during the Eneolithic period.
According to Dmitry Teslenko, a characteristic and unique feature of
these ceramics is the high content of ground-up shells. "Interestingly,
exactly the same ceramics can be found among the finds of the Trypillia
culture. This suggests that these peoples did not simply coexist in the same
time period, but were in contact with each other. At the same time, they led an
absolutely different way of life. If the Trypillians led a sedentary life,
farming in the forest-steppe zone, the burial mound under study belongs to
nomadic pastoralists from the steppes."
"The cromlech was erected around the same time as the pottery.
However, it is impossible to say with certainty whether it was erected from the
time of the first burial or later", adds Teslenko.
According to the archaeologist, there were no unique finds inside due
to the fact that the tribes that lived in the area possessed very few everyday
items. "Because of their nomadic nature, the people carried only the bare
necessities. However, sometimes interesting finds are found: pots, necklaces
made of wolf or dog canines. For example, a burial has now been discovered
where dog toe bones were lying next to human remains. A triple grave has also
been found where the skeleton of a man lay in the middle and the skeletons of a
woman and child were pressed against him on each side."
"We have also unearthed the skeleton of a 30-year-old man and a
10-year-old child, in whose grave a pot with unknown contents was found. We
have likewise found the remains of a young man aged 18-20 years. Judging by the
weapons with which he was buried, he was a rider and a master of both close and
long-range combat: to his right were fragments of bone cheekpieces and
fasteners for a horse bridle, and to the left - an iron battle-ax, bronze and
bone arrows, a Scythian short sword-akin with gold plating of the handle,
guards and a cap for the point."
"As for the stone circle, it is worth noting that it had a purely
structural function above all. The cromlech is an integral part of a massive
complex structure. The structure consisted of a stone circle set vertically.
There was a truncated cone on top of the circle. This allowed the ground to be
supported and prevented the mound from sprawling outwards. The mounds could
then be given other symbolic meanings. For example, one of the most famous
cromlechs in the world, Stonehenge, has at various times been interpreted as a
druid sanctuary or an astronomical observatory. It is also worth noting that
the oldest burials on the Novoalexandrovsky burial mound date to about 3,500
BC. This potentially suggests that the cromlech near the Dnieper is older than
Stonehenge."
"The cromlech's stones are very susceptible to weathering. They
came out on the bank of the Dnieper River. There was a rocky area starting from
Monastery Island and downstream. They looked for a crack, hammered a wooden
stake into it, and poured water over it. As the wood swelled with moisture, the
crack would widen. And so they repeated the procedure over and over again. And
finally, they would chisel away this piece of stone. That is why they are of
different shapes", explains the head of the archaeological expedition.
"Some of the cromlech blocks were broken off at the beginning of
the 3rd millennium during the Early Bronze Age. One of the stones was broken
off when another burial was made, and they managed to lift the monolith to the
top of the mound."
"The mound's exploration has not yet been completed. The best is
yet to come", says Teslenk. "In about a week, we will completely
clear the cromlech and space inside it, allowing the ancient structure to
be seen in virtually pristine condition. It's estimated that in just ten days
we will reach the most ancient burials inside the stone ring, if the weather
permits", Teslenko adds. "Certainly it is a foregone conclusion that
the individual buried and protected by the cromlech was highly respected by
this society. This is the only way to explain the monumental character of the
construction."
"All the samples will then be sent to Kiev and Germany for various
expert analyses. Precise scientific research by anthropologists, geneticists, and other specialists will shed light on many questions. For example, whether
the buried people from the same era were relatives, how they died, time of
death to an accuracy of 50 years, and more. The megalithic structure itself
will be partially restored, secured and a museum will be opened on the
spot", concludes Teslenko.
Source: Informator
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