I.N. Khrapunov

Crimean Federal University, Simferopol (igorkhrapunov@mail.ru)

Key words: Crimea, late Sarmatian culture, niche graves, grave goods.

Cemetery Neizats is situated approximately in 20 km to the east of Simferopol in a piedmont zone in the valley of the river Zuya. Grave goods from the publishing graves № 510 and 511 are dated back to the 3rd c. AD. The people, who lived in the valley of the river Zuya, were not conquered by the Germanic peoples’ campaigns to the Crimea in the middle of the 3rd c. AD. Before and after the campaigns they buried their relatives in the same graves. Niche graves is an admitted distinctive feature of the late Sarmatian culture. Among the ritual features human bones pulled together and horses buried in entrance pits of graves should be noted. The basis of grave goods is metal objects of Sarmatian type accomplished by the glass and red lacquer vessels, as well as antique beads. Some situated close to each other simultaneous graves from the cemetery Neizats are almost identical by the burial rite and similar with the objects from grave goods. Probably, they belonged to relative families. Their belonging to the late Sarmatian archaeological culture does not cast doubts. At the same time, some features of the ritual and grave goods distinguish them from the Sarmatian steppe burials and allow referring them to the local Crimean variant of culture. Some objects are not known outside the cemetery Neizats. They reflect cultural specifics of the group left the cemetery.