Semyon A. Volodin

Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow, Russia (volodinsaimon@gmail.com)

Keywords: Middle Don, flat graves , burials in settlements, burial traditions, Scythian period.

The first discovery of Scythian f lat graves in the course of excavations at Semiluki and Mostishche fortified settlements in the 1980s gave rise to a discussion in the scientific community as to the interpretation of such burials. One opinion is that in the Scythian period barrow burials for the nobility in the Don region will have existed synchronously with f lat graves for the ordinary local population. The other opinion argues that f lat graves are an “abridged” version of the funeral ritual and will have been used in settlements in extraordinary circumstances only. In the last 25 years f lat graves have also been discovered at Buzenki‑2, near Kamenka, Kulakovka‑2, and on the territory of the Ksizovo complex (Ksizovo‑16, Ksizovo‑19). What we can say at present is that the tradition of f lat graves indeed existed in the Middle Don region in the Scythian period, but the circumstances and scope of its use can only be determined in the course of further field studies.