Igor N. Khrapunov
Crimean Federal University, Simferopol, Russia
E-mail: igorkhrapunov@mail.ru

Keywords: Crimea, the Late Roman period, necropolises, archaeological culture, the Neyzats culture, Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Germans. 

In Crimea, a group of sites representing necropolises has been discovered and partially explored. They are located in the piedmont areas of the peninsula, dating back to the 2nd – 4th centuries BC. The sites share certain similarity, while differing in the most significant characteristics from all other archaeological sites. The necropolises together form a single archaeological culture. It can be called the Neyzats archaeological culture after its most comprehensively studied site – the necropolis of Neyzats. This culture is eclectic in many respects, distinguished by signs of different origins. Handmade vessels provide a striking originality to it. Despite some borrowings, the handmade pottery complex is not reduced to any of the well-known pottery traditions, nor to the sum of any traditions. Another feature of the culture is the lack of settlements. None of the necropolises is associated with a dwelling structure. Most of the necropolises ceased to be used at the late 4th – early 5th century, at the time when, according to written sources, the Huns appeared in the Northern Black Sea region.

DOI: 10.31857/S086960630004115-5