Mirrors in the Burials of the Scythians of Herodot of the Northern Black Sea Coast of the Second Half of the Vth – IVth Centuries BC

Abstract

The article is devoted to analyzis of a data set of 162 Scythian female burials of the Northern Black Sea Region of the Vth –IVth c. BC with mirrors distributed according to the location of the mirrors, taking into account the anthropological definition, the presence of weapons in the burials and the their dating. According to archaeological data, all burials with mirrors are defined as female, 37 cases is confirmed by anthropological definitions, which suggests that the mirrors in the Scythians of the second half mark female burials exclusively. There are 6 clusters of mirrors by their location: 1) at the head, to the right and to the left; 2) to the right of the body; 3) to the left of the body; 4) in the legs; 5) under the body of the deceased; 6) other (in the entrance pit, in the dromos, remotely from the skeleton). In some of the female burials with mirrors, weapons were also found, making up in our clusters from 22 to 51 %, on average, about 34 %. But even in these graves the mirror is primarily as a female component, and the weapon is secondary. Women's burials with weapons at the Scythians do not constitute a special social or property group. Comparative analysis demonstrates significant differences in the use of mirrors between Scythians of the Northern Black Sea Region and Savromatians-Sarmatians.