THE OLDEST TRANSPORT ARTERY OF SCYTHIA (Lower Hypanis — middle course of Borysthenes Track)

The article examines the connection between the archaeological sites of the pre-Scythian and Scythian times and the key watersheds of Right Bank Ukraine, as routes of potential overland communications that used to move goods in ancient times. One of the impetuses for turning to this topic was the discovery of four archaic amphorae (one whole from Klazomenai, others from Lesbos) at the recently discovered Khotynets hillfort in Poland, which is located in the extreme west of the country of the Early Iron Age hillforts of southern Eastern Europe. These finds of amphora containers in the area of Vyshnia and San valleys convincingly testify that trade caravans could reach this distant region from the Black Sea coast using only the land route. For its time, land communications were optimal, as they provided relatively reliable movement with a heavy load, along a path practically devoid of sharp descents and ascents. Key attention in the article is given to one of the most ancient routes that connected the northern coast of the Black Sea with settlement structures in the Middle Dnieper region. The extreme points in this transport system were pre-Scythian hillforts — Dykii Sad located at the confluence of the Ingul and Southern Bug rivers and its potential northern partner Subotivske in the Tiasmin basin. During the Scythian rule in the Black Sea steppes, this route continued to be actively used. However, over time, the final trade terminals changed, and the route of trade caravans remained. Merchants from Olbia and the harbors of the northern coast of the Black Sea used the eastern edge of the Southern Bug basin as a reliable route to the fortified settlement structures of the forest-steppe Right Bank, among them Matronynske and the Trakhtemyrivske hillforts. Given the shallow depths near the coast of Olbia, the authors consider the harbour of the little-explored ancient hillfort of Hlyboka Prystan as a likely place for unloading sea vessels with a deep draft. From this harbour opened a convenient way to the hillforts of the Forest Steppe, just using the oldest transport artery of Scythia.