(Apol. Rhod. IV. 320) 1

(c) 2000г.

The problem of interethnic contacts in the Northern Black Sea region of the Early Iron Age has always been of great interest to researchers. Special attention was paid to the consideration of Greek-Barbarian interactions2 . However, to reconstruct a complete picture of the region's development and clarify many aspects of ethnic, economic, and political history, it is equally important to study the interethnic relations of various barbarian peoples. Certain steps have been taken in this regard in the study of the ethnic history of the Crimea 3, the borderlands of the steppe and forest-steppe 4 . As for the western periphery of the Eurasian steppe belt, where Thracian and Scythian societies interact, the situation is less clear.

In the framework of this article, we propose to consider one of the aspects of Scythian-Thracian relations, namely, the question of mixing ethnic groups, which is poorly provided with sources and therefore attracted little research.

Until now, the main focus has been on studying cultural and military - political contacts. Economic and, moreover, ethnic connections that characterize the cohabitation and, possibly, the fusion of northern Thracians and Scythians, with the exception of brief excursions in some works, 5 or were not studied at all, or

1 The article is based on the report given at the VII International Congress on Thracology: Andruh S. About the Character of the Scythian-Thracian Contacts in the Lower Danube in the 4th c. B.C. // The Thracian World in the Crossroads of Civilizations. The 7 th Intern. Congress of Thracology. Bucharest, 1996. P. 389-390.

2 The list of references on this subject is huge. For recent works containing extensive historiography, see Marchenko K. K. Barbarians as a part of the population of Berezan and Olbia, L., 1988; Samoilova T. L. Tyra in the VI-I centuries BC, Kiev, 1988; Krykin S. Thracian substratum in the ancient colonies of the Northern Black Sea region/ / Thracia. 1988. N 8; Vinogradov Yu. G. Politicheskaya istoriya Olviyskogo polisa VII-I vv. B.C. Moscow, 1989; Shcheglov A. N. Pozdneskifskoe gosudarstvo v Krymu: k tipologii hellenizma [Political history of the Olvian polis of the VII-I centuries BC] // Drevny Vostok i antichnaya tsivilizatsiya [The Ancient East and Ancient Civilization], L., 1989; Okhotnikov S. B. Nizhneye Podnistrovye v VI-V vv. B.C. Kiev, 1990; Shelov D. B. Problema graeco - barbarian kontaktov v epokhu grecheskoi kolonizatsii Severnogo Prichernomorya [Lower Transnistria in the VI-V centuries BC]. VDI. 1994. N 2; Vinogradov Yu. A. [The problem of Greek-Barbarian contacts in the era of Greek colonization of the Northern Black Sea region].. Marchenko K. K. Greki i scifi i Severo-Zapadnom Prichernomorye v V v. B.C. [The Greeks and Scythians in the North-Western Black Sea region in the 5th century BC]. VDI. 1995. N 1; Andreev Yu. V.The Greeks and Barbarians in the Northern Black Sea region]. VDI. 1996. N 1.

3 Khrapunov I. N. Essays on the ethnic history of Crimea in the Early Iron Age. Brands. The Scythians. Sarmatians. Simferopol, 1995; Olkhovsky B.C. On the population of the Crimea in Scythian times / / SA. 1982. N 4; on. До етничноi icтoрii давнього Криму // Археологiя. 1990. N 1; Puzdrovsky A. E. Population of the Crimean Scythia in the II century BC-III century AD (ethnopolitical aspect): Abstract of the thesis. .. Candidate of Historical Sciences. Kiev, 1993; Vysotskaya T. N. Etnicheskiy sostav naseleniya Krymskoi Scifii (Po materialam mogilnikov) [The ethnic composition of the population of Crimean Scythia (Based on the materials of burial grounds)]. Kiev, 1987.

4 Скорий С. Кочовики передскiфськоi та скифськоi доби в Днiпровському Правобережному лiсостепу (Питания етнокультурноi iсторii): Автореф. дис... Doctor of Historical Sciences. Kiiv, 1996; Skoryi S. A. Steblev: Scythian burial ground in Porosye. Kiev, 1997. pp. 64-76.

5 Melyukova A. I. Scythia and the Thracian World, Moscow, 1979. Archaeological data on Thracians in the territory of the USSR in the first millennium BC / / Ethnogenesis of the peoples of the Balkans and the Northern Black Sea region. Moscow, 1984. pp. 230-232; Yordanov K. Thraco-Scythica: ethno-cultural interactions // Etudes balkaniques. 1987. N 3; Bruyako I. V., Tkachuk M. E. Bessarabia of the VII-I centuries before Problemy skifo-sarmatskoi arkheologii Severnogo Prichernomorya [Problems of Scythian-Sarmatian archeology of the Northern Black Sea region]. Tez. dokl. konf. Zaporozhye, 1994. pp. 28, 30;

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they were interpreted as very weak and did not have a significant impact on the further development of these two worlds .6 However, it is necessary to clarify that the question of interethnic Frac-Scythian contacts was repeatedly raised in the study of the Greek colonization of the Northern Black Sea region and was made dependent on it.

It was noted that the places of settlement of the Greeks from the very beginning became the center of attraction of the autochthonous population, and since the Archaic period, the joint residence of Scythians and Thracians along with the Greeks can be traced here. This could probably lead to the mixing of ethnic groups, the conclusion of marriages between their individual representatives, and the formation of heterogeneous population groups. This process is most clearly traced in the lower reaches of the Dniester and Bug rivers, where a significant percentage of Scythian and Thracian stucco ceramics, with a predominance of the former, are found in rural settlements near ancient cities (to a lesser extent in the polis themselves). A small amount of Scythian-type pottery is also found in the Archaic layers of Istria and Tariverde. Absolutely all researchers dealing with the problem of Greek-Barbarian contacts emphasize that the presence of native dishes in Greek settlements indicates the direct presence of the local population. 7 The Thracian ethnic component in the settlements of the agricultural district of Pobuzhya and Transnistria is represented by immigrants from beyond the Danube 8, the Carpathian-Danube basin 9, and forest-steppe Moldavia 10 . As for migrants from Scythia, the analysis of Scythoid - type ceramics allowed K. K. Marchenko to assert that most of it should be attributed not to the mass settling of nomadic Scythians on the ground, but to the movement of natives of the forest-steppe to the Lower Pobuzhye 11 . Ceramics from the Archaic strata of the Greek settlements of the Transnistria and the Danube region are also associated with these population groups by I. V. Bruyako 12 . And only rare finds of vessels (type 1, variant A - according to K. K. Marchenko) 13 , typical of Scythian complexes of the IV century BC, allow us to speak about a small influx of representatives of nomadic Scythians to the areas of Greek colonization during the Archaic period. According to S. B. Okhotnikov, the discovery of a yurt-type structure in Nadlimansky VI should also be correlated with them .

Nevertheless, at present, due to the growing number of archaeological sources that complement the data of the written tradition, it has become possible to speak of an independent line of development of interethnic Scythian-Thracian relations, regardless of their dependence on Greek colonization. In our opinion, the archaeological materials marking the fact of joint residence of Scythians and Thracians, the logical conclusion of which is the mixing of the population, can be represented by the following set: stucco ceramics from settlements and burials as the most representative ethnoindicator15; multicultural burial complexes as part of burial grounds;

Tkaciuk M. Manifestarile culturale din sec. V-I a Chr. / / Thraco-Dacica. 1994. Vol. XV. 1-2. P. 225, 226; Andrukh S. I. Lower Danubian Scythia in the VI-early I century BC Zaporozhye, 1995. pp. 51-71, 107-117.

6 Melyukova A. I. New data on Scythian-Thracian relations in the IV-III centuries BC / / RA. 1995. N 1.

7 Marchenko street. Barbarians... p. 110; Okhotnikov. Lower Transnistria... P. 57; Shelov. Uk. soch. p. 102-104.

8 Melyukova street. Scythia... p. 142.

9 Marchenko street. Barbarians... p. 115.

10 Okhotnikov S. B. On the nature of Greek-Barbarian relations in the Lower Transnistria in the VI-V centuries BC / / Early Iron Age of the North-Western Black Sea region. Kiev, 1984. pp. 53, 54; Bruyako I. V. Demography and economy of the population of the North-Western Black Sea region in the second half of the VII-beginning of the III century BC. .. Candidate of Historical Sciences, St. Petersburg, 1993.

11 Marchenko street. Barbarians ... pp. 115-118.

12 Bruyako I. V. Scythian ceramics of ancient settlements of the Lower Transnistria of the VI-V centuries BC / / Cimmerians and Scythians. Tez. dokl. konfer. Ch. 1. Kirovograd, 1987.

13 Marchenko. Barbarians ... pp. 118-123.

14 Hunters. Lower Transnistria ... P. 58.

15 Other types of equipment, such as weapons, horse bridles, jewelry, etc., are not included here, as they may indicate not so much interethnic relations as cultural, trade, diplomatic contacts or be war trophies.

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borrowing some details of the funeral rite in the cult practice of both peoples. Anthropological data would be extremely important for solving this problem. However, unfortunately, they are available only for monuments of the settled population of the IV-III centuries BC of the Lower Transnistria, whose physical appearance shows the features of Scythians and southern Europeans-Greeks or Thracians .16

Interethnic contacts between Scythians and Thracians are most clearly reflected in written sources. Apollonius of Rhodes ' Argonautica, written in the third quarter of the third century BC, speaks of the presence of "Scythians mixed with Thracians" near the Danube estuaries (IV. 320). The same theme-the mixing of different peoples, even more extensive than that of the named author, is present in Strabo's "Geography". Strabo attributes the reason for this process to the migrations of different ethnic tribes in the Danube region: "... the Scythians, Bastarnae, and Sauromatians often overcame them (the Thracians - S. L.), so that in pursuit of the displaced, some of them even crossed the river and stayed to live either on its islands or in Thrace "(VII. 3.13). The geographer calls the final result of these movements a mixture of peoples and indicates the place of their residence: "... they live to the south of Istra... towards Pontus and the Propontis - the Getae, other Thracians and some Scythian and Celtic tribes mixed with them" (VII. 5.1). In another fragment, Strabo gives an even more expanded picture of the mixing of peoples: "... after all, even today these peoples (Scythians and Sarmatians. - S. A.) and the Bastarnian tribes live mixed with the Thracians, mainly on the other side of the Istrian, but partly on this side as well. Celtic tribes mingled with them" (VII. 3.2).

The use of Strabo's data is complicated by the combination of different events and peoples of different epochs. According to M. I. Rostovtsev, Strabo used the works of Artemidorus of Ephesus (late 2nd century BC) and Posidonius of Apamea (1st century BC) to describe the peoples of the Northwestern Black Sea region, in addition to his own observations, and the latter's favorite motif is the formation of mixed nationalities and their description .17 It should be noted, however, that the mention of the Scythians along with other peoples and the description of their movements should refer to an earlier time - at least, to the turn of the IV-III centuries BC, when they leave the political arena of the Northern Black Sea region.

Thus, the fact of mixing different peoples is reflected to one degree or another in the written tradition 18. However, the information of ancient authors does not give

16 Velikanova M. S. Paleoanthropology of the Prut-Dniester interfluve, Moscow, 1983.

17 Rostovtsev M. I. Scythia and Bosporus, L., 1925, pp. 137, 138.

18 Assimilation processes in the Northern Black Sea region at the end of the first millennium BC were apparently extremely common. Thus, Plutarch wrote about the mixing of Scythians and Celts in Maeotis and the appearance of the common name "Celto-Scythians", having as its source again Posidonius of Apamea (Pint. Mar. XI). Some" Scytho-Bastarnae "and" Celto-Scythians " were mentioned by Dion Cassius when describing the Roman conquest of Moesia (XXXVIII. 10.3; LI. 23.2). At the same time, ancient authors warned against blind trust in compound names, talking about cases of contamination of ethnonyms regardless of the actual reality and their arbitrary transfer to other ethnic peoples (Strabo. I. 2. 27; Plin. NH. IV.81). This warning for a long time predetermined distrust of the term "Celto-Scythians" and "Scytho-Bastarnae" (Rostovtsev. 39, 40), although in the above passages (VII. 3. 2; 5. 1) Strabo himself testifies to the mixing of these and other peoples. The reality of the ethnonym was assumed by me for the final date of Scythia Minor in Dobrudja and the time of the entry of Western Pontus into the anti-Roman coalition of Mithridates VI Eupator (Andrukh. Lower Danubian Scythia ... pp. 23, 110-112, 115-116, 146-147; it is the same. Lower Danubian Scythia in the VI-early I century BC (ethnopolitical aspect): Author's abstract of the thesis. .. Candidate of Historical Sciences. Kiev, 1992. pp. 5, 14, 15). A number of authors recently tried to substantiate the archaeological confirmation of it based on the materials of the Chaplin burial ground in the Upper Dnieper region (Eremenko E. V., Zhuravlev V. G. Chronology of the Chaplin burial ground of the Upper Dnieper variant of the Zarubinets culture / / Problems of Chronology of the Laten and Roman Times. Based on the materials of the First Tikhanov Readings, St. Petersburg, 1992; Eremenko V. E., Shchukin M. B. Cimbri, Teutons, Celtoscythians and some issues of chronology of the Middle and Late Latene boundary //Ibid.; Shchukin M. B. Na rubezhe er. SPb., 1994. p. 150, 151).

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answers to many questions, the most significant of which are the following: when did the process of mixing Scythians and Thracians begin; in what specific territory did it take place?;

what factors contributed to it; what strata of the population were included in it in different periods; what is the level of development of ethnogenetic processes in general and in discrete zones of dominance of Scythians and Thracians, in particular.

The complexity of this problem is due to a very long period of Scythian-Thracian contacts-from the turn of the VI-V centuries BC, when the Scythians began to develop the steppe areas of the Northern Black Sea region, and up to the end of the existence of Dobrudzha Minor Scythia at the beginning of the I century BC. The nature of these relations did not remain unchanged and varied depending on the political situation and the level of socio-economic development of both societies. Due to the qualitatively different type of interactions of the peoples under consideration in the structure of Scythia Minor, we will limit the upper date of the studied period to the boundary of the IV-III centuries BC, i.e., the time of the decline of Great Scythia.

As a result of many years of research on the Frac-Scythian relations, A. I. Melyukova came to the conclusion that despite the long-term and close contacts between the two barbarian ethnic groups, their synthesis and formation of a single ethno-cultural community did not occur, and we can only talk about the complementarity and mutual enrichment of both cultures with the priority of Scythian influence, and external influence can be traced mainly in culture and aristocracy 20 . The ethnic presence of Thracians in the Scythian environment is allowed by it only for the most recent period21 .

For the first time, the question of the Thracian-Scythian merger and even the formation of a syncretic Scythian-Thracian zone was raised by K. Yordanov22 . Based on an outdated thesis about the borders of the Scythians and Getae along the Dniester, he suggested that although since the penetration of the Scythians to the west of the Dniester, there has been a slight decrease in the Thracian population, however, since the VI century BC, the formation of a certain syncretic Scythian-Thracian community begins. According to the author, it lasted until the end of Scythian history and covered not only the entire area between the Prut and the Dniester, but in some periods also the coastal part between the mouth of the Dniester and the Southern Bug, as well as some part of Dobrudzha .23

While acknowledging with some reservations the validity of the researcher's conclusions for the period of the existence of Lesser Scythia in Dobrudja, we question his position regarding the earlier time.

According to the data of archaeological works carried out in the Budjak steppe in the 60s and 90s, it is now unequivocally recognized that the border between the Scythians and Thracians ran along the Danube .24 Moreover, the facts of cohabitation of Scythians and Thracians were not traced anywhere in the steppe part for an early time. This is noted, as indicated above, only in the area of operation of the Greek colonists.

Another attempt to group monuments of the early period, where Scythian and Thracian elements are combined, was made by M. Tkachuk and I. Bruyako25 . They identified the "horizon of Pyrzolteni-Danceni-Olonesti" of the end of the VI - end of the V century BC, which, according to the authors, is characterized by the original Scythian-Thracian cultural syncretism. Isolating such a horizon is illegal. First, it combines

19 Meltkova A. I. K voprosu o scifo-thracian vzaimosheniyakh v IV - nachale III vv. B.C. K voprosu o scytho - Thracian vzaimosheniyakh v IV-nachale III v. B.C. [On the issue of Scythian-Thracian relations in the IV-early III century BC]. New data... p. 30.

20 Same name. Scythia... pp. 252-254.

21 Same name. Archaeological data... p. 232.

22 Yordanov Street. Thraco-Scythica...

23 lordanov K. Les organisations etatiques en Thrace du nord-estjusqu'au mileu du IV-e siecle av. n.e. // Etudes balkaniques. 1986. N 1. P. 80; Yordanov. Thraco-Scythica ... pp. 70-79.

24 Andrukh S. I. Scythians of the Lower Danube region // Actual problems of historical and archaeological research. Tez. dokl. konf. Kiev, 1987; it is the same. Lower Danubian Scythia ... p. 4, 51-71; Melyukova. On the question of Scythian-Thracian relations ... p. 131; ona. New data... p. 28.

25 Bruyako, Tkachuk. Bessarabia...; Tkaciuk. Op. cit. P. 225, 226.

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different types (Scythian weapons, bridle, animal - style items-stucco ceramics, funerary rites) and, most importantly, at different times (late VI - V century BC-Pyrzolteni, Olonesti; late V - IV century-Danceni) signs. Secondly, the Scythian prestige items used in the cremation rite are characteristic of a large number of rich Thracian monuments of the Trans-Prut Moldavia, Dobrudja, and Bulgaria, which requires combining them into one group. This category of things indicates not so much direct contacts between the Scythians and Thracians, but rather cultural ties at the level of their aristocracy.

Thus, cohabitation and, possibly, the formation of heterogeneous societies by Thracians and the agricultural population of the forest-steppe with minimal participation of steppe nomadic Scythians for the Archaic period can be traced only near the Greek colonies. Moreover, this was caused not by the independent attraction of autochthons to each other, but by Greek colonization. In this case, we should be talking about the Hellenization or "mestizization of aborigines" by the Greeks, 26 and not about the Thracian-Scythian merger. With the final settlement of nomadic Scythians in the steppes of the Black Sea region, these ties were permanently interrupted and began to resume only at the end of the V-IV century BC.

As for the Scythian-Thracian relations directly, the initial stage - the end of the VI-V centuries BC - is characterized mainly by the confrontation of the Scythians and Thracians, caused by the pronounced expansionist policy of the former and their territorial claims.

Its decline became possible as a result of the establishment of diplomatic contacts and the conclusion of dynastic marriages, 27 which led to the stabilization of the borders along the Danube .28 We can mention another factor that negatively affected the development of interethnic relations - fundamentally different economic systems. The Scythians of the Archaic period were engaged in tabor nomadism, which assumed a mobile way of life, while the Thracians were farmers from ancient times. The proximity of two ethnic groups with such different systems of life activity suggested the emergence of not at all a parity relationship, but a desire to suppress and exploit farmers by nomads .29 The priority of the military-political orientation of relations narrowed the scope of contacts. They can be traced mainly in the penetration of prestigious items made in the Scythian animal style, and military equipment among the Thracian aristocracy. Taking into account the almost complete absence of Scythian burials in Dobrudja and the short-term presence of Scythians in the territory south of the Danube as a result of the campaign to the Thracian Chersonesus, it seems quite fair to us that many researchers have repeatedly suggested that most of the Scythian products got into the Thracian environment as a result of indirect rather than direct contacts between Scythians and Thracians. They were stimulated by the local aristocracy and did not involve the obligatory presence of Scythians in Thrace. 30

So far, there is only one case that is independent of Greek colonization.

26 Marchenko street. Barbarians... p. 132; Okhotnikov. Lower Transnistria ... p. 58, 59; Krykin. Uk. soch. p. 61.

27 Herod. IV. 78, 80.

28 Thuc. II. 97.

29 Khazanov A.M. Sotsial'naya istoriya scifov [Social History of the Scythians]. Moscow, 1975, p. 255.

30 Istoria Romaniei. V. 1. Bucuresti. 1960. P. 159, 166; Pippidi О.М., Berciu D. Din istoria Dobrogei. Geti si greci la Dunarea de jos. V. 1. Bucuresti. 1965. P. 102; Irimia М. Descoperiri noi privind populatia autochtona a Dobrogei si legaturile ei cu colonie grecesti (sec. V-I i.e.n.) // Pontica. 1973. N 6. P. 66; idem. Date noi privind asezarile getice din Dobrogea in a doua epoca a fierului // Pontica. 1980. N 13. P. 72, 73; История на Добруджа. Sofia, 1984. pp. 105-107.

31 The materials of the multi-layered settlement of Chobruchi on the left bank of the Lower Dniester River are extremely important for solving the problem under consideration. In the earliest, most powerful layer of it, dated by Greek import from the second half of the VI - first half of the V century BC, Thracian and Scythian stucco ceramics are recorded. This allowed the author of the excavations to believe that the formation of a heterogeneous community took place here (Shcherbakova T. A. Late Archaic horizon of the settlement of Chobruchi on the Lower Dniester / / Nikoniy i antichny mir Severnogo Prichernomorya. Odessa, 1997). To

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co-existence and, possibly, mixing of different ethnic populations - in the materials of the Chilik-Dere burial ground of the VI-V centuries BC on the right bank of the Danube, near Tulcea, where Thracian and Scythian signs are traced. However, according to G. Simion, who studied the monument, the latter were left by natives of the North Pontic forest-steppe, and not by nomadic Scythians .32 That is, in this burial ground, as well as on the monuments of Greek colonization in the Pobuzhye and Transnistria regions, one can trace the fact of the forest-steppe peoples moving south, and not the settling of the steppe Scythians .33

In the subsequent period, the situation changes radically. In contrast to the pronounced aggressive policy of the Scythians characteristic of the end of the VI-V centuries BC, its decline is observed from the end of the V and IV centuries BC, due to changes in the Scythian environment. The instability of society34, which was compounded by internal dynastic struggles35, certainly led to a significant weakening of the internal and external political position of Scythia. By the end of the fifth century BC, the Scythians were also moving from a nomadic camp to a semi-sedentary way of life, 36 the main feature of which is the active development of occupied territories and the struggle for their redistribution .37

The transformation of the economy 38 along with political instability contributed to the reduction of Scythian military activity and the search for new forms of interaction with surrounding peoples, and, in particular, to the stabilization and expansion of Scythian-Thracian relations.

In the context of the topic of ethnic mixing in the late fifth and early third centuries BC, it is necessary to consider it regionally, since different ethnic groups dominated to the north and south of the Danube. It is possible to allocate three relatively independent zones

Unfortunately, information about the monument has been published so far in the form of abstracts without illustrations and a complete analysis of the material, which does not allow us to get a clear idea of the composition of its population. The monument is located at a considerable distance from the zone of action of the Greek colonists and was probably founded by Autochthons, although the influence of the Hellenes on its life is undeniable.

32 Simion G. Getii la Dunarea de jos si civilizatia lor // Probleme actuale ale istoriei nationale si universale. Chisinau, 1992. P. 41, 44; idem. Getii si scitii dinspre gurile Dunarii // Carpica. 1992. XXIII. 1. P. 100, 104; idem. La population de la region du Bas-Danube aux VIIe-Ve siecles av. J.-C. // Starinarus. Beograd. 1994. XLIII-XLIV. P. 32, 35-38; idem. Pour une chronologie absolue de 1'age du Fer au Bas-Danube (avec un regard special en ce qui conceme la region istro-pontique)//The Thracian World... Bucharest, 1996. P. 120, 121.

33 K.K. Marchenko recently suggested searching for Herodotus '"Old Scythia" in the lower reaches of the Danube. He sees archaeological evidence for this in the finds on the monuments of Northern Dobrudja of stucco ware similar to the Scythian ceramics of the forest-steppe, horse bridles and weapons, and, most importantly, in the discovery of a series of burials of local nobility, in the funeral rite and inventory of which Northern Pontic features can be traced (Marchenko K. K. On the issue of the Scythian protectorate in the North-Western Black Sea region of the 5th century BC / / PAV. 1993. N 7. p. 45). Unfortunately, the article by P. Alexandrescu, which the author refers to when using these complexes, for objective reasons remained inaccessible to us. Without touching on the extremely controversial statement of the researcher about the location of the "Old Scythia" and its identification with the Scythia of Ariapyphus - Oktamasad, we note that even if the complexes he cites contain features of steppe nomads, this fact still does not allow us to talk about the mechanism of integration of newcomers into the local environment that has unfolded "at full capacity". This process affected only representatives of the highest aristocracy and is quite consistent with the information of Herodotus about the dynastic marriages of the top barbarian and Hellenic circles. There are no data on such relations between the middle and lower strata of the Scythians and Thracians.

34 Thuc. II. 97.

35 Herod. IV. 78, 80.

36 Gavrilyuk N. A. Strukturnye pervazheniya khozyaistva stepnoy Skifii [Structural transformations of the economy of steppe Scythia].

37 Andrukh. Lower Danubian Scythia ... p. 64, 65.

38. The factor of economic development, as one of the determining factors in the development of Scythian-Thracian relations, was partially considered by me (Before writing about the perebuvannya syufiv u Pivnichno-Zahidnom Prichornomor'i / / Archeologiya. 1991. N 1. pp. 31, 32; Lower Danubian Scythia... pp. 70, 71). See also Melyukova. On the issue of Scythian-Sarmatian relations ... p. 131; ona. New data... P. 29; Andrukh S. I., Sekerskaya O. P. II Archeologiya. (in print).

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interactions between Scythians and Thracians: the Budjak steppe (with adjacent areas of the forest-steppe and the left bank of the Dniester), as well as the Dobrudja and Brail Plain, which are divided by the Danube River into two relatively isolated areas, which also differ in landscape and climatic features.

At the end of the fifth and fourth centuries BC, the Bujak steppe was dominated by Scythians .39 However, already in the first half of the IV century BC, i.e. before the Scythian-Macedonian conflict, and not after it, as was previously believed , 40 Getae began to settle in the steppe. On the basis of early groups of amphora stamps, the foundation of the Pivdennoe and Gradenitsy III monuments is dated to the first half of the IV century BC41 and, possibly, a number of others known from exploration 42 . Arrian (I. 2-4) and Strabo (VII. 3. 8) mention the defeat of the Geta city on the left bank of the Danube by Alexander the Great.

The long-term proximity of the Scythian semi-nomadic and Thracian agricultural populations did not lead to a change in their cultures, but it had a significant impact on strengthening economic and cultural contacts and became a factor contributing to ethnic fusion.

The expansion of economic ties is recorded in the Budjak steppe by finds of Thracian-type jewelry-fibulas, bracelets, bells, etc. - in Scythian monuments of the Danube (Plavni, Gradeshka, Derwent, Mresnota grave, etc.) and Transnistrian (Tiraspol mounds) groups of burial grounds. The widespread use of single-edged swords in the Dniester-Danube region should be attributed to Thracian cultural interaction .43 Products of the Thracian type in the IV century BC spread up to the Dnieper river . These finds are present not only in the burials of the nobility, which was typical for the previous period, but also in the graves of ordinary community members. This once again shows that all strata of Scythian society were involved in direct trade contacts.

We particularly note the presence in Scythian mounds of stucco Geta ware, which is not a product category (Krikhana-Veke, Talmazy) 45, which indicates the penetration of some part of the Geta population into the Scythian environment. To an even greater extent, the possibility of such penetration and fusion of Scythians and Thracians is indicated by the manufacture of vessels, Scythian-in shape, but with Thracian decoration (Semenovka) 46 .

Scythian burials with cremation (Korzhevo, Dubossary, Chaush) are also known in the Budzhak steppe, which is sometimes interpreted as a combination of Scythian and Thracian traditions in the funeral rites .47 As tempting as it would be to use these materials in relation to our topic, we have to admit that the fact of cremation in this case cannot diagnose Thracian features. Burials with burnt corpses are occasionally found in monuments of steppe and Crimean Scythia since the Archaic period48 . Mostly about this kind of mutual influence, but most likely about the joint residence of Scythians and Thracians and their use of the same necropolis

39 Andrukh. Lower Danubian Scythia ... pp. 23-50.

40 Melyukova A. I. On the border between Scythians and Getae // Ancient Thracians in the Northern Black Sea region, Moscow, 1969, p. 66; ona. Scythia... p. 236, 237; Marchenko. Barbarians... p. 126, 127.

41 Andrukh. Lower Danubian Scythia ... pp. 69, 70.

42 Nikulitse I. T. Northern Thracians in the VI-I centuries B.C. Kishinev, 1987. Map 5.

43 Andrukh. Lower Danubian Scythia ... P. 40; Melyukova. Новые данные... С. 31; Okhotnicov S.B. The Thracian Elements in the Sites of the North-Western Black Sea Region Steppes 6th-lst Centuries B.C. //The Thracian World... Bucharest, 1996. P. 403.

44 See Melyukov. New data... pp. 32-34.

45 Antipenko E. O. Scythian mounds on the right bank of the Lower Dniester / / Problems of archeology of the Northern Black Sea region. Tez. dokl. konf. Kherson, 1990; Agulnikov S. M. Scythian antiquities of the Lower Poprutya / / Problems of Scythian-Sarmatian archeology... Zaporozhye, 1994.

46 Subbotin L. V., Okhotnikov S. B. Scythian burials of the Lower Dniester region // Antiquities of the North-Western Black Sea Region. Kiev, 1981. Fig. 2, 8.

47 Hunters. Lower Transnistria... P. 55.

48 Olkhovsky V. S. Pogrebno-pominalnaya obryadnost ' naseleniya stepnoy Scifii (VII-III vv. B.C.) [Funeral rituals of the population of steppe Scythia (VII-III centuries BC)]. Moscow, 1991, pp. 57, 87,99.

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materials from the burial ground near the town of Izmail can be used as evidence : inhumation and cremation burials with Scythian and Thracian implements and, most importantly, Thracian stucco ware were found here49 .

The materials of the Danchen burial ground are much more revealing for the problem under consideration. Of the 42 burials studied, 27 were performed according to the cremation rite and 15-according to the inhumation rite .50 Ethnic identification of the latter is difficult. The fact that two of them were made in type I catacombs that are not typical of the Getae suggests that they are Scythian. V. L. Lapushnyan also noted the similarity of four burials of the burial ground with a wooden structure with Scythian burials from the villages of Balaban and Butor. This conclusion is also confirmed by the fact that the inventory preserved in them after the robbery is typically Scythian. Dating of the inventory in conjunction with catacomb and burial rites without burial mounds, which became widespread in Scythia only from the end of the 5th century BC, allows us to attribute such complexes to the end of the 5th - first half of the 4th century BC. The Danchena burial ground probably also included a Scythian burial site from Suruchenka .

The process of interethnic fusion is also traced by the materials of the Geta settlements of the IV-III centuries BC, located in the steppe, on the border of the steppe and forest-steppe, and in the Lower Transnistria. In addition to Scythian weapons, Scythian stucco ceramics have been found in the settlements of Pivdennoye, Gradenitsy III, Troitskoye III, Khansk, Butucheny, Alchedar, Orlovka, Novoselskoye I 52 and others. Geta pottery is recorded in the Scythian settlement of Nikolaevka 53 . This picture is complemented by the discovery of a yurt at the Geta settlement Pivdennoe 54 .

Thus, all the listed data really indicate that in the steppe zone of the Danube-Dniester interfluve, on the border with the forest-steppe and in the Transnistrian region, there was a transition from confrontation to peaceful coexistence of Scythians and Thracians within the same region, due to the need to establish good-neighborly economic contacts. And this eventually led to the assimilation of individual representatives or groups of Scythian and Thracian ethnic groups.

A similar situation can be traced in the Thracian lands. As archaeological data show, the infiltration of the Scythians into Thrace, the next stage of which we date to the end of the V-IV centuries BC55, did not have disastrous consequences for the local population and, moreover, did not lead to the territorial division of ethnic groups. Thus, Scythian burial grounds (Kiskany, Murdzhanka) and individual burials (Lishkotyanka, Uniria, Skortsarun, Kiskany) dating back to the end of the V-IV century BC are located among the array of Geta monuments of the Brail plain 56 and indicate a long-term cohabitation of two ethnic groups.

An even more revealing picture can be traced in Dobrudja. At one time, V. Iliescu suggested that during the expansion of Atea in Dobrudja

49 Unfortunately, this monument was destroyed in the course of earthworks, and it is impossible to study it in detail. The material was collected and summarized by the former director of the Izmail Museum of Local Lore V. I. Chigorin in his thesis.

50 Lapushnians In L. Early Thracians of the X-beginning of the IV century BC in Forest-Steppe Moldavia. Chisinau, 1979. Table 8.

51 Melyukova street. Scythia... p. 144.

52 I. V. Bruyako and V. P. Haheu drew our attention to the materials of the last three monuments, for which we express our gratitude.

53 Melyukova A. I. Settlement and burial ground of Scythian time near the village of Nikolaevka. Moscow, 1975. pp. 45, 51, 56, 165-167. Fig. 20,22,48, I.

54 Salnikov A. G. Itogi polevykh issledovaniy u s. Pivdennoe (1960-1962 gg.) [Results of field research near the village of Pivdennoe (1960-1962)]. Issue 5, 1966, p. 186.

55 Andrukh. Lower Danubian Scythia ... pp. 93, 94.

56 Conovici N. Rez.: Melijkova A.I. Scifia i fracij.skij mir. Moscova. 1979 //Thraco-Dacica. 1981. Т. II; Sirhu V. Cimpia Brailei in secolele V-III i.e.n. Descoperiri arheologice si interpretati istorice//SCIV. 1983. 32. 1.

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a special "Scythian zone" was formed .57 According to archaeological materials, such a zone has not been identified. Moreover, there are no purely Scythian settlements founded, according to the author, by settled Scythians. As M. Irimia convincingly showed, the invasion of the Scythians did not disrupt the normal course of life of local tribes. 58

Some burials in the coastal zone of Dobrudja (Topraisar, Constanta, Constanta Sud, etc.) have typical Scythian features. On the other hand, the presence of a small amount of Scythian pottery in the Geta settlements of the IV-III centuries BC (Arsa, Albesti, Medjidia, Dinogecia, Yenisala) and in the burial ground of the burial ground discovered by Nicolae Balcescu indicates the possibility of a merger of some part of the Scythians with the Getae. Based on archaeological realities, M. Irimia rightly believes that the population of these settlements was mixed - Scythian-Geta, with a large admixture in the coastal zone of the Greek ethnos .59

It is possible that the fusion of Scythians and Thracians was also manifested in the most conservative element of culture - funeral rites. It is probably the Scythian influence that caused cremations performed in Type I catacombs in Geth necropolises, which were not previously known in the Geth world, but were typical of Scythia (Branichevo, Kelnovo, Zimnice) .60

Based on the above material, it is proposed to distinguish the following stages in the sphere of interethnic Frac-Scythian relations.

1. VI century BC - in the conditions of weak population of the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, representatives of Thracians, forest-steppe peoples and a small part of nomadic Scythians move and settle in the zones of Greek colonization. Interethnic marriages and "mestizos" of aborigines by the Greeks are likely.

2. The end of the VI-V century BC - the final development of the Northern Black Sea coast by the Scythians. The pronounced aggressive policy of the Scythians leads to the breaking of old ties. Military confrontation dominates in the Frac-Scythian relations. To mitigate it, the ruling circles establish diplomatic contacts, conclude dynastic marriages. Cultural interaction is carried out mainly at the level of the aristocracy.

3. Late V-IV centuries BC-changes in the political and economic life of Scythian society lead to a decrease in Scythian aggression. This made it possible to settle the Thracians in the steppe part of the Danube-Dniester interfluve and on the left bank of the Dniester, and the Scythians - on the Brail plain and in Dobrudja. Long-term cohabitation in close proximity contributed to the establishment of economic ties and, possibly, the conclusion of mixed marriages not only among aristocratic circles, but also between ordinary segments of the population.

However, it should be noted that the nature of interethnic contacts for these zones was not unambiguous. In the center of the Budjak steppe and on the left bank of the Dniester, where the Scythians dominated, the process of assimilation of the Getae that penetrated their habitat was possible. On the border of the steppe and forest-steppe, in the lower reaches of the Dniester and Danube, the tendencies of mixing ethnic groups were probably equivalent to 61 . The reverse situation is typical

57 Iliescu VI. Cu privire la coloniile grecesti din Dobrogea si la data constituirii territorului lor rural // Pontica. 1970. N 3. P. 95.

58 Irimia. Descoperiri... P. 62, 63; idem. Morminte plane si tumulare din zona litorala a Dobrogei... (sec. IV-I1 in e.n.) si problema apartenentei lor etnice // Thraco-Dacica. 1984. Т. V. 1-2. P. 75-82.

59 Irimia. Date noi... P. 66-70; idem. Morminte plane... P. 82.

60 Melyukova street. Scythia... p. 122, 123.

61 When specifying the course of the assimilation process and the share of ethnic groups involved in it, it would be possible to rely on the ceramic material of settlements. So, on the monuments of the left bank of the Dniester, the percentage of Geta and Scythian ceramics averages 20: 80, and on the right bank 65: 35 {Melyukova. On the question of the border... pp. 71-78; it is the same. Scythia... p. 143, 160, 161; Okhotnikov. On the character ... p. 57, 58; Krykin. Uk. soch. P. 61, 62; Okhotnicov. Op. cit. P. 403). The exception is the settlements of Gradenitsa III and Gradenitsa V on the left bank, where there is a decisive predominance of Geta ware over Scythian (Melyukova. Scythia... p. 162, 163). A small amount of Scythian ceramics (5-10%) is found at the site of the museum.

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for Thracian lands. The numerical predominance of the Getae caused the Scythians to settle and dissolve in their environment.

It is necessary to recognize that the process of mixing Scythians and Thracians at the end of the fifth and fourth centuries BC was at an initial stage, had a local character and did not acquire global proportions. Ethnic assimilation, as well as the stabilization and expansion of economic contacts, were long held back by military contradictions, most clearly manifested during the expansion of Atei. A real synthesis of ethnic groups and ethnic cultures and the formation of a syncretic Thracian-Scythian community did not occur. There was also no unifying ethnonym, as it was recorded, for example, for the barbarian population of the Crimea (Tauro-Scythians, Scytho-Taurians) 62 . All the above-mentioned ancient authors, although they talk about mixing Scythians and Thracians, nevertheless clearly distinguish between their ethnicity .63

Subsequently, the appearance of a common enemy, Macedonia, led to the establishment of allied relations between the Thracians and Scythians 64 and contributed to the deepening of ethnic and economic contacts. This is probably the reason for the Thracian advance to the east, which is reflected in the finds of Geta stucco ware in the burials of the third and second centuries BC of the group of Tiraspol mounds 65, settlements near the villages of Troitskoe, Gradenitsy, Chobruchi, etc. 66, as well as on the monuments of the Late Scythian culture in Lower Transnistria and the Crimea 67 . In the future, this type of relationship

Geta settlements of the steppe and forest-steppe borderlands (Melyukova. To the question of the border... p. 73; Nikulina. Uk. soch. p. 102). This indicator, although it fairly reliably reflects the ratio of ethnic groups in the population, should be used with caution. On the one hand, most of the monuments of the IV-III centuries BC in the lower reaches of the Dniester River are represented by the settlements of Chora Tyra and Nikonia (i.e., the factor of attraction of barbarians by the Greek civilization begins to work here again). Only settlements near the villages of Nikolaevka, Gradenitsy, Troitskoye, Chobruchi, and Pivdennoye are considered to be monuments of the local population. On the other hand, it should be taken into account that the Getae and Scythians were very different in the type of economy. If a sedentary way of life is typical for the Getae agricultural society, then settlements are not typical for the Scythian pastoralists. Only with the transition of the latter to semi-sedentary cattle breeding do they have monuments of sedentarism. This is most clearly seen again on the left bank of the Dniester. In the lower reaches of the Danube, only two monuments are known so far - the Etulia and Nagornoye camps.

62 Solomonik E. I. About the meaning of the term "tavroskifi" / / Archeologichni pamyatki URSR. XI. Kiiv, 1962. p. 154, 155; Olkhovsky B.C. Population of the Crimea according to ancient authors / / SA. 1981. N 3. pp. 54-56; 64; on. До етнiчноi icтoрii...; Храпунов. Uk. soch. S. 22, 24, 31, 32, 44, 46; Stolba V. F. Demograficheskaya situatsiya v Krymu v V-II vv. B.C. (Po dannym pis'mnykh istochnikov) [Demographic situation in the Crimea in the V-II centuries BC (According to written sources)].

63 Apparently, it is precisely in the fact of living together, which has begun, but is not yet completed, the process of mixing two ethnic groups, that we should look for the reason for the discrepancies in Justin (XII. 1. 4; 2. 16; XXXVII. 3. 2) and Curtius Rufus (X. 1. 44) on the direction of Zopyrion's campaign against the Scythians or Getae.

64 Died. XIX. 73.

65 Melyukova A.M. Scythian mounds of the Tiraspol region / / MIA. 1962. N 115. pp. 158, 159. In 1995-1997, a Scythian burial ground was investigated near the village of Glinoe in the Slobodzeya region, which is a component of the "mounds of the Tiraspol region". The burial material dates from the second half of the third to the beginning of the second century BC (Yarovoy E. V., Chetverikov I. A., Subbotin A.V. Novy kurgany mogilnik skifskoy kul'tury v Nizhni Podnistrovie [New burial mound of the Scythian culture in the Lower Dniester region]. Odessa, 1997; they are the same. Funeral rite of the Scythian burial mound near the village of Glinoe (According to the data of excavations in 1995-1997) / / Chobruch archaeological complex and issues of mutual influence of ancient and barbarian cultures (IV century BC - IV century AD). Tiraspol, 1997).

66 Melyukova street. To the question of the border... p. 77; Okhotnikov S. B. Archaeological map of the Lower Transnistria in the ancient era (VI-III centuries BC) / / Materials on the archeology of the Northern Black Sea region. Kiev, 1983. pp. 108, 109; Ochotnicov. Op. cit. P. 403; Shcherbakova T. A. To the question of the population of the Lower Dniester in III - the first quarter of the II century BC // Chobruchi archaeological complex... Tiraspol, 1997.

67 Vyazmitina M. I. Thracian elements in the culture of the population of ancient settlements of the Lower Dnieper //Ancient Thracians in the Northern Black Sea Region, Moscow, 1969; Melyukova. Archaeological data... p. 231, 232; Puzorovsky. Uk. soch. p. 8-10, 14, etc. The problem of Thracian migration to the Lower Dnieper region in the last centuries BC is extremely complex. Due to the territorial and chronological scope of this work, it is not considered here.

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it formed the basis for the formation of the multiethnic composition of Dobrudzha Minor Scythia with the predominance of the Geta ethnos and Geta cultural elements in it and the gradual dissolution of the Scythians in the local environment 68 .

"...THE SCYTHIANS MIXED WITH THE THRACIANS"

(Apol. Rhod. IV. 320)

S.I. Andrukh

Interpenetration of ethnoses is not a well-studied aspect of Scytho-Thracian contacts. The question was treated more than once by the historians who studied the Greek colonization of the North Pontic area, but the main attention was paid to Hellenization and "metisation" of the native population, not the Scytho-Thracian amalgamation.

Two groups of sources testify to the independent development of Scytho- Thracian contacts: (1) the evidences of Apollonius Rhodius (IV, 320) and Strabo (VII, 3, 2; VII, 3, 13; VII, 5, 1); (2) archaeological data (moulded ceramics from the settlements and burials, policultural complexes in burial grounds, borrowed elements in the burial rite). The author indicates three relatively independent contact areas: the Budzhak steppe, Dobrudzha and the Breil Plain.

The development of Scytho-Thracian ethnic contacts is devided into three periods. (1) The 6th s. ВС: the barbarians are attracted to the Greek colonization centres and metisized by the Greeks. (2) Late 6th -5th с. ВС: interethnic contacts for diplomatic reasons (to alleviate military tension) are usual among the aristocracy. (3) Late 5 th - 4 th s. ВС: the Scythians and the Thracians get mixed because of the changes in political and economic life of the Scythian society. In the 4th page. ВС the process of amalgamation was in its initial stage and was restrained by the military opposition. The rise of new common enemy, Macedonia, promoted alliance between the Scythians and the Thracians and strengthened the interethnic contact.

68 Andrukh. Lower Danubian Scythia ... pp. 107-117.

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