An expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences discovered in the Crimea a necropolis of the Roman time with anthropomorphic gravestones and steles with masks.

The find is reported by the press service of the scientific institution.

In the necropolis of the 1st-4th centuries, scientists discovered a large collection of anthropomorphic stone statues belonging to the late Scythian culture - more than 60 gravestone steles.

The discovery was made during the study of the Kil-Dere earthen burial ground near Sevastopol during archaeological works preceding the construction of the Tavrida highway.

“This is perhaps the most significant and important in terms of its scientific results, excavations of the Institute of Archeology in Crimea in 2020,” noted the director of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Nikolai Makarov.

“The opportunity to study on a wide area one of the few burial grounds of the Roman time allowed to accurately document its structure, spatial organization and added new material to the characterization of the“ barbarian population ”- the closest neighbors of Chersonesos, which were strongly influenced by ancient culture,” he added.

As the scientists note, the excavations also made it possible to establish the scale of the “black diggers” actions on the archaeological sites of Crimea.

According to archaeologists, only 14 out of 232 burials were not looted.

  • Kil-Dere burial ground.

    View from a quadcopter

  • © Press Service of the Institute of Archeology RAS

The Kil-Dere burial ground itself, discovered by scientists in 2018, is located on the slopes of a steep high hill in the Inkerman Valley, which was densely populated in the Roman era.

During excavations, archaeologists discovered three types of burials: with one or two lining with stone mortgages of burial chambers, graves with stone boxes and burials with ashes in an amphora.

In total, during the work, scientists discovered 63 different types of gravestones: anthropomorphic steles, gravestone steles with masks and bases for steles.

At present, this is the most significant collection of gravestones from the “late Scythian” burial grounds of the Crimea from the Roman period - earlier in the nearest large necropolises only 15 such gravestones were found.

“Such stone tombstones were probably erected over the burials of noble people.

Judging by such a large number of steles, it can be assumed that the Kil-Dere necropolis had a special status for the vicinity of Chersonesos and the entire southwestern Crimea in the Roman era, ”said the head of archaeological work Oleg Sharov.

Among the finds from Scythian burials, archaeologists note memorial gifts: ceramic red-lacquered dishes made on a potter's wheel, glass vessels, metal products.

According to scientists, objects made of precious metals could be among the finds, however, they were most likely stolen by thieves.

The results of the analysis of artifacts showed that the burial ground began to function at the turn of the 1st-2nd centuries and ceased to exist at the end of the 4th century during the era of the Great Nations Migration.