Funeral complexes of the Globular Amphora culture from the vicinity of Ostrog, Volhynia, Ukraine

Abstract

A funeral complex of the eastern group of the Globular Amphora culture was excavated in an Eneolithic cemetery at the Ostrog-Zeman site, Volhynia, Ukraine, in 2006. The complex consisted of a human tomb and an animal burial located nearby. The tomb, built of small stone slabs and oriented with its long sides along the east-west axis, was divided into two almost identical parts (chambers) – eastern and western. А pot and an amphora were deposited in the eastern chamber, near the transverse wall. At least four people were buried in the western part, destroyed in modern times. The furnishings of this part comprised four amphorae and one bowl. Two meters to the northwest of the tomb, an animal burial without any artefacts was found; it included three skeletons of cattle (bulls) and one of a young pig. Analysis of pottery showed that it belonged to the period around 2950 BC and was synchronous with the early graves of the Volhynian subgroup, e.g. in Tovpyzhyn and Mykolaiv. At the same site, relics of a Globular Amphora culture settlement were also discovered, represented by pottery clusters. To some extent, they confirmed the relative chronology established for the tomb. In the context of these new discoveries, materials from the tomb recovered in 1900 in Mezhyrich-Filvarka (actually – Mezhyrich-Pidvarka), located in the vicinity of Ostrog, are re-analysed and re-published. The relevance of the re-publication stems from the need to clarify the technical details of the description of items from the tomb and their proper graphic documentation.