Abstract
The cemetery of the Opushki is located in the centre of the Foothill Crime. During excavations conducted continuously since 2003, 399 burial structures of various types were discovered. The burials were made by the populations of various archaeological cultures. The northern part of the cemetery is occupied by the burials of the Late Scythian culture. They were made into burial vaults, undercut graves, and pit graves. The excavations at the Late Scythian part yielded Grave no. 21, distinguished by funeral rites not documented in any of the structures both in the cemetery of Opushki and in other Late Scythian cemeteries. This grave contained 20 deceased buried in tiers separated with soil layers; the grave was covered with soil and overlaid with stone slabs. So far, nothing similar occurred in the Late Scythian culture. Strictly speaking, from the funeral rites there is no reason to attribute Grave no. 21 to the Late Scythian (or any other) archaeological culture. However, it is surrounded by Late Scythian burial structures and contained corresponding set of grave goods. Therefore, one should not doubt cultural attribution of the buried persons. The grave goods discovered in the grave under study is poor and not expressive chronologically. By all appearance, this grave contained the burials made from the fi rst century AD to the fi rst half of the second century AD. In the area of the Opushki cemetery, amidst traditional Late Scythian underground structures, such as burial crypts, undercut graves, and pit graves, there were a few specifi c graves. Crypt no. 250 was a stone structure fi lled with the remains of the buried persons. Although burial Crypt no. 340 was dug into the ground, it contained various stone constructions. Currently, Grave no. 21 can be yielded to the group of unusual and unparalleled burial structures.
Keywords
Crimea, Late Scythian culture, Opushki Necropolis, burial structure.
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