The exposed object, an "askos" type ceramic vessel, comes from the tumulus necropolis near the village of Ciumai, Taraclia district. The vessel was discovered in 2015 in a cenotaph tomb attributed to the Jamnaja culture, dated to the early Bronze Age (ca. 3300-2600 BC).
The vessel, with an obviously asymmetrical configuration, is hand-moulded from quality clay paste, having a smooth brown surface with gray spots. The body of the vessel is provided with a pronounced protrusion and a truncated neck with a wider opening towards the mouth. The vessel has a stem and is ornamented with three pairs of symmetrically placed relief appliqués. The height of the bowl is 15.5 cm, the diameter of the mouth is 11.4 cm, the diameter of the body is 15 cm and the diameter of the base is 7.5 cm. Such vessels in the archaeological literature are known as "askos" vessels, the respective term being of ancient Greek origin, denoting one of the primitive containers of the period - the bellows made of animal skin.
In prehistoric times, among some peoples, the bellows was transposed into ceramics, in these cases the basic features of the archaic leather vessel were preserved, acquiring a prominent convex shape with a stem and a flat bottom. From the original appearance of the bellows, the asymmetric mouth corresponding to the animal's neck has been preserved, and sometimes three or four legs, corresponding to the appendages of the flayed skin from the animal's legs. These vessels have lost their original zoomorphic character, entering as a new form in the inventory of Neo-Eneolithic ceramics. The first vessels of this type are attested in Greece, in the early Neolithic (ca. 5000-4500 BC) having the shape of cups or cups. In the Neo-Eneolithic Carpatho-Balkan cultures, the type of Aegean askos of short or tall form, with or without legs and with a handle, is found. Less often, they are provided with two mouths (one for filling and one for emptying) or they are off-center and provided with strangely shaped mouths. In the space between the Carpathians and the Dnieper, only tall forms of simple askos, without zoomorphic elements, are known. Askos-type vessels are present in various prehistoric cultures, especially in Southeast Europe and Anatolia.
Being often discovered in association with cult inventory, askos vessels could be an important indicator of use in religious ritual practices. Along with the zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and rhyton-type vessels (roughly conical container from which, in some ceremonies, liquids were drunk or poured), the askos were included in the category of vessels intended for worship, being related to libations (ritual act that consisted of tasting and then pouring a cup of wine, milk, etc. as homage to the deity).
Lamps in the funeral practice of the Scythians of the North Black Sea littoral
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică Chișinău, 2015
Abstract
The article analyzes the place of the lamps in the funeral practice of the Scythians of the Northern Black Sea littoral. Metal (bronze and iron), as well as wheel made and hand-made lamps are examined. It is indicated that the bronze and wheel made lamps are Greek imports; iron lamps are products of local blacksmiths; hand-made lamps are imitations of Greek wheel made models. A typology that takes into account the morphological features of all vessels is done for hand-made lamps. The wide spread of the lamps in Scythian burial complexes in the North Black Sea littoral in 3rd-2nd centuries BC in comparison with the previous time, testifies about transition to a sedentary way of life of Scythian population at this time and about Greek influence on its funeral practice and material culture.
List of illustrations: Fig. 1. Granite (1), iron (6) and bronze (2-5, 7-9) lamps from the monuments of North Black Sea littoral: 1 - burial 13/4 L’vovo (after Евдокимов 1992); 2 - barrow Baba (after Национальный музей 2013); 3 - Olănești hoard (after Сергеев 1966); 4 - barrow Chertomlyk (after Алексеев, Мурзин, Ролле 1991); 5 - barrow Oguz (after Спицын 1906); 6 - burial 4/2 of Strashnaya Mogila group (after Тереножкин и др. 1973); 7 - barrow 6 Bashmachka (after Спицын 1901); 8 - Central tomb of the Tolstaya Mogila (after Мозолевський 1979); 9 - household niche of the Lateral tomb of the Tolstaya Mogila (after Мозолевський 1979). Fig. 2. Wheel-made (1-13) and handmade (14-22) lamps from the Scythian burial monuments of the North Black Sea littoral: 1 - burial 16/1 of the Kugurluy cemetery (after Полин 2014); 2 - burial 18/2 of the Kugurluy cemetery (after Полин 2014); 3 - burial 24/1 of the Kugurluy cemetery (after Полин 2014); 4 - burial 67 of the soil cemetery Nikolaevka (after Мелюкова 1975); 5 - barrow 2J (33) of the Petukhovka cemetery (after Полин 1992); 6, 7 - barrow 3Q (53) of the Petukhovka cemetery (after Полин 1992); 8 - barrow 3S (56) of the Petukhovka cemetery (after Полин 1992); 9 - barrow 4B (59) of the Petukhovka cemetery (after Полин 1992); 10 - burial 1/1 Pervomaevka (after Евдокимов, Фридман 1987); 11 - East manhole of the Kara-Tiube barrow (after Болтрик 1993); 12 - burial 60/2 of the Aktash cemetery (after Бессонова, Бунятян, Гаврилюк 1988); 13 - burial 1/2 Lenino (after Яковенко 1970; Яковенко 1974); 14 - burial 49 of the soil cemetery Nikolaevka (after Мелюкова 1975); 15 - barrow 154 Parkany (after Мелюкова 1962); 16, 17 - barrow 159 Parkany (after Мелюкова 1962); 18 - barrow 173 Parkany (after Мелюкова 1962); 19 - barrow 402 Chobruchi (after Фабрициус 1951); 20 - barrow 405 Chobruchi (after Мелюкова 1962); 21 - barrow 9 Novovasil’evka (after Гребенников, Ребедайло 1991); 22 - burial on the earthwork of the Znamenskoe settlement (after Погребова 1958). Fig. 3. Bronze lamps (1-3) and bronze (5) and iron (4, 6-8) candelabras from the monuments of the North Black Sea littoral: 1, 4 - burial 31/1 of the Glinoe cemetery; 2 - Klimenkov hoard (after Яценко 1962); 3 - Artyuhovsky barrow (after Толстой, Кондаков 1889); 5 - barrow 24 (1876) on the Nymphaeum necropolis (after Силантьева 1959); 6 - burial 700 of the Ust’-Alma necropolis (after Пуздровский 2007); 7 - vault 620 of the Ust’-Alma necropolis (after Пуздровский 2007); 8 - burial 730 of the Ust’-Alma necropolis (after Пуздровский 2007). Fig. 4. Wheel made lamps from the Scythian cemetery of Glinoe on the left bank of the Lower Dniester: 1 - burial 2/2; 2 - burial 33/2; 3 - burial 37/1; 4 - burial 50/1; 5, 6 - burial 84/1; 7 - burial 88/1. Fig. 5. Typology of the hand-made lamps. Fig. 6. Hand-made lamps from the Scythian cemetery of Glinoe: 1 - burial l4/1; 2 - burial 7/1; 3 - burial 10/1; 4 - burial 11/1; 5 - burial 14/2; 6 - burial 17/1; 7 - burial 18/1; 8 - burial 18/2; 9 - burial 23/1; 10, 11 - burial 33/1; 12 - burial 38/1; 13 - burial 40/1; 14 - burial 49/1. Fig. 7. Hand-made lamps from the Scythian cemetery of Glinoe: 1 - burial 51/1; 2, 3 - burial 52/1; 4 - burial 54/2; 5 - burial 54/3; 6 - burial 55/1; 7 - burial 56/1; 8, 9 - burial 57/1; 10, 11 - burial 60/1. Fig. 8. Hand-made from the Scythian cemetery of Glinoe: 1 - burial 60/2; 2, 3 - burial 61/1; 4 - burial 63/1; 5 - burial 66/1; 6, 7 - burial 69/2; 8 - burial 74/1; 9 - burial 76/1; 10 - burial 78/3; 11 - burial 79/1; 12 - burial 86/1. Fig. 9. Hand-made lamps (1-5) as well as wheel made (6) and hand-made (7-12) vessels used as lamps, from the Scythian cemetery of Glinoe: 1 - burial 88/1; 2 - burial 91/2; 3 - burial 92/1; 4 - burial 96/1; 5 - burial 112/1; 6 - foot of the amphorae from the burial 41/2; 7 – foot-ring of the bowl from the burial 2/2; 8 - cup from burial 3/1; 9 - the bottom of the bowl from the burial 13/1; 10 - the lower part of the pot from the burial 17/1; 11 - cup from burial 76/1; 12 - the lower part of the jug (?) from the burial 80/1.
Сергей Разумов, Сергей Лысенко, Виталий Синика, Николай Тельнов
Early Bronze Age ritual complex from the left bank of the Lower Dniester
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Виталий Синика, Николай Тельнов, Сергей Лысенко, Сергей Разумов
Barrow 16 of the “Sluiceway” group in the Lower Dniester region
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XV [XXX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică, Chişinău, 2021
The exposed object, an "askos" type ceramic vessel, comes from the tumulus necropolis near the village of Ciumai, Taraclia district. The vessel was discovered in 2015 in a cenotaph tomb attributed to the Jamnaja culture, dated to the early Bronze Age (ca. 3300-2600 BC)...
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.