Сromlechs at the Kytaia necropolis   (chronology and ethno-cultural affiliation)

The article deals with ring stone structures – dolmens (or cromlechs) that were discovered at the Kytaia necropolis in the late 1990s – early 2000s in course of excavations of large crypts made of limestone blocks and slabs (Nos. 206, 300, and 263) and carved into continental clay (No. 344) and a rock massif (No. 265). The crypts were constructed and initially used not at the same time: Nos. 206 and 300 – in the Hellenistic period, No. 263, in terms of architecture, – no later than the early Roman, No. 265, according to the earliest material, – in the 2nd–3rd centu ries AD, and the last one – No. 344 – not earlier than the 4th century AD. It was common to all the crypts that four of these were entirely or partly surrounded with cromlechs, and in one case (the rock-cut crypt No. 265) the cromlech was built on top of the mound covering the crypt. Four of the five crypts were used secondarily and, accordingly, the cromlechs could appear simultaneously with them or later. Analysis of the offerings helped to establish that all the crypts were last used for collective burials with numerous funeral feasts, including the sacrifice of wild and domestic animals, lighting pyres, and ritual libations, which happened no earlier than mid-4th century AD. Only three cases show synchrony of funeral and com memorative ceremonies and the construction of the cromlechs as proved. Nevertheless, con structive resemblance between all the discussed cromlechs, and typological similarity of ritual remnants that were fixed within the cromlechs themselves, and inside the crypts, allow us to classify them as belonging to one of the Late Antique funeral and memorial cultures, where the cromlech (circle) as a Sun-symbol had a special meaning. The cult of the “life-giving Sun and Fire” was spread among the Indo-Iranians from ancient times; it was long-preserved and kept great importance in the worldview of the Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes in the times of Classical Antiquity. The author of the article suggests that cromlechs began to appear at the Kytaia necropolis in the second half of the 4th century AD (or later), which may be associated with one of the last waves of the barbarian (Sarmatian-Alanian) invasion, and the presence of the invaders in the Eastern Crimea.