Barrows of Scythian Age Near Velyki Budky Village in Sula River Basin

The paper is focused on the barrows of the Scythian Age, excavated near Velyki Budky village in Sula River basin (Romny district, Sumy region). In the last decades of the 19th and early 20th centuries they were excavated by Serhii Mazaraki, Nikolai Brandenburg, Dmitrii Samokvasov, Ivan Lynnychenko and, possibly, Vikentii Khvoika. According to the survey of kurgans in 1927, Mykhailo Semenchyk wrote that all the kurgans near the Velyki Budky village were excavated. These are several dozen kurgans located on the right bank of the Sula River and grouped into 4 groups. Three groups are localized to the east of the village: group I «Kapitalovshchyna» — on the plateau; group II «Provallia» was concentrated on a small cape at the confluence of the Khmelivka River with the Sula River; group III extended along the right bank of the Sula River. Most of the kurgans of these groups are loca­ted inside a large area surrounded by a rampart and a moat. The origin and dating of the defensive structures is unknown. Group IV «Popova Kaliuzha» was located west of the Velyki Budky village. The information about 11 excavated kurgans is available. It is preserved in the first publications and the inventory book of the Kyiv Art, Industrial and Scientific Museum (now the National Museum of the History of Ukraine). We can also ascertain the data on 6 barrows based on entries in the inventory book. The kurgan No. 1, excavated in 1897 by Sergii Mazaraki, sticks out among others due to the completeness of the data and the wealth of the items. However, much information about excavations and items is inaccurate and confusing. It is possible that further research will make a history of studies of kurgans near the Velyki Budky village more understandable, and the information about items is more reliable

Cape · Dozen · River valley · Structural basin · West bank · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Historical and Archaeological Studies · Medieval European History and Architecture