New finds of sarmatian cauldrons in the Lower Don region

In 2015 the Sochi expedition of the Institute of Archaeology, RAS, excavated kurgan cemeteries known as Chebotarev III-V, Kamyshevakha X, and Nesvetay II and IV. Four of these sites have yielded bronze cauldrons and their fragments as part of the funerary assemblage: Chebotarev IV, kurgan 2, burial 1; Chebotarev V, kurgan 1, assemblage I; Kamyshevakha X, kurgan 1, assemblage I; and Nesvetay IV, kurgan 3, burial 1. The examination of morphological and technological characteristics of the cauldrons demonstrates that all cauldrons refer to variants of type VI, which was the most common type in the Middle Sarmatian period, especially, in the 1st century - first half of the 2nd century AD. The cauldrons were made according to the same manufacturing technology. The available limited material demonstrates three variants of the funerary rite with the use of cauldrons: placement of cauldron fragments inside the burials; placement of broken cauldrons into the kurgan mounds; and placement of the cauldron into a niche in the burial used as a hiding place...