Oil lamps in the funerary rite of the Late Scythian population in Northwestern Crimea

The paper explores a group of pottery lamps and hand-made lamps from Late Scythian graves in Northwestern Crimea. In this region the tradition of placing oil lamps in the graves which appeared in the second half of the 2nd century BC persisted until the first half of the 1st century AD. The analysis of contemporary Late Scythian graves from Central Crimea and Southwestern Crimea has shown that this tradition was not widespread there. Close analogies have been found at the sites in the Lower Dniester region. Presence of similar elements in the funerary rites and ceramic assemblages may be used as evidence of either close contacts between the populations of these regions or resettlement of some Scythian groups from the Lower Dniester to Northwestern Crimea.