Equestrian and Horsemen Burials of the 4th – 3rd Centuries BC from the Burial Ground of Starokorsunskaya-2 Settlement

Fifteen horsemen burials dating to the 4th – 3rd centuries BC were excavated at the Starokorsunskoye-2 burial ground. The burials were made in wide rectangular pits, occasionally discernible only as soil discolorations. The deceased horsemen were interred stretched out on their backs, with their heads to the southeast or east-southeast. The buried were accompanied by horses, placed to the right or at the feet of the owner. In some cases, the whole carcass of a horse was replaced by a skin (stuffed animal) with cranial and limb elements. In two burials, equine skeletal remains were missing, but harness components were found in all the burials. In addition, grave goods comprised diverse inventory artifacts: weapons, amphorae and other imports, local pottery, and other items. The standard bridle assemblage consisted of two-piece bits with rigid cheek-devices and cheek-pieces of different types: two-hole rod-shaped, C-shaped, S-shaped, and paddle-shaped varieties. Protective horse equipment is represented by headplates and cheekplates. Warrior accoutrements incorporated Sindo-Maeotian-type swords, spears, arrows, and occasionally darts and combat knives. The general chronology of the burials is limited to the second quarter of the 4th to early 3rd century BC. Precise dating of most of the complexes is set within a quarter of a century on the basis of joint finds of Greek amphorae from different Mediterranean production centers. In general, the material shows that during the 4th – 3rd centuries BC, the Maeotians, who inhabited one of the largest settlements on the right bank of the Lower Kuban, maintained a stratified social structure with an equestrian elite. Their well-equipped cavalry was not inferior to a similar military contingent from the eastern frontiers of the Asian Bosporus and in the Trans-Kuban regions in either quality or sophistication.