tsetskhladze, who buid thracian royal tombs
TRANSCRIPT
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 1/38
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL ANDELITE TOMBS?
To my Bulgarian friends and colleagues.
Summary. This paper discusses the complex and controversial problems of Scythian and Thracian royal and e lite tombs of the fifth/fourth centuries BC.
The similarities beween them are too great to be explained simply as
coincidence. Although the inspiration for the type of chamber tomb might have
been local, the architecture, painting and many other features show that
Ionian Greeks were constructing them for the local e lite. This conclusion is
strongly supported by the close similarities between these tombs and those of
the rulers and e lite of the Bosporan Kingdom in the Kerch and Taman
Peninsulas of a similar date.
INTRODUCTION
Since the discovery of the Scythian,
Thracian and Bosporan royal and elite tombs
in the nineteenth century much literature has
been devoted to them.1 The main question
addressed by many scholars is that of theorigin of these grand stone burials.
. . . The masonry of all is clearly Greek,though the plan rather suggests the
Mycenaean period. Are we to see in it asurvival of the old method of burial among
the Milesian descendants of the ancient
race? Are we to ascribe this way of
building tombs to the influence of Asia
Minor, if this be not saying the same thing
in other words, or should we not rather
regard these as the translation into stone of
the wooden roof and earthen pit with a
gallery leading down to it which formed
the typical Scythian grave? . . .
This is how E. Minns (1913, 194) viewed the
origin of the Scythian royal tombs.
Some academics have linked the
appearance of the Scythian royal and elite
stone chamber tombs to the evolution, from
simple, local constructions in wood, of theso-called ‘Timber’ cultures which werespread widely through the Eurasian steppes
in the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age
(Minns 1913, 194; etc.).2 Other scholars have
found prototypes for the Bosporan royal and
elite tombs in the local tent type burials of the
sixth-beginning of the fourth centuries BC in
the Kuban region (Blavatskii 1955; 1964,
78). V. Gaidukevich stated that the form of
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 17(1) 1998
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UKand 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. 55
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 2/38
these tombs (particularly the circular ones)
originated outside the region, perhaps inThrace (1971, 271); V. Fedak agrees with
him (1990, 169). A. Ivanova (1953, 69) links
them to influences from Asia Minor orThrace. Y. Boltrik and E. Fialko suppose
that Bosporan masons under the supervision
of a Scythian priest participated in the
construction of the Scythian tomb Oguz
(1989, 98).The origin of Thracian royal and elite
stone chamber tombs is another difficult
question, much debated. The close similari-
ties between them and Macedonian
(Tomlinson 1974; Valeva 1994a; etc.) andPhrygian tombs, as well as their local proto-
types, have been noted by many scholars (see
below). R. Hoddinot (1975, 98) writes:
The origin of the craftsmen with the skill
not only of brick-making but of building
circular domed chambers is, as is their
fate, an unsolved mystery. Perhaps aconsequential benefit of Seuthes’ relation-
ship with Antigonos was a visit from
Graeco-Syrian craftsmen who took their
secret with them when they departed or
died.
J. Boardman (1994, 191) thinks that Greek or
Macedonian masons might have been
employed in the building of the barrel-
vaulted tombs in Thrace.As this short and far from full
historiographical excursus demonstrates, the
problem of the origin and ethnicity of thearchitects and masons constructing the
Scythian and Thracian (as well as Bosporan)
stone chamber tombs is a matter of confusionand scholarly debate. I am convinced that
before investigating the origins of these
tombs, the main question to be asked and
answered is: who built the Scythian and
Thracian royal and elite tombs? The
inspiration for the type of tomb could indeed
be local burial practice but the realization of
it required skills and knowledge.
SCYTHIAN TOMBS
Thanks to Herodotus3 and archaeological
evidence, the Scythians have long been
known to scholarship and the literature about
them is extensive.4 However, many questions
connected with them are the subject of debate.Currently, in Russian and Ukrainian historio-
graphy many problems are being looked at
anew and reinterpreted (Murzin 1984; 1990;
Murzin and Skory 1994; Alekseev 1992;
Pogrebova and Raevskii 1992; Andrukh1995; Marchenko and Vinogradov 1989;
Melyukova 1989, 33–80; Olkhovsky 1991;
Davis-Kimball et al. 1995, 5–82; Chlenovaand Martynov in Genito 1994, 499–540 and
643–50; etc. Cf. Chernenko 1987, 3–12).
According to the latest investigations, the
Scythians appeared in the steppes of the
northern Black Sea region from northern
Siberia at the beginning to middle of the
seventh century BC. The middle to end of theseventh century is thought to be the period of
the Scythian movement to the Near East and
also of the migration of the vast majority of
the remaining Scythian population from the
steppes of the northern Black Sea to those of
the North Caucasus. At the end of the seventh/
sixth century BC the Scythians returned fromthe Near East, settling mainly in the present
day Kuban and Stavropol regions. The end of
the sixth-beginning of the fifth century BCsaw the final establishment of north Black Sea
Scythia, based in two centres: one in the
Crimean steppes (not far from the futureBosporan Kingdom) and the other in the
Lower Dnieper area (not far from Olbia). It is
at this period that close relations between the
Scythians and the Greek cities of the northern
Pontus began (Murzin 1984, 92–104; 1990,
66–78).
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
56 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 3/38
The number of known Scythian graves
varies over time. It is, as yet, not possible todate many of them precisely. For the middle
seventh-beginning of the sixth century there
are 6 graves; for the sixth century, 21; forthe end of the sixth-beginning of the fifth
century, 12. Altogether, 39 graves (Murzin
1990, 51; Olkhovsky 1991, 56; Melyukova
1989, 54). More than 2500 date from the
fourth century BC (Melyukova 1989, 54).5
The reason for the small number of Archaic
graves in the north Black Sea steppes is that,
in the seventh/sixth centuries, the Scythian
tribes used to live mainly in the steppes of
the northern Caucasus — which is where thegreat majority of Archaic graves have been
found (Murzin 1990, 52–4; Makhortykh
1991, 17–81) (Fig. 1). Only a few richScythian royal and elite tumuli are known
for the Archaic period (Kelermess,
Melgunov’s barrow, Krasnoe Znamya
tombs, early Ulskie, Kostromskoi), all
situated in the present day Kuban and
Stavropol regions (Murzin 1984, 104). In
the fifth century the number of royal tombsincreases but most date from the fourth
century BC (Figs. 2–3).6
The chronology of the Scythian royal and
elite tombs of the Classical period is very
complex and much disputed. It is based
largely on the study of Greek imports
(particularly amphorae and amphora stamps)found in the tombs. Thus the dating of the
burials depends on the accuracy with which
the chronology of the amphorae and amphorastamps has been reconstructed; there have
been several changes already to the
chronology of amphora stamps with theinevitable consequences for the dating of
the burials (Melyukova 1981, 101–7;
Alekseev 1992, 144–57; Monahov 1995/96).
Another problem is that scholars disagree
over which tombs are ‘royal’ and which not.
The latest chronology and identification of
royal tombs (Alekseev 1992, 156–7) is as
follows:
Four chronological groups.
Group A (end of fifth to first half of fourth
century BC):Solokha,7 Berdyansk Kurgan,8 Kazennaya
Mogila.
Group B (c.360/350–330/320 BC):Tolstaya Mogila,9 Tsimbalka, Chmyrev
(initial burial), Shchulgovka (initial burial),
Bashmachka.
Group C (c.340–320 BC):Chertomlyk,10 Kul-Oba, Melitopolskii,11
Oguz (initial burial),12 Kozel, Chmyrev
(secondary burial), Deev (initial burial),
Zheltokamenka (initial burial), Pyatibratnii
No. 8, Mordvinovski Nos. I and II,
Vishnevaya Mogila(?).
Group D (c.330–300 BC):
Aleksandropolskii, Krasnokutskii,13 Oguz
(later complexes),14 Deev (secondary burial),
Shchulgovka (secondary burial), Leme-shev(?), Ryzhanovka, Denisova Mogila,
Verkhnii Rogachuk (secondary burial),
Babina Mogila, Kamenskaya Bliznitsa.15
The burial customs of the Scythian elite
are very well described by Herodotus (4.71–
73) and have been studied thoroughly byscholars (Bunyatyan 1985; Olkhovsky 1991;
Raevskiy 1993, 15–23; Bessonova 1983;
Kamenetskii 1995; Rolle 1989, 19–37;Semionov 1993; etc.). Neither the burial rites
(Bunyatyan 1985; Olkhovsky 1991; etc.) nor
the role of Greeks living in the Greek citiesof the northern Black Sea in the creation of
Scythian elite culture16 is the subject of this
paper. I shall focus only upon the architecture
and design of Scythian royal and elite tombs,
and later upon Thracian ones in the fifth and
fourth centuries BC.
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 57
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 4/38
Scythian royal and elite tombs of the
Classical period, especially those of the
fourth century BC, are concentrated on both
banks of the Lower Dnieper, in the Azov area(Don) and the Crimea (Melyukova 1989, 54)
(Figs. 4–5).17 The vast majority are situated
in the Lower Dnieper area, which is whereHerodotus located the special place of burial
of the Scythian kings — Gerrhi.18 Some of
them re-used the tumuli of the Bronze Age(Tumulus 1 not far from Kherson, Ostraya
Tomakovskaya Mogila, Malaya Tsimbalka)
but most tumuli were built specially for
burying the elite, and were constructed in
several stages (Melyukova 1989, 54).
The chief characteristic of these tombs is
the earth mound, the usual height of which
varied between 3 and 21 m and the diameter
between 30 and 350 m. By the height of themound they are divided into four groups
(Mozolevskii 1979, 152): tombs 3–4.5 m
high;19 5.7–7.5 m high;20 8–11 m high;21
and 14–21 m high.22
Another feature is thestone chamber and the dromos leading to it
— antechambers were rare. Usually, the
chamber was rectangular. The chamber hada step-vaulted stone roof (Oguz) (Fig. 4). The
chambers are very large and their height
varies between 4 and 14 m. Some tombs have
several chambers (Solokha, Verkhnii
Rogachik) (Fig. 4). There are several types
of tumulus, recently very well described and
Figure 1
Scythian sites in the northern Caucasus
1–Novokorsunskii; 2–Baturfinskaya; 3–Radzol’naya; 4–Ust’-Labinskaya; 5–Starokorsunskaya; 6–Ulyap (Ul’skii
Aul); 7–Kelermess; 8–Mokhoshevskaya; 9–Kostromskaya; 10–Novosobodnaya; 11–Podgornaya; 12–Besskorbnaya;
13–Kovalevskoe; 14–Stavropol’skie Kurgany; 15–Alekseevskii; 16–Krasnoye Znamya; 17–Sotnikovskoe;
18–Lermontovskii Razyezd; 19–Novozavedennoye; 20–Otkaznoe; 21–Nartan; 22–Gvardeiskoe. (After Petrenko
1995, 2, Map 2)
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
58 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 5/38
Figure 2
Scythian burials of the seventh-fifth centuries BC
I–catacomb grave; II–stone box (stone chamber); III–pit grave; IV–wooden tomb; V–mud-brick tomb; VI–type
pottery; VIII–burials of seventh-sixth centuries BC; IX–northern border of 1–Ogorodnoe; 2–Shevchenkovo; 3–Chervonyi Yar; 4–Artsyz; 5–Kholmskoe; 6–Rahkmanovka; 7–Novofilippovka; 8–Konstantinovka (Zaporozhskaya Reg
Luparevo; 13–Adzhigol; 14–Petukhovka; 15–Novoranzanovka; 16–Novovasilevka; 17–Roznovskii kurgan; 18–Kurgan Baby; 19–Raskopana Mogila; 20–P
kurgan; 24–Grushevka; 25–Timofeevka; 26–Novoalekseevka; 27–Shirikoe II; 28–Novokievka; 29–Kurgan Molaya Tsimbalka; 30–Semenovka; 31–Pervoko
Lyubimovka; 35–Sholokhovo; 36–Shakhty; 37–Chabantsova Mogila; 38–Zavadskie Mogily; 39–Ispanovy Mogily; 40–Pridneprovka; 41–Pervomaevka;
Dneproprudnoe; 45–Dnepryany; 46–Gusarka; 47–Verkhnetarasovka; 48–Vel. Znamenka; 49–Dubovyi; 50–Kichkas; 51–Bashmachka; 52–Voloshskoe; 53
Pereshchepino; 57–Vladislavska; 58–Minovka; 59–Verkhnyaya Maevka; 60–Aleksandrovka; 61–Obitochnoe; 62–Vladimirovka; 63–Konstantinovsk-na-Don
68–Rostov-na-Donu; 69–Raiskoe; 70–Elizavetovskii Mogilnik; 71–Krivorozhe; 72–Astantino; 73–mys Ak-Burun; 74–Adzhimushkai; 75–Kashtanovka; 76–
eximenie Bobovicha; 81–Mirnoe; 82–Fruktovoe; 83–Beloglinka; 84–Dolonnoe; 85–Arshyntsevo; 86–Martynovka; 87–Tankovoe; 88–Simferepol; 89–sovk
Izyumovka; 93–Zolotoi kurgan (? – GT); 94–Filatovka; 95–Frontovoe; 96–Temir-gora; 97–Semenevka (Aktashskii mogilnik); 98–Rybnoe; 99–Nymphaeum;
Melyukova 1989, 50, Map 6)
OXF ORD J O UR NA
L OF AR C HAE OL O GY
Bl a c k w e l l P u b l i s h e r s L t d .1 9 9 8
5 9
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 6/38
Figure 3
Tombs and city-sites of Steppe Scythia of the fourth-third centuries BI–catacomb grave; II–stone box (stone chamber); III–pit grave; IV–wooden tomb; V–type uncertain; VI–city-sites; VII–n
1–Ostrovnoe; 2–Borisovka; 3–Balabany; 4–Butory; 5–Tiraspolshchina; 6–Nikolaevka; 7–Kovalevka; 8–Aleksandrovka; 9–Baratovka; 10–Lyparevo; 11–Olshanka; 15–Sambrokovka; 16–Sholokhovo; 17–Novopodkryazh; 18–urochishe Morskaya koshara; 19–Baltasarovka; 20–Babenkovo; 21–Zheltokamen
urochishche Nosaki; 26–Nikopolskoe; 27–Voloshskoe; 28–Solokha; 29–Strashnaya Mogila; 30–Lisaya Mogila; 31–Kapulovka; 32–Kirovo; 33–Shakhty; 34–g
Deev kurgan; 39–Pokrovskii kurgan; 40–Chmyreva Mogila; 41–kurgan Orel; 42–kurgan Kozel; 43–Otradnoe; 44–Mikhailovka; 45–Verkhnetarasovka, Dolin
49–Shirokoe I-III; 50–Lyubimovka; 51–Arkhangelskaya sloboda; 52–Volnaya Ukraina; 53–I Mordvinskii kurgan; 54–Velikii Tokmak; 55–Berdyanskii kurga
59–Tolstaya Mogila; 60–kurgan Oguz; 61–Chertomlyk; 62–Glavnaya Blizitsa; 63–Krasnokutskii kurgan; 64–Aleksandropolskii Kurgan; 65–Bolshaya B
Tomakovskaya I Bliznitsa; 67–Clonovskaya Glavnaya Bliznitsa; 68–Plavni; 69–Krasnoe Podole; 70–Balki (Gaimanova Mogila, Gaimanovo pole, urochishc
Kul-Oba; 74–kurgan Patiniotti; 75–kurgan Kekuvatskogo; 76–Ilechevo; 77–Lenino; 78–Kirovo; 79–Astantino; 80–Brannoe pole; 81–Ogonki (groupe of ‘Tri b
86–Frontovoe; 87–Koloski; 88–Privetnoe; 89–Aktashskii mogilnik; 90–Semenevka; 91–Nadlimanskoe; 92–Peski; 93–Kalinovka; 94–Khirovka (Bogdanovk
Shmalki (Kazennaya Mogila); 99–Chkalovo; 100–Vyvodovo; 101–Volnyansk; 102–Volnogrushevskoe; 103–Primorskoe (Dvygorbaya Mogila) 104–Ka
OXF ORD J O UR NA
L OF AR C HAE OL O GY
6 0
B
l a c k w e l l P u b l i s h e r s L t d .1 9 9 8
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 7/38
classified by V.S. Olkhovsky (1991).
The architecture and layout of tombs
situated on the Lower Don and in the Crimea(Fig. 5) have some differences from those in
the Lower Dnieper area. They are indeed
very similar to the Bosporan royal tombs (seebelow): each has a dromos, single rectangular
chamber and step-vaulted stone roof.
Four tombs (Chertomlyk, Kozel,Mordvinskii I and II) have a cruciform plan.
Study of tombs of this type in many parts of
the ancient world, and character of the grave
goods found in them, has given some
scholars (probably correctly) grounds for
concluding that, in view of the widespread
cosmological significance of the cross, these
contained the burials of high priests(Bessonova 1997; cf. Boltrik and Fialko
1989, 98).
Funeral couches (klinai) are found chiefly
in the tombs of the Lower Don and Crimeanregions; they are rectangular, constructed of
either one stone or several and situated in the
middle of the chamber or adjoining the wall.More usually, the body of the deceased was
placed in a wooden sarcophagus (Oguz, Kul-
Oba, etc.). This custom is typically Bosporan
and study of these sarcophagi shows that they
were made by Bosporan craftsmen (see
below). Chamber entrances were often closed
Figure 4
Plans of Scythian royal tombs
1–Verkhnii Rogachik; 2–Solokha; 3–Oguz. (After Melyukova 1989, 318, Table 13)
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 61
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 8/38
by wheels from the burial chariot(Gaimonova Mogila, Tolstaya Mogila, etc.)
(Melyukova 1989, 56).
There is a greater similarity between the
architecture of Thracian tombs (see below)
and those Scythian ones situated in the Lower
Don and Crimea (situated next to the territory
of the Bosporan Kingdom) than tombssituated in the Dnieper area.
BOSPORAN TOMBS
Of crucial importance to my discussion are
the royal and elite tombs of the BosporanKingdom.23 They are well known in
scholarly literature (Minns 1913, 422–36;
Rostovtsev 1925; Gajdukevic 1971, 256–80;
Gaidukevich 1981, 6–54; Koshelenko et al.
1984, 95–8; Fedak 1990, 168–70; Savostina
1993, 58–67; etc.). These tombs are situated
in the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas (Fig. 6)and can be divided into two main groups: 1
— tombs which probably belong to monarchs
of the Bosporan Kingdom (Tsarskii Kurgan,
Zolotoi Kurgan) and its elite (Melek-
Chesmenskii Kurgan, the double tumulus in
Panticapaeum, Yuz-Oba group, Zmeinyi,etc.). These are all situated in the Kerch
Peninsula near to Greek cities and the royal
tombs are close to Penticapaeum, the capital
of the kingdom; 2 — tombs belonging to thelocal Sindian elite. These are all situated in
the Taman Peninsula (Artyukhovskii,Zelenskii, Vasyurinskii, Bliznetsy, Sem
Bratev, etc.). Both groups together number
17 tombs. Practically all of them were
discovered in the nineteenth century.
Information about them is sketchy. Many of
them were robbed in antiquity and dating
them is a great problem. Overall, they are
Figure 5
Kul–Oba.
(After Melyukova 1989, 320, Table 15)
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
62 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 9/38
dated to the fifth/fourth centures BC, but the
vast majority (like the Scythian tombs)
belong to the fourth century.
All of these tombs are built of stone andcovered by a mound. Here a stone-roofed,
step-vaulted dromos leads to one or more
chambers. The chambers are usually
rectangular — only at Zolotoi Kurgan (Fig.
7, 5–6) is one of the three chambers round. In
the literature these tombs are called ‘ledged’
tumuli because of the corbels in the form of stepped, projecting ledges used to link the
chamber walls to the vaulted roof (corbel
vaulting). There are three types of ledgedchambers: those with corbels stepping out
from two corners (the most widespread with 8
examples); those with corbels from threecorners (2 examples); and those with corbels
in all four corners (7 examples). In these
graves the body was placed either in a wooden
or stone sarcophagus24 o r o n a klinai adjoining
the wall opposite the entrance to the chamber
(Gaidukevich 1981, 6–54) (Fig 7).
For my purpose three tombs (the first two of
which have been identified as those of kings
of the Bosporan Kingdom) are the most
important. The mound of Zolotoi Kurgan(Fig. 7, 5–6) is elliptical (67 88 m), and
16 m high. Inside there are three separate
chambers — two rectangular and one circular
(6.30 m in diameter and 11 m high) —
approached by a dromos (18 m long, 2.22 m
wide and 6.80 m high). The floor of thecircular main chamber was at a lower level
than that of the dromos and entrance way. This
chamber is dated to the late fourth century BC;
the other two chambers, also corbel-vaulted— are considered to be earlier and it is
probable that each of the earlier burials had itsown separate mound (Gaidukevich 1981, 6–
24; Fedak 1990, 168–9). Tsarskii Kurgan is
situated 4 km north-east of Panticapaeum and
is believed to be the burial place of Leukon I
(389/8–349/8 BC) or Parisades I (344/3–311/
10 BC). The mound is 17 m high; the dromos
is 36 m long and for the last 20 m towards the
Figure 6Map of Bosporan Kingdom (Kerch and Taman Peninsulas) with main Greek cities, and tombs
Greek cities; tombs.
1–Myrmekion; 2–Panticapaeum; 3–Tyritake; 4–Nymphaeum; 5–Theodosia; 6–Hermonassa; 7–Phanagoria; 8–Kepoi;
9–Patraeus; 10–Gorgippia.
I–Tsarskii; II–Zolotoi; III–Zmeinyi; IV–Yuz-Oba group; V–Kukbatskii; VI–Zelenskii; VII–Artyukhovskii;
VIII–Vasyurinskii; IX–Bliznetsy; X–Sem Bratev (Seven Brothers).
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 63
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 10/38
Figure 7
Plans of Bosporan royal and elite tombs (I) and roofs (II)
I. 1–4–Tsarskii; 5–6–Zolotoi; 7–9–Vasurinskii; 10–12–Double tumulus in Panticapaeum. II. 1–Tsarskii; 2–Melek-
Chesmenskii; 3–Cheroesus; 4–5–Olbia. (After Koshelenko et al. 1984, 276, Table LXXXVI and 285, Table XCV)
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
64 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 11/38
chamber it is covered by a corbelled vault
2.80 m wide and 7.14 m high. the corridor isfaced with perfectly fitted drystone masonry,
whose blocks have a rusticated panel. The
tomb has one chamber which is square (4.22 4.37 m) and is covered by a corbelled dome
(Gaidukevich 1981, 25–45; Fedak 1990, 169)
(Fig. 7, I, 1–4, II, 1).25
Melek-Chesmenskii Kurgan represents a
typical example of the elite tombs in theBosporan Kingdom — different and smaller
than the previous two examples. It has a
pyramid-like roof, though entirely under-ground. The top of the false vault is closed
by a large slab. The mound is 8 m high. The
roughly square tomb chamber (3.70 m) is
Figure 8
Painting from Shipka area. (After Kitov 1994f, 315)
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 65
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 12/38
approached by a dromos 9 m long and about
1.35 m wide. The corbelled vault starts abovethe fifth course and consists of seven courses,
narrowing until the opening could be closed
by a wedge-shaped slab. The tomb datesfrom not later than the second half of the
fourth century BC (Fedak 1990, 170, Fig. 7,
II, 2).26
The first mural paintings in Bosporan
tombs appear in the last quarter of the fourthcentury BC. The best example of such early
painting is a head of Demeter from the roof
of the Bolshaya Bliznitsa Kurgan in the
Taman Peninsula (Ivanova 1953, 67; cf.
Schwarzmaier 1996).Even simple visual comparison (Figs. 4–7)
demonstrates the extremely close similarities
in shape, type, construction technique (bothbuilt from stone blocks) and design between
the royal tombs of the Scythians and those of
the Bosporan Kingdom. One thing is also
obvious: there are parallels between the
tumuli of the Bosporans and Scythian tombs
of the Lower Don and Crimean regions (the
best examples are Scythian Kul-Oba, andBosporan Zalotoi Kurgan and Tsarskii
Kurgan — Figs. 5; 7, I, 1–6). For this there
is a simple explanation. The Scythians in
these ares lived next to the Bosporan
Kingdom and Bosporan Greeks contributed
greatly to the creation of Scythian elite
culture. Indeed, we know of workshops inPanticapaeum producing metal objects for
Scythian customers (Treister 1992, 93–4).27
The evidence discussed above providesgood grounds for concluding that Scythian
royal tombs were built by Bosporan Greeks in
the same manner as they built tombs for theirown royal family. Why did the Scythians, a
nomadic people, want to be buried in the same
way as the Greeks? Archaeological and
written sources make clear that the Scythian
elite was highly Hellinized (Boardman 1994,
192–217). Herodotus (4. 77–80) has stories
about the philhellenic Anacharsis and Scyles.
The Scythians had become familiar withchamber tombs from having lived in the Near
East, especially Asia Minor where such tombs
were very common, and this type of tumulusmust have been brought to the northern Black
Sea (particularly the Kerch and Taman
Peninsulas) by the Ionians, who established
colonies there. The Ionians themselves had in
turn become familiar with such tumuli fromtheir neighbours in the hinterland of Asia
Minor (see below).
THRACIAN TOMBS
The question of the origin of the Thracian
royal and elite chamber tombs is more
complex.28 From the end of the sixth centuryBC, and especially the beginning of the fifth
century with the establishment of the
Odrysian Kingdom, Thracian tribes living in
the territory of modern Bulgaria achieved
prosperity (Fig. 9). This can be seen in the
changes which took place in the structure of
the royal and elite tombs and burial customs:large tombs became common.29 The grave
goods show the wealth of the rulers and elite
of the Odrysian Kingdom. Thracian kings
and members of the elite began to think about
their dwelling places after death, as the rulers
of Mycenaean Greece had done even before
the twelfth century BC and those of Phrygia,Caria and Lydia by the end of the eighth
century. Previously, only simple tombs with
rectangular chambers had existed in Thracia:the new tombs were round. They were
widespread only in eastern Rhodopos.
Characteristically, their chamber (oftenround) was reached by a short tunnel cut
into a vertical cliff-face. Although entirely
new to Thracia, these rock-cut tombs were to
be found elsewhere — in Persia, Phrygia and
throughout Asia Minor (see below). The
entrances to such tombs were blocked with
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
66 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 13/38
stones. The chamber was shaped like ahemisphere or beehive and, with its dromos,
closely resembled the rock-cut tombs of Asia
Minor (despite a difference of form andstructure) (Venedikov and Gerasimov 1975,
53–5). The domed tombs in that region,
widespread from the eighth/seventh centuries
BC, were built of blocks then covered with
earth, forming burial mounds. It is extremely
difficult to date Thracian rock-cut tombs: all
were empty when discovered. Some assignthem to the eighth or seventh century BC.
Rock-cut tombs are also found here and there
on the Black Sea coast, north of Odessos, butin shape they are always like other tombs and
never round (Nehryzov 1994).30
In Thracia, chamber tombs with dromos
covered by burial mounds date from the fifth/
third centuries BC, with the vast majority
built in the fourth century as in Scythia and
Figure 9
Thracian sites and tribal territories of the Classical period
1–Alexandrovo; 2–Arzos; 3–Asenovgrad; 5–Brezevo; 6–Boukyovtsi; 7–Branichevo; 8–Chirpan; 9–Daskal Atanas-sovo; 10–Derveni; 11–Didimotikhion; 12–Dolno Sahrane; 13–Dulboki; 14–Duvanlij; 15–Edirne; 16–Ezerovo; 17–
Glozhene; 18–Gotse Delchev; 19–Gradnitsa; 20–Izgrev; 21–Kaloyanovo; 22–Kazanluk; 23–Kirklareli;
24–Kjolmen; 25–Koprinka; 26–Kozarevo; 27–Krivodol; 28–Letnitsa; 29– Loukovit; 30–Lovech; 31–Madara;
32–Mezek; 33–Mumdjilar; 34–Nevrokop; 35–Nova Mahala; 36–Novoselets; 37–Opulchenets; 38–Oryahovo;
39–Panagyurischte; 40–Pastousha; 41–Pazardjik; 42–Philippi; 43–Pomorie; 44–Pudrija; 45–Purmovaj; 46–Pustrovo;
47–Razlog; 48–Rozovets; 49–Seuthopolis; 50–Skalitsa; 51–Slavyanovo; 52–Smoljan; 53–Stara Zagora; 54–Staro
Selo; 55–Stojanovo; 56–Strelcha; 57–Svetlen; 58–Svilengrad; 59–Sarnevets; 60–Tatarevo; 61–Tchernozem;
62–Teteven; 63–Toros; 64–Topolovgrad; 65–Topolovo; 66–Troian; 67–Turnovo; 68–Velingrad; 69–Beroea;
70–Vetren; 71–Voinitsine; 72–Vulchitrun; 73–Vurbitsa; 74–Yankovo; 75–Yourukler; 76–Zlokoutchene; 77–Kabyle
(Cabyle). (After Archibald 1994, 446, Map 14)
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 67
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 14/38
Figure 10
Plans of Thracian tombs
1–Mal Tepe; 2–Staro Novo Selo; 3–Vulchepol (Kurt-Kale); 4–Tatarevo. (After Venedikov and Gerasimov 1975,
57–65)
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
68 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 15/38
the Bosporan Kingdom. They were found in
the hinterland where the Thracian royalfamily and elite used to live — the royal
cities of Seuthopolis (Chichikova 1991b;
Dimitrov and Cicikova 1978; Getov 1991;Lilova 1994; Tacheva 1991; Zarev et al.
1994; Dimitrov et al. 1978) and Kabyle
(Velkov 1982; 1991a; 1991b; Velkov et al.
1990) are known thanks to archaeolgical
investigation. We do not know the location of two other cities: Kypsela, capital of the
Odrysian Kingdom; and Helis, residence of
the Getic ruler Dromichaetes.31
In the development of the shape of the
chamber, two periods can be distinguished(Fig. 10). The first is the middle fifth–middle
fourth century BC, when the chamber is
rectangular; and middle fourth–third centuryBC when round tombs built of stone blocks
appear and they co-existed. This is probably
two stages of an architectural development:
the same can be said for the Bosporan royal
tombs where rectangular chambers pre-
dominate (Venedikov and Gerasimov 1975,
55–7). Within these two groups a furtherclassification can be made: first, tombs with
one chamber, secondly those with two or
multiple chambers. Within one and two
chamber tombs we can distinguish tombs
with or without dromos (Fig. 11, 1). Tombs
with multiple round chambers are mainly
built of quadrae and divided into threesections: an antechamber, a dromos and a
burial chamber, with a saddle roof consisting
of a corbelled vault and corbelled dome. Thevault was built by placing the blocks stepwise
on two opposite walls, and cutting the steps
to an angle on the lower side. The dome wasbuilt by arranging the quadrae in quad-
rangles, the sides of each cutting off the
angles of the one below it, and projecting
farther into the tomb. The blocks were cut out
spherically on the inner side. Corbelled
arches and domes were used in Asia Minor
and Etruria in the tombs and buildings of the
eighth/seventh centuries BC (see below).Another construction technique to achieve
symmetry involved domes made by steadily
reducing the radius of the courses of blocks,placed stepwise on the walls of the round
chambers, while the remaining areas were
covered on the principle of the corbelled
vault or dome resting on a rectangular
chamber (Venedikov and Gerasimov 1975,53–63; Russeva 1995).32
Three types of chamber roof can be
distinguished: flat roofs in tombs with a
rectangular chamber; and so-called false and
cylindrical vaults (Russeva 1995, 32) (Fig.11, 2). The same types of roof are also to be
seen in the Bosporan Kingdom (Fig. 7, II).
A characteristic feature of the Thraciantombs is the stone entrance door to the
chamber.33 This is also the case for
Macedonian tombs and the rock-cut tombs
of Lycia and Phrygia (see below). In the
tombs of the Bosporan Kingdom no entrance
doors survive but some architectural details
point to their having existed. There is avariety of decoration on the cornices in
Thracian tombs and sometimes there are
columns (Doric, seldom Ionic) supporting
the roof of the antechamber (one,
occasionally two columns). In a very few
cases the roof of the chamber is supported by
columns as well (Venedikov and Gerasimov1975, 58; Kitov 1979, 7–10, figs. 7–11, 13,
fig. 15, 22, fig. 27; Kitov and Krasteva 1994/
95, 14, fig. 6; Valeva 1994b).34
Unique is theinterior of the chamber at Sveshtari where ten
women support a Doric entablature on their
raised hands, with the help of ten Doric half-columns (Fol et al. 1986, 64–105; Cicikova
1989; Chichikova 1988; 1992; Teofilov 1988;
Valeva 1993; Gergova 1996) (Fig. 12).
Although they recall Greek caryatids in style,
they are closest to the half-figures depicted on
the Scythian gold horse frontlet from
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 69
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 16/38
Figure 11
1. Classification of Thracian chamber tombs: I–tombs with rectangular chamber(s); II–tombs with round chamber(s).
2. Roofs: I–plan of chambers; II–flat roofs; III–false arch; IV–round arch. (After Russeva 1995, 32)
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
70 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 17/38
Figure 12
Detail of the interior of the Sveshtari tomb. (After Fol et al. 1986, 57)
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 71
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 18/38
Bolshaya Tsymbalka tumulus (which
represent, according to Herodotus’ Scythian Logos, the mother of the Scythians —
Herodotus 4. 9) (Fig. 14). The frontlet has
snaky and floral lower extremities, ending inhorned lion-, griffin- and snake-heads
(Piotrovsky et al. 1987, fig. 144). Such
depictions are spread extremely wide in the
Near East, Bosporan Kingdom and Greek
world (Boardman 1994, 191–2; Valeva
1995).35 The same women can be seen in
the mosaic from the Macedonian tomb inVergina (Andronicos 1988, 45, fig. 20), but
stylistically the Sveshtari figures are closest
to Scythian half-female figures (Piotrovsky et
al. 1987, figs. 203, 208), and especially to that
from a grave stele from Kerch (Marchenko
1984, 65, fig. 9; Savostina 1996). Recently, a
tomb-mausoleum of the mid-fourth century— a type previously unknown in Thracia but
widespread in Anatolia — was found at
Shipka, in an area known as The Valley of the Thracian Kings (Kitov and Krasteva 1994/
95, 9–14) (Fig. 13).36
In the Thracian tombs, klinai were placed atthe wall opposite the entrance to the chamber.
The same practice is visible in the Scythian
and Bosporan tombs. Sometimes the deceased
was placed in a sarcophagus (Venedikov and
Gerasimov 1975, 60; Fol et al. 1986, 106;
Kitov and Krasteva 1994/95, 9).
If we turn to tomb paintings, in the
Hellenistic period these are more common
in Thracia and Macedonia (Venedikov and
Gerasimov 1975, 61–3; Andronicos 1988,
106–18; Miller 1993, 12–14; Zazoff et al.
1985, 618–26) than in the BosporanKingdom. Well-known is the painting from
the tomb at Kazanluk where the main
chamber has a corbelled roof painted in a
colourful manner. There are chariot races, a
Greek decorative frieze of bowls and
bucrania, and the main scene contains figures
approaching the dead prince and his consortseated at the table (Verdiani 1945; Zhivkova
1974; Ognenova-Marinova 1991; Tabakova-
Figure 13
Reconstruction of the tomb-mausoleum. (After Kitov
and Krasteva 1994/95, 13)
Figure 14
Gold horse frontlet from Bolshaya Tsimbalka. (After
Piotrovsky et al. 1987, 144)
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
72 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 19/38
Tsanova 1994; Vasileva 1991). Although
some scholars think that this is the work of a local Thracian artist (Ognenova-Marinova
1991, 16–18), all signs point to its being
Greek work (as in Macedonia) with the artistadapting to the taste of the local Thracian
elite, a practice well known throughout the
colonial world (Boardman 1994, 191). At
Shvestari there is also a painting of a
horseman, followed by a man on foot, beinggreeted by three female figures (Fol et al.
1986, 110–15) (Fig. 12). Recently, in a tomb
in the Shipka region, a painting of the middle
of the fourth century BC was discovered on
the ceiling of the main chamber with humanand animal images, floral ornaments and the
tail of a fish, dragon or some unidentified
fantastic animal (Kitov and Krasteva 1994/95,17, pl. 1). Best preserved and most impressive
is the head of a woman, bent down slightly
onto her right shoulder (Kitov 1994f, 315;
Kitov and Krasteva 1994/95, 18, pl. 2) (Fig.
8),37 a pose which is reminiscent of the
woman’s head from the grave stele found in
the fill of the Great Tumulus at Vergina(Andronicos 1988, 83, fig. 43). In its realistic
style it is closest to a male figure from the
painting on a grave stele of the fourth century
BC from Chersonesus (Koshelenko et al.
1984, 298, tabl. CVIII, 6). Another recent find
is a polychrome wall decoration (red, yellow,
white and black) from a tomb in the SarafovaMound in the Shipka-Sheynovo necropolis
(Kitov and Krasteva 1994/95, 16, fig. 11).38
This is reminiscent of wall decorations inHellenistic Bosporan houses and tombs (and
the similarity of decoration of both houses
and tombs once again indicates that the latterwere seen as houses for the dead)
(Koshelenko et al. 1984, 298, tabl. CVIII,
2–3). Floral decoration and certain painted
architectural features found in Thracian
tombs have parallels in the Bosporan
Kingdom.
CHAMBER TOMBS ELSEWHERE
The plan of the chamber tomb with its
antechamber and column facade is
considered to be a reflection of a Greek house or megaron. The use of stone klinai
mirrors the bedroom or symposium where
feasters lie down on couches set around the
walls. Chamber tombs are found in many
places (Kurtz and Boardman 1971, 272–326;
Fedak 1990. Both with extensive literature).
The early chamber tombs in Aegina andRhodes were situated underground and had
no tumuli. In Thessaly round tholos tombs
resembled Mycenaean ones with tumuli,dromoi and corbelled vaults. Similar tholos
tombs with tumuli were also widespread in
Thrace. In Epirus there are small, temple-
shaped tombs with engaged Corinthian
columns as well as tombs with a vaulteddromos. At Elaia, not far from Pergamon, a
tomb with an antechamber and three
sarcophagi was found; at Euboea, a tomb
with an antechamber and two klinai.
Chamber tombs are found in Locris, Aetolia,Arcadia, Delphi and Eretria. Some of them
have vaulted roofs, others do not; some also
have marble doors. Painted chamber tombsare known from Tanagra (Kurtz and
Boardman 1971, 274–81).
Macedonian tombs need more detailed
examination. They are situated along the
course of roads, not always near a city: some
are located on family estates. All were
covered with an earth tumulus and most of the construction work was underground.
They have a dromos, either vaulted or
stepped and the facade of the tombs is
typically of painted, finely dressed masonry.
The richest tombs have marble doors, with a
pediment above, set in an engaged columnarfacade. The columns are Ionic (Vergina and
Langaza) or Doric (Dion, Salonika, etc.). In
Lefkadia a tomb has a two-storied facade
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 73
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 20/38
with paintings. Most tombs have an
antechamber behind the facade, usuallyvaulted but in some cases with a flat roof
and sometimes with interior engaged Ionic
columns (Kurtz and Boardman 1971, 274–7;Fedak 1990, 104–8; Andronicos 1988; Miller
1982; 1992, 1–20, 105–16; 1994; Andronicos
in Ginouves 1994, 144–91).
The main chamber is rectangular and
vaulted, with one or two klinai along theback or side walls. The klinai were either
simple block benches or cut in stone,
stuccoed and painted. Some have figures
painted on their sides. Several tombs
(Amphipolis, Philippi and Lefkadia) havewall niches to house the ashes of the dead. In
a few instances the burial is in a sarcophagus
set below the floor of the tomb. At Vergina,in addition to a kline the chamber contained a
throne. Some chambers were floored in
pebble mosaic. Other Macedonian tombs
are simpler: flat roofed, rock-cut or made of
slabs. Their stepped dromoi are short and the
chambers and antechambers smaller. It is
very important to mention that at Verginasmall chambers made of mud-brick were
found. Tombs with chambers made of mud-
brick are known from Scythia as well as the
necropoleis of Greek cities of the northern
Black Sea (Koshelenko et al. 1984, 222–4).
To answer the question of who built the
Scythian and Thracian royal and elite tombswe must also examine evidence from Asia
Minor (Kurtz and Boardman 1971, 278–9;
Fedak 1990, 65–102; Akurgal 1961). Theroyal cemetery at Gordion yielded wooden
tomb chambers without dromoi, all dating
from the ninth/eighth–sixth centuries BC(Young 1981, 4–7, 85–100, 194–200; see
also Kohler 1980). Recently, a tomb was
found near Daskyleion which resembled
Thracian vaulted tombs — with an 8 mdromos and an open antechamber at the
entrnace. Probably, it had been robbed by
soldiers of Alexander the Great. In the
antechamber scattered, burnt grave offeringswere found (Mellink 1992, 148; 1993, 121).
These and the burial rites have been thought
by some scholars to resemble contemporaryThracian practices (Vassileva 1995b, 28).
In Lydia, there are fifth century tumuli,
some of them vaulted, with dromoi and klinai
(Hanfmann 1983, 54–9; Butler 1922, 115–
17). In Caria from the early Iron Age down tothe Classical period tumuli with dromoi to
rectangular chambers with tall corbelled
roofs are known. A few years ago in
Camlibel a small tumulus, about 35 m in
diameter and 5 m high was discovered: thechamber was built of limestone blocks, with
a dromos as well (Smith and Ratte 1996, 25).This tumulus and a similar one found in 1993
near Aphrodisias (Smith and Ratte 1995, 36–
7) are similar in plan and construction to
Lydian tumulus tombs of the sixth and fifth
centuries BC (Ratte 1992; cf. Gates 1995,
240; 1996, 322; Ratte 1994). In Lycia morethan 1085 tombs are known. These may be
divided into four types: monumental orheroon type;39 pillar tombs; ‘gothic’
sarcophagi; and rock-cut house tombs (Zahle
1983, 142–3; Kjeldsen and Zahle 1976; Keen
1992). The most interesting is the last type,
which was also widespread in Paphlagonia
(cf. Akurgal 1970, 263–4). Rock-cut tombs
have klinai (Xanthos and Kalekapi). A lateArchaic tomb chamber at Elmali in Lycia
contains wall paintings (Kurtz and Boardman
1971, 278–9). The entrances to the Lycianrock-cut tombs (at Massikytos, Pinara and
Limyra) resemble the doors and entrances to
the Thracian royal tombs (Shipka) (Kitov1995a, 9–11) — there are considerable
similarities in the decoration of their
pediments.
In Asia Minor in the fourth century and
Hellenistic period there are tombs built
above-ground. The tombs of the Lycian
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
74 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 21/38
dynasts of the Persian period were decorated
by Greek artists (Xanthos) (Kurtz andBoardman 1971, 278–9; cf. Keen 1992).
The important role of Ionian craftsmen and
artists in the creation of the elite culture of the Anatolian native kingdoms, as well as the
Achaemenian Empire, is discussed through-
out the literature. They were working for the
local rulers, adapting their craftsmanship to
the tastes and demands of their clients(Boardman 1994, 21–48).40
This brief survey41 of the distribution of
chamber tombs shows that this type of grave
was widespread throughout the whole Greek
world, including the Greek mainland. But thegreatest variety and density is in Asia Minor,
and in the territories of the native kingdoms
of Anatolia, particularly in Phrygia andLycia. The architecture and decoration show
clearly that Greeks participated in their
construction. Ionian features are especially
noticeable, which is no surprise since the
Ionians, Lycians and Phrygians were neigh-
bours and it was quite easy for the Ionians to
become familiar with the practice of buildingchamber tombs. Scythian, Thracian and
Bosporan (and also Macedonian) royal tombs
have many architectural features in common
with their Phrygian and Lycian equivalents.
Were the dromos to be removed from a
Thracian tomb the resemblance to the rock-
cut tombs of Lycia would be even morestriking: the same design of door, same
decoration, etc. And there are many newly-
found examples of Thracian tombs without adromos, particularly in the Shipka region.
The landscape of these vairous states was
similar — hilly, with plenty of building-stones, fertile valleys and a royal family
living in the hinterland. Even the political
structures of these Black Sea states have
many parallels with those of Anatolia: the
principal figures was the king and everything
was done according to his wishes and tastes;
whilst the tastes of the various royal and elite
families were very similar and became moreso as they became ever more Hellenized
under Greek influence.
GREEKS AND SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN RU-
LERS
The first Ionian settlements in the Black
Sea appeared in the second half of theseventh century BC (Tsetskhladze 1994, with
bibliography) (Fig. 15). The relationship
between the first colonists and the local
population was quite peaceful. If we accept
that the handmade pottery found in the Greek settlements of the northern Black Sea is an
indication that the local population lived in
those settlements, the proportion of allpottery represented by it (12–23%) is quite
high; and this could be evidence of a pacific
relationship.42 Speaking generally, the
seventh and sixth centuries BC saw no
complications in the relations between the
Greeks and the local populations of the
northern and western Black Sea — only afew Scythians, for example, used to live there
and they were busy with their own internal
affairs (Marchenko 1996, 70–1). The
excavations of the last ten years in the Kerch
Peninsula have revealed traces of fire and
destruction in some Greek cities and
settlements, dating from the middle-secondhalf of the sixth century BC. At this stage it is
too early to say whether this was connected
with the opposition of the Scythians to Greek cities: the evidence still needs to be examined
thorough (Vinogradov Y.A. 1995).
From the end of the sixth/beginning of thefifth century BC the situation altered
completely after Darius’ Scythian campaign
(Tsetskhladze 1996, 966–7, with literature).
This is the time whent he Scythians felt
strong enough (as I mentioned previously) to
establish two political centres — one not far
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 75
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 22/38
from the Bosporan Kingdom and the other
near Olbia. At the same time, the Odrysian
Kingdom was coming into being in Thracia.
There was immediate conflict between these
two, newly-formed political entities, which
concluded in a peace at the beginning of the
fifth century BC (Yordanov 1991, 74–5).Thereafter, the Scythians directed their atten-
tions towards the Greek cities — Olbia, and
the cities of the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas.The theory put forward by Y.G. Vinogradov
(1989, 90–109) has gained increasing
acceptance. According to this, the Scythiansestablished a so-called protectorate over the
Greek cities (cf. Marchenko 1993). Although
the reasons for the unification of the Greek
cities of the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas
into a single state, the Bosporan Kingdom
with its capital at Panticapaeum, remain a
matter of debate, many scholars link it to the
need to combat increasing Scythian pressure
on the cities situated in the Kerch and Taman
Peninsulas (Tsetskhladze 1996, 967, with
literature). To the west of the Black Sea
pressure on the Greek cities came from theOdrysian Kingdom. The relations between
the Odrysian kings and the Greek cities have
been well studied in the literature. The nature
of the relationship is very well described byThucydides (2. 97) in these words:
The tribute that was collected from theGreek cities and from all the barbarous
nations in the reign of Seuthes . . . was
valued at about four hundred talents of
coined money, reckoning only gold and
silver. Presents of gold and silver equal in
value to the tribute, besides stuffs
Figure 15
Map of the Black Sea with major Greek colonies. (After Tsetskhladze 1994, 116, Fig. 7.1)
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
76 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 23/38
embroidered or plain and other articles,
were also brought, not only to the kinghimself, but to the inferior chiefs and
nobles of the Odrysae. For their custom
was the opposite of that which prevailed inthe Persian kingdom; they were more
ready to receive than to give; and he
who asked and was refused was not so
much discredited as he who refused when
he was asked. The same custom prevailedamong the other Thracians in a less
degree, but among the Odrysae, who were
richer, more extensively; nothing could be
done without presents.43
Archaeological material also illuminates
this relationship based on tribute and the
giving of gifts. The best example amongmany is the Rogozen Treasure (Archibald,
Fol, Hind and Hoddinott in Cook 1989;
Nikolov 1989; Marazov 1989).44
If we turn to the northern Black Sea, Strabo
may be cited. He says that land for settlement
and agriculture was given by local tribal
chiefs — i.e. Scythians — either by specialagreement or in exchange for a moderate
tribute (7. 4. 6). One inscription of the late
fifth century, from Kerkinitis in western
Crimea, indeed mentions the payment of
tribute to the Scythians (Solomonik 1987,
126; cf. Vinogradov Y.G. 1994, 66 = Bull. e p.
1990, 566; 1995, 16; see also Molev 1986).From the cultural point of view, the
political difficulties between the Thracians,
Scythians and Pontic Greek cities resulted inthe creation of a unique phenomenon:
Graeco-barbarian art. The Greeks produced
many highly artistic objects for the localroyal family and elite. From the fifth century
BC, these local upper classes were
Hellenized — a process which went further
in the fourth century. Greek craftsmen were
employed at the courts (Boardman 1994,
183–224; Tsetskhladze forthcoming). The
residences of the local elite were built after
the Greek manner — examples are at Vani inColchis (Lordkipanidze 1991, 185–95; 1994,
83–123; cf. Wasowicz 1992 and Braund
1994, 145–51), Scythian Neapolis (of theHellenistic period) in the Crimea
(Vysotskaya 1979, 57–72, 155–88) and
Seuthopolis in Thrace (Dimitrov and
Cicikova 1978, 6–15, 43–56; etc.). As in
Anatolia, these Greek craftsmen wereemployed by local kings to produce objects
for them in the Greek style but adapting their
work to the tastes of the local elite
(Tsetskhladze forthcoming).
As I have already mentioned, Scythian andThracian royal tombs have many similarities
with those of Anatolia. The key to unlockingthe answer of who built these tombs is their
close parallel with the royal tombs of the
Greek Bosporan Kingdom. All the evidence I
have presented here shows that all of these
tombs were indeed built by the same
architects, namely Ionian Greeks, who werefamiliar with such kind of chamber tombs
through their neighbours in Asia Minor and,indeed, were also constructing such tombs for
themselves (Ta Marmara, Diocaesarea tower
tomb, Heroa at Miletus, Termesos, Golbasi,
etc. — Fedak 1990, 87–101).45 At the same
time, the Scythians were familiar with these
tombs from the time they spent in the Near
East, with the same neighbours. Then theysaw the same practices among their new
neighbours in the Crimea. One fact is
noticeable: chamber tombs appear in bothScythia and Thracia from the second half of
the fifth century BC. As we saw, this is the
period when both began to exert politicalpressure on Greek cities, demanding tribute
and gifts from them (cf. Yordanov 1994). At
the same time, Greek craftsmen were actively
participating in the creation of local elite
culture. From employing Greeks to build
their local residences, it was but a short step
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 77
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 24/38
to employing Ionian architects to build their
‘residences’ for the afterlife.46
The similar chronology and type of
architecture of Thracian and Bosporan tombs
could also have a political explanation. Inc.438 BC there was a change of dynasty in
the Bosporan Kingdom — from the
Archaeanactidae to the Spartocids. The latter
were of Thracian origin (Hind 1994, 491–
502) and could have brought this practicefrom Thrace, where such tombs had begun to
appear slightly earlier than in the Bosporan
Kingdom and, consequently, in Scythia. In
general, the relationship between Thrace and
the northern Black Sea was very close, atleast from the sixth century BC. Thracian
ethnic groups used to live in the northern
Pontus, including the Greek cities there(Melyukova 1979; Fol and Ognenova-
Marinova 1975; Krykin 1991; 1993). I have
underlines that the vast majority of these
tombs date from the fourth century BC,
especially from its first half and middle. This
is a period of economic and political strength
in the Bosporan Kingdom, when, during thereign of Leukon I (389/8–349/8), Theodosia,
Nymphaeum and the local population of the
Taman Peninsula were incorporated within
the kingdom, and very close economic links
with Athens were established (Hind 1994,
495–502). A similar prosperity was experi-
enced at this time in the Odrysian Kingdomduring the reigns of Kotys I and Seuthes III
(Archibald 1994, 457–65). Prosperity pro-
vided the financial means for the constructionof these huge, expensive tombs.
If we go to another area of Ionian
colonization, the Iberian Peninsula, we cansee exactly the same situation. Thanks to the
Ionians, the Iberians began to build their
tombs in the Anatolian manner (Almagro-
Gorbea 1991; Ramos 1990; Harrison 1988,
114–20; cf. Dominguez Monedero 1994).
Grave No. 75 at Galera is very important. It
shows exactly the same practices: a chamber
tomb constructed of stone blocks under anearth mound, with a dromos, antechamber
and chamber. The chamber is rectangular
with a flat roof supported by a pillar(Dominguez Monedero 1988, 15).
Similarities in the chamber tombs of
Macedonia and Phrygia have been con-
sidered an argument for Phrygian migration
from Macedonia to Asia Minor. At the sametime, to demonstrate the kinship between
Thracians and Phrygians, as well as the
information of Herodotus (7. 73), close
parallels in Thracian and Phrygian tumuli
are cited (Vassileva 1994a, 63). As in Lydiaso too in Thracia some tumuli played the role
of sanctuaries at particular times (Vassileva1994a, 63; cf. Kitov 1990/91, 36–7). To use
the type of chamber tomb found in Thracia,
Macedonia, Phrygia and Lycia as an
argument to support migration between these
territories seems to me unconvincing. There
are differences, not just similarities and thesehave been examined recently by M.
Vassileva (1994a, 63–5; see also Vassileva1994b; 1995a–b). It was quite easy for
Thracians to be familiar with this type of
grave — one of the Thracian tribes having
lived south of the Black Sea, close to
Phrygia. On the other hand, two publishedgraves from Apollonia Pontica can be used to
show that the idea of building chamber tombs
was familiar to the Greeks living in colonies
on the Thracian Black Sea coast. One grave
(No. 368) has been cut into the ground — astone box. The second grave (Nos. 376 and376a) (Fig. 16, 2) is more important, being a
stone structure in the middle of which two
stone boxes built from blocks have been cut
into the ground (Venedikov et al. 1963, 42–3,
figs. 25–26; see also Panayotova 1994). This
grave is reminiscent of a multiple tomb with
an archiectural facade in Arcadia (Kurtz andBoardman 1971, 281, fig. 65. Cf. Fig. 7, 1,
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
78 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 25/38
10–12). Furthermore, rock-cut graves andsimple tumuli (with dromos, antechamber
and chamber) existed in Thracia long before
the appearance of the royal tombs. Thus, thisshape of chamber tomb was not completely
alien to the western Black Sea.
The question of where the Greek architectsbuilding the Thracian royal tombs in The
Valley of the Thracian Kings (Kazanluk-
Shipka Region) lived is very important. There
is no doubt that some lived in the capital of
King Seuthes III, Seuthopolis. Town
planning, architecture and other features of
this city are completely Greek and beehive
chamber tombs were found in the city’s
necropolis (Dimitrov and Cicikova 1978,
figs. 84–98). But this city existed at the timeof Seuthes III, whereas the other tombs date
from the fifth /fourth centuries BC. Another
candidate is the city-site at the village of Vetren, not far from Plovdiv, discovered
relatively recently (Domaradzki 1993;
1994a–b; 1995; Bouzek et al. 1996). This
city had a very strong Greek community, and
chamber tomb with rectangular chamber was
found not far from the settlements
Figure 16
1. Chamber tomb from Vetren. (After Domaradzki 1995, 69–70) 2. Apollonia Pontica, grave No. 376-376a. (After
Venedikov et al. 1963, 43)
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 79
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 26/38
(Domaradzki 1995, 69–70) (Fig. 16, 1). Thecity existed in the fifth/third centuries BC,
had stone architecture and a system of
fortifications (Domaradzki 1995, 47–50). In
1990 a Greek inscription was discovered there
which indicated that this city-site was a Greek emporion by the name of Pistiros. The
inscription dates from the mid-fourth centuryBC and originates from the court of the
Odrysian king (Domaradzki 1994a; 1995, 74–
85; Velkov and Domaradzka 1994). Thus, inthis Greek settlement in the hinterland, under
the control of the Thracian kings, not only
traders but also craftsmen and architectscould live, employed by local rulers.
CONCLUSIONS
All the material I have presented above
leads me to believe that the Thracian and
Scythian royal and elite tombs were built by
Ionian Greeks,47 who had also built theresidences of the local rulers and, at the
same time, participated actively and directly
in the creation of elite culture and art in theBlack Sea area. The adaptation of Hellenic
art and craftsmanship to the tastes of the
rulers and local populations of the Black Sea
is one of the impressive aspects of Ionian
colonization. Ionians, fleeing to the Pontusfrom the political disasters of their homeland
(Tsetskhladze 1994, 123–6), to maintain the
living standards they left behind them in Asia
Minor and survive amidst the local
population had to adapt to the conditionsthey found in their new homeland — but they
never lost their Hellenic identity, propagating
Greek art in a barbarian milieu (Tsetskhladzeforthcoming).
Acknowledgements
The idea of writing on this question came to me in
September 1996 when Prof. Sir John Boardman and I
went to Bulgaria on Pontic Congress business. Ourwonderful hosts took us to see the spectacular Thracian
tombs in the Shipka area. I am most grateful to Prof. A.
Fol, Dr V. Fol, Prof. M. Lazarov, Mrs C. Angelova, Mr
M.M. Yordanov, Dr G. Kitov, Mrs M. Krasteva, Dr C.
Panayotova, the National Museum of History, Institute
of Thracology, Varna Archaeological Museum, Varna
University, the local museums in Veliko Tirnovo,
Burgas, Sozopol and Nessebur, the Centre of
Underwater Archaeology and many other Bulgarian
friends, colleagues and institutions for their hospitality
and help, and for opening up Thracian culture for me. I
should like to thank Prof. Sir John Boardman and Prof.A. Dominguez Monedero, Madrid (who also guided me
through the National Museum of Archaeology in
Madrid, May 1997) for their comments on earlier drafts
of this paper. I am deeply grateful to Dr Z. Archibald for
allowing me to use a chapter from her forthcoming book
after we had discussed the subject of this article and
found common ground. Versions of this paper have
been given at ancient history and archaeology seminars
in Oxford (26 November 1996) and the Institute of
Archaeology, University College London (20 January
1997), and at a One Day Conference on Black Sea
Figure 17
Sveshtari tomb. Greek letters on entrance to lateral
chamber. (After Fol et al. 1986, 55)
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
80 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 27/38
History and Archaeology, Department of Classics and
Ancient History, University of Liverpool (29 January
1997). I should like to thank the organisers for their
invitations and the various audiences for their questions
and discussion. Last but not least, I am grateful to the
students who have attended my course on Black SeaArcharology and Art, as well as my Bulgarian Ph.D.
student Ms N. Gueorguieva, for their patience and
willingness to discuss difficult academic questions with
their teacher.
I should like to thank Mrs Alison Wilkins for
redrawing the line illustrations. Figure 1 is reproduced
by permission of J. Davis-Kimball, V.A. Bashilov and
L.T. Yablonsky (eds.), from Nomads of the Eurasian
Steppes in the Early Iron Age (Zinat Press, Berkeley,
California) (1995); and Figure 9 by permission of Zofia
Archibald, from Cambridge Ancient History VI
(Cambridge University Press) (1994).
Department of Classics
Royal Holloway and Bedford New College
University of London
Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX
NOTES
1 The tombs were discovered mainly in the nineteenth
century. Unfortunately, most were destroyed —
especially in the northern Black Sea littoral — without
being recorded, either at all or properly (Rostovtsev
1914, 100–25; 1925, 470–530; Blavatskii 1964, 78).
Throughout the article the slavic names ‘kurgan’ and
‘mogila’ are translated as tomb or tumulus.
2 J. Fedak rightly questions this opinion and notes:
‘Among other arguments against it is the fact that in
Lycia and elsewhere, the change from wooden to stone
architecture regularly left recognizable timber forms
‘‘petrified’’ in the stone, even when the stone structures
were modified and adjusted to the technical require-
ments of the new medium. In the stone chambers of thekourgans, in contrast, there are no such reminiscences
of wooden prototypes; the stone chambers appeared
rather suddenly, and in a developed form, without
evidence or previous experimentation in the medium.’
(1990, 232, note 19).
3 Herodotus, Book 1. 2, 6, 15–16, 72–74, 103–106,
110, 130, 153, 180, 189, 194, 201–216; Book 2. 22,
103–105, 110, 167; Book 3. 36, 92–94, 97, 116–117,
134; Book 4. 1–144, 172, 204; Book 5. 24, 27, 49, 52;
Book 6. 5, 9, 26, 40, 41, 84, 113; Book 7. 9–10, 18, 20,
52, 59, 62, 64, 66–68, 72–73, 78–79, 86, 96, 147, 184,
193, 197; Book 8. 113; Book 9. 31, 71, 113. The besttranslations with detailed commentaries and exhaustive
literature are: Dovatur et al. 1982 and Corcella 1993.
See also Neikhardt 1982 and Levi (The Scythians of
Herodotus and the Archaeological Evidence) in Genito
1994, 633–42.
4 See in Russian: Grakov 1971; Artamonov 1966;
Alekseev 1992; Melyukova 1989; Andrukh 1995;
Shramko 1983; Kuklina 1985; Bessonova 1983; etc.
In English: Minns 1913; Rolle 1989; Archibald 1994;
Jacobson 1995; Boardman 1994, 192–217; Melyukova
1995; Olkhovsky 1995; Piotrovsky et al. 1987;
Sulimirski 1985; Sulimirski and Taylor 1991; Taylor
1994; Petrenko 1995; etc.
5 According to E. Chernenko (1994, 45) about 3000Scythian graves had been discovered in the steppes of
the northern Black Sea littoral from the middle
eighteenth century to 1990, of which 500–600 had been
found in the 1980s alone. ‘Modern analyses tends to
postulate earlier dates for these tumuli, so that most are
now seen as of the 4th c. BC or earlier, whilst 3rd c. BC
datings are accepted for only a very few.’ (Chernenko
1994, 45).
6 Criteria for identifying Scythian royal and elite
tombs (mainly height of the mound, character of grave
goods, etc.) have been discussed many times in the
literature (Bunyatyan 1985, 91–101; Melyukova 1989,217; Galanina 1994; etc.).
7 Mantsevich 1987.
8 Cherednichenko and Murzin 1996.
9 Mozolevskii 1979.
10 Alekseev et al. 1991; see also Mozolevskii in
Chernenko 1987, 63–74.
11 Terenozhkin and Mozolevskii 1988.
12 Boltrik and Fialko 1991.
13 Melyukova 1981.
14 Boltrik and Fialko 1989; 1991.
15 In 1990 a new Scythian elite tomb was excavated
in the Kherson Region, probably belonging toAlekseev’s chronological group A (Kubysev 1991;
1993). For the possible existence of another (fourth
century) royal tomb not far from Chaersonesus, see:
Shcheglov and Kats 1991. See also Skoryi 1991. On the
Sladovski (group A) and Zhitkov II (group B) tombs in
the Don/Azov area, see Batey 1996, 20–2. Thus about
40 Scythian royal and elite tombs dating to the end of
the fifth/fourth century BC are currently known. The
overall number of sixth/fourth century elite tombs is
about 50. To give exact numbers is very difficult in
view of the disagreements between scholars on how to
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 81
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 28/38
categorize the tombs. For example, in the literature
Solokha 1 and Solokha 2 can often be found, but it is
very difficult to judge whether these are one tomb or
two because most of the burials were found in the
nineteenth century (as I have already mentioned) and
the documentation, where it exists, is very difficult touse. Furthermore, materials from one tomb have been
dispersed between different museums without proper
documentation (cf. Minns 1913, 149–240; Mantsevich
1987, 5–29; etc.). There is a current tendency to connect
tombs to known Scythian kings, which seem to me
premature in view of the frequent changes of
chronology of the tombs and the nature of information
given by ancient authors. See: Alekseev 1994, 14–16;
Boltrik and Fialko 1991; 1994, 49–52.
16 The best recent study is: Boardman 1994, 192–
217; see also Minns 1913, 261–92; Koshelenko 1993;
Perevodchikova 1993. I shall address this question inTsetskhladze forthcoming.
17 According to B. Mozolevskii’s calculations and
survey, 14 large Scythian royal and elite tombs (height
of mound varying between 8 and 22m) have been
excavated between the Don and the Danube from the
Black Sea coast to the forest steppe zone (and excluding
the Crimea); still to be excavated are 23. They are
concentrated in three compact zones: the Crimean
lowlands; along the River Visun; and (the vast majority)
on both banks of the Dnieper around the Kamenko-
Nikopolskaya passage (Mozolevskii 1993, 47–8).
18 Herodotus 4. 71: ‘The burial places of their kingsare in the country of the Gerrhi, the place up to which
the Borysthenes is navigable. At this place, when their
king dies, they dig a great four-cornered pit, and, having
made it ready, they take up the dead man . . .’
(translation by D. Grene). The location of the Gerrhi
is the subject of scholarly debate but most academics
place it on the Lower Dnieper, where the vast majority
of Scythian tombs are situated (see Mozolevskii 1986).
19 They are allegedly considered as royal or elite ones
(only three are known) (Mozolevskii 1979, 152).
20 Melitopolskii — 6 m.
21 Tolstaya Mogila — 8.6m; Gaimonova Mogila —8 m.
22 Aleksandropolskii — 21 m; Chertomlyk — 19 m;
Oguz — 20 m; Bolshaya Tsimbalka — 15 m; and Kozel
— 14 m.
23 On the Bosporan Kingdom, with literature, see:
Gajdukevic 1971; Hind 1994.
24 These wooden sarcophagi (shape, style, painting,
decoration) are the same as in Scythian tombs. See:
Sokolskii 1971, 113–23; cf. Fedak 1990, 173–80.
25 J. Fedak (1990, 169) states: ‘The roof of the
chamber of the Royal Kourgan [Tsarskii Kurgan] is
designed to carry a great load and represents a technique
of construction the possibilities of which were not
realized until Byzantine times, when pendentives of
brick began to be widely employed in the Mediterranean
area. Curiously enough, prior to the building of thePantikapaion tomb, structures of pendentive type seem to
be found only in the peripheral regions of old Greece.’
26 This type of tomb is characteristic of the
Hellenistic period in the eastern Mediterranean (Fedak
1990, 170).
27 In the Greek settlement Berezan, situated in the
region where the vast majority of Scythian royal tombs
were found — the Lower Dnieper — moulds were
discovered in which metal objects in Scythian Animal
Style were produced. See: Ostroverkhov 1996;
Vinogradov and Kryzickij 1995, tabl. 100. This
question will be discussed in Tsetskhladze forthcoming.28 Z. Archibald’s forthcoming book (1997) has a
chapter dedicated specifically to Thracian royal and
elite tombs. This chapter has an exhaustive bibliography
of literature in Bulgarian as well as a catalogue of the
best known (and most extensively published) tombs. On
Thrace, in English and with bibliography, see:
Archibald 1994; Hoddinott 1975; 1981; Fol and
Marazov 1977; Mihailov 1991; Taylor 1994; Venedikov
and Gerasimov 1975; etc.
29 The best work on Thracian royal and elite tombs is
Venedikov and Gerasimov 1975, 53–63. This chapter
has drawings and descriptions of most of the tombsfound in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth
century. See also Fedak 1990, 165–72 and Domaradzki
1988.
30 There are more than 15,000 tumuli of the first
millennium BC in Thrace. Most of them date from the
Hellenistic period (Hoddinott 1975, 28; 1981, 119–26).
On Thracian burials, see: Kitov 1993a; 1994d; 1994e.
Archaeologically the most comprehensively studied and
published are tumuli of the Classical and Hellenistic
periods. Burial rites varied from region to region, which
could be an indication of the borders of different
Thracian tribes (Fol 1972; 1990 passim). See: Gergova1989; 1992b; Mateva and Valcheva 1992; Radev 1992;
Resumes 1993; Stoyanov 1992a; 1992b; Theodossiev
1995; Zarev et al. 1994; etc.
31 Ganina Mogila is situated in Getic land and it was
probably the tomb of a Getic prince. Other tombs are
also situated near fortified or large settlements.
Probably, the Thracian elite used to live in these
settlements and the nearby tombs are not royal but elite
ones. See: Chichikova 1994; Chichikova et al. 1992;
Dimitrov 1991; Domaradzki 1991; 1992; Draganov
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
82 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 29/38
1994; Mateva and Valcheva 1992; Gergova 1992a).
32 Z. Archibald (1997) classifies chamber tombs as
follows: 1) beehive (tholos) tombs (Karakochkoy, Kirk-
Kilise, Valchepol, Mal-tepe, M. Belovo, Kirklareli B,
Lyaskovo, D. Levski, Strelcha, Ravnogor 2, Kazanluk,
Koprinka 3, Yankovo 1, Muglish) (on tholoi tombs inThrace, see also: Venedikov 1974; 1976). 2) brick-built
tholoi and related tombs (Kazanluk, Koprinka 2 and 3,
Muglish). (I myself would include these tombs in
category No. 1 — both categories are tholoi type tombs
with diversities.) 3) orthogonal tombs (Rouets,
Tatarevo, Kaloyanova, Vetren, Filipovo, Starose 1,
Ruen(?)). Classification and dating of all tombs is very
difficult because not many are published and fewer are
properly published. For the same reason it is impossible
to give the exact numbers. Altogether we know now of
about 55 royal or elite tombs in Thrace. The number has
doubled in the last seven years thanks to the discoveryof tombs (which can be dated preliminarily to the fourth
century BC) in the Shipka area not far from Seuthopolis
and Kazanluk. This valley is now known in the
literature as ‘The Valley of the Thracian Kings’. For
preliminary publications, see: Kitov 1979; 1990/91;
1992; 1993a–b; 1994a–g; 1995a–b; Kitov and Krasteva
1992/93; 1994/95; Kitov and Theodossiev 1995. (See
also: Getov 1994; Gergova and Stoyanov 1992; Ivanov
1992; Lilova 1994; Tacheva 1994; Moutsopoulos 1989).
33 The doorways have a slightly trapezoidal shape. A
Macedonian type bronze door was found at Mal Tepe
and, possibly, at Kazanluk, Kirklareli B and ZhabaMogila (Archibald 1997, chapter 12.4).
34 In Strelcha Region the architectural details from an
unfinished tomb were found (Kitov 1979, 20–2).
35 ‘They [Sveshtari women] are dressed as Greeks in
an archaizing style. The Thracians no doubt identified
them as goddesses of fertility or death — related
functions, familiar also to Greeks — but to us they are
nameless.’ (Boardman 1994, 192).
36 A mausoleum-like tomb was previously found in
the Strelcha Region, dating from the middle of the fifth
century BC. The facade of this tomb was decorated with
relief of a lion, strongly reminiscent of Phrygian lions(Kitov 1979, 12–13, fig. 15). The building of
mausoleums continued in Thrace down to and through
the Roman period (Ivanov 1988).
37 Here was also a damaged and fragmentary male
image, wearing a gold wreath on his head (‘similar to
the ‘‘dynast’’ buried in the Kazanluk tomb’) as well as
‘a recumbent warrior with a large shield. Two seated
figures, apparently engaged in conversation, fill a third
one . . . a man resting on a club . . . turned to the right,
probably in conversation with an unclear standing
human figure. A form painted in red falls from the left
shoulder of the man, which may also be the lion skin
worn by Herakles.’ (Kitov and Krasteva 1994/95, 18).
The female already mentioned has ‘brown hair, lovely
expression, gold earrings and a gold necklace, of which
only small flakes have been preserved’ (Kitov andKrasteva 1994/95, 18).
38 This is a unique tomb for Thrace, not just as the
first with polychrome decoration, but for its shape, a
pointed arch. This tomb has a dromos and two
chambers. The stone door (without any decoration) to
the first chamber is preserved completely, even its iron
hinges survive in working order. A horse was buried in
the dromos and a man buried in one of the chambers.
Both the chambers and the dromos were painted from
floor to ceiling (Kitov and Krasteva 1994/95, 26).
39 On the Heroon in Thrace, see Ovcharov 1974.
40 On this question in relation to the Black Sea andother regions of Ionian colonization, see Tsetskhladze
forthcoming.
41 On the chamber tomb in Italy, Sicily, Albania,
North Africa and the Near and Middle East, see: Fedak
1990, 109–59.
42 Vinogradov Y.A. 1995, 158–9, etc. Interpretation
of the handmade pottery is a very complex matter. It
would be more reasonable to suggest that Greeks
commissioned its production by the local population (in
detail, see Tsetskhladze forthcoming).
43 Translation by Jowett. See also Xenophon,
Anabasis 7. 3. 15–20, 26–32 and Hornblower 1991,372–3.
44 In the literature the Thracian system of gift-giving
is compared with the Achaemenid system. There is
discussion of whether Thracian kings were only
receiving gifts or giving them as well (as was
Achaemenid practice) (see Briant 1986; 1989; 1991;
cf. Briant 1996, 314–35, 399–422). Perhaps the
Odrysian kings did not give gifts? It was not necessary
for them to do so because Greek cities situated on the
Thracian Black Sea coast were under pressure from
local kings, who obliged them to give gifts (the same
situation existed in the northern Black sea — seebelow). If indeed the Thracian king had to give gifts it
was probably to the chiefs of the other Thracian tribes
and not to the Greeks. We have no evidence of Thracian
kings giving gifts to Greeks but plenty of evidence of
the converse. In Colchis, for example, the Colchian elite
was receiving lavish gifts from Achaemenid kings
because they needed its support. We know also that
Colchians were paying some tribute to the
Achaemenians as well. For the situation in the eastern
Black Sea and a collection of ancient written sources on
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 83
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 30/38
gift-giving, see: Tsetskhladze 1993/94, 24–9. Interesting
observations can be found in Miller 1997, 109–34.
45 The system of measurement used in Thracian
tombs also demonstrates the very active involvement of
Greeks in their construction. See Ognenova-Marinova
1977; cf. Valeva 1995. Very strong evidence that theGreeks built the Thracian chamber tombs comes from
Sveshtari. There are large Greek letters — H, , A —
placed vertically at a distance of 23.5–35.5 cm from
each other on the southern lateral frame of the entrance
(Fig. 17). The publication does not give details of the
size of the letters. Other letters were also found. The
information given is: ‘There is another letter above
them, on the lintel, but it is not clearly discernible and
may not be in association. The number 115 is chiselled
again (according to the Greek acrophonic system) on
the lintel, but now on its lower face. It is made up of the
number 50 repeated twice (), followed by 10 ()and 5 (P). The inscription AP is engraved in Greek
minuscules on the same lintel, and vertical lines are
incised on its edge, which might have some connection
with the numbers of the Greek acrophonic system. It is
quite probable that the letters A, and H were used to
mark rows of stones.’ (Fol et al. 1986, 54–5, fig. 41;
Chichkova 1988, 134–5, 131, fig. 7; cf. A.K. Orlandos,
Les mate riaux de construction 2 Partie, Paris 1968, 89–
93) (Fig. 17).
46 On the influence of Greek burial rites on Thracian
practice, see: Petropoulou 1990/91.
47 Z. Archibald (1997), writing independently, hascome close to my conclusions. She writes: ‘The design
and construction of beehive tombs in Odrysian Thrace
is evidently connected, perhaps indirectly, with
architectural practices in western Anatolia. The
popularity of such tombs in southeastern Thrace
suggests that, through the diplomatic contacts with the
local aristocracy in Hellespontine Phrygia and Lydia,
the Odrysian princes of these regions had access to
Anatolian or East Greek masons (or masons who
worked primarily for Anatolian or East Greek clients)
and pioneered a new fashion in chamber tomb
construction.’
ABBREVIATIONS
AA Archa ologischer Anzeiger
AJA American Journal of Archaeology
AS Anatolian Studies
CAH The Cambridge Ancient History
DHA Dialogues d’Histoire Ancienne
JDAI Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archa ologischen
Instituts
JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies
PAV Peterburgskii Arkheologicheskii Vestnik
(Petersburg Archaeological Herald) (in
Russian)
RA Rossiiskaya Arkheologiya (Russian
Archaeology) (in Russian)SA Sovetskaya Arkheologiya (Soviet
Archaeology) (in Russian)
SGMII Soobshcheniya Gosudarstvennogo Muzeya
Izobrazitel’nykh Iskusstv imeni A.S. Pushkina
(Bulletin of the Pushkin State Museum of
Fine Arts) (in Russian)
VDI Vestnik Drevnei Istorii (Journal of Ancient
History) (in Russian)
REFERENCES
AKURGAL, E. 1961: Die Kunst Anatoliens von Homer bis
Alexander (Berlin).
AKURGAL, E. 1970: Ancient Civilizations and Ruins of
Turkey (Istanbul).
ALEKSEEV, A.Y. 1992: Scythian Chronicles (St
Petersburg) (in Russian).
ALEKSEEV, A.Y. 1994: Large ‘‘Royal’’ Tombs of the 5th–
4th Centuries BC in European Scythia: Chronology and
Interpretation. In Alekseev et al. 1994, 12–17.
ALEKSEEV, A.Y., BOKOVENKO, N.A., MARSADOLOV, L.S. andSEMENOV, V.A. (eds.) 1994: The Elite Barrows of
Eurasian Steppe Region in the Scythian and Sarmatian
Epoch (The ‘Round-Table’ Discussion Material, St
Petersburg, 22–24 December 1994) (St Petersburg) (in
Russian).
ALEKSEEV, A.Y., MURZIN, V.Y. and ROLLE, R. 1991:
Chertomlyk (Kiev) (in Russian).
ALMAGRO-GORBEA, M. 1991: Las Necropolis Ibericas en
su Contextu Mediterraneo. In Blanquez Perez and
Antona del Val 1991, 37–75.
ANDRONICOS, M. 1988: Vergina. The Royal Tombs and the Ancient City (Athens).
ANDRUKH, S.I. 1995: Lower Danubian Scythia from the
6th to the beginning of the 1st Century BC (The
Ethnopolitical Aspect) (Zaporozhe) (in Russian).
ARCHIBALD, Z. 1994: Thracians and Scythians. In CAH
Vol. VI, 2nd ed. (Cambridge), 444–75.
ARCHIBALD, Z. 1997: The Odrysian Kingdom of Thrace
from the Archaic Period to the Death of Lysimachos
(Oxford) (forthcoming).
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
84 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 31/38
ARTAMONOV, M.I. 1996: Treasures of the Scythian Burial
Mounds (Prague/Leningrad) (in Russian).
BATEY, C.E. (ed.) 1996: Treasures of the Warrior Tombs
(Glasgow).
BESSONOVA, S.S. 1983: Religious Beliefs of the Scythians
(Kiev) (in Russian).
BESSONOVA, S.S. 1997: Towards the Cruciform Planning
of Scythian Burial Constructions. In Sizov, S.K. (ed.),
Bosporus and the Ancient World (Nizhnii Novgorod),
13–20 (in Russian).
BEST, J.C.P. and DE VRIES, N.M.W. (eds.) 1989: Thracians
and Mycenaeans (Proceedings of the Fourth
International Congress of Thracology, Rotterdam, 24–
26 September 1984) (Leiden).
BLANQUEZ PEREZ, I. and ANTONA DEL VAL, V. (eds.) 1991:Congresco de Arqueologia Iberica: Las Necropolis
(Madrid).
BLAVATSKII, V.D. 1955: On the Origin of Bosporan
Tombs with Projecting Roofs. SA XXIV, 29–53.
BLAVATSKII, V.D. 1964: Panticapaeum. Essays on the
History of the Capital of Bosporus (Moscow) (in
Russian).
BOARDMAN, J. 1994: The Diffusion of Classical Art in
Antiquity (London).
BOLTRIK, J.V. and FIALKO, E.E. 1989: Tomb Oguz andBurials of Other Bosporan Tombs in the 4th Century
BC. In Vakhtina, M.Y. (ed.), Scythia and Bosporus
(Archaeological Materials from the Conference
Dedicated to the Memory of Academician M.I.
Rostovtzeff, Leningrad, 14–17 March 1989)
(Novocherkassk), 97–9 (in Russian).
BOLTRIK, J.V. and FIALKO, E.E. 1991: Der Oguz-Kurgan.
Die Grabanlage eines Skythenkonigs der Zeit nach
Ateas. Hamburger Beitra ge zur Archa ologie 18, 107–
30.
BOLTRIK, J.V. and FIALKO, E.E. 1994: Tombs of ScythianKings, Second Half of 4th Century BC. In Alekseev et
al. 1994, 49–53.
BOUZEK, J., DOMARADZKI, M. and ARCHIBALD, Z.H. (eds.)
1996: Pistiros I. Excavations and Studies (Prague).
BRAUND, D. 1994: Georgia in Antiquity. A History of
Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia 550 BC–AD 562
(Oxford).
BRIANT, P. 1986: Guerre, tribut et forces productives
dans l’Empire archemenide. DHA 12, 33–48.
BRIANT, P. 1989: Table du roi, tribut et redistribution
chez les Achemenides. In Briant. P. and Herrenschmidt,
C. (eds.). Le tribut dans l’Empire perse (Paris), 35–44.
BRIANT, P. 1991: Chasses royales macedoniennes et
chasses royales perses: le theme de la chasse au lion surlas chasse de Vergina. DHA 17/1, 211–55.
BRIANT, P. 1996: Historie de l’Emore perse. De Cyrus a
Alexandre (Paris).
BUNYATYAN, E.P. 1985: Methodology of the Social
Reconstructions in Archaeology. On the Materials of
Scythian Graves of the 4th–3rd Centuries BC (Kiev) (in
Russian).
BUTLER, H.C. 1922: Sardis 1 (Leiden).
CHEREDNICHENKO, M.M. and MURZIN, V.Y. 1996: Main
Results of the Study of the Berdyansk Mound. Arkeologiya (Kiev) 1, 69–78 (in Ukrainian).
CHERNENKO, E.V. (ed.) 1987: Scythians of the Northern
Black Sea Littoral (Kiev) (in Russian).
CHERNENKO, E.V. 1994: Investigations of the Scythian
Tumuli in the Northern Pontic Steppe. Ancient
Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 1(1), 45–53.
CHICHIKOVA, M. 1988: The Sveshtari Tomb —
Architecture and Decoration. Terra Antiqua Balcanica
III, 125–43 (in Bulgarian).
CHICHIKOVA, M. (ed.) 1991a: Thracian Culture of the Hellenistic Period (Kazanluk) (in Bulgarian).
CHICHIKOVA, M. 1991b: New Observations on the Town
and Planning of Seuthopolis. In Chichikova 1991a, 60–
70.
CHICHIKOVA, M. 1992: The Thracian Tomb near
Sveshtari. In Gergova and Stoyanov 1992, 143–63.
CHICHIKOVA, M. 1994: La ville fortifiee Thrace de
Sborjanovo. In Draganov 1994, 34–43.
CHICHIKOVA, M., DELEV, P. and BOZHKOVA, A. 1992:
Investigations of the Thracian Fortified Settlement nearSveshtari in the 1986–1988 Period. In Gergova and
Stoyanov 1992, 73–88.
CICIKOVA, M. 1989: Tombeau royal de Svestari et
certains aspects due culte sepulcral Thrace. In Best
and De Vries 1989, 205–17.
COOK, B.F. (ed.) 1989: The Rogozen Treasure (Papers of
the Anglo-Bulgarian Conference, 12 March 1987)
(London).
CORCELLA, A. 1993: Erodoto Le Storie Vol. IV Libro IV
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 85
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 32/38
La Scizia e la Libia (Introduzione e commento di Aldo
Corcella. Testo critico di Silvio M. Medaglia.
Traduzione di Augusto Fraschetti) (Fondazione Lorenzo
Valla/Arnoldo Mondadori Editore).
DAVIS-KIMBALL, J., BASHILOV, V.A. and YABLONSKI, L.T.(eds.) 1995: Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes in the
Early Iron Age (Berkeley).
DIMITROV, D.P. and CICIKOVA, M. 1978: The Thracian City
of Seuthopolis (Oxford: BAR Supplementary Series 38).
DIMITROV, D.P., CHICHIKOVA, M., BALKANSKA, A. and
OGNENOVA-MARINOVA, L. 1984: Seuthopolis Vol. 1
(Sofia) (in Bulgarian).
DIMITROV, K. 1991: On Some Problems of the
Development of Thrace During the Early Hellenistic
Age. In Chichikova 1991a, 93–102.
DOMARADZKI, M. 1988: Rich Thracian Burials. Terra
Antiqua Balcanica III, 78–86 (in Bulgarian).
DOMARADZKI, M. 1991: Culture of the Thracians during
the Late Iron Age in the Kazanluk Region. In
Chichikova 1991a, 125–42.
DOMARADZKI, M. 1992: Thracian Culture in Northeastern
Thrace during the Late Iron Age. Settlement and Ethnic
Features. In Gergova 1992b, 97–108.
DOMARADZKI, M. 1993: Les contacts entre les Grecs et
Thraces dan l’epoque classique. Orpheus 3, 37–43.
DOMARADZKI, M. 1994a: Emporion Pistiros near Vetren,
District of Septemvri. Minalo 1, 14–17 (in Bulgarian).
DOMARADZKI, M. 1994b: Emporion Pistiros in Thrace. In
Draganov 1994, 44–52 (in Bulgarian).
DOMARADZKI, M. 1995: Thracian-Greek Trade Relations
(Emporion Pistiros Vol. 1) (Pazardzhik) (in Bulgarian).
DOMINGUEZ MONEDERO, A.J. 1988: Situacion de la
peninsula Iberica en los siglos VI-V a. C. In Escultura
Iberica (Revista de Arqueologia) (Madrid), 8–19.
DOMINGUEZ MONEDERO, A.J. 1994: El mundo funerarioGriego en Occidente. Indigenas y colonizadores. In
Arqueologia de la Magna Grecia, Sicilia y Peninsula
Iberica (Conloba), 247–320.
DOVATUR, A.I., KALLISTOV, D.P. and SHISHOVA, I.A. 1982:
Peoples of our Country in the ‘ ‘Histories’ ’ of
Herodotus. Text. Translation. Commentaries (Moscow)
(in Russian).
DRAGANOV, D. (ed.) 1994: Studies on Settlement Life in
Ancient Thrace (Proceedings of the 3rd International
Symposium ‘Cabyle’, 17–21 May 1993, Jambol)
(Jambol).
FEDAK, J. 1990: Monumental Tombs of the Hellenistic
Age: A Study of Selected Tombs from the Pre-Classical
to the Early Imperial Era (Toronto/Buffalo/London).
FOL, A. 1972: Political History of Thrace (Sofia) (in
Bulgarian).
FOL, A. (ed.) 1989: The Rogozen Treasure (Sofia).
FOL, A. 1990: Politics and Culture of Ancient Thrace
(Sofia) (in Bulgarian).
FOL, A., CHICHIKOVA, M., IVANOV, T. and TEOFILOV, T. 1986:
The Thracian Tomb near the Village of Sveshtari
(Sofia).
FOL, A. and MARAZOV, I. 1977: Thrace and the Thracians
(London).
FOL, A. and OGNENOVA-MARINOVA, L. (eds.) 1975:
Thracian-Scythian Cultural Relations (Studia Thracica
1) (Sofia) (in Russian).
GAIDUKEVICH, V.F. 1981: Bosporan Cities (Leningrad)
(in Russian).
GAJDUKEVIC, V.F. 1971: Das Bosporanische Reich
(Berlin).
GALANINA, L.K. 1994: On Criteria for Identifying
‘‘Royal’’ Tombs of the Early Scythian Period. In
Alekseev et al. 1994, 76–81.
GATES, M.-H. 1995: Archaeology in Turkey. AJA 99,
207–55.
GATES, M.-H. 1996: Archaeology in Turkey. AJA 100,
277–335.
GENITO, B. (ed.) 1994: The Archaeology of the Steppes.
Methods and Strategies (Papers from the International
Symposium held in Naples, 9–12 November 1992)
(Napoli).
GERGOVA, D. 1989: Thracian Burial Rites of Late Bronze
and Early Iron Age. In Best and De Vries 1989, 231–40.GERGOVA, D. 1992a: Studies of Tumulus No. 13 from the
Eastern Necropolis of Sveshtari. In Gergova and
Stoyanov 1992, 118–26.
GERGOVA, D. (ed.) 1992b: The Getic Lands in the Bronze
and Iron Ages ( Helis 1) (Sofia) (in Bulgarian).
GERGOVA, D. 1996: A Mathematical-Astronomical Study
of the Sveshtari Burial Complex (Sofia) (in Bulgarian).
GERGOVA, D. and STOYANOV, T. (eds.) 1992: Sboryanovo
— Studies and Prospects (Proceedings of the
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
86 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 33/38
Conference in Isperih, 8 December 1988) ( Helis II)
(Sofia).
GETOV, L. 1991: Thracian Tombs in the Hinterland of
Seuthopolis during the Hellenistic Age. In Chichikova
1991a, 40–6.GETOV, L. 1994: Muglizh Tomb. Kazanluk 4, 32–9 (in
Bulgarian).
GINOUVES, R. (ed.) 1994: Macedonia. From Philip II to
the Roman Conquest (Princeton).
GRAKOV, B.N. 1971: Scythians (Moscow) (in Russian).
HANFMANN, G.M. 1983: Sardis from Prehistoric to
Roman Times (Cambridge, MA/London).
HARRISON, R.J. 1988: Spain at the Dawn of History.
Iberians, Phoenicians and Greeks (London).
HIND, J. 1994: The Bosporan Kingdom. In CAH Vol. VI,
2nd ed. (Cambridge), 476–511.
HODDINOTT, R.F. 1975: Bulgaria in Antiquity (London).
HODDINOTT, R.F. 1981: The Thracians (London).
HORNBLOWER, S. 1991: A Commentary on Thucydides
Volume 1: Books I–III (Oxford).
IVANOV, D. 1988: The Mausoleum-like Tomb near the
Village of Babovo and its Ancient Thracian Parallels.
Terra Antiqua Balcanica III, 99–105 (in Bulgarian).
IVANOV, T. 1992: Studies of Ginina Mogila (1982–1985).In Gergova and Stoyanov 1992, 133–42.
IVANOV, T. 1994: City Archives in West Pontic and
Thracian Cities of the Hellenistic Period. In Draganov
1994, 56–61 (in Bulgarian).
IVANOVA, A.P. 1953: Art of the Ancient Cities of the
Northern Black Sea Littoral (Leningrad) (in Russian).
JACOBSON, E. 1995: The Art of the Scythians. The
Interpenetration of Cultures at the Edge of the Hellenic
World (Leiden).
KAMENETSKII, I.S. 1995: On Embalming Dead Kings of Scythia. Historical-Archaeological Almanack 1, 68–76
(in Russian).
KEEN, A.G. 1992: The Dynastic Tombs of Xanthos —
Who Was Buried Where? AS 42, 53–63.
KEEN, A.G. 1995: The Tombs of Lycia. Evidence for
Social Stratification? In Campbell, S. and Green, A.
(eds.), The Archaeology of Death in the Ancient Near
East (Oxford), 221–7.
KITOV, G. 1979: Thracian Graves of the Strelcha Region
(Sofia) (in Bulgarian).
KITOV, G. 1990–91: The Domed Tombs near the Village
of Ravnogor in the Rhodopes. Talanta XXII–XXIII, 23–
47.
KITOV, G. 1992: Tumuli in Northeastern Bulgaria. In
Gergova 1992b, 48–69.
KITOV, G. 1993a: Thracian Burials. Thracia 10, 39–80
(in Bulgarian).
KITOV, G. 1993b: Newly-discovered Equipment and
Materials in the Thracian Tumular Necropolis near
Shipka and Sheynovo. Orpheus 3, 9–25.
KITOV, G. 1994a: Newly Discovered Monuments of
Thracian Culture from the Tumuli in the Vicinity of
Shipka and Sheinovo (Kazanluk). In Zarev, Kitov,
Gocheva et al. 1994, 105–15 (in Bulgarian).
KITOV, G. 1994b: Ruler’s Tomb from the Thracian
Burial-Mound Necropolis ‘‘Shipka-Sheinovo’’. Minalo
1, 5–14 (in Bulgarian).
KITOV, G. 1994c: The Kazanluk Plain: The Valley of the
Kings. Anali Journal 2/3, 46–76 (in Bulgarian).
KITOV, G. 1994d: Die thrakischen Hugel. In Europa
Indo-Europea (Atti del VIo Congresso Internazionale di
Tracologia e del VIIo Symposium Internazionale di
Studi Traci. Palma de Mallorca-24-28 Marzo 1992)
(Nagard), 174–218.
KITOV, G. 1994e: Thracian Burials in Bulgaria. Annual of
the Department of Archaeology, New Bulgarian
University, Sofia 1, 67–85 (in Bulgarian).
KITOV, G. 1994f: Shipka Tomb — Sensational
Archaeological Discovery. Kazanluk 4, 40–3 (in
Bulgarian).
KITOV, G. 1994g: Thracian Tombs in the Hinterland of
Seuthopolis. In Draganov 1994, 85–93 (in Bulgarian).
KITOV, G. 1995a: Les tumuli royaux dans ‘‘La vallee des
rois’’. Orpheus 5, 5–21.
KITOV, G. 1995b: Research Expedition on Thracian
Tumuli (ERTT) in 1992–1994. Arkheologya 4, 54–61
(in Bulgarian).
KITOV, G. and KRASTEVA, M. 1992–93: A 4th Century BC
Thracian Royal Tomb from the Kazanluk Region,
Southern Bulgaira. Talanta XXIV–XXV, 59–75.
KITOV, G. and KRASTEVA, M. 1994–95: The Thracian Grave
and Cult Complex in the Ostrousha Tumulus near
Shipka. Talanta XXVI–XXVII, 1–22.
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 87
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 34/38
KITOV, G. and THEODOSSIEV, N. 1995: New Data on
Thracian Archaeology and Religion from the Tumuli
near the Villages of Shipka and Sheynovo in the
Kazanluk Region (Preliminary Publication). Thracia 11,
317–36.
KJELDSEN, K. and ZAHLE, J. 1976: A Dynastic Tomb in
Central Lycia. New Evidence for the Study of Lycian
Architecture and History in the Classical Period. Acta
Archaeologica 47, 29–46.
KOHLER, E.L. 1980: Cremations of the Middle Phrygian
Period at Gordion. In From Athens to Gordion. The
Papers of a Memorial Symposium for R.S. Young
(Philadelphia), 65–89.
KOSHELENKO, G.A. 1993: Scythes et Grecs. Dossiers
d’Arche ologie 188/Decembre, 4–9.
KOSHELENKO, G.A., KRUGLIKOVA, I.T. and DOLGORUKOV, V.S.
(eds.) 1984: Ancient States of the Northern Black Sea
Littoral (Archaeology of the USSR Vol. 4) (Moscow)
(in russian).
KRYKIN, S.M. 1991: Importance and Essence of the
Thracian Influence in the Ancient Northern Black Sea
Littoral. Terra Antiqua Balcanica VI, 102–10 (in
Russian).
KRYKIN, S.M. 1993: Thracians in the Ancient Northern
Black Sea Littoral (Moscow) (in Russian).
KUBYSEV, A.I. 1991: Der Bratoljubovka-Kurgan. DieGrabanlage eines skythischen Nomarchen? Hamburger
Beitra ge zur Archa ologie 18, 131–40.
KUBYSEV, A.I. 1993: A Scythian Tomb of the 5th Century
BC near the Village of Bratolyulubovka in Kherson
Region. In Resumes 1993, 65–7.
KUKLINA, I.V. 1985: Ethnography of Scythia According
to Ancient Sources (Leningrad) (in Russian).
KURTZ, D.C. and BOARDMAN, J. 1971: Greek Burial
Customs (London).
LILOVA, B. 1991: Burial Rites in the Region of Seuthopolis during the Hellenistic Age. In Chichikova
1991a, 47–59.
LILOVA, B. 1994: Burial Tumuli in the Kazanluk Region.
In Zarev, Kitov, Gocheva et al. 1994, 117–20 (in
Bulgarian).
LORDKIPANIDZE, O.D. 1991: Vani: An Ancient City of
Colchis. Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 32.2,
151–95.
LORDKIPANIDZE, O.D. 1994: Vani, une Pompe i ge orgienne
(Besancon).
MAKHORTYKH, S.V. 1991: Skythians in North Caucasus
(Kiev) (in Russian).
MANSEL, A.M. 1974: Das Kuppelgrab von Kutluca (West-
Bithynien). Thracia 3, 207–20.
MANTSEVICH, A.P. 1987: Kurgan of Solokha (Leningrad)
(in Russian).
MARAZOV, I. 1989: The Gifts of the Odrysian Kings. In
Fol 1989, 90–137.
MARCHENKO, I.D. 1984: On Panticapaeum Acroteria.
SGMII 7, 57–70.
MARCHENKO, K. 1993: On the Scythian Protectorate on
the North West Coast of the Black Sea in the 5th
Century BC. PAV 7, 43–8.
MARCHENKO, K.K. 1996: Third Period of the Stabilisation
of the North Black Sea Littoral in Ancient Times. RA 2,
70–80.
MARCHENKO, K. and VINOGRADOV, Y. 1989: The Scythian
Period in the Northern Black Sea Region (750–250 BC).
Antiquity 63, 803–13.
MATEVA, B. and VALCHEVA, D. 1992: Unpublished
Thracian Sites in Northeastern Bulgaria. In Gergova
1992b, 147–50.
MELLINK, M.J. 1992: Archaeology in Anatolia. AJA 96,
119–50.
MELLINK, M.J. 1993: Archaeology in Anatolia. AJA 97,
105–33.
MELYUKOVA, A.I. 1979: Scythia and the Thracian World
(Moscow) (in Russian).
MELYUKOVA, A.I. 1981: Krasnokutskii Kurgan (Moscow)
(in Russian).
MELYUKOVA, A.I. (ed.) 1989: Steppes of the European
Part of the USSR in Scytho-Sarmatian Times
(Archaeology of the USSR Vol. 10) (Moscow) (in
Russian).
MELYUKOVA, A.I. 1995: Scythians of Southeastern
Europe. In Davis-Kimball, Bashilov and Yablonsky
1995, 27–62.
MIHAILOV, G. 1991: Thrace before the Persian Entry into
Europe. In CAH Vol. III, Part 2, 2nd ed. (Cambridge),
591–617.
MILLER, M.C. 1997: Athens and Persia in the Fifth
Century BC. A Study in Cultural Receptivity
(Cambridge).
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
88 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 35/38
MILLER, S.G. 1982: Macedonian Tombs: Their
Architecture and Architectural Decoration. In Barr-
Sharrar, B. and Borza, E.N. (eds.), Macedonia and
Greece in Late Classical and Early Hellenistic Times
(National Gallery of Art, Washington, Studies in the
History of Art, Vol. 10), 153–72.
MILLER, S.G. 1993: The Tomb of Lyson and Kallikles: A
Painted Macedonian Tomb (Mainz).
MILLER, S.G. 1994: Hellenistic Burial Tumuli in
Macedonia. Problems and Questions. In Zarev, Kitov,
and Gocheva et al. 1994, 77–80.
MINNS, E.H. 1913: Scythians and Greeks (Cambridge).
MOLEV, E.A. 1986: Towards the Question of Bosporus
Paying Tribute to Barbarians. In Frolov, E.D. (ed.),
Ancient Civic Community (Leningrad), 176–89 (in
Russian).
MONAHOV, S.J. 1995/96: La chronologie de quelques
kourganes de la noblesse scythe du IVe siecle av. n. e du
littoral septentrional de la mer Noire. Il Mar Nero II,
29–60.
MOUTSOPOULOS, N.C. 1989: Tournee en Rhodope du Sud
et a Samothrace. In Best and De Vries 1989, 246–79.
MOZOLEVSKII, B.N. 1979: Tovsta Mogila (Kiev) (in
Ukrainian).
MOZOLEVSKII, B.N. 1986: Towards the Question of
Scythian Gerrhi. SA 2, 185–200.
MOZOLEVSKII, B.N. 1993: Large Tombs in the Territory of
Steppe Ukraine. In Resumes 1993, 45–8.
MURZIN, V.Y. 1984: Scythian Monuments of the Archaic
Period from the Northern Black Sea (Kiev) (in
Russian).
MURZIN, V.Y. 1990: Origin of the Scythians: Main
Periods in the Formation of the Scythian Ethnos (Kiev)
(in Russian).
MURZIN, V.Y. and SKORY, S.A.
1994: An Essay on ScythianHistory. Il Mar Nero 1, 55–98.
NEHRYZOV, G. 1994: Rock Tombs in the Eastern Part of
Rodopai Mountain. Minalo 2, 5–11 (in Bulgarian).
NEIKHARDT, A.A. 1982: Scythian Stories of Herodotus in
Russian and Soviet Historiography (Leningrad) (in
Russian).
NIKOLOV, B. 1989: Historical and Archaeological
Context. In Fol 1989, 14–45.
OGNENOVA-MARINOVA, L. 1977: Essai de mettre en
rapport Athenion de Maronee avec la peinture en
Thrace vers la fin de IVe siecle avant notre ere. Thracia
4, 177–88.
OGNENOVA-MARINOVA, L. 1991: The Kazanluk Tomb —
a Masterpiece of Thracian Art. In Chichikova 1991a,13–26.
OLKHOVSKY,V.S. 1991: Burial Customs of the Population
of Steppe-Scythia (Moscow) (in Russian).
OLKHOVSKY, V.S. 1995: Scythian Culture in the Crimea.
In Davis-Kimball, Bashilov and Yablonsky 1995, 63–
82.
OSTROVERKHOV, A.S. 1996: The Animal Style and the
Ancient Cities of the Northern Black Sea Littoral. VDI
2, 85–102.
OVCHAROV, D. 1974: On the Existence of Heroon inAncient Thracia. Thracia 3, 345–52 (in Bulgarian).
PANAYOTOVA, C. 1994: Burials of Greek Colonies on the
Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. In Zarev, Kitov, Gocheva et
al. 1994, 81–8 (in Bulgarian).
PEREVODCHIKOVA, E.V. 1993: Scythian Animal Style and
Greek Artists. In Raev. B.A. (ed.), Ancient Civilization
and the Barbarian World (Materials of the 3rd
Archaeological Seminar) Part II (Novocherkassk), 65–
70 (in Russian).
PETRENKO, V.G. 1995: Scythian Culture in the NorthCaucasus. In Davis-Kimball, Bashilov and Yablonsky
1995, 5–26.
PETROPOULOU, A. 1990–91: The Thracian Funerary Rites
(Her. 5.8) and Similar Greek Practices. Talanta XXII–
XXIII, 29–47.
PIOTROVSKY, B., GALANINA, L. and GRACH, N. 1987:
Scythian Art (Oxford/Leningrad).
POGREBOVA, M.N. and RAEVSKII, D.S. 1992: Early Scythians
and the Ancient Orient. On the History of the Formation
of Scythian Culture (Moscow) (in Russian).
RADEV, R. 1992: Some Observations on the Necropoleis
in Northeastern Bulgaria — 5th–1st Centuries BC. In
Gergova 1992b, 120–34.
RAEVSKIY, D. 1993: Scythian Mythology (Sofia).
RAMOS, R. 1990: Obras arcaicas de escultura Iberica en
el Museo arqeologico de Elche. Boletin Asociacion
Espanola de Amigos de la Arqueologia 28, 26–34.
RATTE, C. 1992: The ‘Pyramid Tomb’ at Sardis. IstMitt
42, 135–61.
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 89
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 36/38
RATTE, C. 1994: Not the Tomb of Gyges. JHS CXIV,
157–61.
RESUMES 1993: Resume s of the First International
Symposium ‘ ‘Sevtopolis’ ’ ‘ ‘Burial Mounds in South-
East Europe’’, Kazanlak, Bulgaria, 4–8 June 1993(Kazanlik) (in Eastern and Western European
languages).
ROLLE, R. 1989: The World of the Scythians (London).
ROSTOVTSEV, M.I. 1914: Ancient Decorative Painting in
the South of Russia (St Petersburg) (in Russian).
ROSTOVTSEV, M.I. 1925: Scythia and Bosporus
(Leningrad) (in Russian). (Also H. Heinen (ed.)), M.
Rostowzew. Skythien und der Bosporus. Band II.
Wiederentdeckte Kapitel und Verwandtes, Stuttgart,
1993 ( Historia Einzelschriften 83).
RUSSEVA, M. 1995: An Essay on Interpretation of the
Burial Monuments in Thrace as a Model of the world.
Annals Journal 1/2, 28–38 (in Bulgarian).
SAVOSTINA, E.A. 1993: Les kourganes du Bosphore.
Dossiers d’Arche ologie 188/Decembre, 58–67.
SAVOSTINA, E.A. 1996: ‘‘Snake Footed Goddess’’ —
‘‘Growing Virgin’’ (Two Sided Anthropomorphic
Akroterium from Panticapaeum). Historical-
Archaeological Almanack 2, 72–81 (in Russian).
SCHWARZMAIER, A. 1996: Dier Graber in der Grossen
Blisniza und ihre Datierung. JDAI 111, 105–37.
SEMIONOV, V.A. 1993: Reconstruction of Scythian Burial
Customs (On the Materials of the Excavation in Tuva).
In Raev, B.A. (ed.), Ancient Civilization and the
Barbarian World (Materials of the 3rd Archaeological
Seminar) Par II (Novocherkassk), 70–4 (in Russian).
SHCHEGLOV, A.N. and KATS, V.I. 1991: A Fourth-Century
BC Royal Kurgan in the Crimea. Metropolitan Museum
Journal 26, 97–122.
SHRAMKO, B.A. 1983: Archaeology of the Early Iron Age
of Eastern Europe (Kharkov) (in Russian).SKORYI, S.A. 1991: Der Kurgan Perepjaticha. Ein
‘‘Furstengrab’’ der skythischen Landnahmezeit in der
ukrainischen Waldsteppe. Hamburger Beitra ge zur
Archa ologie 18, 85–106.
SMITH, R.R.R. and RATTE, C. 1995: Archaeological Research
at Aphrodisias in Caria, 1993. AJA 99, 33–58.
SMITH, R.R.R. and RATTE, C. 1996: Archaeological Research
at Aphrodisias in Caria, 1994. AJA 100, 5–33.
SOKOLSKII, N.I. 1971: Wood Carving in the Ancient States
of the Northern Black Sea Littoral (Moscow) (in
Russian).
SOLOMONIK, E.I. 1987: Two Ancient Greek Ostraka from
the Crimea. VDI 3, 114–31.
STOYANOV, T. 1992a: Early Iron Age Tumular
Necropolis in the Sboryanovo Reservation. In Gergova
and Stoyanov 1992, 93–114.
STOYANOV, T. 1992b: Burial Rites in Northeastern
Thrace during the Early Iron Age in the Light of New
Studies. In Gergova 1992b, 82–96.
SULIMIRSKI, T. 1985: The Scyths. In The Cambridge
History of Iran Vol. 2 (Cambridge), 149–99.
SULIMIRSKI, T. and TAYLOR, T. 1991: The Scythians. In
CAH Vol. III, Part 2, 2nd ed. (Cambridge), 547–90.
TABAKOVA-TSANOVA, G. 1994: Thracian Tomb in
Kazanluk. Kazanluk 4, 23–31 (in Bulgarian).
TACHEVA, M. 1991: On the Development of the Thracian
City Seuthopolis. In Chichikova 1991a, 79–83.
TACHEVA, M. 1994: The Funeral Mounds near Duvanlii
(District of Plovdiv): an Hereditary Burial-Ground of
King Terez’s Odrisi Dynasty (5th–4th Centuries BC). In
Zarev, Kitov, Gocheva et al. 1994, 145–8 (in
Bulgarian).
TAYLOR, T. 1994: Thracians, Scythians, and Dacians, 800
BC–AD 300. In Cunliffe, B. (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated Prehistory of Europe (Oxford), 373–410.
TEOFILOV, T. 1988: Analysis of the Stylistic Features in
the Architecture of the Thracian Tomb near the Village
of Sveshtari. Terra Antiqua Balcanica III, 144–60 (in
Bulgarian).
TERENOZHKIN, A.Y. and MOZOLEVSKII, B.N. 1988:
Melitopolskii Kurgan (Kiev) (in Russian).
THEODOSSIEV, N. 1995: The Sacred Mountain of the
Ancient Thracians. Thracia 11, 371–84.
TOMLINSON, R.A. 1974: Thracian and Macedonian TombsCompared. Thracia 3, 247–50.
TREISTER, M.Y. 1992: Bronzeworking of Bosporus.
SGMII 10, 66–110.
TSETSKHLADZE, G.R. 1993/94: Colchis and the Persian
Empire: The Problems of Their Relationship. Silk Road
Art and Archaeology 3, 11–49.
TSETSKHLADZE, G.R. 1994: Greek Penetration of the
Black Sea. In Tsetskhladze, G. and De Angelis, F.
(eds.), The Archaeology of Greek Colonisation. Essays
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
90 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 37/38
Dedicated to Sir John Boardman (Oxford), 111–36.
TSETSKHLADZE, G.R. 1996: La colonizzazione greca nell’
area del Ponto Eusino. In Settis, S., Ampolo, C., Asheri,
D. et al. (eds.), I Greci. Storia. Cultura. Arte. Societa
Vol. 2.1 (Turin), 945–74.
TSETSKHLADZE, G.R. (forthcoming): Ionians Abroad. In
Snodgrass, A.M. and Tsetskhladze, G.R. (eds.), Greek
Settlements in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black
Sea (Oxford BAR).
VALEVA, J. 1993: Sveshtari Tomb: Proportions and
Forms of the Architectural Elements. Problemi na
Izkustvoto 1, 45–55 (in Bulgarian).
VALEVA, J. 1994a: Thracian and Macedonian
Monumental Tombs. Problemi na Izkustvoto 3, 55–62
(in Bulgarian).
VALEVA, J. 1994b: Ornamental Sculptures on Funeral
Monuments from the Early Hellenistic Period. In Zarev,
Kitov, Gocheva et al. 1994, 149–56 (in Bulgarian).
VALEVA, J. 1995: The Sveshtari Figures (An Attempt to
Specify Several Hypotheses). Thracia 11, 337–53.
VASILEVA, D. 1980: L’unite de mesure de longueur des
constructions Thraces. Thracia 5, 265–300.
VASILEVA, D. 1991: Design of the Mural Paintings in the
Vaulted Chamber of the Kazanluk Tomb. In Chichikova
1991a, 27–36.
VASSILEVA, M. 1994a: Phrygian Tumuli: An Argument
for Thracian-Phrygian Kinship? In Zarev, Kitov,
Gocheva et al. 1994, 63–8.
VASSILEVA, M. 1994b: Thrace and Phrygia: Some
Typological Parallels. In Europa Indo-Europea (Atti
del VIo Congresso Internazionale di Tracologia e del
VIIo
Symposium Internazionale di Studi Traci. Palma
de Mallorca, 24–28 Marzo 1992) (Nagard), 221–7.
VASSILEVA, M. 1995a: Paredroi or Once Again on the
Phrygian Rock Thrones. Thracia 11, 265–76.
VASSILEVA, M. 1995b: Thracian-Phrygian Cultural Zone:
the Daskyleion Evidence. Orpheus 5, 27–34.
VELKOV, V. (ed.) 1982: Kabyle Vol. 1 (Sofia) (in
Bulgarian).
VELKOV, V. (ed.) 1991a: Kabyle Vol. 2 (Sofia) (in
Bulgarian).
VELKOV, V. 1991b: Excavation and Investigations in the
Thracian City of Kabyle. In Chichikova 1991a, 143–52.
VELKOV, V. and DOMARADZKA, L. 1994: Kotys I (383/2–
359) et l’emporion de Pistiros et les rois de Thrace au
IVe s. av. J.S. BCH 118, 1–15.
VELKOV, V., NAJDENOVA, V. and PETROV, P. (eds.) 1990:
Studies on Settlement Life in Ancient Thrace (Terra
Antiqua Balcanica V) (Sofia).
VENEDIKOV, I. 1974: L’origine des tombeaux a coupole
en Thrace. Bulgarian Historical Review 2, 58–75.
VENEDIKOV, I. 1976: Architecture sepulcrale en Thrace.
Pulpudeva 1, 56–63.
VENEDIKOV, I. and GERASIMOV, T. 1975: Thracian Art
Treasures (Sofia/London).
VENEDIKOV, I., GERASIMOV, T., DREMSIZOVA, C. et al. 1963:
Apollonia. Excavation of the Necropolis of Apollonia in
1947–1958 (Sofia) (in Bulgarian).
VERDIANI, C. 1945: Original Hellenistic Paintings in a
Thracian Tomb. AJA 49, 402–15.
VINOGRADOV, Y.A. 1994: Some Questions of the
Interpretation of Burials of the Barbarian Elite in the
Cimmerian Bosporus. In Alekseev et al. 1994, 72–6.
VINOGRADOV, Y.A. 1995: Some Problems of the Debate
on the Greek Colonisation of the Cimmerian Bosporus.
VDI 3, 152–60.
VINOGRADOV, Y.A. 1996: The Third Period of
Stabilisation in the Ancient Northern Black Sea Littoral.
RA 2, 70–80.
VINOGRADOV, Y.G. 1989: Political History of Olbia Polis
VII–I cc BC (Moscow) (in Russian).
VINOGRADOV, Y.G. 1994: Greek Epigraphy of the North
Black Sea Coast, the Caucasus and Central Asia (1985–
1990). Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 1
(1), 63–74.
VINOGRADOV, Y.G. 1995: Pontos Euxinos as a Political,
Economic and Cultural Unit and Epigraphy. In
Kryzhitskii, S.D. (ed.), Ancient Poleis and Local
Population of the Black Sea Littoral (Sebastopol), 5–56 (in Russian).
VINOGRADOV, J.G. and KRYZICKIJ, S.D. 1995: Olbia. Eine
altgriechische Stadt im nordwestlichen Schwarzmeer-
raum (Leiden).
VYSOTSKAYA, T.N. 1979: Neapol — Capital of the State
of the Late Scythians (Kiev) (in Russian).
WASOWICZ, A. 1992: Vani en Georgie: urbanisme grec et
traditions colchidiennes. Archeologia XLIII, 15–33.
YORDANOV, K. 1991: Thraco-Scythia: Political Relations
GOCHA R. TSETSKHLADZE
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 91
8/18/2019 TSETSKHLADZE, Who Buid Thracian Royal Tombs
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tsetskhladze-who-buid-thracian-royal-tombs 38/38
in the end of the 6th–1st Centuries BC. Terra Antiqua
Balcanica VI, 74–82 (in Russian).
YORDANOV, K. 1994: The Odrysian Kingdom. Philip II
and Greek Colonies. Minalo 4, 5–18 (in Bulgarian).
YOUNG, R.S. 1981: Three Great Early Tumuli(Philadelphia).
ZAHLE, J. 1983: Arkaeologiske studier i lykiske
klippegrave og deros relieffer fra ca. 550–300 f.Kr.
Sociale og religiøse aspeketer (Copenhagen).
ZAREV, K., KITOV, G., GOCHEVA, Z. et al. (eds.) 1994: First
International Symposium ‘Seuthopolis’: Burial Tumuli
in the South East of Europe (Kazanluk, Bulgaria, 4–8
June 1993) (Veliko Tarnovo).
ZAZOFF, P., HOCKER, C. and SCHNEIDER, L. 1985: Zurthrakischen Kunst im Fruhhellenismus. Griechische
Bildelemente in zeremoniellem Verwendungs-
zusammenhang. AA, 594–643.
ZHIVKOVA.l. 1974: Kazanluk Tomb (Sofia) (in Bulgarian)
WHO BUILT THE SCYTHIAN AND THRACIAN ROYAL AND ELITE TOMBS?
OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY