Social Stratification of Forest-Steppe Population of the Dnieper Left-Bank Area During the Classical Scythia (the 2nd Half of 6th — 4th/3rd Century BC). Part 2: Interpretation

• Дата: 2022
• Автор: Burghardt, M.
• Формат: Стаття
• Мова: English
• Опубліковано: Інститут археології НАН України 2022
• Назва видання: Археологія і давня історія України
• Теми: Статті
• Онлайн доступ: http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/187574
• Назва журналу: Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
• Цитувати: Social Stratification of Forest-Steppe Population of the Dnieper Left-Bank Area During the Classical Scythia (the 2nd Half of 6th — 4th/3rd Century BC). Part 2: Interpretation / M. Burghardt // Археологія і давня історія України: Зб. наук. пр. — К.: ІА НАН України, 2022. — Вип. 1 (42). — С. 33-43. — Бібліогр.: 45 назв. — англ.

The article presents some remarks concerning the reconstruction of social structure of the Scythian populations from the forest-steppe zone of the leftbank Dnieperland, in the period between the 2nd half of 6th—4th/3rd century BC. The main aim of the paper was to propose an interpretation of a social position of deceased interred in graves belonging to the analyzed set. Following the main theories regarding this subject found in the scientific literature, I accepted a hypothesis of a hierarchical character of the studied communities. The highest place in the social hierarchy was taken by members of the higher classes, including local and supra- regional leaders of various ranks, members of the ancestral and tribal aristocracy with «elite troopers», and members of elites of the lowest rank (the nomadic elites of the lowest rank, and the «equestrian» aristocracy associated with the local agricultural population). The next strata — the middle class — consists of members of the «ordinary population», regarded as the most numerous part of the surveyed communities. One of the lowest positions within the social system belonged to «the poor», while the bottom of the hierarchy was occupied by people of more or less limited rights, remaining in a various levels of dependency from representatives of the higher classes.