In the steppes of southern Ukraine, a kurgan raised back in the Bronze Age received, two thousand years later, the grave of a Sarmatian warrior. This find on the Arabat Spit near the village of Shchaslyvtseve in Kherson Oblast shows how ancient mounds became places of rest for new generations of nomads.
Excavations in 2018–2019 led by Yurii Boltrik and Olena Fialko of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine revealed 36 burials from different eras in a mound 1,3 meters high and about 42 meters in diameter. Only one of them turned out to be Sarmatian. The grave of a warrior aged 25–35 lay near the top of the kurgan, in a narrow pit 1,8 meters long. The man lay on his back with his head to the northwest, his arms extended along his body, on a bedding of plant material, possibly bark.
Among the scanty grave goods, an iron dagger 45–47 centimeters long with a ring-shaped pommel stands out. The weapon lay by the right thigh — exactly as the Sarmatians usually wore it on their belts. Traces of a wooden scabbard have survived. Near the legs, bones of a sheep's leg and a shoulder blade were found, as well as a clay jug with a single handle. Such meat offerings are characteristic of the nomads of the Early Iron Age.
In all likelihood, the burial dates from the period between the first century BCE and the first century CE. The northwest head orientation and the type of dagger make it possible to link the warrior to the Roxolani tribe — one of the Sarmatian groups that lived between the Dnieper and the Don. These nomads were famed for their cavalry tactics and later clashed with Roman legions on the Danube.
The site of the find — the Arabat Spit — was of strategic importance: nearby were sources of fresh water and salt lakes that served as an important resource. Traces of trade, including coins and tamgas, point to connections with the Bosporan Kingdom and Olbia. The warrior evidently belonged to a community that controlled this stretch of the coast.
The reuse of a Bronze Age kurgan was no accident. Nomads often chose already existing mounds, giving them a new meaning. This reflects not only practicality but also continuity in the perception of the landscape as a sacred space where the fates of different cultures intertwine.
Such discoveries remind us that steppe burial grounds are not merely archives of the past, but evidence of a continuous human connection to the land and to the traditions of ancestors.
