Disputable Problems of Scythology (On the Materials of the Don Region Archaeology)
Gulyaev Valeriy I.
The paper summarizes the discussion on some major problems in Scythology related to the archaeological material of the 5th and 4th cc. ВС from the Don Region (middle and low reaches). Undoubtedly, this discussion (in the framework of the VDI «round table» in 2002- 2004) proved to be very useful. The discussion was shared by specialists connected immediately with the study of the Don antiquities of the Scythian period: from Voronezh (V.D. Berezutsky and A.P. Medvedev), Rostov-on-the-Don (V.P. Kopylov, V.Ye. Maksimenko), Volgograd (A.S. Skripkin) and Moscow (V.I. Gulyayev and V.A. Korenyako). It is only natural that the contributors have not reached a consensus in discussing the disputable questions. However, the greatest part of scholars agree that in the 5th and 4th cc. ВС on the vast steppe and forest-steppe territories of the North Black Sea area from the Danube to the Don region existed a large military and political union «The European Scythia». In spite of the presence of other ethno-cultural groups of different economical structure, Scythian nomads played a leading role in this state and inhabited all its territories.