Archaeologists excavating an ancient settlement in Ukraine’s Odesa Oblast have uncovered Roman-era burials alongside a rare ceremonial horse harness dating to the Early Iron Age, offering new evidence of the different cultures that occupied the strategically important region over thousands of years.
The discoveries were made at the Kartal hillfort near the village of Orlivka, where archaeologists have been conducting excavations for several seasons.
Among the finds are several burials dating to the second and third centuries AD, as well as iron and bronze fittings from an ancient horse harness believed to be associated with the Cimmerian period.
Researchers say the discoveries provide further evidence of contact and close coexistence between Cimmerian groups and Thracian communities whose principal settlements were located across the Danube.
A Site Occupied for Thousands of Years
Expedition leader Ihor Bruyako said Kartal’s strategic location meant the area was repeatedly occupied and reused by different peoples over several millennia.
“People lived here starting from the Eneolithic period, roughly four to five thousand years BC,” Bruyako said.
Over subsequent centuries, settlements belonging to different cultures appeared nearby, particularly west of the excavation area towards Kamyana Hora.
The territory now being investigated appears to have served different purposes depending on the period. At times, it functioned as the economic outskirts of nearby settlements. At others, communities used the land for cemeteries and burial mounds.
Burials, Kilns and Ancient Storage Pits
During the latest excavation season, archaeologists concentrated their work on two sections of the hillfort, including an area close to Kamyana Hora.
A team working there in June uncovered several domestic storage pits, a kiln, paved surfaces and an ancient burial, adding to evidence of sustained human activity across the site.
In another section, researchers discovered human skeletal remains accompanied by a clay vessel and an unusual collection of horse-harness fittings made from bronze and iron.
Specialists have tentatively dated the equipment to the Cimmerian period of the Early Iron Age.
The harness appears to have been ceremonial and was deliberately placed in the grave as part of the burial goods. Although its leather components decomposed long ago, many of the metal fittings survived in comparatively good condition.
The discovery is particularly significant because it provides physical evidence of the cultural interactions that archaeologists have long believed took place in the lower Danube region.
More Discoveries Expected
Kartal is a multi-layered archaeological complex containing traces of communities separated by centuries — and, in some cases, millennia. Its position near the Danube made the surrounding area an important crossroads for populations moving between the northern Black Sea region and southeastern Europe.
The combination of Roman-period burials and considerably older Iron Age material demonstrates how successive communities repeatedly returned to the same landscape, using it for settlement, economic activity and burial.
Archaeologists plan to resume excavations at the Kartal hillfort next year, when further investigation of the site could reveal additional evidence about the peoples who inhabited and passed through the region over thousands of years.
Header Image Credit : Suspilne Odesa
Sources : NV
