Kelermes Barrows

Kelermes Barrows 

a group of remains of rich burials dating from the sixth century B.C., located near the stanitsa (large cossack village) of Kelermes in present-day Giaginskaia Raion, Adygei Autonomous Oblast; partially investigated by N. I. Veselovskii in 1903–04.

Large rectangular graves covered by structures resembling wooden tents on poles were found beneath the mounds. The skeletons of sacrificial horses, as many as 24 per grave, were found, with luxurious bridle equipment. Also found were bronze ornaments of funerary chariots, weapons, gold diadems and goblets, a silver rhyton, and a silver mirror. The Kelermes barrows belonged to the tribal nobility of the local Maeotae population or of the Scythians who had remained after the campaigns in Southwest Asia.

REFERENCES

Otchet arkheologicheskoi komissii za 1904 g. St. Petersburg, 1907.
Maksimova, M. I. “Serebrianoe zerkalo iz Kelermes.” In the collection Sovetskaia arkheologiia, vol. 21. Moscow, 1954.
Maksimova, M. I. “Riton iz Kelermes.” Ibid., vol. 25. Moscow, 1956.
Artamonov, M. I. Sokrovishcha skifskikh kurganov ν sobranii gosudarst-vennogo Ermitazha. Prague-Leningrad, 1966.