Reusing Kurgans in the Western Scythian World

Abstract

Kurgans in the Northern Black Sea region have long been treated as monuments “frozen” in their Scythian moment, yet excavation records show repeated re-engagement over much longer timescales. This article argues that kurgan reuse in the Western Scythian world is best understood not as a single behaviour, but as a bundle of practices with different archaeological signatures and social implications. Rather than offering an exhaustive catalogue, the study develops a methodological framework based on selected published case studies. It proposes a three-part typology: (1) intrusive mortuary reuse, that is, later secondary or inserted burials placed within earlier mounds; (2) associative reuse, including landscape appropriation, in which older barrows structured later funerary space through clustering, demarcation, visibility, and spatial reference; and (3) reuse through reopening, including shafts, tunnels, selective removal, and the manipulation of human remains. The article applies this framework to evidence from Scythian, Sarmatian, Greek, and early medieval/medieval contexts, with particular attention to Sarmatian intrusive burials in earlier barrows, the structured reuse of older kurgans in the Molochna basin, reopening and looting in Scythian and Sarmatian mounds, and the cross-cultural case of Koshary in the Olbian chora. The discussion situates these practices within mortuary archaeology, social memory, and the politics of the past, and argues that older kurgans could function not only as burial places, but also as mnemonic anchors, territorial markers, and targets of symbolic aggression.