1. Topography

The Kelermes cemeteries are located close to the village of Kelermeskaya, 25km north of the city Maykop, in the Independent Republic of Adygea of the Russian Confederacy. The tomb cemetery of Kelermes is situated on a plateau, along the right bank of the river Airius, a tributary of the river Ulki. Southeast of Kelermes’ tombs lays a pit grave cemetery.

2. History of the research

The first excavations carried out in Kelermes took place in 1903, 1904 and 1908 by D.G. Schulz and N.I. Veselovsky and were aimed at excavating tombs, some of which had been looted in the past. The excavations revealed six early Scythian tombs and more than nine tombs dating to the Bronze Age.

Extensive supplementary excavation in the necropolis, undertook by the archaeological expedition of the Hermitage Museum in the 1980s, aimed at achieving a better appraisal of the monument's general state and the completion of the excavation of certain tumuli which had been partially examined in the early 20th cent.

3. Description

Today we have a fairly accurate picture of the monument. The tomb cemetery of Kelermes includes 44 tombs in total, arranged in two groups. The main group contains 31 tombs, which are found in lines in a distance of 2km with a NW-NE orientation. Some of these tombs were examined during the first excavations carried out in the necropolis.

This is why the results of the excavations conducted by D.G. Schulz are somewhat unclear. The reports of N.I. Veselovsky, who excavated some of the tombs, are more accurate.

Through their descriptions we know that some tombs featured graves with wooden roofing. The height of the tumuli compared to the diameter of the tombs was not particularly great. We should indicatively mention tomb 1, whose height was 2.25m with a perimeter of approx. 200m. The central burial, quadrate in its ground plan, measured 10.70×10.65m

and was discovered at a depth of 2.20m. Twenty niches were discovered at the point were the grave rested, opened for affixing the wooden pegs that supported the wooden roofing. Ceramic and metallic vessels were placed along the grave’s north wall. The western and southern wall was taken up by 12 horse burials respectively, which accompanied the central burial.¹

The deceased were placed on a wooden surface. In some cases the skeletons preserved traces of dark ochre pigment, a feature typical of tribal burial customs. The grave goods are mainly armaments, vessels and richly adorned horse tacks.

The latest excavations have revealed five more tombs, including 50 burials in total dating to the Bronze Age. The most significant result of the latest research is the discovery of a Maeotian pit-grave cemetery of the Archaic period, close to the area of the tombs. All these pit burials, whose distinctive feature is the presence of Maeotian burial customs, probably belong to one of the Maeotian tribes.² Some internments included horse burials, while stone sacrificial slabs were found in others. In the pit grave cemetery we also find female burials with armaments, a fact which seems to confirm references in the written sources about the existence of female warriors among the Maeotians (tribes inhabiting the area of Lake Maeotis). The pit-grave necropolis of Kelermes dates to the Archaic period and bears significant similarities to the group of early graves at Ust-Labinsk, dating to the 7th-6th cent. BC.³

4. Finds

The tomb cemetery of Kelermes is renowned for the early Scythian Archaic art finds. Among the grave goods from tomb 1 we should single out the bronze and golden details from the decoration of a horse tack,⁴ to which high-relief forms of Scythian zoomorphic art also belong,⁵ a golden plate (decorative element sewn onto a garment) in the form of a panther (7th cent. BC),⁶ a series of golden decorative plates from an armament case,⁷ the sheath from an Archaic period akinakes featuring intricate inscribed patterns and colourful decoration, as well as an Archaic Scythian sword, one of the earliest specimens of Scythian offensive weapons.⁸ Among the armaments we also have a golden axe, found in the kurgan’s central burial, a symbol of his owner’s elevated social status, a member of the Scythian tribal aristocracy.⁹ With respect to the interpretation of the human figure, with its pronouncedly oriental features (depicted on the axe’s casing), some believe it recalls patterns of the Urartu Culture (Biblical Ararat) while others consider it to be a representation of a Scythian warrior.¹⁰ At any rate, its Iranian provenance is beyond doubt.

From the finds of tomb 2 we should indicatively mention two bronze helmets and a gilded spearhead.¹¹ The horse tack decorative elements constitute a separate group, being present in all tombs, typical works of Scythian zoomorphic art.

Among the most significant finds from the tomb cemetery is a gilded silver mirror, dating to the second quarter or the middle of the 4th cent. BC (excavations by D.G. Schulz, tomb 1).¹² This is an exquisite find, exhibited in the Hermitage Museum at St Petersburg. Its diameter is 17.3cm and it weighs 855g. The mirror’s rear side is covered by leafs of amber, bearing inscribed depictions, among which is the figure of Potnia theron, seated and rampant sphinxes with female forms, panthers, griffins, as well as scenes involving fighting between men and griffins. The arrangement of the figures in this scene is reminiscent of Oriental art, where animals symbolize mythological and cosmological beliefs. Some scholars believe the Kelermes mirror to be the product of an Ionian workshop, while others claim it is the work of a Scythian or Bosporan craftsman, possibly from a workshop at Panticapaeum.¹³ The figure of the deity is connected with the devotional beliefs of the inhabitants of the Hypanis region, an area maintaining close ties with the Ionian colonists. With respect to the general style of the work, the most convincing explanation is that Scythian as well as Ionian artistic tradition are merged in this artifact.¹⁴

One of the finds from the Kelermes tombs, the silver rhyton from tomb 1, depicts Heracles’ fight with a lion and Centaurs carrying deer they have hunted, alluding to motifs common to Greek and Scythian mythology. In this case, some scholars have discerned the artist’s attempt to adapt scenes taken from Greek mythology to a Scythian environment, while others explain these depictions by reference to motifs found in Ossetian mythology.¹⁵

Among the interesting, in terms of their decoration, grave goods found in the Kelermes tombs is a golden discus-shaped plate from tomb 4; it is divided in four parts and depicts two facing pairs of deer. This is a clearly allegorical depiction, of cosmological import.¹⁶

Rather important are also certain golden plate ornaments (from the decoration of the garments) in the form of wild animals, like, for example, the plate in the form of a panther¹⁷ originating from tomb 1, whose edges are rendered with repeating panther-like forms.¹⁸

With respect to the grave goods from the pit graves, we should mention the presence of early Maeotian pottery, axes of the type found in Colchis between the 9th and 7th cent. BC and later, between the 7th and 6th cent. BC, in the region of Caucasus in general,¹⁹ metal and bone scissors of various types bearing characteristic decoration in the Scythian zoomorphic style, bronze Siberian-type mirrors and common daily-life utensils. The finds from the pit graves date to between the second half of the 7th and the 6th cent. BC.

5. Conclusions

Generally speaking, the sepulchral monuments of Kelermes reveal the complexity of the region’s manmade landscape, constituting a most important source for the study of the burial customs, the history and the artistic traditions of the Hypanis area.