Ritual complexes of the bolshoye storozhevoye fortified settlement in the middle don area

The Bolshoye Storozhevoye fortifi ed settlement is located in the Middle Don basin and is attributed to the Scythian period. In 2009, while research was conducted by the Don Archaeological Expedition RAS, materials dating from the 5th–4th centuries BC were discovered and utility and ritual complexes were examined. The article focuses on the ritual objects from this site: votive ceramics, miniature vessels, zoomorphic clay fi gurines, and a cylinder-shaped platform representing an altar. The examined ritual objects are paralleled by fi nds from the Dnieper-Don forest-steppe. They represent a part of a single ritual and mythological tradition that was formed in that region.