Scientists reconstructed 5 thousand years old elite tomb discovered in Ukraine

Reconstruction of the interior of the tomb. Fig. Michał Podsiadło

Scientists reconstructed the monumental 5 thousand years old tomb discovered on the border between Ukraine and Moldova. It belonged to a representative of the elite of the community of nomadic shepherds.

"This is the most complex tomb that we have discovered during the excavations carried out since 2010" - told PAP Dr. Danuta Żurkiewicz of the Institute of Prehistory, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

The burial is located within the barrow cemetery near the village of Prydnistryanske (Vinnytsia region) on the border of the Ukraine and Moldova near the Dniester.

Members of the community living in this area 5 thousand years ago were mobile shepherds - they moved over longer distances with carts. Consequently, no permanent settlements were built, which is reflected in the lack of discoveries of houses from this period by archaeologists. But there are cemeteries.

"They erected monumental burial mounds, which played an important role in the life of the community. They were clearly visible in the landscape - now they are destroyed and poorly outlined" - said Dr. Żurkiewicz. [...] Science & Scholarship in Poland