Violence against memory: communicative strategies of Scythian barrow reuse

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This article provides a diachronic analysis of barrow reuse during the Bronze Age and Scythian times, focusing on a case study from the right bank of the Molochna river basin (North Azov, Ukraine). It compares the successive chronological phases of barrow-building cultures from the Yamna to the Scythian time regarding their spatial arrangement, patterns of secondary burial inclusions, and burial reopenings. The spatial analysis shows that all barrow clusters appeared in this territory during the Yamna phase. In all subsequent phases, barrows continued to be constructed exclusively within these pre-existing clusters. Various types of burial inclusions and mound modifications were typical for all Bronze Age phases. However, while Scythian burials maintained the reuse of predecessor’s barrows, they seldom made secondary burials in contemporary barrows. Simultaneously, the number and scale of burial destructions significantly increased during the Scythian time. This shows a shift in attitudes towards barrows within distant and living memory and their role in communicating inheritance claims.