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| Image Credit : Suspilne Odesa |
Recent discoveries include several burials dating to the second and third centuries AD and an unusual collection of bronze and iron horse-harness fittings tentatively associated with the Cimmerian period of the Early Iron Age.
Together, the finds offer a remarkable glimpse into the changing cultural landscape of the lower Danube, a region positioned between the northern Black Sea and southeastern Europe.
The Discovery
The latest discoveries were made during another season of excavations at Kartal, where archaeological work has continued across several sections of the hillfort.
In one area near Kamyana Hora, researchers uncovered domestic storage pits, a kiln, paved surfaces and an ancient burial. Elsewhere, archaeologists encountered human remains accompanied by a clay vessel and a collection of bronze and iron horse-harness fittings.
The harness equipment is particularly unusual. Specialists have tentatively dated it to the Cimmerian period of the Early Iron Age and believe it may have formed part of a ceremonial harness deliberately placed among the burial goods.
Although the original leather components have disappeared, numerous metal fittings survived in comparatively good condition.
What Archaeologists Found
The excavations have produced evidence from several distinct periods.
Among the more recent discoveries are burials dating to the second and third centuries AD. These Roman-period graves demonstrate that the area continued to be used long after the Early Iron Age material had been deposited.
The horse harness represents a considerably earlier phase. Its bronze and iron components are thought to have formed part of ceremonial equipment rather than an ordinary utilitarian harness.
The distinction is important because deliberately deposited horse equipment can provide evidence about burial customs, social status and cultural practices, although the supplied archaeological evidence does not establish the identity or status of the individual buried with it.
Other finds include storage pits, a kiln and paved surfaces, suggesting that parts of the complex were also used for domestic or economic activities.
Historical Background
Kartal occupies a strategically important position near the Danube. According to expedition leader Ihor Bruyako, people were living in the area from the Eneolithic period, roughly four to five thousand years BC.
Over subsequent millennia, different communities occupied or used the surrounding landscape. Settlements belonging to different cultural traditions appeared nearby, particularly towards Kamyana Hora.
The site did not always serve the same purpose. At different times, parts of the landscape appear to have functioned as economic areas connected with settlements, while other areas were used for cemeteries and burial mounds.
This repeated reuse of the landscape makes Kartal a multi-layered archaeological complex, preserving evidence from communities separated by centuries or even millennia.
Scientific Analysis
The Cimmerian horse harness is currently dated only tentatively. Its bronze and iron fittings survived while the leather elements decomposed, leaving archaeologists with the durable components of what appears to have been a ceremonial object.
The association between the harness and the burial is particularly significant. Archaeologists believe the equipment was deliberately placed in the grave as part of the burial goods.
The Roman-period burials provide a much later archaeological layer. Their presence demonstrates that the same general landscape continued to be used during the second and third centuries AD.
Taken together, these discoveries allow researchers to investigate changing patterns of settlement, burial and economic activity rather than viewing Kartal as the product of a single period.
Why This Discovery Matters
Kartal's significance comes from the long sequence of human activity preserved at the site.
The combination of Roman burials and substantially older Early Iron Age material demonstrates that communities repeatedly returned to this strategically positioned landscape. The lower Danube connected areas around the northern Black Sea with southeastern Europe, making the region an important zone of movement and cultural interaction.
The horse harness may be particularly valuable for understanding those interactions. Researchers say the discovery provides physical evidence consistent with long-standing ideas about contact and coexistence between Cimmerian groups and Thracian communities whose principal settlements lay across the Danube.
Rather than representing an isolated archaeological episode, the finds contribute to a much broader picture of cultural exchange across the region.
What’s Next?
Archaeologists plan to resume excavations at the Kartal hillfort next year.
Further work could clarify the relationship between the different archaeological layers and provide additional evidence about the communities that settled, traded, travelled or buried their dead in the area.
Future excavations may also reveal more domestic structures, graves or artefacts associated with the Cimmerian and Roman periods.
Because Kartal contains remains from widely separated periods, each new discovery has the potential to add another piece to a long archaeological sequence stretching back thousands of years.
Conclusion
The latest excavations at Kartal hillfort demonstrate why the landscape around the lower Danube is so important for understanding Europe's ancient past.
Roman-era burials dating to the second and third centuries AD sit within a much older archaeological environment that also preserves evidence from the Early Iron Age. Among the most intriguing discoveries is a ceremonial horse harness tentatively associated with the Cimmerian period.
The finds do not tell a single, simple story. Instead, they reveal a landscape repeatedly used for settlement, economic activity and burial by communities living centuries apart.
With excavations scheduled to continue, Kartal may yet provide further evidence of the cultural connections that shaped this strategically important part of the ancient world.
FAQ
Where is the Kartal hillfort?
Kartal hillfort is located near the village of Orlivka in Ukraine’s Odesa Oblast, close to the Danube region.
What was found at Kartal?
Recent excavations uncovered Roman-period burials, storage pits, a kiln, paved surfaces and an ancient burial containing a clay vessel and bronze and iron horse-harness fittings.
How old is the horse harness?
The harness has been tentatively associated with the Cimmerian period of the Early Iron Age. The supplied source does not provide a more precise date.
Why is the horse harness important?
The harness appears to have been ceremonial and deliberately deposited as burial equipment. Its survival provides evidence for ancient burial practices and possible cultural interaction in the lower Danube region.
How long has Kartal been occupied?
According to expedition leader Ihor Bruyako, people lived in the area from the Eneolithic period, roughly four to five thousand years BC, with different communities subsequently using the landscape over many centuries.
