Archaeology

The exhibition presents finds that reflect the material culture of the people who lived on the territory of present-day Kharkiv region in the Stone and Bronze Ages, in Scythian and Sarmatian times, in the late Roman period (the Chernyakhiv culture), in the early Middle Ages (the Penkivka and Saltiv-Mayaki cultures) and in the time of Kyivan Rus. A large number of maps are displayed here, telling of the sites of specific archaeological cultures in the region, and some tools and burial structures have been reconstructed.

The exhibition “At the Crossroads of Centuries. Archaeology of the Region” opened on 18 May 1996 and over the years has undergone several reorganisations that have significantly changed its look and content.

The Palaeolithic is represented by materials from excavations of flint-working workshops near the villages of Synychene and Kamianka in the Izium district, namely cores, blades, burins, awls and scrapers. The collection of this period is complemented by faunal remains, above all mammoth bones, found in the city and the region during earthworks.

Mesolithic materials are presented by a collection of various microliths and a reconstruction of composite tools with inserts.

The next display case contains materials of two periods: the Neolithic and the Eneolithic (Copper Age).

The Neolithic is the time when tribes moved to a producing economy, farming and cattle-breeding. Visitors can see a tool for working the soil, a horn hoe, various flint items such as knives, scrapers, axes and adzes, fishing tackle (a bone hook) and fragments of clay vessels.

The Eneolithic is presented by a hoard of flint items from the village of Koropove belonging to the Seredniy Stih culture and the first copper products: an awl, a wedge-shaped tool and a copper ingot bearing the imprint of a wooden stick.

Finds of the cultures of the Bronze Age (the Yamna, Catacomb, Babyne, Srubna and Bondarykha cultures) are laid out in two display cases of the exhibition. Visitors can see items of bronze (knives, adzes, chisels, sickles, socketed axes and more), flint (arrowheads, spearheads, sickles), various kinds of stone (polished axes, hoes, hammers, pestles, casting moulds) and a variety of clay vessels. An attractive addition to this period is the displayed reconstruction of a burial mound with burials of the Catacomb and Srubna cultures.

Four display cases of the exhibition are devoted to the Scythian period. Separately, visitors can learn about materials that illuminate the economy of the population of Kharkiv region at that time. The main attention is given to ironworking, bronze casting and pottery, whose products can be seen in the case. A separate case is given to Scythian warfare. Here one can see various weapons (arrowheads, spearheads, darts, akinakes swords) and learn about military rituals of the time.

The next case presents the Scythians’ achievements in making tools for controlling a horse (bits, cheekpieces, finials), shows various ornaments of horse equipment made in the animal style and introduces the religious beliefs of the local population.

Another case presents a reconstruction of a model of the world tree, using a bronze finial, which reflects the Scythian worldview of the horizontal and vertical structure of the universe.

Materials of the Sarmatian period are laid out in the next case. Here one can see various weapons of the time (spearheads, armour plates), horse equipment (bits, cheekpieces), fibulae, mirrors, bronze cauldrons, incense burners and more.

Materials of the late Roman period are presented in two cases devoted to the Chernyakhiv archaeological culture (3rd–4th centuries AD). One case contains materials characterising the economy of the Chernyakhiv population: tools (an axe, a ploughshare, an awl, loom weights, spindle whorls) and pottery. In the second case one can see weapons (a long sword, a dagger) and elements of clothing (buckles, fibulae) of the Chernyakhiv people. The picture is completed by a reconstruction of an urn and a pit Chernyakhiv burial following the rite of cremation.

The next case is devoted to the material culture of the region’s population in the post-Hunnic period. This era is represented by materials of the Penkivka culture (5th–7th centuries AD). Penkivka antiquities are presented by materials from two hoards, the Koziivka and the Novo-Odesa, and from a rich inhumation burial near the village of Mokhnach. The case shows various temple ornaments, finger-shaped fibulae, torques, beads, parts of belt sets and more.

The period of the Khazar Khaganate (second half of the 8th to first half of the 10th century AD) is presented in five cases. The story begins with the history of the discovery of the Saltiv-Mayaki culture near the village of Verkhnii Saltiv by the local teacher V. O. Babenko at the beginning of the 20th century. It is complemented by a reconstruction of a catacomb burial of the Alan population of the Saltiv culture.

One of the cases is devoted to the warfare of the Saltiv people. It presents weapons (sabres, battle axes, remains of composite bows, arrowheads), items of war-horse equipment (bits, stirrups, harness buckles, ornaments of horse-harness straps, horse frontlets) and metal elements of the belts of Saltiv warriors (buckles, plaques, tips, strap dividers). Two cases contain materials connected with Saltiv women and children. Here one can see earrings, rings, bracelets, parts of clothing (various buttons, fibulae), beads and numerous amulets. Yet another case presents items for household use: ploughshares, farm axes, the iron shoe of a wooden spade, sickles, scythes, fishing hooks, spindle whorls and pottery.

Archaeological materials that characterise the development of the material culture of the region’s population in the Old Rus period are presented in the cases of the exhibition “Our Land in the 9th–18th Centuries”.

A significant number of the exhibits shown at this exhibition were obtained as a result of archaeological expeditions organised by the Kharkiv Historical Museum.