On Ukraine’s Arabat Spit, a Sarmatian warrior burial lay near the top of a mound built for people who had died long before him. The man, aged 25 to 35, was buried with a dagger, a clay jug and a meat offering.. The excavators think he may have belonged to the Roxolani, one of the groups within the wider Sarmatian world. This was not a fresh excavation: the grave was uncovered in 2018, but this study offers a new analysis of the findings.
A Bronze Age Mound, a Much Later Grave
According to the study by Yurii Boltryk and Olena Fialko, the barrow is situated close to Shchaslyvtseve in the Kherson region of Ukraine. The mound is one of four spread across a distance of 1.68 kilometers over the narrow spit. The farming practices of vineyards at the site had reduced its height to about 1.3 meters when investigations were started by archaeologists. The mound has 36 burials, dating from the Early Bronze Age to the Late Middle Ages, with a Sarmatian grave located near its top. It is worth mentioning, older burial mounds elsewhere in Ukraine have also been studied, including a 5,000-year-old tomb digitally reconstructed near the Moldovan border.
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The Sarmatian Warrior grave found in Ukraine. (Boltryk & Fialko)
The warrior was positioned on his back in a narrow oblong pit with his head to the northwest. His position and the burial objects with him indicate that the burial postdates the first graves in the mound by quite a time, reports La Brújula Verde. Deep plowing has disturbed some of the gravestone's upper layers, and so one mound can hold evidence from sharply different moments in steppe history.
Another good example of a long-lasting burial site is the vast Mamai Hora burial area, where archaeologists discovered a gold Scythian sword.
A Dagger, a Jug and a Last Meal
The iron dagger found with the warrior is about 45-47 cm (or 18 inches) and has a ring-shaped pommel. Remains of a wooden sheath could be found under the blade, as well as an iron knife, sheep bones, and a one-handled clay jar were also found next to the man. The bones seem to have been placed over the warrior's legs as an offering of food in the burial process.
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The dagger that was found alongside the man’s remains. (Boltryk & Fialko)
Comparisons with other weapons and pottery put the grave between the first century BC and the first century AD, but the timeframe cannot be narrowed down all that much since the grave had no coin or brooch that is firmly dated and the plowing has moved some of the artifacts to a different location. The authors relate the shape of the dagger to specimens from other digs rather than to use it as a means of dating. Their paper is a description of an excavation done some time ago, but not a report of the new discovery.
A Probable Roxolani
The northwest-facing orientation is in keeping with burial customs in the area between the Dnieper and Don Rivers, where the Roxolani tribe was located, according to Boltryk and Fialko. The archaeologists believe the individual in the grave was a member of this Sarmatian community based on the type of burial and the artifacts found with him; however, it is not possible to identify him from any writing. As a result, the assertion seems to be more cautious rather than an outright statement of the tribal identity in this case. The grave does not confirm that the man fought against the Romans, either, although some Roxolani communities did fight with them later on.
Salt, Water and a Mark on Stone
The location of the grave could be as important as the things buried in it. Near the burial mound there is a salt lake and fresh water supplies below the northern spit, resources that apparently could be obtained by a local community, say Boltryk and Fialko. The two researchers believe that the area may have been involved in trade from the Bosporian area and down the Dnieper River where there were communities settled. About two kilometers (1.2 miles) south, a separate, older Scythian stone stele bears a later Sarmatian tamga, or emblematic mark, whose purpose remains uncertain.
Silhouette stele with a Sarmatian tamga from the Arabatska Split. (Solomonyk 1959/Boltryk & Fialko)
According to the researchers, the question of whether the Arabat stele marked access to water or a crossing still remains an open question. Just like the name of the deceased cannot be inferred from his dagger, the stele cannot be unequivocally associated with him. It is important to remember that the information relates to a Sarmatian warrior burial at a more ancient tumulus located at a prominent coastal passage. Whether his community was Roxolani, and precisely what it controlled, are questions still open.
Top image: The location of the burial in Shchaslyvtseve in the Kherson region of Ukraine, with inset the dagger found with the remains. Source: Boltryk & Fialko
By Gary Manners
References
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Boltryk, Y., and Fialko, O. 30 June 2026. Sarmatian Warrior Burial in a Barrow on the Arabatska Spit. Archaeology and Early History of Ukraine, 2(59 ), 96–106. Available at: https://adiu.com.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/761
García, A. 28 September 2026. Archaeologists Find a 2,000-Year-Old Grave of the People Who Inspired the Amazons. Available at: https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2026/09/archaeologists-find-a-2000-year-old-grave-of-the-people-who-inspired-the-amazons/
Smithsonian Channel. 20 September 2018. Epic Warrior Women: Amazons (Full Episode ). Available at: https://www.si.edu/object/epic-warrior-women-amazons-full-episode%3Ayt_mycruAvfWV8
