NAMES AND BARROWS OF THE ARCHAIC PERIOD

The article deals with the issues of Scythian archaeology related to the attribution of archaic burials and the definition of the names of historical characters for which they could be built. According to the author of excavation, the Scythian king Madyes, son of Protothyes, was buried in the barrow 1 of the Krasnoznamensky burial ground. Contrary to this conclusion it is assumed that the leader of the Cimmerians, Lygdamis, was buried in the barrow. Such a comparison is based on the date of the assemblage of the barrow (mid — third quarter of the 7th century BC) which does not contradict the time of the death of Lygdamis (641 BC). The written evidence connects the Cimmerians to the mountainous areas and the localization of the country of Gamir (Cimmeria) in the Guriania region, which separated Gamir from Urartu, most closely corresponds to the Caucasus region. The nomadic lifestyle of the Cimmerians in the narrative sources is not confirmed. The study has shown that the Kelermes burial ground as well as the «Litoy» (Melgunovsky) and «Repyakhovata Mogila» barrows can be correlated with the time of King Madyes (son of Protothyes / Bartatua) and his army returning to the North Black Sea region (after 585 BC). Age of Madyes who came to the Middle East in 608 BC (during the invasion of Media he could be about 40—45 years old) and having been in this region for more than two decades suggests that he did not return to the North Pontic region. This is indirectly confirmed by the data on the feast of Cyaxares where the leader of the Scythians is not mentioned. Therefore, the tomb of Madyes can be hypothetically linked only with the cenotaph of the Melgunovsky barrow.