Sentinals of Ukraine

Over the past several years we have spent our summer vacation lounging on the beaches of Crimea.  While driving through south and central Ukraine we often passed by numerous burial mounds which I finally decided to photograph and publish on this blog site.

Over the centuries the inhabitants of this land carved  monuments of stone, usually depicting human forms, some of which were erected on top of the burial mounds.  The first of these monuments or 'Stone Baba's' as they are called, date back to over 3000 years B.C.  Over the years there appeared several types that represent different periods in Ukraine's history.

While going through certain areas of Ukraine, out in the fields surrounded by either crops or cultivated land one can see large mounds,singly and often in groups.  Generally, the land is cultivated around these mounds showing respect for those buried under these mounds and the past but sometimes they can be seen to be plowed over. One can only presume that this disrespect demonstrates the contempt these people have for Ukraine's past and the dead or they are simply to ignorant to care.

The smaller mounds or mohyla's as they are called in Ukrainian are reminders of Ukraine's past when Kozak warriors crossed the steppes of Ukraine defending their homes and families from invaders. They are usually only a few meters high and no more that 20-30 meters (80 ft) in circumference.

The larger ones are a reminder of a time when Scythian lived and ruled the Ukrainian steppe from the 8th century B.C. to the 1st century A.D.  These mounds are the royal tombs of the ruling elite and when they died they were buried in tombs and covered with high mounds of earth.  The largest of these mounds is almost 20 meters high (65 ft) and 350 meters (1140 ft) in circumference.


Another stop we made was to the so called Scythian wall located just East of the town of Nemiriv in the Vinnetska Oblast.

As one can see from the photo's it is a large earthen wall of at least 10 meters (30 ft) high. If one checks out Google Earth (48 56 35 N  28 53 30 E) you will see that it is an extremely large circular wall with what seem to be a stream and pond in the center.  I haven't been able to find out what was in the center but it would be a good guess to say that there was a settlement within the wall.

Another spectacular site is that of what is called the 'Mavrensky Maidan' near the village of Mezhyrich in the Pavlohrad Rion, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. (coordinates 48 33 35 N   35 48 20 E) This is another earthen structure and is described as an observatory.  The main part is an oval measuring 250 meters (800+ ft) in circumference, 55 meters (180 ft) north to south and 64 meters( 210 ft) east to west. There are two wings extending in the direction of the spring and fall equinox and about 65 (215 ft) meters long. Unfortunately I have not visited this monument yet but it can be found using Google earth.

Both from Google Earth

Village in the background