Cult and memorial complexes of the Scythian time on the Middle Don

Burial sites of the Scythian time (V-IV centuries BC) in the Middle Don region are mostly represented by burials deposited under kurgan mounds. At the moment, 10 cemeteries have been investigated partially entirely. In three of them, namely, the cemeteries of Ternovoe-Kolbino, Mastyugino and Starozhivotinnoe, so-called “empty kurgans” were recorded. The researchers interpreted the associations in question differently: as cenotaphs, sanctuaries or remains of cremated burials. This paper suggests an interpretation of the Middle Don kurgans of Scythian time without burials as a cult and memorial complexes, closely associated with fire rituals. The practice of constructing complexes of similar purpose was widespread in the Scythian-Siberian world, the closest analogies to the Middle Don cult and memorial complexes are known in the territory of the Dnieper forest-steppe.