One of the Greek colonies on the northern shore of the Black Sea, Olvia lies close to the Borysthenes, the main river that gave it commercial meaning by connecting the fertile Ukraine to the sea. The Scythians later called this waterway the Dānu apr, or the name it bears today, the Dnepr. Herodotus wrote of Olvia,and Strabo also mentioned it.
Historical Era: 9th to 5th centuries BCE.
Found on the right bank of the Kama River, this is a unique culture, and one of the richest kurgans in Russian archeology, from the 9th-3rd centuries, BCE. Artefacts show evidence of at least some trade with Scythians. Because there are several burial styles, it is impossible to isolate a single culture here; some evidence suggests that this was an Ugro- tribe. At 1st Congress K. I. Nevostruev mentions that they burned their corpses.