Mariupol Burial Ground

a late Neolithic (third millennium B.C.) burial ground on the outskirts of the city of Zhdanov, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. It was excavated in 1930 by N. E. Makarenko. More than 120 burials were found in large collective graves, which formed a trench measuring 28 m long and approximately 2 m wide. The dead were laid out in a supine position. About half of the skeletons were covered with red ochre. Among the finds were stone implements; ornaments made from boar tusks, shells, and the bones and teeth of animals; and stone club heads. The Mariupol’ burial ground belonged to the tribes of primitive stock raisers of the Left-bank Ukraine on the eve of their transition to the era of metals.