Archaeological monuments of nomads of the 10th - 13th centuries on the territory of southern Ukraine

The article considers the most characteristic features of archeological monuments, the so - called late nomads of the 10th - 13th centuries on the territory of Southern Ukraine. The problem of studying the history of these peoples, despite a fairly wide range of researchers who have devoted their work to this issue, still remains unresolved and leaves a lot of controversial issues. The authors determine that the settlement of these territories by a nomadic population in the 10th-13th centuries took place in several stages. In the 10th - first half of the 11th century the Dnieper steppes were occupied by the Pechenegs and Torks (Guz). This is evidenced, in particular, in his work by the Byzantine emperor Constantine the Crimson ; mention of this is in the message of the Khazar kagan Joseph to the dignitary of the Caliphate of Cordoba Hasday Ibn Shafrut ; this is confirmed by Russian chronicles. The presence of Pechenegs in this area is confirmed by archaeological materials. Mostly, these are shallow inlet graves (in the western orientation), with burials of a man with the remains of a horse (skull and limbs) and a small set of equipment (weapons, stirrups, fishing rods) in the mounds of earlier epochs. Torks appeared in the northern Black Sea region at the beginning of the 11th century. The fact that the Torks were found in the Lower Dnieper is not recorded in written sources, but archaeological finds suggest the presence of these nomads in these areas. Unlike similar Pecheneg monuments, they differ mainly in some features in the design of the burial chamber (the presence of a longitudinal step, a wooden ceiling of the tomb, etc.).