Yu.P. Zaitsev, K. Hellstrom, M. Hochmut

The identification and dendrochronological dating of the secondary use of threshing sledges in two graves of the necropolis Ust’-Al’ma provided the first secure archeological evidence for the use of this farming tool since the middle of the 1st century B’ on the Crimea. In general the Crimea is integrated into a region with similar climatic conditions and a comparable economic situation between Eаstern Europe and the Near East where numerous archeological and ethnograpic examples provide firm evidence for the use of the threshing sledge from Bronze Age until recently. Furthermore, in combination with ethnographic parallels the context of the discovery enables the exploration of a new aspect of the burial ritual and therewith of the imagination of the inhabitants of the Crimea during the Late Hellenistic period. Some examples document that the secondary use of threshing sledges as deathbeds obviously was not an isolated case or a local specialty. However, it often remained unnoticed because of the generally poor conditions of conservation for wood. A focused screening of further grave finds would certainly contribute to a significant extension of the data base, and possibly might help to make accessible a connection to very similar findings in the Caucasian region.