The dissertation for PhD degree in History, speciality 07.00.04 - archaeology. Institute of archaeology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. - Kyiv, 2016. The main themes of the thesis are determined as a result of historiographical analysis on the environmental problems of the Tiasmyn River basin in the early Iron Age, in the context of the study of the population economic activity of the region. As a result of the research, carried out on an updated source base, there are analyzed the relationship between landscape environment and related economic-cultural types of individual historical periods, as well as the condition of the main economic activity areas. Among them, the main attention is paid to agriculture, animal husbandry, metal working and mining. Conclusions regarding the increase of the leading role of animal husbandry, and in particular horse breeding, in the structure of the economy during before Scythian and Scythian periods are made. The character of osteological material and archaeological materials suggest that the predominant was non-stalled keeping of cattle. The level of agriculture development does not confirm the theory of marketable grain supply of the ancient Black Sea region cities. That can be evidenced by the composition of crops, tools for tillage, a small amount of grain pits on settlements. Progress in foundry and iron working was associated primarily with the military sector needs, rather than agriculture. There are strong evidences of weapon production at the sites of the Tiasmyn River, in particular, the manufacture of armor lamellate metal set: the findings of specialized metal-working tools, armored lamellates, advanced tanning production, a large number of warrior graves with armour, a fairly high social status of "blacksmiths". The disproportion in metals usage, particularly iron, in the industrial and military fields, which has always been noticeable, especially increased in the end of V - IV c. BC. Maintaining the military structure of the society has been a burdensome for the economy. After weakening of the local military elite in the second half of the V c. BC that was the organizer of the defense and the productive economy, namely agriculture sustained losses. Based on the created catalog and detailed map of the region's monuments, which significantly corrects previous conception, in the research there is proposed a settlement structure of the territory in historical development and are allocated 22 economic micro-regions, which are correlated with different types of landscapes. There were allocated several territorial groups, concentrated around major Tiasmyn River monuments. For the Chernoles period these are Subotovskoe settlement areas and Smela region, and for the Scythian - Motroninskoe and Pastyrskoe settlements. Each of these groups was formed on land arteries - branches of the so-called Olbian trade route. Since the trade was one of the economic activities, much attention is paid to the reconstruction of the trade and military routes and strategic areas that influenced the settlement structure; to some extent, they are indicators of the historical situation in the region. The level of the economy and trade development, due to the natural environment and the unique geopolitical situation, together with the unique geopolitical situation, were reasons, which accelerated social development of the Tiasmyn region that is considered as the leading cultural center of the later before Scythian and Scythian periods of the Dnieper forest-steppe. Keywords: Early Iron Age, Tiasmyn River region, Сhornoliska and Scythian culture, natural environment, sectors of the economy, trade routes.
