The Cherniakhiv culture, Cherniakhiv culture or Sântana de Mureș—Cherniakhiv culture was an archaeological culture that flourished between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE in a wide area of Eastern Europe, specifically in what is now Ukraine, Romania, Moldova and parts of Belarus. The culture is thought to be the result of a multiethnic cultural mix of the Geto-Dacian , Sarmatian, and Gothic populations of the area. "In the past, the association of this [Cherniakhiv] culture with the Goths was highly contentious, but important methodological advances have made it irresistible." The Cherniakhiv culture territorially replaced its predecessor, the Zarubintsy culture. Both cultures were discovered by the Czech-Ukrainian archaeologist, Vikentiy Khvoyka, who conducted numerous excavations around Kyiv and its vicinity. With the invasion of Huns, the culture declined and was replaced with the Penkovka culture (or the culture of the Antes). Similarities have been noted between the Cherniakhiv culture and the Wielbark culture, which was located closer to the Baltic Sea. Location and nomenclature The Chernyakhov culture encompassed regions of modern Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania. The spelling Chernyakhov is the transliteration from Russian for an archaeological site in the vicinity of Kyiv, modern Ukraine. Other spellings include Cherniakhiv (Ukrainian), Czerniachów (Polish), and several others. The culture has also been named after Sântana de Mureș, a cemetery site in Transylvania, Romania, spelled Sîntana de Mureș before 1993. This site is also known as Marosszentanna, the formerly official Hungarian name under which the first excavations took place. The dual name reflects past preferential use by different schools of history (Romanian and Soviet) to designate the culture. Origins In the earlier half of the 20th century, scholars spent much energy debating the ethnic affinity of people in the Cherniakhiv zone. Soviet scholars, such as Boris Rybakov, saw it as the archaeological reflection of the Proto-Slavs, but western, especially German, historians, and Polish archeologists attributed it to the Goths. According to Kazimierz Godłowski (1979), the origins of Slavic culture should be connected with the areas of the upper Dnieper basin (the Kyiv culture) while the Chernyakhov culture with the federation of the Goths. However, the remains of archaeologically visible material culture and their link with ethnic identity are not as clear as originally thought. Today, scholars recognize the Cherniakhiv zone as representing a cultural interaction of a diversity of peoples, but predominantly those who already existed in the region, whether it be the Sarmatians, or the