The types of grave goods found within these burials include handmade pottery, knives, jewellery such as small rings and beads, earrings and small bells and pendants. Architecture During the Scythian period a large stone wall surrounded the settlement as a defence method against the Sarmatians and had a large gate, flanked by two defence towers. Inside the walls Scythian Neapolis had public buildings, which were influenced, to varying degrees, by Greek architecture as well as construction methods and is demonstrated through the buildings with the archaeological features of columns with capitals, painted plaster, statues and tiled roofs. The residential section was located in the northern part of the town, with small houses for families of a medium income being the most common and houses belonging to rich families being scarce. Over the different periods of time that the Scythian’s occupied this settlement was destroyed multiple times, some by fires but also by Mithradates’ general Diophantos. Zaytsev (2004) cites Kryzhitsky (1993) by stating that the architecture present in Scythian Neapolis had a ‘mix of Greek/Barbarian building traditions' during the Hellenistic period. The techniques during this time were ‘relatively primitive’, with materials such as unfired bricks, timber, limestone, and clay being primary ones. Building techniques for dwellings/houses and the defensive walls didn’t differ during this period, with the absence of skilled masons and carpenters is identified through ‘surface and level variances’. The exception to this is the Southern Palace, with parameters of the megaron suggesting a two-storey construction and archaeological evidence illustrating a tiled roof and thick walls. Further construction phases used materials such as ‘well-processed limestone slabs and blocks’ and significant Southern Palace buildings, such as the heroon of Argotus, Mausoleum of Skiluros and Monumental Southern Façade, were professionally built to Greek architectural standards. Over time, the architectural techniques in Scythian Neapolis scarcely evolved with the palace complexes receiving more sophisticated materials, such as bronze and marble, in comparison to the dwellings and granaries where ‘a steep decline of architectural and building skills’ was observed. This could be a result of the changing circumstances of the individuals residing in Scythian Neapolis, as the barbarian population experienced major changes before the settlement was destroyed. Major sites The Mausoleum of King Skiluros The mausoleum of King Skiluros was first excavated in 1946 by P.N. Schulz, N.N. Pogrebova, O.I. Dombrovsky, E.A. Bolotnikova, A.N. Karasev, Kh.I. Kris, T.Ya Kobetz, V.A. Golovkina, and T.A. Globenko. Constructed