Resumen de "Kernoi" from the Post-Schythian Hillforts on the Banks of the Lower Dnieper: Traditions and Local Specifics
In North Pontus the eastern border of the distribution of kernoi with additional receptacles was the Dnieper river. The Thracian group is the most numerous. The Greek group is less numerous. All kernoi obtaines from the Lower Dnieper region were decorated with "snake-like" ornamentarion. They were discovered inside rooms furnished with primitive altars, i.e. in home sanctuaries. It is known that the snake embodies the keeper of the house. Furthermore family and domestic cults arose from the veneration of the dead. Therefore the kernoi were probably used for conducting rituals in home sanctuaries.
Thus, the small collection of unusual vessels stored in several museum in Ukraine evidence that between the 2 century BC and the 2 century AD the population of the hillforts in the Lower Dnieper region included Scythian, Thracian and Greek ethnic groups with their spiritual culture and rituals
