 The nomadic Scythians controlled the area from approximately 500-300 BCE, replaced by the Sarmatians, who were based on the western banks of the Dniester.Later, a Hellenistic Antiv culture built a defensive wall near Ruzhyn, and extended its territorial reach to all the area between the Dniester & Dnieper Rivers.Traces of this culture have been found with discoveries of coins, glassware, and ceramics, which date up to the 5th century.