Детские захоронения в колыбели эпохи бронзы Урало-Сибирского региона: в поисках аналогий

Abstract

Cradle burials are unique to the Bronze Age in the Ural-Siberian region. They are typical for Okunevo culture of South Siberia and Alakul culture. Cradles vary in design, but they can definitely be attributed to a certain tradition or cult. The article is devoted to the search of analogies to children’s cradle graves in the Ural-Siberian region. Alakul cradles had a concave inside wall and sharp protruding corners. The nearest analogies to Alakul cradles were found in the pit-grave culture with real cradle graves and clay models. In Okunevo culture of South Siberia the cradle had a back side made of a discrete piece of birch bark. Analogies of this design were found in the catacomb culture, where children’s burials contained clay cradle models. One end part of such a model is designed in the form of a low dome-shaped body. Such models are typical for children’s interments of the catacomb population of Ciscaucasia, but roots can be found in cheir North Caucasian culture. Cradle models are found in burials along with anthropomorphic “Pan flute” and lumps of ochre. In Okunevo culture some children’s burials were accompanied with horn anthropomorphic pendants, which may be compared with the catacomb “Pan flute”. Thus, the author proposes to distinguish two traditions in the development of the cradle design in the Bronze Age.