Непотревоженное погребение культуры плиточных могил с черепом лошади в Северной Монголии

Abstract

The article presents detailed results of archaeological excavations carried out on the territory of Northern Mongolia in the valley of the Egiin-gol river. Under one of the stone layouts at the Kharuulyn Gozgor site there was an undisturbed human burial which belongs to the culture of slab graves. A feature of this object is the presence of a horse skull and other animal bones. Special attention was paid to the study of the osteological remains of the horse since such finds are quite rare. On the basis of archaeozoological determinations, it was concluded that the grave contained the skull and lower jaw of a stallion aged 12–15 years old and some bones of its forelimbs. The notice was made of the injuries to the parietal and frontal bones obtained during the killing of the horse which judging by the given morphometric parameters was not large. The skull and individual bones of a young sheep were also found. The obtained osteological materials are important for carrying out paleogenetic studies. Key words: Northern Mongolia, culture of slab graves, archaeological excavations, human burial, horse skull, sheep bones, archaeozoological definitions Acknowledgments: Field research was carried out within the framework of the international program of the St. Petersburg State Budgetary Institution of Culture “Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family” (Russia) and during the archaeological practice of students of Ulaanbaatar University (Mongolia). Analytical work and writing of the article were carried out with partial financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project No. 19–59–15001 “Horses and Their Importance in the Life of the Ancient Population of Altai and Adjacent Territories: Interdisciplinary Research and Reconstruction”).