Комплекси озброєння у групових похованнях катакомбної культури міжріччя Дніпра та Дону.

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the part of the burial memento’s collective graves of the catacomb culture area between the Dnieper and Don rivers, which corresponds to the area of distribution Donetsk-Don’s catacomb culture that represents weapons, and to identify the characteristic features of these burials. The study is based on comparative, historical, typological and statistical methods. The results of the study revealed that group burials with elements of weapons can be attributed to those that demonstrate the high social status of the buried. However, nowadays, there are some difficulties in interpreting the burial stock of collective burials, because there are no any criteria by which one or another element of a burial inventory can be safely attributed to a particular skeleton. It should also be borne in mind that the major source of catacomb culture research is burials, which are very symbolic and contain many elements that represent people's perceptions and beliefs and can significantly distort reality. This aspect complicates the work of researchers significantly. After all, the objects that are put in the burial are not always directly related to the professional activity of the person, for example, weapons in children's graves can not indicate that they were warriors. In this case, the interpretation of weapons must be extremely cautious, as it is most likely a social marker.The statistical analysis shows that most of the paired and group burials have average saturation of the accompanying inventory, which can testify to the optimization of burial structures’ use during the Middle Bronze Age. However, group burials, with generally accepted insignia of power (maces, arrowheads, etc.), are saturated with the accompanying burial mantle, which exceeds the average indicators, which allows, at the level of sources, to assume a high social status of the buried. The results of the study can be used for further social reconstruction of the Middle Bronze Age society.