Burial practices of the population from the Konda River Basin in the Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to burial practices of the Stone Age population that inhabited the territory of the North-West Siberia. The source base is represented by 14 complexes. The burial grounds and solitary graves are located on high slopes in the terrace conifer forest areas along the tributaries of the Konda River. The Mesolithic burials date back to the period starting from the 9th-8th millennium BC through the end of the 7th millennium BC, while the Neolithic can be traced starting from the 7th-6th millennium BC to the middle of the 4th millennium BC. The taiga hunters traditionally buried their deceased relatives in the ground. The burials tend to be clustered into linear groupings within the cemetery area. Solitary graves are found on the territory of apparently abandoned settlements near the foundation pits of houses or inside them. Two forms of burial were practiced: inhumation and cremation followed by the burial of burnt remains. Generally, the dead were buried in the extended position, i.e., lying flat with arms and legs straight. The bodies were covered with red ocher, wrapped or swaddled, and put into graves. A special type of Mesolithic burials was vertical burials, i.e., the dead were placed into a vertical shaft like pits. The cremated remains were buried in ocher graves. The burned bones were placed in the center of each pit. Solitary burials prevailed. Less common were paired and multi-tire graves. Children were buried in the same way as adults, the age range of the dead varied from 5-7 to 60 years. The deceased were buried together with stone tools, jewelry, fragments of dishes, funeral and memorial food. The burial things were prepared following a special ritual - the blades of stone adzes were sharpened, the pottery was broken. There are signs of special respect to the skulls of the dead. The traditional burial practices of the taiga population from the Konda River Basin remained the same throughout the Stone Age.