Bustan VI, une nécropole de l'âge du Bronze dans l'ancienne Bactriane (Ouzbékistan méridional) : témoignage des cultes du feu

Abstract

A cemetary, Bustan VI, situated near the site of Dzharkutan in southern Uzbekistan, dating back to the last phases of the Sapalli Culture (Mollali and Bustan), has been excavated by the author during the last years. Several types of tombs and different rituals, apparently all taking place at the same time, have been noticed in the different areas of the cemetary. Both inhumations (sometimes secondary) and cremations were practised, and the author considers many of the observed rituals to be evidences of a cult of fire. In the central part of the cemetary, three special brick constructions are thought to have been used as crematorium. They are surrounded by three altars, one dedicated to libations, the second to ritual meals and the third to sacrifices (for animals and human beings), and by hearths. Tombs where cremation is attested are not very numerous and placed in a special area of the cemetary. In them and the other ones, many different symbols considered as elements of a fire cult have been found : charcoal, ashes, ochre, gypsum, and series of similar but not identical small objects made out of raw clay (miniature altars, vases, spoons, anthropomorphic figurines and conical "tokens" grouped by three). The author establishes links between these completely new rituals and symbolic items and the arrival of Indo-Aryan tribes which she connects mainly to the Andronovo Culture because of the presence of a few Andronovo sherds and metal objects, and similarities in the rituals.