Isolated burial Maganskoye cemetery (XVII century) in Central Yakutia

Abstract

The main goal of this research is the interpretation of burial materials Maganskoye cemetery, explored by the Srednelensky squad of archeological expedition Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous Peoples Problems of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the city of Yakutsk. The object of this research is the burial rite of Late Medieval population of Central Yakutia. The subject of this research is the isolated burial Maganskoye cemetery. The full review is conducted on location of the memorial, intra-burial construct and subjects of auxiliary inventory. Special attention is given to determination of social status of the buried based on comparative analysis with other memorials of the region under consideration. Interdisciplinary approach is used in the course of the research, Archeological data are juxtaposed to the ethnographic records and folklore sources. The novelty consists in peculiarities of the burial rite, which is considered deviant. The damages found on the bones of the deceased, as well as the folklore sources, allow interpreting the memorial as a reflection in archeological source of the warrior sacrificial offerings in the medieval Yakut society. The research results may serve as a theoretical foundation for further reconstructions dedicated to studying burial rite of the Ancient Yakuts.