Mesolithic Burials of the Volga-Urals

Abstract

For the Mesolithic era, experts have identified two zones of ritualism: the northern with an elongated posture of skeleton and the southern with a crouched posture. Until recently on the territory of the Volga-Urals, Mesolithic burials were almost unknown. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to analyze the complexes for their attribution to the Middle Stone Age. The paper relevance is due to the low degree of the Mesolithic burials study in the territory under consideration. Methods and materials. The objects of the study were the materials of the monuments Mayak I, Syezhe I, Chekalino IV and Davlekanovo. In order to achieve the goal, the archaeological context of each monument was analyzed. To identify several objects of study, planigraphic and stratigraphic methods were used. The typological analysis was applied when structuring the funeral rite and the inventory. Lack of inventory in some burials made cultural and chronological attribution difficult. The radiocarbon method was aimed at establishing the chronological framework of the burials. Anthropological analyses were aimed at identifying morphological characteristics of the buried. Outcomes. Based on the results of the study, two traditions of the burial rite were revealed. The Mayak I and Syezhee I monuments depict the pose of the buried stretched out on their backs, while the Chekalino IV and Davlekanovo monuments show a crouched position on the right side. Radiocarbon values record the chronological differences between these groups. Anthropological characteristics are included in a wide range of variants of the proto-Uraloid or the Old Ural type. These differences can be explained both by the territorial peculiarity of the Volga-Ural region and by the fact that the monuments belong to different periods of the Mesolithic.