Use of Parts of Ram Carcasses in the Funerary Practices of the Baikal Region Population in the 13th–14th Centuries

Abstract

In the 13th and 14th centuries, there was a custom of placing parts of a ram/sheep carcass in the grave as an offering in the Baikal region. Materials from three areas, which were then parts of the Mongol Empire, are described: southeastern Trans-Baikal, northern Khövsgöl, and southern Angara. Graves are described with a focus on sheep bones, their composition, and location in the grave. In the southern Trans-Baikal, the shank was usually placed near the buried person’s head. Scapulae and vertebrae are much less frequent than shank bones. The latter are most often found under the human pelvic bones or under the upper femur. In the Khövsgöl area, a ram’s shank was placed near the deceased person’s arm or leg. On the Angara, a ram’s head—or the entire dorsal part—was placed near the deceased’s legs. In the Sayantui type burials, located south of Lake Baikal and representing the Mongols’ funerary tradition of the imperial period, the most common offering was a ram’s shank, placed upright. Elsewhere in the Baikal region, other ways of arranging parts of a ram carcass are observed, apparently because of the absence of the Mongol population and its elite in those areas.