Burial Vault Research Articles

Христианские символы в росписи склепов Херсонеса

The wall-paintings of 11 burial vaults of Chersonese, including mostly floral and vegetal designs, images of birds and imitation of marble wall-facing, correspond to the iconography of the early Christian funerary painting in the Late Roman Empire dating from the last quarter of the fourth to the early fifth century. Most likely, the outside painters of the Chersonesan vaults followed already established and well-known decorative and symbolic system by making a certain set of scenes. There is an image of undoubtedly Christian symbol, namely the Christogram, surviving on the vaulting of two structures only (uncovered in 1853/1905 and 2003/2006). There are four burial vaults more, featuring by the remains of paintings, possibly also of the Christogram. The line-drawing of the surviving images of Chersonesan Christogram meets with almost exact analogies, for example, in the tombs of Sophia, Thessalonike, and Sardis. For the first time, this article suggests that, apart from the Christogram, there was another Christian symbol used in the early Christian funerary painting of Chersonese, namely the four-petalled rosette, known from the walls of two burial vaults (the first located on N. I. Tur’s land, and the second uncovered in 2003/2006). The images of similar rosettes appeared on the pieces of art and in the funerary painting from the Hellenistic Period on. This extremely popular design of Classical art was primarily a decorative element and attribute of the garden of paradise. However, the Christians, especially in the age when the cult of the cross developed, most likely viewed the cruciform as a symbol. This observation concerns primarily the paintings with four-petal rosettes occupying an accentuated position in their decorative programme, actually replacing the image of the cross. A very vivid example of such use of the cross-shaped flower is the painting of tomb no. 37 in Thessalonike. In Chersonese, a case of the kind is the painting of the back wall of the burial vault located on N. I. Tur’s land. From the symmetrical location of three identical cross-shaped rosettes accompanied with two peacocks, with the middle rosette in the very centre of the composition, framed by a semi-circular fluffy garland, there are reasons to interpret them as cross-shaped symbols rather than simple plant designs.

Стеклянные сосуды из раскопок Алмалыкского могильника

The article discusses the glass vessels found during the excavations of the cemetery in Almalyk-dere ravine at the north-eastern slope of Mangup mountain. As the cemetery of Almalyk was plundered two times, in antiquity and in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, its graves contained almost no glass vessels in situ, and the overwhelming majority of the finds were uncovered in the soil secondary deposited by the looters. The forms of the vessels comprise of the pitchers, tumblers/cups, dishes, bowls, and open-type vessels tentatively called cups. Some of the items were documented as a few fragments; such cases mark only that the glass ware was among the grave goods in this or that burial structure. Almost all of the finds under study originate from the assemblages dating to the second half/late fourth to the first half of the sixth century. Most glassware forms are rather typical of the Late Roman / Early Mediaeval Period. Most often, glass vessels occurred in burial vaults within supposed sets of funerary utensils along with red-slip and hand-made vessels. Although most of the burial vaults and undercut graves in the cemetery of Almalyk were plundered, one can trace the use of glass vessels as grave goods as late as the sixth century. The later assemblages excavated at the cemetery of Almalyk so far do not contain any glassware.

Digital Documentation in Narrow Burial Spaces Using a 360° Borescope Prototype

This paper illustrates and discusses a novel method for the digital documentation of human remains in narrow spaces. A 360° borescope prototype made up of a panoramic camera and a lighting LED system was designed and assembled to acquire data in confined spaces for photogrammetric processing. A series of laboratory experiments were planned to assess the method’s validity. A modern concrete tunnel and a mock grave were surveyed using surveying instruments and a laser scanner, comparing the results with the borescope prototype. Then, data acquisition was moved to the field, i.e., in a real case study. Two burial vaults in a church containing human remains were selected and surveyed. The remains were accessible only from small breaches. The results show that using the 360° borescope is suitable for documenting narrow/confined spaces with minimum alteration of the scene. This result can be of interest for archaeological and forensic purposes, especially when the context is hardly accessible, with minimal intervention on the scene.

Rus’ian Book-Cover Plaque in Byzantine Sougdaia

This article has analyzed one of the most studied finds from mediaeval Sougdaia, which was discovered by archaeological researches. The artefact in question was published twice, both times with erroneous attribution. Nevertheless, the analysis of the materials excavated at Rus’ian sites allows its undoubtful attribution as a drobnitsa, or book-cover plaque, which dates, according to clear archaeological context, from the late tenth to the first half of eleventh century. Interesting enough, such finds are rather rare in Rus’ian sites. The reasons why it found its way to Sougdaia remain unclear. It is safe to say only that it was a part of the grave goods of a person interred in a Christian burial vault. Unfortunately, the extremely bad preservation of the skeletons and the intermixed finds did not allow the one to determine the full composition of the grave goods to be related with a specific skeleton. However, the discovery of the book-cover plaque and other Rus’ian finds in recent years allows to expand our notion of the Rus’ian imports in Byzantine Sougdaia. Formerly, the Sougdaia finds comprised only of a set of artefacts (spindle whorls, bracelets, Christian cult artefacts, and a neck-ring of the Kiev type) typical of a large city that established close economic ties with Rus’. However, in view of the finds of ceramic fragments featuring Rus’ian inscriptions, the seals of the princes of Tmutorokan, and such an important and rare object as the book-cover plaque, there are reasons to resume the discussion on the political status of the Eastern Crimea in the age of the climax of the Principality of Tmutorokan.

A Mound of the Early Scythian Period near Shutnivtsi Village in Middle Dnister Region

The article is dedicated to the description of the mound no. 5 contents near Shutnivtsi village of Kamianets-Podilskyi region, Khmelnytskyi Oblast. The monument was explored in 1999 by the Expedition of Kamianets-Podilskyi University and headed by A. F. Hutsal. The height of the mound was 0.5—0.6 m, the diameter — 8 m. The embankment consisted of soil with stones. Under the embankment, after rabotage, there were discovered the remains of stone structures concentrated above and around the grave. In section, they had a shape close to the square with dimensions of 5.5 × 4.5 m. Its outer contours were limited by large stones. They lay in three parallel rows close to each other. Between them and on top of them there were small stones. Under the mound there was found a burial vault with four pillars. It was located along the northwest-southeast axis. Its dimensions were 2.3 × 3.35 m, the depth was 0.95—1.0 m. The north-western wall of the burial chamber was obviously lined with stones. The floor of the crypt was paved with stone tiles. They were closely adjacent to each other, but in the southern part of the grave and in the western corner the tiles were taken away by robbers. There were pillar pits in each corner of the grave. They were round in section. Their bottom was paved with stone tiles. Depth: 0.97—1.15 m; diameter: 0.71—0.75 m. All the pits were filled with stones and grey earth, and below them there was clay, sand, and pebbles. Only wooden decay remained from the pillars. The thickness of the pillars was 0.2—0.3 m. They could have supported the wooden structure of the ceiling of the crypt. The burial chamber was heavily robbed. Almost all inventory was removed or stolen by them. Only some areas survived. In the northern corner of the crypt, on a stone floor tile, a part of the lower human jaw, four bronze pins and a piece of ocher were found. The clay ladle and fragments of the pot were found near the south-western wall. The bronze arrowhead was discovered in the eastern corner. Most of the objects were moved from their original place. Parts of the bones of the human skeleton were found in the burial pit. Fragments of several ladles, two pots and a bowl were examined in different places. About 265 glass beads and their fragments were also discovered in the grave. The mound can be dated to the early Kelermes period (middle — second half of the 7th century BC). It could have belonged to a wealthy family of one of the local communities. It can also be assumed that the people buried in the mound might have been the clergy of a religious body.

Антропологические материалы из раскопок некрополя Эски-Кермена (по материалам раскопок 2017 года)

In 2017, the joint expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the Crimea of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the History and Archaeology of the Crimea Research Centre of the V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University continued rescue excavations of the site of ancient settlement on Eski-Kermen plateau and the cemetery on the slope of the mountain. The excavation at the cemetery uncovered ten burial constructions from various chronological periods: a burial vault and two undercut graves dating back to the early stage of the ancient town, though seven flat graves date from a later period. The flat graves were found close to the Three Holy Riders’s Church on the slope of Eski-Kermen. This article examines the palaeoanthropological materials obtained from the said burial constructions. The preservation of osseous remains from the undercut graves and burial vault was poor; the materials required preliminary restoration. Studying the materials from the burial vault was impeded since the skeletons were incomplete and osseous material was damaged. The materials from the flat graves were of good and satisfactory level of preservation. Most of the skeletons preserved in complete anatomic order. In investigation determined quantitative and sex-and-age structure of the deceased; the analysis of palaeopathological condition was undertaken; some non-metric features were recorded. Epigenetic peculiarities more often occurred on the cranial bones. The most common diseases among pathological cases were related to the teeth-maxillary apparatus. Diseases of locomotor apparatus occurred on vertebral column and big joints of long bones of arms and legs of mature male individuals. One of the buried female individuals had some changes on the sacrum bones known as spina bifida. There were pathological changes related with iron-deficient conditions, inflammations, and changes of bone tissue in result of overstrain of osseous apparatus due to excessive physical load. Only one case of traumatic lesion was documented. The cleaning of the skeleton from grave 395 uncovered the incompleteness of post-cranial skeleton: it laid in anatomic order, but there were no fibulae.

Дюрбе Бей Юде-султан в Азизе: история изучения, архитектурная форма, вопросы датировки

This article studies the mausoleum of Bey Yude Sultan, located in Aziz, a suburb of Bakhchisarai. The account of the monument by various authors are cited, as well as some visual sources depicting the structure. The mausoleum is a cubic building. The cube passes into an octahedron via triangular bevels, which are called Turkish triangles by the historians of architecture. The octagon is covered with a spherical dome, which formerly was topped with a hip roof. On the south side, the building had a portal with typical Seljuk niches in the side walls. Above the door there is a building inscription; in the lower tier there was a burial vault covered with a cupola. Most researchers date the construction to the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. In 1991, there was a limited excavation of the mausoleum resulting in the find of a late-eighteenth-century coin. Taking this find into account, V. P. Kirilko has attributed the construction of the building to the said period. However, the architectural form of the Bey Yude Sultan Türbe in Azis meets with analogies only in the architecture of Asia Minor from the Seljuk and Early Ottoman Periods and in the Golden Horde. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine that, in the late eighteenth century, a building was constructed following all the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century canons.

Ground Penetrating Radar detection of unmarked historic graves at the Fairlawn Cemetery in Stillwater, Oklahoma

AbstractGround Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey was conducted to detect historic unmarked graves from the period of the Civil War (1861–1865) at the Fairlawn Cemetery in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The GPR survey at the Fairlawn Cemetery will help preserve the unmarked historic graves if they exist or clear sections of the cemetery for possible expansion. GPR detection of historic graves are often a challenge as these graves are made of wooden boxes, bones and coffins, with no metal caskets or concrete burial vaults. It was even more challenging to detect unmarked graves in this study as the cemetery is covered with iron‐rich silty clay soil, which attenuates the GPR signals. We conducted the GPR survey along a grid consisting of 44 parallel 30‐m‐long profiles spaced at 50‐cm intervals using the 400‐MHz antenna. The acquired GPR data were processed as 2D profiles and produced a pseudo‐3D GPR volume to resolve the unmarked graves. Multiple features extracted from the pseudo‐3D volume at depths ranging from 0.7 to 1.3 m aligned along three north–south rows. Based on the dimensions, orientation, distribution and depth of burial of the anomalous features relative to the recent graves, we interpreted these features as unmarked graves. This study has demonstrated the GPR as an effective non‐invasive technique in detecting historical unmarked graves that contain no metal caskets or concrete burial vaults. This work will contribute not only to the science of historical archaeology but also to prehistorical archaeology, as caskets were not typically part of the prehistorical burials, and the modern‐day archaeology, particularly in the cases of mass graves in recent conflicts.

The Narrow Mausolea at Conchada Cemetery as Part of Portuguese and European Architectural Heritage

Over millennia, death was the origin of great funerary constructions that have come down to us. These constructions aimed at ensuring eternity and perpetuating memory. Funeral art thus appears not in the service of death, but in the service of memory. In the modern age, funerary constructions do not have the dimensions and grandeur they did in ancient times, but there are still constructions with relevant architectural interest, built to perpetuate the memory of important families. In Conchada Cemetery, located in Coimbra, Portugal, a vast and diverse funeral heritage exists. Possessing various architectural styles, almost all built with limestone from the region, the narrow mausoleums stand out from this heritage. This work presents a study carried out on the architecture and construction of two types of narrow mausoleums, existing in the Conchada Cemetery, both of the Neo-Gothic style: one with an entrance from the front, and another from the back. As it is not possible to present the photographs of the burial vaults, since it would represent an intrusive approach to the families, the authors have resorted to representing them through Indian ink and watercolor illustrations.

Sketchbook archaeology: Bodies multiple and the archives they create

Archaeological bodies and their afflictions have multiplied in recent years, along with the specialists who study them. The result is a cascade of data, much of it difficult to reconcile. I argue that variable enactments of disease, rather than reflecting an epistemological disconnect or difference in scale, engender ontological gaps. To pursue these malleable matters, I trace the proliferation of “cancer” from the Spring Street Presbyterian Church burial vaults (1820–1850) in Manhattan. To explore the struggles involved in making many things one, I consider emergent multiplicities of this “disease” within specialists’ laboratories, archival records, and the writing process. Rather than force these different cancers to cohere, or make one “win” based on disciplinary domain (science/humanities) or hierarchy of substance (bone/paper), I rely on Stengers’s (2018) ecology of partial connects. The outcome is not a rubric of knowledge gained, but a sketchbook of lessons learned with bodies multiple along the way.

Anatomic inquiry into burial disposal

Background: A human comprises body, soul and spirit; following death, the body left behind must be disposed. Terrestrial interment is favourite amongst kinsfolks and Anatomy as a discipline has a role by way of archaeology, forensics and training. This study inquired about practices in Nigeria and specifically into body decomposition, cemeteries’ potential for groundwater contamination, and gestural sign of artefacts in archaeologic auditing. Methods: A proforma with socio-demographics and burial characteristics designed and performed in Southwestern, Nigeria. Burial depths were measured with tape after gaining consent from relations. Collation and analysis of data by statistical package for social sciences. Results: Burial grounds of 307 were randomly explored within a year with male-to-female ratio of 3 to 2; Christianity 246(80.1%), Islam 43(14.0%), African Traditional Religions 15(4.9%) and others 3(1.0%); Diseases and old age were major causes of death and 67.1% had embalmment and delayed burial. Graves were mainly of sandy soil with mean depth 5.40 feet. Over 70% of burial vaults were uncemented and incorporation of artefacts in only 26.4%. Time of burial proved sine qua non to choice and mode of embalmment. Conclusion: Largely sandy soil favoured decomposition to maceration. The significant deeper depth favoured sanitization while coffination and internment in uncemented burial vaults favoured maceration. Potential to contaminate underground water was reduced with respect to most graves sited on plain ground. Incorporation of artefacts was commoner amongst people practicing African Traditional Religions. A need to create and involve Inspectors of Anatomy in matters related to human remains is suggested.

Late Antique burial vault (tomb), church and necropolis at the site of Studena Česma in Donji Vakuf

This paper deals with the Late Antique site Studena česma in Donji Vakuf. Based on field reconnaissance and in a literature, the area of Donji Vakuf municipality is defined as a potentially rich area in respect to archeological remains from different epochs. Until recent research in Donji Vakuf, only the early Christian basilica in Oborci was excavated. Continuity of settlement of narrow and wider area of Donji Vakuf municipality can be determined by a whole series of remains from the Medieval and Ottoman period. The finds of the research done in 2005 and 2006 at this site, include a late antique burial vault, remains ofa church and early medieval necropolis. As far as the grave vault and a building in its immediate vicinity are concerned, it can be concluded that it’s a religious object from the period between 4th and 6th century. Alongside the object of that kind, there was also a larger cemetery, which according to the mentioned finds, and also according to people’s testaments, canbe confirmed. Namely, almost every day, in the large area gravitating towards the archeological site, a huge number of human bones, skeletons and skulls are being found. On one occasion, a golden ring was found. Ubication of the exact places where skeleton remains are being found indicates that the entire area of the present settlement Studena Česma, i.e. the hill, duringthe Late Antique and the Early Medieval period was an area reserved for cemetery and religious complex. Very similar analogies to late antique basilica were found in walled grave vaults with barrel roof and a church at the site of Oborci. The similar field configuration of sloped hill, as well as proximity of these two sites, indicate the nature and purpose of the entirecomplex in the settlement of Studena Česma. Archaeological material found (earrings, pearls and a ring) indicate a presence of early medieval burials at a place which did not lose its function of the Christian religious place and cemetery, even duringthe Early Medieval period. The significance of the discovery and scientific processing of the walled grave vault with a barrel roofshould be especially stressed. This type of the object is not unknown in the area of Central Bosnia. The excavation of the grave vault becomes even more important with the fact that until now, the highest number of discovered tombs of this type, due to a series of reasons, has remained scientifically unexplored.

Embalming, Viewing and the Social Construction of the Corpse: Time for Another Look

Embalming of the dead is more common in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Battles far from home during the Civil War with concern for contagion from dead bodies being shipped home, compelled President Lincoln to direct the troops to use embalming to allow the return of the Union dead to their homes. Viewings were common with war heroes and culminated with the viewing of Lincoln himself. In the 20th century embalming became a tradition despite substantial evidence indicating environmental and occupational hazards related to embalming fluids and carbon dioxide generated from manufacturing steel coffins before placing in concrete burial vaults. Embalming is promoted and considered helpful to the grieving process when families are comforted by a the appearance of a peaceful death. Embalmers are expected to produce an illusion of rest, an image that in some ways disguises death for the benefit of mourners. The dead are carefully displayed in a condition of liminal repose where the 'true' condition is hidden, and death is removed from the actual event. In this paper we highlight the spiritual and cultural complexities of embalming related- issues. We also provide data on the lack of grieving families’ preparedness for the financial burden associated with the death of a loved one and the lack of knowledge of alternative options. We propose an innovative process to empower people facing serious illness, and their families to make shared and informed decisions, especially when death is the expected outcome.

Embalming, Viewing and the Social Construction of the Corpse: Time for Another Look

Embalming of the dead is more common in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Battles far from home during the Civil War with concern for contagion from dead bodies being shipped home, compelled President Lincoln to direct the troops to use embalming to allow the return of the Union dead to their homes. Viewings were common with war heroes and culminated with the viewing of Lincoln himself. In the 20th century embalming became a tradition despite substantial evidence indicating environmental and occupational hazards related to embalming fluids and carbon dioxide generated from manufacturing steel coffins before placing in concrete burial vaults. Embalming is promoted and considered helpful to the grieving process when families are comforted by a the appearance of a peaceful death. Embalmers are expected to produce an illusion of rest, an image that in some ways disguises death for the benefit of mourners. The dead are carefully displayed in a condition of liminal repose where the 'true' condition is hidden, and death is removed from the actual event. In this paper we highlight the spiritual and cultural complexities of embalming related- issues. We also provide data on the lack of grieving families’ preparedness for the financial burden associated with the death of a loved one and the lack of knowledge of alternative options. We propose an innovative process to empower people facing serious illness, and their families to make shared and informed decisions, especially when death is the expected outcome.

The Corpse: Time for Another Look A Review of the Culture of Embalming, Viewing and the Social Construction.

Embalming of the dead is more common in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Battles far from home during the Civil War with concern for contagion from dead bodies being shipped home compelled President Lincoln to direct the troops to use embalming to allow the return of the Union dead to their homes. Viewings were common with war heroes and culminated with the viewing of Lincoln himself. In the 20th century embalming became a tradition despite substantial evidence indicating environmental and occupational hazards related to embalming fluids and carbon dioxide generated from manufacturing steel coffins before placing in concrete burial vaults. Embalming is promoted and considered helpful to the grieving process. Embalmers are expected to produce an illusion of rest, an image that in some ways disguises death for the benefit of mourners. The dead are carefully displayed in a condition of liminal repose where the 'true' condition is hidden, and death is removed from the actual event. In this paper we highlight the spiritual and cultural complexities of embalming related issues. We propose an innovative process to empower people facing serious illness, and their families to make shared and informed decisions, especially when death is an expected outcome.

Склеп с многократными погребениями III в. н.э. из могильника Опушки

The cemetery of Opushki is located at 15 km to the east of modern Simferopol, in the central area of the Crimean foothills. The site has been being excavated since 2003. So far more than 300 graves of various types have been uncovered. They belong to the Late Scythian, Middle Sarmatian, and Late Sarmatian archaeological cultures. There is one cremation complex appeared as a result of the Germanic migration to the Crimea. The complex under present publication belongs to a large group of burial vaults with a short dromos (entry corridor) of the Late Roman period; this type of crypts is found in various cemeteries of the Crimean foothills. Burial constructions of this type are associated with the mediaeval Alans’ ancestors who migrated to the Crimea from the North Caucasus. Although the earliest crypts featuring dromos appeared in the foothill area of the Crimean Peninsula in the first half of the 3rd century AD, most of burials in these constructions were made in the fourth century AD. Burial vault no. 158 has two interesting features. It contains multiple burials typical for the Late Scythian vaults of the 1st and the first half of the 2nd centuries. Such a phenomenon is encountered for the first time in the Late Roman vault. According to the analysis of the grave goods, the complex under study is one of the earliest or even the earliest short-dromos vault discovered in the Crimea. It was constructed in the second half (or at the end) of 2nd or very early 3rd century AD and was in use throughout the first half of the 3rd century. The results of research of this burial construction supply new materials for the solution of highly disputable problem of the Crimean vaults with short dromos origin and of the reconstruction of ethnic processes in the Crimea in the Late Roman period.

Раскопки тагарских курганов в 2021 году на могильнике Уйтаг-3 (Республика Хакасия)

In 2021, an excavation team from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS carried out rescue excavations at the Uytag-3 burial ground (Askiz district of the Republic of Khakassia). Three burial mounds were examined according to technical requirements of the Preservation project of the archaeological heritage objects during the construction of the second railway line at the Kamyshta — Uytag section of the Krasnoyarsk railway. Five burial vaults in a row were located at the center of kurgan No. 4 fence and three children’s graves in stone boxes were found to the east. The aboveground structures of the main burials are represented by stone and wood overhead covers. Collective burials of adults and children were found in wooden log constructions inside the grave pits. The overhead wooden covers of all examined vaults bear signs of the integrity violations. Known facts allow us to suggest that this was a part of a certain burial ritual, that is the vaults could be in use for a fairly long period of time. The bones position and the preservation of the grave goods do not allow us to suppose that mounds were robbed. The unearthed collection of artefacts reflects the original composition of the grave goods complex precisely: ceramic dishes, bronze weapons, jewelry. Based on the construction elements and finds a preliminarily date for mound No. 4 could fit within chronological diapason of the 6th—4th centuries BC. One robbed burial of the Podgornovo time and 8 structures (tiered graves) of the Tesinsky time were studied in mound No. 6. The fence form and the assemblage allow the central burial to be dated to the 7th - 6th centuries BC. The tiered burials with burial goods complexes go back to the Tesinsky time and were left by the population arrived to the territory of the Minusinsk depression from Tuva and Altai.

Культурный палимпсест в кургане № 5 могильника Уйтаг-3 (Республика Хакасия)

In 2021, as a part of rescue archaeological work in the Askiz district of the Republic of Khakassia a unique burial complex was studied. Kurgan No. 5 at the Uytag-3 burial ground was a cultural-chronological palimpsest. A mound of the Afanasyevo culture with two graves was located at the base of the site. Its territory was used by the Tagar people for the construction of their mound. A powerful fence with corner and paving stones, an earthen platform made of blocks of loam with sod, 4 burial vaults covered with larch logs, and passages were erected. During the Tesinsky stage, another burial vault with a dromos was built at the central part of the embankment. All the tombs functioned for a long time for the burial of new deceased. Despite the disturbance (and partial robbery) of the complexes in antiquity, many details of the funeral rituals characteristic of several chronological stages of the Tagar culture, from the Saragashenskiy (IV—III centuries BC) to the Tesinsky stage (II-I centuries BC), remained intact. Field research yielded abundant assemblage of burial goods including bronze daggers, battle hammer-axes, awls, mirrors; bronze and iron knives and belt plates with pendants; costume decorations in the form of hemispherical bronze plaques, beads, perforated clothing decorations and deer plaques. A variety of ceramics was found in each grave: from large jars to small vessels-incense burners. An interesting ceramic complex was also excavated from the Afanasyevo burials. The unique clay-plaster funerary masks portraying the deceased were cleaned up and secured at the Tesinsky vault. Almost all of the masks displayed Caucasian features. Samples of wood from burial structures were taken for analysis, and the anthropological collection was replenished. It is worth noting the Okunevo stele with a face carved on its side edge used in the fence of the Tagar mound.

Золото в женском погребальном костюме элиты позднеантичного Боспора: новые материалы из Фанагории

This paper publishes a unique woman’s costume with gold ornaments from the Hunnic Period. This find originates from a burial vault in Phanagoreia dated back to the late fourth or early fifth century AD. There are numerous gold foil badges uncovered in situ on a woman’s neck and chest. They were sewn on the collar of a robe and an outer garment. Gold ornaments appeared only on the front side of the cloths to be seen by the funeral ceremony participants. The find of the ornaments in Phanagoreia contributes to the suggestion that there was a universal set of gold ornaments for cloth in the Hunnic Period. It has been inferred that the costume decorated with fine gold ornaments played ceremonial role. It was made especially for funerals of noble and rich women belonging to the Bosporan elite. However, the culture of the barbarians living in the vicinity of the Bosporan Kingdom in the Migration Period possibly developed alternative perception of the costume in question

Figurative Images in the Early Christian Funeral Paintings of Chersonese

The paintings of the 11 early Christian burial vaults of Chersonese uncovering the image of the Garden of Eden fully correspond to the traditions of the Late Antique art. There figurative images are very rare, and not all of them have been interpreted properly. Single man’s figures preserved in the painting of three vaults (of the years 1853/1905, 1909 and in the vault on N. I. Tur’s land) are of particular interest for the determination of the time and ways of penetration of this artistic tradition into early Christian Chersonese. A comparative analysis of funeral paintings from different regions of the Eastern Roman Empire makes it possible to determine the function of the mentioned images of men in the painting of these tombs and to explain their origin in early Christian burials. According to the fragments that survived, all three figures of young men are very similar in dress and posture. Probably, they all held a burning candle in the hands, the image of which survived only in the vault of the year 1909. These images are comparable to the figures of servants from a number of tombs discovered in the Balkans, Asia Minor, North Africa, and Levant. The young men from Chersonese are most close to the images of male servants from the tombs in Bulgaria and Serbia. From the analogies given in this paper there are reasons to interpret the figures of young men in the three vaults of Chersonese as images of servants. Figures of servants were widespread in ancient art and also in Christian burials to the end of the fourth century. Most likely, these figures appeared in the paintings of Chersonese under the influence of the Eastern Balkan artistic tradition.