Grave Pit Research Articles

Burials of the XIII–XIV centuries in the Egiin-Gol river valley (Northern Mongolia): burial rite features

The article analyzes of the results of studies, condacted in 1997–2000 by archaeologists in the Egiin Gol river valley, northern Mongolia. The findings of 3 burial grounds, where burials of the XIII–XIV centuries were excavated, were examined – Mukhdagiin am, Kholtost nuga and Elst hotol. Based on the characteristics of the funeral rite, 4 groups of burials have been identified. The first included 9 graves from the necropolises of Elst hotol and Kholtost nuga. Corpses in them were placed without additional intra-grave structures. They were laid on their backs. The body was oriented with the head facing northwest, north, northeast or east. A shin, head or part of the spine of small cattle were placed near the hands or feet of the deceased in the grave. The second group included 4 burials of the Mukhdagiin am burial ground. The deceased were placed in wooden coffins and were oriented with their heads to the north or northwest. The shin of a sheep was placed vertically near the head. The third group included single burial of the the Mukhdagiin am burial ground. It had an undercut in the grave pit, where the body was buried. The fourth group included a grave from the Kholtost nuga necropolis. In it the deceased was wrapped in birch bark. During the first half of the II millennium, in the lower part of the Egiin Gola valley, the dominant position was occupied by the bearers of burial traditions of the first group. Representatives of the second group of burials appear in this area in the XIII century, comparable to the Sayantui funeral rite. The burials of the third and fourth groups date back to the beginning of the II millennium.

Курган 28 могильника Филипповка 1: к вопросу об определении даты комплекса

The papre is devoted to determining the date of the kurgan 28, Filippovka 1 burial ground, which is a necropolis of the social elite of the Southern Urals nomads in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. A burial partially destroyed by repeated robbery was found in the kurgan. At least six people were buried in the grave pit with a dromos entrance, covered with a structure of radially diverging logs. The features of the five individuals‘ bone remains location in the western part of the grave indicate their simultaneous or relatively simultaneous burial. Another burial was made in an underground passage leading from the outside of the kurgan mound to the grave pit. The accompanying grave goods were placed in the destroyed part of the grave near the buried individuals as well as in on the buried soil as a part of the sacrificial complex. They included weapons and parts of military ammunition (armor, daggers, arrows, a quiver hook, a lanyard pendant, a vorvorki), parts of a horse harness (bit, cheek-pieces, bridle plaques, pierced), as well as jewelry (earrings, bracelets, beads, sewn-on plaques), ritual objects (a bone spoon, a fragment of a stone altar) and household items. An analysis of the grave goods and a radiocarbon dating obtained by accelerator mass spectrometry method suggest that five people were buried in the western part of the grave in the middle or third quarter of the 4th century BC. However, the construction of the funerary structure and the placement of the dead in its eastern part could have begun earlier - in the period falling at the turn of the 5th-4th centuries BC - early 4th century BC.

Geochemical, lithological and archaeological studies on an Early Bronze Age barrow destroyed by modern tillage in Petrove, central Ukraine

This study discusses the impact of land tillage, particularly plowing, on Chernozem soil profile transformations, focusing on the exploration of a barrow in Petrove, Ukraine. Using lithological and geochemical methods, soil profiles from the barrow and its surroundings were analyzed, as well as the post-depositional processes that transformed the mound and grave pit of a Yamnaya culture barrow dating back to the Early Bronze Age. The effects of mechanical denudation of the barrows were observed. Despite organic matter having originally constituted a considerable proportion of the barrow mound, its loss is evident, mainly as a result of accelerated mineralization. Moreover, the distribution of geochemical components within a barrow depends on the original distribution of organic matter in the barrow mound and its transformation by animals. Barrow and grave pit structures were examined, and intervention rituals were reconstructed. A bed of sand (lithologically distinct) was found on the floor of the grave pit. This may have underlain the mat on which the body was placed. Higher phosphorus and iron contents confirmed the presence of burials and ochres in the grave pit.

Finding of an Early Scythian weapon set in a burial of the Tagar culture (Askiz steppe)

The article is devoted to the analysis of a weapon set discovered during the excavations of the Tagar kurgan in the Askiz steppe in 2020. This complex consisted of two adjacent fences and a children's burial in a stone box between them. According to the characteristic features of the burial rite, the mound can be dated within the VIII – VII centuries BC. In the grave pit of fence No. 1, a bronze dagger with a knife in a well-preserved leather case with embroidery was found near the man's right hand. Typological features allow us to attribute these items to the Early Scythian stratum. A dagger with a slightly beveled roller-shaped pommel, a flat plate handle, a straight crosshair in the form of two spikes, a four-sided blade with a double-sided sharpening has a genetic connection with the Karasuk samples. The entire gun set has extensive analogies both among random finds in the Askiz steppe and in closed complexes on the territory of the Minusinsk basin. The ornament of four «mushroom-shaped» figures embroidered with tendon threads is unique for the Khakasko-Minusinsk steppes. Such finds expand our understanding of Early Bulgarian art, which appears to be very traditional at the initial stages. The "freedom" in the ornamentation of the leather cover analyzed in the article is determined by the «game» moments reflecting the individual consciousness of the ancient master, being a specific indicator of value cultural and mythological orientations. In this case, it was possible to fix a completely new plot within a rather closed visual system.

Своеобразное погребение эпохи Великого переселения народов некрополя Карбан-I (Северный Алтай)

The article presents the results of the materials study from kurgan 11 of the Karban-I site, excavated in 1989 by the expedition of the Barnaul State Pedagogical Institute. This archaeological complex is located on the left bank of the Katun river, 1.7 km northwest of the Kuyus village of Chemal district of the Altai Republic. The key characteristics of the fixed structures (mound with an oval-shaped crepe-laying; a shallow grave pit, a burial chamber in the form of a stone box) and the method of inhumation (single position of the corpse on the back; orientation of the deceased with his head to the western sector of the horizon; the absence of an accompanying burial of a horse) indicate that that this object belongs to the Karban tradition of ritual practice of the population of Altai of the 2nd century BC – 5th century AD. Analysis of the discovered inventory (horn onlays for a bow, combat knife, typesetting belt, bone arrowheads, awl, pendants and braids made of non-ferrous metal, beads) and its comparison with materials from synchronous complexes in adjacent territories became the basis for determining the chronology of the burial within the Early Xianbei period (2nd – early 3nd centuries AD). It was established that the set of objects included items that were typical for both female and male “standard” rite of the Altai nomads of this period. It is concluded that the buried individual, most likely a male, was a representative of the prosperous stratum of the ordinary population. Judging by the availability of means of long-range and close combat including numerous equipment, he was part of a group of professional warriors. At the same time, the deceased during his lifetime occupied a rather high position in a small group of pastoralists who left the Karban-I necropolis.

Раскопки кургана у села Каиры в верховьях Тилигульского лимана

In 2020, in the area of the village of Kayry (~ 65—70 km to NE from Odessa), one barrow was excavated, in which 15 graves were discovered. The earliest burials were 4 burials of the Yamnaya culture. One of them (the central grave) was accompanied by several processed stones (stelae). Two graves belonged to the Catacomb culture of different variants, or cultures (Ingul, for sure, and Donetsk, perhaps). In one grave (plundered) there was a vessel of Berezhnovsko-Mayevsky Srubnaya culture. Two graves of the Early Iron Age are the latest ones. One of them belonged to the Scythian culture (6th—5th centuries BC), the other — to the era of Late Nomads (11th—12th centuries AD). The construction of a medieval grave destroyed the central burial of the Yamnaya culture. In turn, the medieval tomb was looted. Almost all burials of the Bronze Age were built by the using of stone slabs. In the burials of the Yamnaya and Catacomb cultures, these were massive slabs that covered the grave pit (or catacomb).

ВЕРТИКАЛЬНЫЕ ЗАХОРОНЕНИЯ СЕВЕРНОЙ ЕВРАЗИИ

At this point, eight burials with vertically positioned bodies in the burial chamber are known in Northern Eurasia from Central Europe to the eastern border of Western Siberia. There is one “stand up” burial at each of the following sites: near the village of Zarechnoe on the Ina River in the Ob River area, in the Tobol River area near the village of Pegan, at Ust-Aleika 5 burial ground on the Upper Ob River, and Central Europe, 80 km north of Berlin. The remains of four burials are known at Oleniy Ostrov burial ground on Lake Onega. Vertical burial grounds are characterized by some significant peculiarities. Bones of a child from Ust-Aleika 5 necropolis, female bones from Zarechnoe 1 burial ground, and, probably, from the burial near the village of Pegan were found in anatomical order. Female burial № 68 at Oleniy Ostrov burial ground can be considered vertical, too. The deceased was buried standing up there. A burial of a man in an upright position was found at a burial ground in Groß Fredenwalde. Biting marks and mixed condition of the bones reliably indicate that the upper part of the grave pit was open for some time. Accordingly, we can assume a similar rite (with the upper part of the grave opened) at burial № 68 and diagonal burials № 100, 123, and 125 at Oleniy Ostrov burial ground. Considering relatively sparse funerary equipment in vertical burials, an almost total absence of sculptural images, which, in our opinion, are more typical of shaman burials, and, probably, the practice of building half-open graves, we can assume that the deceased buried in “stand up” burials were not shamans. They were apparently revered according to the religious code in a special way due to certain mental or physical abilities or shortcomings, which is indicated by the example of a child with hydrocephalus from Ust-Aleika 5 burial ground. The vertically buried bodies were likely to serve as a kind of “guardians” at the necropolises, as evidenced by the burial at Groß Fredenwalde that was half-opened for some time, and, possibly, by the burials on Oleniy Ostrov.

ПОГРЕБЕНИЕ ПОЗДНЕСКИФСКОГО ВРЕМЕНИ ИЗ СЕВЕРНОГО АЛТАЯ

The article presents materials of one of the mounds excavated as part of the Choburak-I burial and memorial complex. This site is located on the right bank of the Katun river, to the south from the Elanda village, in the Chemal district of the Altai Republic. Mound No. 4 was explored by the archaeological expedition of Altai State University in 2015. The key characteristics of the studied object are a small stone mound; a shallow grave pit covered with several layers of slabs; burial chamber in the form of a stone box; burial of a person (men aged 25-35) according to the rite of single inhumation; the crouched position of the deceased, laid on the right side; orientation of the deceased in the western direction; lack of accompanying equipment. Judging by the results of radiocarbon analysis, as well as the existing analogies in the Altai sites, the published complex can be attributed to the northern version of the Pazyryk culture of the Scythian-Saka period, and its chronology is determined by the framework of the final stage in the history of this community.

A new carriage grave and horse burial from Belvárdgyula (Baranya county)

This study discusses the discovery and excavation of a particularly fascinating Roman Period burial representing a rare mortuary rite alongside its preliminary assessment. The burial was discovered by a local archaeology enthusiast on the outskirts of Belvárdgyula: the following excavation in autumn 2021 brought to light a grave pit containing a carriage with a horse team and the burial of a harnessed saddle horse. The carriage is noteworthy not only for its Bacchic bronze sculptural ornamentation and its structural elements but also because of the burial mode involving the partial deposition of carriage components and the yoke, enabling the reconstruction of the horse team. The horse burial provided yet another example of a Pannonian saddle horse interred with an openwork bronze harness fitting set. Both graves yielded a surprisingly high amount of organic remains (wood, leather, and textile) that have enriched our knowledge of the period’s horse harnesses and team-drawn carriages. The burials uncovered at Belvárdgyula have added new details to our overall picture of the local native population of eastern Transdanubia, particularly regarding carriage graves, a distinctive burial type that differs markedly from the funerary rites of Roman-type interments.

Weapon Described on Findings from Mounds

Burial in a grave pit or without it with an earthen or stone embankment built over it received the name «burial or barrow» in Central Asia and «Tyumyulus» in the Anatolian territory. Mounds dating back to 3 thousand BC. e., were considered sacred burial places among nomadic tribes. This article explores the emergence of burial mounds built by nomadic tribes that inhabited Central Asia, and the meaning of the word «mound». The types of weapons depicted on the artifacts found in the burials of these tribes were also studied, and a comparative analysis was carried out. As a result of the analytical work, the types of weapons and forms of weapons used by representatives of these tribes were identified. Types of weapons on artifacts from mounds provide accurate information for determining the chronology of mounds or burials under mounds, determining the range of nomadic tribes. In addition, the article provides specific information about how the warrior carried weapons. Later, during the reconstruction of the image of a nomadic warrior, it was proposed to take as a basis the images depicted on artifacts and works of art.

БАТЫСҚАЗАҚСТАНДАҒЫКЕЙІНГІ САРМАТ МӘДЕНИЕТІНЕ ТӘН ЖЕРЛЕУ ҒҰРПЫ

The article presents statistical materials on the funeral rite of the nomadic population living on the territory of modern Western Kazakhstan in the second half of the 2nd–4thcenturies AD, which are united into a singleLateSarmatian culture. In total, more than two hundred objects were taken into account in the sample. According to external features, regional features are distinguished for theLateSarmatian monuments of the Jaiyk and Mugaljar river basins. In particular, according to the location in the burial complexes of peculiar and at the same time unique “П”-shaped and “dumbbell-shaped” structures and some elements of the funeral rite. At the same time, theLateSarmatian monuments of both local regions retain their common diagnostic signs, manifested in the form of a grave pit, the orientation of the backbone to the northern sector, the deformation of the cranial vault and a stable set of funeral equipment. These objects were used as a specific burial rite, religious-ritual burial, or only for religious purposes.

A New Framework for Quantifying Prehistoric Grave Wealth

Quantifying wealth in prehistoric graves is a long-standing unresolved issue. Previous approaches have focused on only one or a few aspects of grave wealth or grave good value, e.g. scarcity, or total number of object types (TOT), thus neglecting other value aspects, or, if combining value parameters, not in a reproducible or transparent way which makes application or comparison with other cases difficult. This study presents a new framework, QuantWealth, for combining different aspects of grave good value such as manufacturing time and skill, case-specific scarcity, prestige, and raw material distance, as well as estimated meat consumption from animal bones, all equally weighted and, in this study, used to perform PCA and calculate a Gini index. This Gini index can then be combined with Gini indices from more general grave wealth measures, including TOT and grave pit depth to form a more balanced Gini index of overall grave wealth. All of these parameters are calculated in a flexible and semi-automated framework based on experimental and prehistoric crafts reference data, which can be continuously updated and fine-tuned, flexibly integrates the respective <em>chaînes opératoires</em>, and which is openly available. As a case study, QuantWealth was applied to a dataset of 81 graves with preserved skeletal remains from 46 sites of the Corded Ware Culture (CWC) in Moravia, Czech Republic. PCA analysis of the grave good measures on these data along with age and sex/gender determination shows that males tend to be overall richer in grave goods than females, that juveniles have the highest meat expenditure, and that young adults rarely have visible meat expenditure.

NEW BURIAL FROM KYTAIV BARROW CEMETERY: DISCUSSING THE OLD RUS QUASI-CHAMBERS

In 2021, on the territory of the second mound group of the Kytaiv Cemetery on the outskirts of Kyiv the authors discovered the inhumation burial in a coffin placed in a wooden funeral chamber. Burials with wooden structures made directly in the grave pit have been widespread in Northern and Eastern Europe of the Viking Age and are well known in the literature as chamber burials. Some modern researchers distinguish among the early medieval burials the category of so-called «quasi-chambers» which are similar to original chamber tombs but differ from them in certain important structural and ritual elements. In our opinion, the burial complexes, combining wooden walls and «movable» coffin, as the one under discussion, should also be included into this category. They differ from original chambers by general semantics of the rite and usually are later chronologically. In the 1910s and 1970s, similar assemblages were excavated in the first barrow group of the cemetery.&#x0D; According to the grave goods the newly discovered burial can be considered ordinary, and the mound over the burial chamber is one of the smallest in the mound group. Thus, at least in the territory of the Kyiv area the chambers with coffins at the late 10th and early 11th centuries became a mass phenomenon, losing the elitist character inherent in original chamber tombs. Compared to the latter the design of burial structures is also showing clear signs of simplification.&#x0D; The obtained results prove the expediency of classification the chambers with coffins as one of the types of Old Rus quasi-chamber burials. Further theoretical developments in this direction and new excavations should complement the reconstructed vision of religious, social and political progress of the population of Old Rus at the stage of statehood formation.

‘The Color of the Grave is Green’ – Moss and Juniper in Early Medieval Graves at Toppolanmäki, Finland

ABSTRACT Two graves, initially discovered in the 1930s, were reopened and examined in 2017 and 2018 at the Early Medieval cemetery of Toppolanmäki, Finland. Soil samples taken from the graves were sampled for macrofossils, pollen and microfauna. Pollen and spore analysis provided possible evidence for the use of mosses and juniper branches in the graves. Also, moss-indicating microfauna (Euglypha spp.) was detected. At Toppolanmäki, mosses were used in both coffins and earth burials. The clubmoss found in the latter could even indicate the presence of a woven carpet or mattress in the grave pit. The use of juniper, on the other hand, could indicate ritual continuation from the Iron Age as it is a common find in older cemeteries. It is also possible that the early medieval environment around the site was characterised by dry meadows and juniper bushes at the time of the burial, and even that one of the burials took place in early summer. The study highlights the research potential of graves that have been excavated decades ago and presents a new biological indicator of the use of moss in burials: the testate amoeba Euglypha.

БАТЫС ҚАЗАҚСТАНДАҒЫ КЕЙІНГІ САРМАТ МӘДЕНИЕТІНЕ ТӘН ЖЕРЛЕУ ҒҰРПЫ

The article presents statistical materials on the funeral rite of the nomadic population living on the territory of modern Western Kazakhstan in the second half of the 2nd –4 th centuries AD, which are united into a single Late Sarmatian culture. In total, more than two hundred objects were taken into account in the sample. According to external features, regional features are distinguished for the Late Sarmatian monuments of the Jaiyk and Mugaljar river basins. In particular, according to the location in the burial complexes of peculiar and at the same time unique “П”-shaped and “dumbbell-shaped” structures and some elements of the funeral rite. At the same time, the Late Sarmatian monuments of both local regions retain their common diagnostic signs, manifested in the form of a grave pit, the orientation of the backbone to the northern sector, the deformation of the cranial vault and a stable set of funeral equipment. These objects were used as a specific burial rite, religious-ritual burial, or only for religious purposes.

Архитектура каменных сооружений эпохи бронзы в окрестностях Бурабая

The article deals with the materials of the study of ancient religious buildings of the Bronze Age at the Kyzyltobe burial ground. The architecture of buildings, the funeral rite, and the accompanying inventory are described, the technological methods used in the extraction of materials used in construction are considered. As a result of the work carried out, four fences were excavated at the burial ground: No. 9, 13, 29, 50. The burial, located in enclosure No. 9, was made in a dirt pit with a dromos designed in the form of a tambour, which obliquely enters the eastern wall of the grave pit under the stone ring of the tomb enclosure. The ashes of a cremated person were located on a flat wooden dish, located in a stone box in fence No. 13. Inside enclosure No. 29, two burials were found, made according to the rite of inhumation: an adult — in the main enclosure, a children's — in an extension. In enclosure number 50, a monumental stone box without a burial was fixed and examined, in the center of which a granite stone lay at the bottom. The box is covered with large slabs, in the center of which there is a round opening. A petroglyph of a deer was found on one of the side walls of the box. Soil burial pits, stone cists, burials according to the rite of cremation and accompanying inventory in the form of ornamented ceramic vessels, located in fenced areas, studied at the Kyzyltobe burial ground, find analogies in the burial grounds of Borovoye, Buyrekkol and Obali. These monuments are located in the vicinity of Burabay and belong to the Fedorov archaeological culture. The new fixed elements of the burial structures are the dromos and the stone box with an opening in the ceiling. The image of a deer on the wall of the box is a remarkable fact in itself; the image of a deer is one of the motifs of animal-style art. Perhaps this is an echo of totemism. According to radiocarbon analysis of bone material from fence No. 29, the Kyzyltobe burial site dates back to the 18th–17th centuries BC.

Early Medieval burial complex of the burial mound of Maslennikovo I in the Samara Volga region

This paper is devoted to the publication of materials obtained during the study of the burial of the early Middle Ages in the burial mound Maslennikovo I. This necropolis is located in the steppe southwestern part of the Samara Trans-Volga region. The excavated mound 1 was built in the Bronze Age in the process of making eight burials of this time. Burial 2, admitted into the floor of the embankment in its southern part, dates back to the Middle Ages. The burial was made in a grave pit in the shape of an elongated oval and oriented with its long axis along the NW-SE line. The buried man lay stretched out on his back with his head to the northwest. The bone of a horses leg lay at his head. Gold foil fragments, which may have been the remains of a symbolic death mask, and earrings were also found in the area of the head. The remains of a wooden object with silver plates at the edges, probably of a quiver on the chest of a deceased burial were found. The remains of a scabbard, which also had silver plates there were in the region of the pelvis and between the thigh bones. Seven silver sewn-on plaques with embossed ornaments and several poorly preserved iron objects were found in the grave. The peculiarities of the funeral rite and accompanying implements make it possible to include this complex in the number of burials attributed by researchers as Magyar (proto-Magyar, Hungarian) and to consider it as the burial of an individual integrated into the ethnocultural environment of the Hungarians of the Middle Volga region of the 9th-10th centuries.

Новые данные по результатам исследования погребально-поминального комплекса Цаган-Хушун-II «а» на побережье оз. Байкал

Funeral and memorial complexes are the objects consisting of human burials and memorial structures or ritual masonry, under which there may be objects that have some symbolic meaning for the people who built them. One of such objects on the Baikal coast is the site of the Iron Age Tsagan Khushun-II in the Priolkhonye. Until now, it was considered an object with one type of funeral rite — the Elginsky, which existed on the territory of the Baikal region from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD. Those buried in the grave pits were laid crouched, on their sides, with their heads oriented to the southeast. However, the excavations carried out in recent years have revealed an earlier type of burial — Butukheysky. For the Butukheysky burial rite, the position of the person buried in the grave pit is elongated, on his back, with his head oriented to the southeast. Radiocarbon dates were obtained from the bones of those buried from two Butukheysky burials discovered in the southern part of the burial ground. The age of burial No. 23 corresponds to the erd — beginning of the 2nd centuries BC, the age of burial No. 31 — II — beginning of the 1st centuries BC. Thus, the Butukheysky and Elginsky burial traditions have existed together for more than two centuries. Their representatives buried their dead in the same burial grounds.

Уникальная наземная погребальная конструкция кургана №1 могильника Ак-Суу-4 (Чуйская долина, Кыргызстан)

The article is devoted to methods of revealing leveled burial mounds dated back to the Saka Epoch and results of rescue archaeological excavations of Ak-Suu-4 cemetery burial mound No. 1 located in the Moskovsky district of the Chui region of the Kyrgyz Republic. During the excavations, a unique burial ground structure of the mound was revealed in the form of eight successive stone rings laid out on the day surface around the grave pit. The revealed structure is unique and expands our understanding of the ideology and worldview of the local tribes of the Saka culture, reflected in the funeral rite. The tradition of building stone rings at a certain distance (from 2 to 10 meters) from the edge of the burial mound, along the perimeter of the mound and the grave pit is a kind of marking feature of the burials in the Saka culture of Semirechye. The concentric stone rings, the relatively equal distance between them (from 1 to 2 meters), and the location of the mound in a chain leave no doubt in defining its cultural and chronological affiliation. At the same time, the issues of the origin and continuity of this type of the ground part of the burial structure as a part of the funeral rite of the Saka Epoch in the Chui Valley remains open.

РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ РАСКОПОК КУРГАНОВ РАННЕГО ЖЕЛЕЗНОГО ВЕКА В СЕВЕРНОЙ ЧАСТИ МОГИЛЬНИКА ХАНКАРИНСКИЙ ДОЛ

The article presents the results of a study of burial mounds No. 35 and 39 at the Khankarinsky Dol burial ground, located in the Krasnoshchekovsky district ofthe Altai Territory. Mound No. 35 contained the burial of a man over 65 years old, laid in a crouched position on his right side and oriented with his head to the east. Along the northern wall of the grave pit, an accompanying burial of a horse was found: laid on top and also oriented with its head to the east. The features of the funeral rite and inventory from mound No. 35 have certain analogies in the previously studied objects of the Pazyryk culture, both in the necropolises of the Chinetinsky archaeological microdistrict of Khankarinsky Dol, and on the sites excavated in Central and South-Eastern Altai. Mound No. 35 is tentatively dated to the second half of the 4th-3rd centuries BC. Mound No. 39 turned out to be heavily plundered in antiquity and did not contain inventory, therefore, according to the signs of the funeral rite, it was tentatively attributed to the early Iron Age.