Mound Group Research Articles

In Search of the St. Louis Mound Group: Archaeoastronomic and Landscape Archaeology Implications

The Cahokia Mound Group in Illinois, USA, is acknowledged as the largest Native American city north of Mexico. It flourished during the Mississippian Period. Cahokia, however, was only one of three complexes in the immediate area. Located across the Mississippi River from Cahokia, the St. Louis Mound Group was part of the larger complex.The St. Louis Mound Group featured at least 25 earthen mounds including the so-called Big Mound that contained dozens of human burials.In the 1800s the St. Louis Mound Group was leveled to allow for urban expansion. Few records are in existence documenting the location or other details concerning the group. As a result, an important part of prehistory seems lost.  In this paper the likely location for the St. Louis Mound Group is identified using survey plats from the 1850s, early lithographs and other data. Findings are assessed for astronomical alignments and landscape relationships, with possible cosmological implications noted.

Building the Ohio Hopewell Chronology: An Incremental Approach to Historical Reckoning

AbstractOhio Hopewell is an archaeological concept that is known worldwide but that suffers from “a disarray of radiocarbon results” (Lynott 2015:60). Here, we establish a comprehensive dataset of 425 14C dates from Ohio Hopewell sites and apply formal chronometric hygiene criteria to all dates. We then iteratively assess the temporal placement and span of the six most important Ohio Hopewell sites—the Hopewell Mound Group, Liberty, Mound City, Seip, Tremper, and Turner. A staged relaxation of hygiene criteria for our best three categories (Classes 1–3) permits alternate but generally consistent conclusions. As the first large-scale analyses of Ohio Hopewell temporality since the publication of IntCal20 (Reimer et al. 2020), the available data show a ritual complex that begins 90 or more years later than generally has been recognized circa 2010 14C BP, or as Bayesian modeled, AD 90–120. Our analysis reveals site histories of differing spans, more late dates than early dates, and with most Hopewell activity ending across these sites circa 1640 14C BP, or as Bayesian modeled, AD 395–430. An increased consideration of contingency in contemporary temporal reckoning increases the utility of the historical narratives that we as archaeologists can construct.

НЕКОТОРЫЕ РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ АРХЕОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ РАБОТ ОСЕНЬЮ 2023 Г. В КАМЕНСКОМ ПРИОБЬЕ (АЛТАЙСКИЙ КРАЙ)

This article presents the results of an archaeological study of the right bank of the Kamensky Ob region (Altai Territory) in 2023. The author puts forward the idea of the possibility of identifying archaeological microdistricts based on an analysis of the specifc location of monuments in a given region. The results of the study (inspection) of the Plotinnaya IV mound group are presented and the features of this necropolis are revealed in comparison with other mound burial grounds in the region.

Ammonite Fossil from the Hopewell Mound Group: Source and Significance

AbstractAmong the thousands of artifacts recovered in 1891–1892 from Mound 25 of the Middle Woodland Hopewell Mound Group in Ross County, Ohio, is a Cretaceous scaphitid ammonite fossil. We have identified the ammonite as Hoploscaphites brevis, a well-known and well-studied index fossil used to subdivide the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the western interior of North America into biostratigraphic zones. The North American extent of this species is limited to parts of the Northern Great Plains, with the probable source of the Hopewell Mound Group specimen being the Sage Creek area in Pennington County, South Dakota. This probable source area for the fossil is consistent with that proposed by Charles Willoughby in the late 1800s. Both ethnological information and archaeological data, including from sites contemporaneous with Mound 25, indicate that ammonite fossils were highly prized among the people of the Northern Great Plains for curing the sick and bringing success in hunting, war, and other endeavors. Conversely, both ethnological information and archaeological data from Eastern Woodland cultures indicate ammonite fossils did not have the same allure among Eastern Woodland people. This and other information suggest that the Hopewell Mound Group ammonite fossil was indirectly procured through interaction with people living in the area where it originated.

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.
 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.
 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.

Археологические предметы в фондах Национального музея Республики Калмыкия им. Н. Н. Пальмова (1961–1991 гг.)

Introduction. Archaeological collections to have resulted from excavations in the territory of Kalmykia are currently stored at different museums of Russia, namely: Saratov Oblast Museum of Local History and Lore (Saratov), State Historical Museum (Moscow), Palmov National Museum of Kalmykia (Elista), and several other public museums of the region. The National Museum of Kalmykia houses all 1961 to present finds from archaeological surveys in the territory of the republic. Goals. The article describes results of the analysis of archaeological collections at Kalmykia’s National Museum to have been compiled after excavations of 1961–1991. The work provides a complete inventory of finds from the examined period, the latter divided into groups – by field seasons. In addition, it calculates and shapes a list of sites distinguished by largest numbers of finds. Results. A total of 117 mound groups were examined during field works in 1961–1991, including 1,143 mounds and 3,570 burials. The National Museum of Kalmykia houses 4,096 items from archaeological excavations of the mentioned period. Extension of excavation volumes resulted in an increased accumulation of archaeological objects: 46 items after the field season of 1961 — to 200–400 items per each subsequent year. The paper identifies archaeological sites to have yielded most numerous finds currently stored at the Museum: 1) East Manych mound group (559 items), 2) mound groups excavated along VolgaDon Canal route (423 items), 3) mound groups of Tsagan Usn burial ground (337 items). Other remarkable sites include as follows: settlement of Dzhangar (256 items), burial grounds of Dzhangar (235 items), Kuptsyn Tolga (195 items), Evdyk (189 items), Dyuker (180 items).

Краниологические материалы, хранящиеся в фондах Калмыцкого научного центра РАН (первичный анализ)

Goals. The article attempts a general review of craniological materials contained in the Anthropological and Archaeozoological Collection of Kalmyk Scientific Center (RAS). Results. The paper describes procedures employed for scientific registry of materials, outlines a structure of the original table titled ‘Craniological Materials’. The counting system defines the term ‘anthropological item’. There are additional insights into proportions of registered skulls and bones, postcranial remains, complete and fragmented skulls of adults and children. Special attention is paid to degrees of preservation of bone tissue and its applicability for genetic investigations. Further interest to anthropological, genetic and other studies may be excited by a number of cranial specificities, such as artificial deformations, pathologies, and varying discrete features to be identified across the available collection. A description of each item (skull) contains archaeologically determined data as to the mound group and archaeological culture the burial belongs to. The conducted work is to precede the creation of a database of anthropological materials for the latter’s inclusion in state registers.

A Mississippian Hooded Bottle and the Genesis of Iowa Archaeology

Abstract A Mississippian hooded bottle from the Henry Aicher Mound Group in eastern Iowa is significant to the study of Mississippian interactions with non-Mississippian groups in the upper Mississippi Valley. The mound excavations by M. W. Davis in 1863–1864 were the first research-oriented archaeological projects in Iowa, and the mounds were among the first mapped in the state. The excavation methods, analysis, reporting, and outreach by Davis and later researchers were exemplary for their time. Although undated, comparison of the decorated hooded bottle recovered from the 1864 excavations with artifacts from other regional cultures with Mississippian Stirling phase contacts, notably the Mill Creek culture of northwest Iowa, supports a date of AD 1100–1200 for this vessel associated with a child burial.

Об археологических коллекциях Саратовского областного музея краеведения из раскопок в Калмыцкой автономной области (1929–1937 гг.)

Introduction. The archaeological collections obtained during excavations in Kalmykia are currently stored at several museums of Russia, namely: Saratov Oblast Museum of Local History and Lore (Saratov), State Historical Museum (Moscow), Palmov National Museum of Kalmykia (Elista), etc. Having been a central museum of the Lower Volga Krai that comprised Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast as well, the Saratov museum still houses findings excavated in Kalmykia during the pre-war period (1929–1937). The scope of work performed included excavations of 153 burials and explorations of 12 localities. Goals. The paper attempts an analysis of archaeological collections excavated in Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast from 1929 to 1937 and stored at Saratov Oblast Museum of Local History and Lore. Results. The work compiles a list of all findings from published field reports (List 1). A review of the Incoming Delivery Register has resulted in a List of Findings accepted by the Saratov museum (List 2). The subsequent comparative analysis of these two lists develops List 3 mentioning some identified findings never delivered to the Saratov museum. Conclusions. List 1 contains data on findings from 180 burials, while List 2 considers excavated items from 153 burials. So, findings from 27 burials never arrived in the Saratov museum, 23 of the former having contained one to three items only. The four remaining findspots are distinguished by quite a variety of tools extracted: burial 3, kurgan 28, Three Brothers-1 (Russ. Tri Brata) mound group (East Manych Catacomb Culture) — 5 items; burial 6, kurgan 28, Three Brothers-1 mound group (Early Iron Age) — 5 items; burial 1, kurgan 11, Three Brothers-1 mound group (Early Iron Age) — 10 items; burial 1, kurgan 12, Three Brothers-1 mound group (Middle Ages) — 18 items. The integrity level of the examined archaeological collections at the Saratov museum is 80 % (as compared to the number of items that had been registered).

Кости животных из позднесарматских погребений курганной группы «Кермен Толга»

Introduction. The article introduces results of studies of animal bones excavated by the archaeological expedition of Kalmyk Research Institute of History, Philology and Economics (with E. V. Tsutskin as leading scientist) from Late Sarmatian burials within the Kermen Tolga Mound Group in the Sarpa Lowlands in 1979. Goals. The paper provides detailed descriptions of the animal bone remains, identifies their species composition, enumerates and compares the samples. Results. The study shows all the investigated Late Sarmatian burials of the Kermen Tolga Mound Group contained bone remains of only one domesticated animal — sheep (Ovis aries). Conclusions. The analysis of bone materials described in the field summary report and stored at Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS reveals that seven of the ten female burials excavated were containing bones of the back right leg, while in four of the six male burials there were found bones of the back left leg. The conclusions are preliminary but there is a definite relationship between the gender of each single buried individual and the side of animal’s body used therein. This may indicate the earlier unnoticed element of Late Sarmatian funeral rites.

Current Evidence Does Not Support a Hopewell Age, Provenience, or Affiliation for the Figurine Allegedly from Hopeton Earthworks or the Hopewell Mound Group

Abstract Everhart and Biehl's research, discussed within, questions our conclusions regarding a ceramic figurine allegedly from Hopeton Earthworks. They conclude that the figurine is culturally Hopewell and that its provenience is the Hopewell Mound Group. Here, we demonstrate that there is no verified provenience for the figurine and no evidence for validly inferring a Hopewell affiliation. Instead, the preponderance of evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the figurine is non-Hopewell in origin.

Early Sarmatian Burial of Mound Group Kenysh 3 in Kazakhstan Tobol River Region

Materials of a mound of the early Sarmatian time investigated by the Turgay archaeological expedition of the A. Baitursynov Kostanay State University under the leadership of V.N. Logvin and S.S. Kaliyeva in a field season of 1995 were considered in the article for the first time. The earthen mound before the beginning of excavation had a diameter of 25 m, a height of 1.25 m. It was surrounded by a circular ditch with a diameter of 31 m. Fragments of a wooden tent structure were recorded in the embankment. A pair burial was found under the mound. The inventory is represented by iron sword and dagger, bronze sleeve and iron petiolate arrowheads, bone and iron buckles and fragments of wooden utensils. Burial refers to the end of Early Sarmatian culture (2nd century BC). The issueof the origin and spread of the tradition of wooden tent ceiling isconsideredby the authors.

Ут Сала — курганная группа-гигант Ергенинской возвышенности

Under the scope of the scheduled activities of the Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS there are complex works including archaeological excavation works of the new archaeological sites – Bashanta I and Bashanta II settlements of the Khazar Khaganate era, and also the exploration of the monuments that are often out of the focus of research. This refers to the sites that have once been excavated and left without further special investigation and publications. Alongside with the urgent need for the introduction of the sites excavated in the last century and their further additional comprehensive research using the modern methods and publications, there is no less urgent problem of the exploration of the archaeological sites that have not been excavated, explored and recorded in the state register. The recording, describing, documenting and including these sites to the list of protected objects of cultural heritage is the guarantee of their preservation. The authors of the article have been conducting systematic research in this field. The given article deals with the results of the study of the mound group Ut Sala that includes 171 mounds.

Позднесарматские погребения курганной группы Кермен Толга

The article presents the materials of the archaeological excavation work of the Kermen Tolga Mound Group in 1979. The site is located on the territory of the Sarpinskiy lowlands in the area of concentration of the monuments of Sarmatian culture. The study takes into account all the burial materials that have characteristics of the late Sarmatian culture, the specific features of which are the occurrence of north orientation of the buried and the custom of unnatural deformation of the head. Along with these specific features in the mound complex were found burials that have south orientation which undoubtedly date back to the I century AD — mid-Sarmatian period. However, in our case these burials have the common characteristics of the further — post Sarmatian culture that allows us to speak about the gradual transition of the Sarmatian culture and the influence of the outsider post Sarmatian tribes on the mid-Sarmatian traditions in this region.

Археологические памятники у пос. Ергенинский

Introduction. Due to the nomadic lifestyle of the indigenous population which they practiced up to 1930s and the absence of any noticeable anthropogenic impact on the local environment, most of the archaeological sites located on the territory of the Republic of Kalmykia are characterized by their very well preserved state. However, the area around the village Ergeninskiy (Ketchenerovskiy region, Republic of Kalmykia) is probably one of the few with such a number and variety of archaeological sites. The goal of this article is to introduce the results of the initial recording of the archaeological sites located in the valleys of the rivers Shar Elsin and Kek Buluk around the village Ergeninskiy. Materials and Methods. The mound group of the Catacomb culture to the eastern edge of the village was examined during the excavation works led by V. P. Shilov in 1981–1986 and M. A. Ochir-Goryaeva in 2006–2008. The Bronze Age settlement situated to the west of the village on the bank of the river Shar Elsin was examined in 2010–2012. The nodules of cretaceous flint were found by our archaeological team in the large Kyur Sala ravine to the north of the village Ergeninskiy. It should be noted that such nodules often indicate the probability of nearby existence of the Stone Age and Copper-Stone Age settlements. The exploration works undertaken in the area 15–18 km in length have revealed the six mound groups including 259 mounds. This article also gives the initial information about the previously unknown flat mounds discovered in the steppes. These mounds are similar to the sites of Maikop culture that date back to the Bronze Age era and are widespread in the North Caucasus region. Results. The area around the village Ergeninskiy is characterized by the density and variety of archaeological sites. Thus, the further archaeological research of this microregion has a lot of prospects.

Погребения восточно-манычской катакомбной культуры из курганной группы Малые Дербеты-II (анализ половозрастного состава)

Introduction. The article focuses on the gender-age composition of the burials of the East-Manych Catacomb culture from the two mounds of the Malye-Derbety II mound group located in the northern part of the Ergeninskiy heights (Maloderbetovskiy region of the Republic of Kalmykia). The mounds were built on the Yamna-catacomb burials of a woman (mound No. 1) and a man (mound No. 2). Around the main burial there were inlet burials of the Catacomb culture. The publication of the materials of the Malye Derbety mound group in the monograph “The Ancient Necropolises of the Ergeninskiy Heights” is supplemented by the author’s appendices with the analysis of the anthropological materials (M. A. Balabanova) and the analysis of the pathological changes (E. V. Pererva). Due to the great number of burials belonging to the same archaeological culture and located in the certain order under the same mound, the additional more detailed examination of the peculiarities of their gender-age composition and the position on the mound plan is of great interest. Results. The archaeologists found the bones of three men, seven women and eight children in the Bronze Age burials. Both mounds each had one burial of a middle-age man: the main burial in mound 2 (40-50 years old) and inlet burial in mound 1 (35–45 years old), located to the south of the center of the mound. To the group of the men burials belongs the burial of a teenager (14–16 years old) from the group of inlet burials (mound 1, burial 7). To the group of women burials belong the burials of two elderly women: from the main burial of the mound 1 (40–50 years old) and the inlet burial 6 of the mound 1 (50 years old). The latter was located in the eastern part of the mound and was next to an 18-months old child. The other women of the inlet burials were younger (from 17 up to 30 years old). One of them was in the last months of pregnancy (mound 2 burial 5). It should be noted that all the burials of the young women were located in the western part of the mound. There were eight children and half of them were buried together with women.

Studies of Shestovytsia Barrows

Shestovitsa archaeological complex consists of the hill-fort, the upper town, the lower city and of the large mound necropolis, which D. Blifeld divided into six mound groups. Burial mounds have been investigated since 1920’s. More than 160 of them have already been excavated till nowadays. In 2017, scientific workers of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine took a new detailed plan of the necropolis, where the investigated and remaining mounds were identified. In total, the remains of 20 embankments were counted in the third mound group. The third mound group of the Shestovitsa necropolis is situated in the Dibrova boundary 750 m to the west from the hill-fort Korovel, at a low elevation, which in ancient times was washed by a small stream of the old channel of the Desna River. Two mound embankments in the northern part of the third mound group were excavated by Ukrainian-Polish archaeological expedition in 2018. Burial mounds were investigated together, their total area of the excavation covered 220 m2. The remains of 12th century inlet burial, which was located in the upper part in the center of the embankment, were investigated in the first mound situated in the northern part of the excavation. The skeleton belonged to a teenager and preserved partially. No related equipment or traces of the grave pit were fixed. The burial of 10th century was not found. There was a mound ditch around the embankment. The diameter of the mound was 7.0 × 9.0 m. Fragments of 12th century ceramics were found in the western part of the embankment and partially in the upper layers of the ditch filling. The mound no. 2 was situated to the south of the previous one. Before the beginning of the investigations it was 0.39 m high. The mound had an oval shape and was extended from west to east by 7.2 × 8.2 m. Man’s burial in a grave pit with the head oriented to the west, was found in it. The skeleton laid in anatomical order with legs bent at the knees. There was an iron knife near the right thigh bone of the buried, and an iron octagonal tip of the knobstick under his right knee. The diameter of the mound was 9.5 × 10 m. Thus, in the 2018 season, two burial mounds in the third group of the Shestovitsa archaeological complex were excavated. The burial of the man of 10th century and the inlet burial of 12th century in one of 10th century mounds, where the burial was absent or not preserved, were found here.

The belt buckles of the early Sarmatian period of Turgay

The paper is devoted to belt buckles of the early Sarmatian period of the Turgay steppes. Turgay deflection is a vast territory located in the north-western part of Kazakhstan. In the north, Turgay deflection turns into the west Siberian lowland, and in the south it turns into the Turan lowland. In the west, the bend touches the Trans-Ural plateau, while in the east - the Kazakh hills. Three buckles originating from burial № 5A of mound 1 of the Karatomar burial ground and mound 1 of the Kenysh 3 mound group are analyzed. The paper deals with the cultural and chronological position of Turgay belt buckles in the context of the distribution of such products of the belt headset on the territory of Eurasia. The problem of the origin and chronology of these items is also touched upon. Buckles similar to the Karatomar one have so far been found only on the territory from Central Asia and Kazakhstan to the Lower Volga region. Kenysh buckle finds an analogy from the Volga-Don interfluves to the north of China. In General, types of buckles, similar to Turgay, existed in the II-I centuries BC. The studied buckles should be considered in the context of the general fashion for wearing a belt headset made of metal, bone and stone, associated with the military activity of the Huns.

Археозоологический материал из курганной группы Дюкер позднесарматского времени

Археозоологический материал из курганной группы Дюкер позднесарматского времени

Археозоологический материал из погребений хазарского времени курганной группы Дюкер

В статье изложены результаты исследования археозоологического материала из спасательных раскопок курганной группы Дюкер хазарского времени, которые проводились в 1982 г. под руководством Е. В. Цуцкина. Анализ этих данных и сравнение с полевым отчетом позволили отразить характер культовых представлений по эпохе поздних кочевников. Очевидно, что основными ритуальными животными являлись мелкий рогатый скот и лошади. Кроме того, в статье приведено детальное описание костных остатков животных и определение видового состава.