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5. Sarmatian burials of the kurgan semetеry

Sarmatian burials of the kurgan semetеry

Berezin Ya.B.

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Mokhovaya st., 11, Moscow, 125009, Russia

Berezin Yakov B., ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0417-4668, yakov_berezin@mail.ru

Abstract

Introduction. The State Unitary Enterprise "NASLEDIE" conducted large-scale archaeological excavations on the territory of the Stavropol region in the late 1990s - 2010s. Only a small part of the excavated material has been published and put into scientific circulation so far. The purpose of this work is to introduce into scientific circulation and interpret information about the burials of the Early Iron age discovered in one of the burial mounds in the Georgievsky district of the Stavropol Region. Materials and methods. The discussed materials originate from burials No. 2 and 5 of mound 1 of the Nezlobnensky-6 burial mound, investigated in 2006 by the expedition of the NASLEDIE (Stavropol). The documentation stored in the archive of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as diary entries and field photography of the author were used in the publication. Results. The funeral rite of the burials and gravegoods are described in detail and analyzed in the main part of the publication. The finds were dated, their place among the archaeological cultures of the peoples who inhabited the Central Pre-Caucasus in the Early Iron Age was determined. A circle of analogies is given among synchronous archaeological sites, both in the central Pre-Caucasus and in adjacent territories. Conclusion. Burial 2 dates from the III-I centuries BC and is associated with the culture of the pre-Caucasian Sarmatians, presumably the Sirak tribal union. This type of graves was identified by archaeologists in the middle of the XX century and since then their number has been steadily increasing. Burial 5 is also dated to Sarmatian period, but earlier than burial 2. It belongs to the IV century BC and is a rather rare form of burial, a collective military grave. It is likely that all the people buried there died at the same time, as a result of a military conflict.

Keywords

archeology; Early Iron Age; North Caucasus; Sarmatians; Siraki; collective burial

DOI: 10.32521/2074-8132.2021.3.120-133

Цит.: Berezin Ya.B. Sarmatian burials of the kurgan semetеry // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2021; 3/2021; с. 120-133 (Published: September 14, 2021)