OLD TURKIC STONE ENCLOSURES AT KYZYL-SHIN, SOUTHEASTERN ALTAI

This study outlines the results of excavations of fi ve Old Turkic stone enclosures (No. 1, 6, 9, 12, and 18) at a funerary and memorial complex Kyzyl-Shin, in the Kosh-Agachsky District of the Altai Republic. Due to soil conditions and to the presence of air in some offering chambers, unique artifacts were discovered––a wooden box, wooden dishes, armor plates, etc. These fi nds extend our knowledge of Old Turkic offerings and the Turkic ritualism in general. They enable us to reconstruct the stages in the construction of enclosures and of their separate elements. The presence of nonfunctional (votive) artifacts highlights a key feature of the Old Turkic funerary ritualism, supporting the idea that enclosures were ritual models of dwellings––abodes of the deceased persons’ spirits/ souls. Well-preserved larch trunks, dug into the ground in their centers, offered a possibility to cross-check the results of radiocarbon and dendrochronological analyses, suggesting that the enclosures date to late 6th and 7th century AD. Although the Kyzyl-Shin enclosures belong to the Yakonur type, they are contemporaneous with adjacent enclosures of the Kudyrge type, suggesting that the typology of archaeological structures does not always mirror their chronological and evolutionary relationship. Differences in the construction and arrangement of enclosures could be determined by other factors such as family or social structure.