Sarmatian burials of the kurgan semetеry
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.