Eneolitický kostrový pohřební ritus na Moravě ve světle radiokarbonového datování / The Eneolithic inhumation burial rite in Moravia in light of radiocarbon dating

The article addresses the chronology of Eneolithic inhumation burials in Moravia based on radiocarbon dating. A total of 17 individuals were dated using 20 radiocarbon dates, primarily individuals without grave goods or individuals from problematic contexts. The study mainly covers the period of the Early Eneolithic, to a lesser extent the Middle and Late Eneolithic. The find contexts and anthropological assessments are newly published for most of the burials in question. Based on the chronological analysis of graves dated by radiocarbon dating, it is possible to approximately define the time dispersion of individual burial methods in Moravia. Flat graves with individuals in a stretched position without grave goods can be most reliably dated to about 3800–3600 BC.

«Upper Rutha» / «Kunbulta» is the largest ancient funerary monument of the koban archaeological culture in the Digor gorge of the Central Caucasus.

В статье рассматриваются археологические материалы, обряд захо- ронения, погребальные сооружения Верхнерутхинского / Кумбултского некрополя ко- банской археологической культуры, расположенного в высокогорной части Ирафско- го района РСО-А, приводятся новые данные по элементам погребальной обрядности населения, оставившего этот памятник. The article examines archaeological materials, burial rite, burial structures of the Verkhnerutkhinsky / Kumbult necropolis of the Koban archaeological culture, located in the mountainous part of the Irafsky district of the RSO - Alania, provides new data on the elements of the funeral rite of the population who left this monument.

Christian burials with vessels in Moscow State: to the status of the issue

The article considers Christian burials with vessels of the late 14th – mid-17th centuries. During this period, burial vessels became an important part of the funeral rite of Muscovy. The volume of material sufficient for statistical processing made it possible to reveal the most characteristic features of the funeral ritual with a vessel in the grave. The following signs were selected for study: areas where such burials occur, persons who were buried this way the locations in which a vessel was placed in the grave. Archaeological evidence has confirmed the emergence of this burial tradition primarily in Moscow and the surrounding area. This burial rite was more common in monasteries and elite necropolises. Vessel was not a required object. They are more often found in male burials than in female ones. The results of the study indicate that in performing the funeral ritual people tried to adhere to a certain single tradition while clear canonical rules were lacking. Thus, it was the priest conducting the ceremony who decided whom with and where to place a vessel in the grave.

Kurgan-Cemeteries of Central and Eastern Regions of North Caucasus 3rd Century BC – Early 2nd Century AD (Monuments Chegem-Manaskent Type)

The article is devoted to analysis of materials from kurgan-cemeteries of the foothill zone of Central and Eastern North Caucasus regions (from Kabardino-Balkaria to Caspian Dagestan) dating back to the 3rd century BC – early (first half) 2nd century AD. These sites were earlier referred to as the Chegem-Manaskent type. Main diagnostic features of these sites are similar traditions of the funeral rite and the ceramic complex. The formation of the Chegem-Manaskent cultural monuments includes the material culture, determined by traditions of the North Caucasian sedentary population, and the funeral rite based on customs of the nomadic population of the North Caucasian steppes of the early Sarmatian period. The original territory of Chegem-Manaskent culture of monuments formation was the area from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic to the western part of the Chechen Republic. The kurgan cemeteries of the Caspian Dagestan were the result of the migration of Chegem-Manaskent culture carriers in this direction. The cultural traditions of the population formed a specific basis of the early Alanian culture of the North Caucasus (2nd–4th AD); their genetic connection is witnessed by similar funeral rite (burial in type I catacombs) and in the ceramic complex. So, the monuments of the Chegem-Manasket type underlie the formation of the monuments of the Podkumok-Khumara type, with which they are connected by the use of a catacomb burial rite with the repeated use of chamber for new graves and a ceramic complex. In addition, the ceramic complex of monuments of the circle of the Andreiauli settlement largely goes back to the ceramic tradition of antiquities Chegem-Manasket circle, complicated by the morphological influences of the tradition of Caucasian Albania including the use of the transformed catacomb burial rite with multiple use of chamber graves and the ceramic complex.

ANTROPOLOGIA GROBÓW CIAŁOPALNYCH CMENTARZYSKA DZIEKANOWICE 22

The article presents the analyses and descriptions of two graves in the Dziekanowice grave field, site 22 (dated back to the late 10th – the late 13th centuries) located on the eastern coast of lake Lednica, approx. 90 m from the eastern bridge leading to Ostrów Lednicki. The isle hosts a hillfort regarded a seat of the then ruler, the sedes regni principales. Within the gord, in the second half of the 10th century, a complex of residential and sacral buildings was raised: a baptistery, a palas and a church. The burial rite as of the late 10th and the early 11th centuries, which appeared in what is now Poland’s territory, is typically associated with Christianity encroaching the area. The issues under discussion, which are not fully explained, include both the ways in which the dead were buried before skeletal burials were introduced and popularised, the methods used to promote the changes, acceptance thereof, the rate and the prevalence of the new mode of burying the dead. In the course of extended excavations in the Dziekanowice 22 grave field, 1,665 graves have been discovered with preserved bone material, among them two graves where cremated bodies were laid (cremation burial). The graves have been dated back to the early Middle Ages (the time of the grave field’s operation).

ON THE ERRONEOUS INTERPRETATION OF THE ORIGIN AND TIME OF THE APPEARANCE OF THE CATACOMB TYPE OF BURIAL IN THE BRONZE AGE IN CENTRAL ASIA

This article examines the origin of ancient catacomb-type graves, about its erroneous use at one time in relation to the graves of the Zamanbaba culture based on the historiography of Soviet archeology. At one time, V.A. Gorodtsov also mistakenly called the undercut graves catacomb, as evidenced by his graphic drawings. Our further studies of real catacomb graves on the territory of the Akhangaron Valley showed what a catacomb-type grave is, its internal structure and the time of its appearance in Central Asia. Unfortunately, Russian colleagues-archaeologists, without delving into the internal structure of catacomb-type graves, repeat the terminological errors of Soviet historiography, as evidenced by the candidate dissertation of Yu.G. Kutimova “The origin and ways of spreading the catacomb burial rite in Central Asia (based on the materials of the burial grounds of the Bronze Age) to which the authors' self-critical approach to determining the time of the appearance of the catacomb device of graves is devoted, also criticizes Russian colleagues in the interpretation and interpretation of archaeological sources of Central Asia in the Soviet conservatism historiography

A Mortuary Complex with Animal Skulls at Khankarinsky Dol, a Scythian Age Cemetery in the Northwestern Altai

This article presents a description of Khankarinsky Dol mound 34 on the left bank of the Inya River, 1–1.5 km southeast of Chineta, Krasnoshchekovsky District, Altai Territory. Excavations revealed a cist with a supine burial of a male, whose head was oriented to the east. Beyond the eastern wall of the cist, a horse cranium and three crania of sheep were placed. Features of the burial rite suggest that the burial belongs to the Korgantass type, which is distributed over the Altai-Sayan and Kazakhstan, with certain parallels in northern China. Principal categories of offerings are analyzed, including those associated with the horse. On their basis, the horse harness is reconstructed. On the basis of the typology of artifacts and radiocarbon analysis, the burial was dated to the 5th to 4th centuries BC (possibly late 5th to early 4th centuries BC). The Korgantass burials at Khankarinsky Dol and elsewhere in the Altai Mountains indicate a migration from the eastern part of the nomadic world, apparently from northern China or the Trans-Baikal region.

Archaeological study of the Varzuga River

The Varzuga River on the northern shore of the White Sea is an important site for the archaeology of Russian Lapland. Here the archaeological study of this region began. The work provides a historiographical overview from the first finds in the XIX century to the excavations of 2009–2013, when two objects were examined: the fortification of the beginning of the XV century and the rural cemetery of the XIV–XVIII centuries. The reconstruction of a small rural fortress was made. We managed to find the first church of the village of the end of the XIV — beginning of the XV century. Interesting information about the late medieval burial rite has been obtained. Anthropological materials speak about the Karelian basis of the medieval population of the Terek coast. According to the results of archaeological work, it is clear that in the middle of the XIV century, a large Korela settlement with a church already existed on the site of the modern village.

THE CULT OF FIRE, WATER AND PURITY, OR ELEMENTS OF ZOROASTRISM IN THE ETHNO-RELIGIOUS TRADITION OF THE OSSETIANS

Статья посвящена одному из самых спорных, а потому наиболее перспективных направлений современного осетиноведения, к которым относится проблема поиска и объяснения следов зороастризма в традиционной религии осетин. В.И. Абаев категорически отрицал даже возможность зороастрийского влияния на религиозную традицию скифов и, как следствие, алан, в силу чего поиски зороастрийских элементов в культуре осетин считал бесперспективными. Тем не менее, результаты исследований более позднего периода вполне дают основание для поиска зороастрийских параллелей в осетинской религиозной практике. Как известно, в эпоху раннего Средневековья зороастризм выступал в роли идеологического инструмента во внешней политике Сасанидов на Западном Кавказе и распространялся, как правило, среди иранских народов. Зороастризм поощрял развитие скотоводства: оно воспринималось как борьба с силами зла, что отвечало интересам аланского общества, его потребностям. Наиболее убедительно с точки зрения археологии следы зороастризма представлены в склеповом погребальном обряде. Целью настоящей статьи является анализ некоторых элементов зороастризма в религиозном культе осетин, отраженных в нарративных письменных (неархеологических) источниках начала ХХ в. Особенно четко искомые черты проявлены в осетинской обрядовой практике праздников новогоднего цикла. Они сохранились в практике возжигания новогоднего огня, а также в сходных с зороастризмом элементах ритуального очищения жилища и стойла для скота. Кроме того, в практике использования в обрядовой практике ритуальных трех пирогов с сыром угадывается древнеиранский культ жертвоприношения воде, сохранившийся и в зороастризме. One of the most controversial, and therefore the most promising areas of modern Ossetian studies is the problem of finding and explaining traces of Zoroastrianism in the traditional religion of Ossetians. V.I. Abaev categorically denied even the possibility of Zoroastrian influence on the religious tradition of the Scythians, and, as a result, of the Alans, by virtue of which, the search for Zoroastrian elements in the culture of the Ossetians was considered futile. Nevertheless, the results of studies of a later period provide a basis for searching for Zoroastrian parallels in Ossetian religious practice. It is common lnowledge, that in the early Middle Ages, Zoroastrianism acted as an ideological tool in the foreign policy of the Sassanids in the Western Caucasus and spread, as a rule, among the Iranian peoples. Zoroastrianism encouraged the development of cattle breeding: it was perceived as a struggle against the forces of evil, which met the interests of the Alanian society and its needs. From the point of view of archeology, traces of Zoroastrianism are most convincingly presented in the crypt burial rite. The purpose of this article is to analyze some of the elements of Zoroastrianism in the religious cult of the Ossetians, reflected in the narrative written (non-archeological) sources of the early twentieth century. The sought-for features are especially clearly manifested in the Ossetian ritual practice of the New Year's cycle holidays. They are manifested in the practice of lighting the New Year's fire, as well as in elements similar to Zoroastrianism in the ritual cleansing of dwellings and cattle stalls. In addition, in the practice of using ritual three pies with cheese in ritual practice, the ancient Iranian cult of sacrifice to water, which was also preserved in Zoroastrianism, can be associated with this.

Small Gumarovo Kurgans of Scythian-Sarmatian Time at South Ural: Chronology, Features of the Funeral Rites and Issues of Cultural Attribution

The article presents an analysis of the burial rite and chronology of the Gumarovo cemetery, located on the border of the steppe and mountain-steppe zones of the Southern Urals, at the southern tip of the almost completely forested low plateau Zilair (Russia, Orenburg oblast, right bank of the Sakmara River). The cemetery consists of 5 stone kurgans, explored in 1979–1980 by an expedition led by R.B. Ismagilov. A burial of Early Scythian time was revealed in one of the kurgans (the so-called “Bolshoy Gumarovskiy”, “Big Gumarovo”), and immediately became widely known among researchers. The cemetery itself belongs to a later time, also known as “Sauromatian” time. Based on the chronological indicators and simultaneous occurrence of accompanying inventory categories, it is determined that the cemetery dates back to the end of the 5th – beginning of the 4th centuries BC and existed for a very short time. The burial rite features of the Gumarovo kurgans (stone mounds, wide oval graves, sloping walls, circular chamber graves, heads of the deceased oriented to the west and the east) indicate that it belongs to a special “Mugodzharian” group of nomads from the Southern Urals steppes eastern part. The origin of this group of nomads is associated with the migration of the Northern and Central Kazakhstan nomads to the steppes of the Orsk-Ilek interfluve, i.e. to the west of the Mugodzhar ridge; with their long-lasting interaction with the local population of the Sauromatian (proved by Blumenfeld and East Aral complexes) and Early Sarmatian time; as well as assimilating part of the Early Saka appearance population, which occupied the steppes of the Southern Trans-Urals in the 7th – 6th centuries BC. It is shown that it is the “Mugodzharian” features that make the kurgans in the eastern part of the Southern Urals steppes significantly specific.