Issue 1 (62)

CHILD BURIALS OF THE SOUTH URALS NOMADS OF THE MID-FIRST MILLENNIUM BC
Year 2019 Number 1(62)
Pages 55-62 Type scientific article
UDC 903.5(470.5)“638” BBK 63.442.7(235.55)
Authors Savelev Nikita S.
Topic ARCHAEOLOGY OF LIFESTYLE
Summary In the era of the early nomads it was only during the early Sarmatian period (the second half — the end of the 1st millennium BC) that all or most of the deceased children were buried in barrows. The previous and subsequent periods were characterized by extreme “under-representation” of child burials, which was due to the existence of alternative ways of burying the deceased children. The published complexes (Yumash-Tau-5 single mound and Ishkulovo-5 stone lining, mountain-steppe zone of the Southern Trans-Urals, Irendyk ridge) demonstrate that one of the most common options for child burials were small burial constructions, their characteristics are not different from the generally accepted standard of that period. Their features are: tendency to a single location, confinement to river terraces or low slopes within valleys, presence of at least several same-culture barrows and burial mounds, as well as settlement objects (sites). Thus, child burial constructions are situated within the “living space” of nomads. Difficulty in their finding is associated with small size and their being hardly noticeable, in case of stone-free constructions, any external signs are completely absent. It is shown that starting from the turn of the 5th and 4th centuries BC such sparse (network) location of child burials was being gradually replaced with the practice of burying children in barrows — family cemeteries. This tradition reaches its peak in the South Urals in the 3rd–2nd centuries BC.
Keywords Savromatian-Sarmatian period, nomads, child burials, South Urals
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