Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal. 2019. № 3 (31). P. 173—208
07.00.00 HISTORICAL SCIENCES AND ARCHEOLOGY
UDC 903.5(470.56)
Rafikova Yanina Valerievna, Candidate of Historical Sciences
Institute of History, Language and literature — Subdivision of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The article analyses a heterogeneous sample of paired heterosexual burials in the Orenburg Cis-Urals belonging to the West-Alakul (Sol-Iletsk Type) cultural group. The earliest burials (4 all in all) belong to the late phase of Petrovsky (2) and the early phase of Kulevchinsky (2) stages. The most numerous is the group of paired burials belonging to the late phase of Kulevchinsky stage (13). The burials of the developed (classical) type are very few. The main characteristic of the burials is the presence of a heterosexual couple in the “hug pose” as a rule. The early burials are characterized by the presence of Pokrovsky (Early Timber-grave) signs in orientation, ceramics and grave goods. The absence of comparable paired burials in the “local” Syntashtinsky burial grounds allows us to associate their genesis with the Pokrovsky influence. Paired burials of the early time may be interpreted as burials of “archaic leaders” with women accompanying them. Burials of subsequent time are treated as those of spouses (married couples).
Key words
Orenburg Cis-Urals, Late Bronze Age, West-Alakul cultural group, paired burials.
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Bibliography link to this article:
Rafikova Ya. V. West-Alakul (Sol-Iletsk) Paired Burials: Chronology, Genesis, Interpretation. Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal, 2019, no. 3 (31), pp. 173—208. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32516/2303-9922.2019.31.13.