FUNERAL COMPLEX OF BRONZE AGE OF THE TESIK TRACT
Goryachev A.A. Potapov S.A. Chernov M.A.
25 March 2021Margulan Institute of Archaeology
Kazakhstan Archeology
2021#2021Issue 19 - 34 pp.
The article systematizes the results of the research of the funeral complex of the burial ground of the Bronze Age Tesik-1 in the Aitau mountains. The complex consists of 56 structures of different types and at different times within the Bronze Age in the form of mounds and fences of rectangular, square and rounded forms. The main types of burial chambers are represented by stone boxes and cists. Investigations of the burial complex of the Bronze Age of the Tesik tract were carried out on the basis of previously developed for the region methods of archaeological exploration and excavation. In the central part of the Tesik-1 burial ground the construction of a chain of stone fences, measuring ~ 14×5.8 m, where 6 funerary structures in the form of stone boxes were excavated, was investigated. All large grave constructions resemble “besik” in character and form that probably was connected with religious representations of the ancient population about Death as an act of rebirth in other afterlife. The dead were buried on the left side of the body with the head to the west. As a rule, ceramic dishes (one to three vessels) were placed in the headboard. Clay and bronze articles fixed among the bone remains inside the graves were parts and ornaments of the burial clothes and marked their social status. The peculiarities of the burial practices of all the burials of the complex include the placement of “spoiled” utensils into the grave. The studied complex, dated within 16th–15th centuries BC, represents the mixed Alakul-Fedorovo burial traditions of the ancient population of the Andronovo period of the Bronze Age in the Shu-Ile region. Intensive contacts with the population of Central Kazakhstan allow us to identify a range of burial complexes of the Shu-Ile interfluve that have significant differences from the ancient burial grounds of other regions of Jetysu in the Jungar (Jetysu) and Zailiyskiy (Ile) Alatau mountains. The prospect of further research is associated with the study of the whole structure of the burial complexes of the Shu-Ile interfluve and the degree of socio-economic and ethno cultural interrelations of the ancient population with the neighboring regions.
archaeological complex , archaeology , Bronze Age , burial , ceramics , clothing materials , funeral traditions , Jetysu , petroglyphs , Shu-Ile mountains , Tesik gorge
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A.Kh. Margulan Archeology Institute, Almaty, Kazakhstan
A.Kh. Margulan Archeology Institute
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