Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 45 (3) 2017   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.3.096-105

Annotation:  New Stratigraphic Data on the Quaternary Sediments in the Peschanaya River Valley, Northwestern Alta A Comprehensive Study of Neolithic Stone Tools from Dwelling D on Suchu Island, the Lower Amur (1974 From Chauvet to Lascaux: 15,000 Years of Cave Art New Engravings from Abri Du Poisson (Dordogne, France) The Techniques of Modeling and Decorating Upper Paleolithic Anthropomorphic Figurines from Malta, Ea A Comparative Analysis of Paints on the Karakol Burial Slabs Petroglyphs from Northeast China: New Sites and Interpretations Paint on Deer Stones of Mongolia Old Turkic Stone Statues from Taldy-Suu, Kyrgyzstan Scythian Age Barrows with Burials on the Ground Surface in the Southern Ural Steppes: Features of th The Megaliths of Korea and Japan: An Analysis of Origins and Functions Traditional Tailoring Technology as an Ethnographic Source (the Case of Eastern Slavic Clothing in S Robusticity of Hand Phalanges: Relevance to the Origin of the Altai Neanderthals Human Teeth from Strashnaya Cave, the Altai Mountains, with Reference to the Dental Variation in Sto Prevalence of Caries Among Siberian Tatars of the Omsk Region in the 17th to Early 20th Centuries   

Scythian Age Barrows with Burials
on the Ground Surface in the Southern Ural Steppes:
Features of the Funerary Rite

V.N. Myshkin

Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education, M. Gorkogo 65/67, Samara, 443099, Russia

This article describes burials on the buried soil horizon in the Southern Urals, associated with the culture of nomadic animal breeders. The database includes published data on 37 barrows. Instead of digging graves, the nomads built above-ground wooden or adobe structures. Sometimes bodies were placed on wooden floors or platforms. Weapons found in burials include swords, daggers, arrowheads, and items of horse harness. In female burials, small stone altars, adornments, mirrors, and utensils are found. Clay vessels are common. In the late 6th and 5th centuries BC, the tradition of placing bodies on the level of the ground surface was common in the eastern part of the southern Ural steppes. By approximately 400 BC, this tradition had virtually disappeared.

Keywords: Early Iron Age, nomads, Southern Urals, old ground surface burials, funerary rite, accompanying goods.