Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 49 (3) 2021   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2021.49.3.032-040

Annotation:  First Evidence of Pleistocene Archaeology on the Neyshabur Plain and its Role in Reconstructing the Materials from Dwelling 2 on Suchu Island, the Lower Amur (1977 Season, Excavation III) Results of Radiocarbon Dating of Early Burials in the Firsovo Archaeological Area, Barnaul Stretch o A Mortuary Complex with Animal Skulls at Khankarinsky Dol, a Scythian Age Cemetery in the Northweste A Monumental Horse Burial in the Armenian Highlands Scarab Amulet-Beads from 1st–2nd Century Children’s Burials at a Necropolis on the Iluraton Plateau, Traces of the Dahaean and Sarmatian Cultural Legacy in Ancient Turan and Old Rus Shovels Used by Russians in 17th–18th Century Siberia Hunting Equipment of Russians Living near Tara on the Irtysh in the 17th and 18th Centuries Location of Tatar Settlements in the Middle and Lower Tara Region According to 18th Century Maps From the Serbian Fair to the Russian Museum: On the Ethnographic Relevance of the Gingerbread Collec Tungus-Manchu Traditional Beliefs. Part 1: Fertility Cult and Images of Divine Ancestresses Urbanization Processes in the Indigenous Population of the Altai Republic: Stages, Factors, Prospect The Ratio of Indigenous to Immigrant Populations in the Western Steppe During the Bronze Age (Based A Digital X-Ray Analysis of Middle Bronze Age Skeletal Samples from the Baraba Forest-Steppe Cranial Traumas in a Sample from the Pucara de Tilcara Fortress (Jujuy Province, Argentina)   

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

P.K. Dashkovskiy

Altai State University, Pr. Lenina 61, Barnaul, 656049, Russia

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.

Keywords: Altai, burial rite, artifacts, horse harness, Scythian-Saka period, Korgantass-type burials