Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 53 (1) 2025   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.1.053-063

Annotation:  The Peopling of Uzbekistan by Homo sapiens denisovan Microblade Production in the Sukhotino-4 Industry, Eastern Transbaikalia Masks and Sculptured Human Heads in Early Neolithic Complexes of Northern Mesopotamia Shell of Tritia nitida Sea Snail from a Neolithic Burial at the Ust-Aleyka-5 Flat Burial Ground, Bar A Neolithic Burial in the Northern Upper Ob Basin A Study of Seima-Turbino Bronze Artifacts Discovered in China Metal Production of Andronovo Communities and Farmers of Central Asia and Iran: Stages of Developme Antimony Ornaments, Votive and Ritual Items of the Koban Culture in the Caucasus as a Historical So Burial of a Warrior in the Pazyryk Mound at Khankharinsky Dol, Altai A Tes Stage Mound-Vault at Skalnaya-5, Khakassia “Angular” and “Trestle” Forts in 17th to Early 18th Century Russia Ritual Structures in the Volga and Ural Regions, Based on Findings of the Peter Simon Pallas Expedit A Relative in Bearskin: The Bear in Lower Amur Folk Beliefs Reminiscences of Traditional Prayer Rituals in Modern Udmurt Culture Digital Forensic Analysis of Tooth Wear in Prehistoric and Modern Humans   

A Neolithic Burial in the Northern Upper Ob Basin

Z.V. Marchenko, A.E. Grishin, T.A. Chikisheva, and M.S. Kishkurno

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

The study describes new materials from Neolithic burial 33 at Krokhalevka-5 in the Kudryashovsky archaeological micro-region (Novosibirsk Region). The burial was single and had been disturbed. Details of funerary rite and descriptions of lithics are provided. The outlines of the lower part of the pit and the infill with remains of wood suggest that part of a wooden boat had been placed in the grave, possibly as a symbol of passage in space. Similar religious beliefs are evidenced by practices of the Neolithic Lower Ob people, who made tiny boats of clay. The custom of using boats or their copies in the funerary rite has survived until recently among the West Siberian natives, primarily those of the Ob basin. Results of radiocarbon analysis corrected for freshwater reservoir effect suggest that the burial dates to the mid-5th millennium BC (late 6th millennium BC without correction). Closest parallels to the lithics found there are those relating to the Zavyalovo stage of the Upper Ob culture and to certain Neolithic burials of the Barnaul-Biysk area and the Altai Mountains. Broader parallels include those from the Neolithic cultures of the Baraba forest-steppe and the Lower Ob. Craniometrically, the individual from Krokhalevka-5 burial 33 reveals eastern features. The graphic reconstruction of his appearance demonstrates that he differed from people of the Baraba forest-steppe.

Keywords: Neolithic, boat burial, Upper Ob basin, radiocarbon chronology, lithic artifacts, funerary rite, facial reconstruction