Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 53 (1) 2025   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.1.099-108

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 Tes Stage Mound-Vault at Skalnaya-5, Khakassia

E.S. Bogdanov and A.P. Borodovsky

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

This article introduces the findings relating to the construction of a mound-vault Skalnaya-5 in Khakassia—the only virtually completely preserved Tes funerary structure. On the basis of these data and using the Blender 4 software, we carried out a visual reconstruction of the vault. This collective tomb was a cabin, whose walls were built of nine layers of logs and covered with a multi-layered timber ceiling. Functionally, such a construction ensured a maximal influx of air. The entrance, which had two steps at the inner end, was arranged as a special opening in the wall and was used for a considerable time. Inside the vault, there was a two-level construction with upper shelves made of three log-spacers opposite the entrance and the lower ones made of wide planks, placed along two walls. The bodies and/or their effigies with clay-plaster masks were laid on the shelves and on the log floor. The analysis revealed the secondary use of wooden details of dwellings or household buildings, which had been trimmed in situ before being joined. We were able to record construction techniques used during the Tes and earlier stages. These could be related to winter huts or utility buildings dug into the ground, or wooden structures strengthening the walls of mining shafts. The closest constructive parallels are found in the Pazyryk culture, possibly evidencing the conservatism of housebuilding in the Altai-Sayan highland during the Early Iron Age.

Keywords: Khakassia, Tes stage, mound-vault, funerary shelves, reconstruction, house-building