Global Journal of Human Social Science, D: History, Archaeology and Anthroplogy, Volume 23 Issue 2

Burial Rite of Early Indo-European Bronze Age Communities in Southern Trans-Urals (Russia): A Mirror of Religion and Society Elena Kupriyanova Abstract- Bronze Age sites of the Sout hern Trans-Ura ls (Sintashta, Petrovka and Alakul’ archaeological cultures) associated with the migrations of early Indo-European communities on the territory of Central Eurasia. Since the 2000, an archaeological expedition of Chelyabinsk State University has been conducting research on Bronze Age sites near the modern village Stepnoye in the Chelyabinsk Region (Russia). The article presents the characteristics of the burial rite of the Bronze Age communities from the steppe region, based on the analysis of 146 burials and sacrificial complexes. The burial rituals of the studied sites demonstrate analogies to Indo-European mythological plots known from written sources, and testify to the complex social processes that took place during this period. The Sintashta and Petrovka series of burials shows the occurrence of elite groups of the population in society, the Alakul’ series shows a return to the simplified stratification of the buried. The most striking "plots" of the burial rite are burials "in the position of embrace" and burials with evidence of charioteering, reflecting the symbolism of the Indo-European Twin myth. Keywords: bronze age, sothern trans-urals, cemetery, burial rite, early indo-europeans, myth, social structure. I. I ntroduction he sites of Sintashta, Petrovka and Alakul’ archaeological cultures of the Bronze Age of the Southern Trans-Urals (Russia) are traditionally included in the circle of chariot cultures of early Indo- European communities. The interest of researchers for this Bronze Age period of the Southern Trans-Urals increased significantly after the discovery at the end of the XX century of a series of fortified settlements equipped with a composite defensive system, indicating that these communities had a complex social organization. The archaeologists from Russian, USA, Great Britain and Germany universities took part in the study of these sites (Hanks et al, 2014; Krause, Koryakova, 2013; Pitman et al, 2013; etc.). For more than 20 years, the archaeological expedition of the Chelyabinsk State University has been carrying out complex research of the Bronze Age sites (Sintashta, Petrovka and Alakul’ archeological cultures) in the South Trans-Urals near the modern village Stepnoye (Chelyabinsk region, Russia). Over these years, in collaboration with colleagues from the Universities of Pittsburgh (USA) and Sheffield (UK), the fortified settlement of the Sintashta culture Stepnoye, as well as Stepnoye-1 and Stepnoye VII cemeteries (two necropolis near the settlement) were partially investigated (Hanks et al, 2014; Hanks et al, 2016; Kupriyanova, 2016; Kupriyanova, Zdanovich, 2015; Pitman et al, 2013). The study of ancient burial complexes give a possibility to reconstruct the social structure, elements of funeral rites and mythological system, religious ideas of societies that did not have written and pictorial sources. The aim of the study is to generalize the characteristics of the burial rite of two cemeteries located in the limited district near the modern village Stepnoye. These archaeological sites are part of a large cultural community of the Bronze Age of the Southern Trans–Urals, consisting of genetically related cultures - Sintashta, Petrovka, Alakul. Dozens of scientific papers were devoted to the study of their burial rites (Hanks et al, 2016; Kupriyanova, 2016; Kupriyanova, Epimakhov, Berseneva, Bersenev, 2017; Kupriyanova, Zdanovich, 2015; etc.). The article presents new archaeological materials and study of the social structure, rituals and elements of Indo-European mythology, which reflected in these sites. II. M aterials and M ethods In the Stepnoye-1 cemetery, there were 7 kurgans excavated, including 52 burials and sacrificial pits of the Sintashta and Petrovka cultures (Kupriyanova, 2016), while in the Stepnoye VII cemetery 8 burial complexes including 94 burials and sacrificial pits of the Petrovka and Alakul cultures underwent diggings (Kupriyanova, Zdanovich, 2015). During the excavations, several hundred ceramic vessels and hundreds of other artifacts were obtained, including tools, weapons, woman ornaments etc. Comprehensive researches of the artefacts included various types of natural science analyses. In this article devoted to social reconstructions, generalized data of anthropological definitions of the sex and age of the buried individuals, zoological definitions of animal bone remains from sacrifices, radiocarbon dating of objects, DNA analysis data were used. The proposed conclusions represent a generalized characteristic of the burial rite of the Indo- European communities of the Bronze Age of Southern Trans-Urals, obtained during the comprehension of T Volume XXIII Issue II Version I 29 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 D © 2023 Global Journals Author: Chelyabinsk State University, Russia. e-mail: dzdan@mail.ru