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

of the rite evokes direct analogies with the Indo- European Twin cults. The pairs of Divine Twins known in Indo-European mythological systems, such as Dioscuri, Molionidae, Ashvins, etc., are always closely associated with horses and charioteering. According to the conception of G. Dumezil, who divided the ancient Indo- European society functionally into three social classes - priests (sacred function), ruling elite (military function) and peasants (productive function), the Divine Twins represent the third function - production of material goods, and are related to fertility cults. S. Wikander has given separate consideration to the image of the Indian twins Ashvins. By correlating them with the heroes of the epic Mahabharata twins Nakula and Sahadeva, the scholar came to the conclusion about the original diametrical opposition of the Indian twins. In his opinion, one of them symbolizes the military function, the other - the production function (Wikander, 1957). D.Ward, developing this idea, analyzed other Indo-European twin pairs and came to the conclusion that these properties are characteristic not only for Indian, but for all Indo- European twins, although it is often not stated in the myths directly, but is established only by indirect evidence. One of them has a vicious character, and is associated with a sword and a battle horse; while the other has a mild character, being associated with a plow, a farmer's horse, etc. (Ward, 1970). The mythological connection of the Divine Twins with horses, chariots and the image of the Great Goddess is noted by C. Grottanelli and other researchers (Grottanelli, 1986; etc.). The study of the Bronze Age sites of the Southern Trans-Urals has shown that this mythological theme is one of the earliest in Indo-European mythology and is recorded for as early as the II millennium BC. IV. C onclusion The study of the cemeteries near the village Stepnoye in the Southern Trans-Urals has provided extensive information on the burial rites, mythological system, symbolism, and social structure of early Indo- European communities of the Bronze Age in Eurasia. From the beginning of the II millennium BC, we can observe the formation of complex societies of the Sintashta and Petrovka cultures, the emergence of elite population groups, the development of charioteering, metallurgy and cattle breeding, the reflection of classical mythological themes and symbols in the rites. Judging by the study of ancient DNA, approximately during this period the territory of the South Trans-Ural region was subjected to waves of migration of population groups to the Altai, Central Asia and India (Narasimhan et al, 2019). In the subsequent Alakul’ period, closer to the middle of the second millennium, the burial sites show simplification of the social structure and rites, with the general similarity of the material culture and preservation of many traditions. A cknowledgements The author expresses gratitude to Dr. Dmitry Zdanovich (Chelyabinsk state university) for joint field research on Stepnoye VII cemetery, Dr. Alexandr Khokhlov (Samara state social-pedagogical university), Dr. Egor Kitov (Institute of ethnology and anthropology of Russian Academy of Science), Dr. Alina Chirkova (Center of Paleo-ethnological research) for anthropological definitions, Dr. Leonid Gayduchenko (Chelyabinsk state university) for definitions of animal remains, Denis Semenov for help in translation of text. R eferences R éférences R eferencias 1. Dickinson O. (1994). The Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 2. Drenan R., Hanks B., Peterson Ch. (2011). The comparative study of chiefly communities in the Eurasian steppe region. Social evolution and history 10 (1): 149-186. 3. Epimahov A. V., Kupriyanova E. V., Hommel P., Hanks B. K. (2021). Arheologiya i kompleksnye metody issledovaniya. Ot predstavlenij o linejnoj evolyucii k mozaike kul'turnyh tradicij (bronzovyj vek Urala v svete bol'shih serij radiouglerodnyh dat). Drevnie i tradicionnye kul'tury vo vzaimodejstvii so sredoj obitaniya: problemy istoricheskoj rekonstrukcii. Chelyabinsk, Izdatel'stvo Chelyabinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta: 7- 29. 4. Gimbutas M. (1974). An archaeologist’s view of PIE in 1975. Journal of Indo-European Studies 2 (3): 289-307. 5. Grottanelli C. (1986). Yoked horses, twins, and the powerful lady: India, Greece, Ireland and elsewhere. Journal of Indo-Europeans Studies 14 (1-2): 125-152. 6. Hanks B., Doonan R, Zdanovich D., Kupriyanova E., Pitman D., Batanina N., Johnson J. (2014). Metals, Society and Economy in the Late Prehistoric Eurasian Steppe. Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective. Early metallurgy: a global reader. New York, Springer: 755-784. 7. Hanks B., Doonan R., Pitman D., Kupriyanova E., Zdanovich D. (2016). Eventful Death – Eventful Lives? Bronze Age Mortuary Practices in the Late Prehistoric Eurasian Sterres of Central Russia (2100- 1500 BC). Death Rituals, Social Order and the Archaeology of Immortality in the Ancient World . New York, Cambridge university press: 328-351. 8. Jones-Bley K. (2002). Indo-European burial, the “Rigveda”, and “Avesta”. Complex societies of Central Eurasia from the 3 rd to the 1 st Millenium BC: Regional specifics in light of global models (1). Washington, DC: 68–81. 9. Krause R., Koryakova L. (ed.) (2013). Multi- disciplinary investigations of the Bronze Age Volume XXIII Issue II Version I 32 Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 © 2023 Global Journals Burial Rite of Early Indo-European Bronze Age Communities in Southern Trans-Urals (Russia): A Mirror of Religion and Society their legs towards each other. The study of this element ( )D