Kurgans of Afanasyevo Culture at the Kazanovka-13 Burial Ground in the Askizskiy District of the Republic of Khakassia

Abstract

The preliminary results of rescue excavations at the Kazanovka-13 burial mound located in the southwest part of the Khakass-Minusinsk basin (the Askizskiy district, the Republic of Khakassia) are published. The burial mound stands at the foothill part of the Askiz river valley, on the border of the steppes and the mountain taiga area of the Abakan range. The examined burial mounds are part of the Afanasievo culture burial ground. Five kurgans with the preserved elements of stone constructions and 2 burial mounds with completely destroyed above-ground structures were discovered on the inspected area. 4 kurgans with seven burials and two separate graves were excavated. The preserved stone structures display uniformity of design, represented by a stone ring enclosing an embankment over the central burial. The kurgans differ in size and in specific construction of the stone structures, as well as in number and position of the graves. Two kurgans have adjacent to the ring extensions with burials or signs of the commemoration activities. Whole human skeletons, including those of children, have been found in the graves, both intact and damaged. The deceased were buried mostly with their heads facing southwest, on their right side. In two cases, whole large ceramic vessels were preserved in the graves; several small vessels were unearthed inside the ring and in the children’s burial annexes. A stone arrowhead was found in one of the graves. The studied mounds date back to the 3rd millennium BC and represent an important part of the history of the first pastoral population in the southern part of the Minusinsk Basin and the earliest kurgans of the burial steppe on its borders.

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