Eneolithic Age Mounds of the Inskoy Dol Burial Ground in Altai

Abstract

The article is devoted to the preliminary results of the st udy of burial mounds № 4 –7, 9 on the burial ground of the Inskoy Dol, situated in the Krasnoshchekovskiy district of the Altai Territory (Western Altai). Investigated objects complement the information on the late Stone Age of souther n Siber ia. A nalysis of planig raphy, the burial rite and inventory provided the opportunity to distinguish two of the small groups of mounds on the Inskoy Dol burial site. The f irst group of barrows № 4–5, 9 has the characteristic features of Afanasyevo culture and pre-dated to 3rd Millennium BC. The characteristic signs of Afanasyevo culture include planographics of the particular location of the object and the tomb designs of a round shape, where along the perimeter one can find the ring plates, set vertically and the stones laid flat; ground graves where the dead were placed on the back with bent knees and feet oriented the head to the west; painting the dead with red ochre; the receptacles ovoid. The second microgroup of mounds № 6–7 refers to the so-called Kurtusk type of burials and dated to pre- mid-3rd Millennium BC. This type is characterized by the following features of the burial rite: round structure of tombs, the position of the dead in subterranean graves on the back with bent knees feet; the orientation of the dead head to the east, north-east; painting of the dead with ochre. In addition, as a rule, such burial do not contain any inventory or they contain mainly the vessels of the jar type. Further study of the monument, as well as carrying out radiocarbon analysis will allow providing new data for chronological attribution of the objects. DOI 10.14258/izvasu(2016)4-39