SAUROMATIAN BURIALS of PERELESKI II BURIAL GROUND in the UPPER TOBOL RIVER REGION

Abstract

This article is devoted to the Sauromatian intake burials of the Pereleski II burial ground, located in the Denisovka district of Kostanay region (Northern Kazakhstan), on the left bank of the Tobol River, 7 km south of Pereleski railway station. The site was investigated by the archaeological expedition of the Kostanay Pedagogical Institute under the leadership of V.V. Evdokimov in the 1970–1971 years. The main burials of the burial ground belong to the Bronze Age. The intake burials were discovered in barrows No. 2 and 3. The intake burial in the barrow No. 2 was uncovered under the stone heap in the grave of Bronze Age. The primary burial was severely disturbed. The skeleton of the secondary funeral was in supine, with its head towards to the east. On the left side, there was a ceramic vessel. In the barrow No. 3 in stone heap, human bones, vessel, beads and bronze mirror were found. A heavily disturbed main burial of the Bronze Age was found in grave No. 1. In grave No. 2 under the stone heap, a two-tier burial was discovered. The skeleton of the upper tier was not lying in anatomical order, on its back, with its head facing west. It is laid carelessly; there is a hole in the skull made by a sharp object. Only the bones of a ram were found nearby. Below, exactly along the axis of the pit, the skeleton of another person of poor preservation was found lying on its right side, with head towards the west. The bottom of the grave is soaked with a red substance. Two ceramic vessels, an iron knife and a quiver with bronze arrowheads were found. The secondary burials belong to the sites of the Sauromatian type. In barrow No. 2 it dates the 7^th–5^th centuries BC, in barrow No. 3 – the end of the 6^th–5^th centuries BC.