A Sayantuj-Type Grave from the Budun 2 Cemetery (West Coast of Lake Baikal) and Some Aspects of Funeral Rites from the Population of the Baikal Region in the 13th –14th Centuries

Abstract

In 1978 V.V. Svinin excavated a single burial site on the Budun 2 burial ground, in the Olkhon region of the Irkutsk oblast. An oval-shaped masonry was constructed above the grave. An oval grave pit with a depth of 40 cm was found under it. The wooden block, in which there were remains of the buried person was discovered At the bottom of the pit. The buried person was located stretched, on the back, head to the northeast. The irch cocker, iron arrow tip, knife, bronze calendar-amulet and some other things were revealed alongside dead person. Judging by them, the time of construction of the grave can be dated to the middle of the 13th – the beginning of the 14th century. At this time, the southern part of Cis-Baiklal region was a part of the Mongolian Empire. Sayantuj burial ritual was spreading among the Mongols and the peoples conquered by them. The studied burial from the Budun 2 is reffered to the burials with the characteristic canons of this ritual.

Keywords

• baikal region
• mongol empire
• funeral rite
• grave masonry
• human remains
• burial inventory
• calendar-amulet
• textiles
• burials of sayantuj type