Burials of Lugovskaya Culture from Murzikha II Burial Ground in the Estuary Trans-Kama Region

Abstract

The Murzikha II burial ground is a multicultural necropolis which operated for several thousand years from the Eneolithic to the Early Iron Age. This paper addresses the burials of the Late Bronze Age belonging to the Lugovskaya culture. Most of the burials were performed with the deceased in a crouched position on the left side, and only one burial was performed using a cremation rite. The space between graves contained sacrificial complexes consisting of broken vessels. The burial items are represented by flat-bottomed ceramics and metal objects, whereby all metal items were found in burials which did not contain ceramics. Some of the vessels were decorated in the tradition of the Pozdniakovo culture. The most notable find is a double-edged dagger belonging to Loboikovka-Derbeden group of metal items of the Late Bronze Age. Another unusual metal find was a cast bronze bead. The stratigraphy and radiocarbon analysis data and analogies make it possible to suggest that two chronologically different groups of burials of the Lugovskaya culture exist in the burial ground: early, organized in groups, and late - single burials. For single burials, the following radiocarbon age was determined - 1538–1400 BC.

Keywords

• archaeology
• kuybyshev reservoir
• kama river
• burial ground
• burial
• sacrificial complex
• late bronze age
• lugovskaya culture
• pozdnyakovo culture