Anthropomorphic “Dolls” in the Funeral Rites of Kulevchi VI Burial Ground

Abstract

The paper analyzes to the concept of the presence of voluminous anthropomorphic “doll” images in the funerary rites of the Fedorovo sites of the late Bronze Age in the South Trans-Urals. The concept was originally proposed by M.P. Gryaznov about half a century ago. In 1980, during the study of Kulevchi VI late Bronze Age burial ground, convincing evidence was obtained that M.P. Gryaznov was correct. An analysis of the microplanography of the remains descovered on the floor of the burial chamber in the pit 2 of mound 3 at Kulevchi VI burial ground provided the first evidence. In this case the burial scenario implied the burial of a volumetric reproduction of the body of a deceased young woman in a crouching position, lying on the left side, which is traditional for individual burials of the Alakul culture of the South Trans-Urals. Thus, since 1980 archaeologists have had a “key” for partial solution of the “doll” problem in burials with cremations of the late Bronze Age. However, as it is sometimes, the “key” either remained unnoticed, or was not highy valued by the colleagues. According to the author of the paper, the Fedorovo burials with cremations reflect the process of integration of the Fedorovo migrant groups into the Alakul communities of the South Trans-Urals.

Keywords

• archaeology
• southern trans-urals
• late bronze age
• fedorovo burial sites
• cremation
• voluminous anthropomorphic images
• alakul-fedorovo interactions