Preliminary Results of the Study of Kuraily-Asar Necropolis

Abstract

The article deals with the introduction into scientific discourse new data on the burial structures of the Dzhetyasar culture of Eastern Aral Sea region. In 2023, archaeological work was carried out on the necropolis of one of the Dzhetyasar monuments – the Kuraily-asar fortified settlement. The research was carried out by the “Aral Sea detachment” of the Margulan Institute of Archeology an under the leadership of A. Ongarruly and A.A. Tazhekeyev. The four underground burial sites were uncovered, as a result of the excavations. All the mounds have an identical design and burial rite. The mounds are surrounded by a moat with an entrance on the north and south sides, in the center of which there is a burial pit. Burials: three of them were women, and one was a child, were located on the dorsal surface and the head was oriented to the north. The anthropological characteristics of the burials show that the ontological constitution of post cranium is generally characterized by a morphological variant of the addition allocated to the Dzhetyasar population. The burial inventory included ceramic vessels and spindle whorl, buckles, a mirror and an amulet, the analysis of which allowed these mounds to be attributed to the Dzhetyasar II stage and dated to the II-IV centuries AD.

Keywords

• archaeology
• kazakhstan
• eastern aral sea region
• dzhetyasar locality
• dzhetyasar culture
• kuraily-asar fortified settlement
• necropolis
• underground burials