Osteological Complexes of the Late Bronze Age Uranbash Burial Ground in the Orenburg Region

Abstract

This article presents the results of archaeozoological study of osteological complexes from the Uranbash burial ground (Uranbash-yuzhniy), located in the Oktyabrskoye district of the Orenburg region. The burial ground belongs to the circle of monuments of the Kargaly mining and metallurgical complex. The following categories of burial complexes were found in the burial ground: funeral food, burial equipment, sacrifi cial complex and separate bones. The funeral food is represented by a elements of a horse ribcage, the burial equipment included sets of small cattle astragalus and horse phalanges, the sacrifi cial complex consisted of distal elements of cattle limbs (hides?), fragments of tubular bones of cattle were found in the mounds. These complexes have a stable species and anatomical composition characteristic of the Srubnaya cultural-historical community of the Volga-Ural region.

Keywords

• archaeology
• archaeozoology
• uranbash burial ground
• kargaly metallurgical centre
• burial complex with animal bones
• astragalus sets
• sacrifi cial complexes with cattle remains
• funeral food