Поволжская археология (Mar 2017)
Mordovian Cemeteries of 3rd–5th Centuries and the Unity of Their Early Culture
Abstract
This article, based on the new archaeological materials, considers the problem of existence of a solid early Mordovian culture and determines the indisputable ancient Mordovian funerary sites . Details of female head set – as one of the most reliable ethnic sign – allowed attributing 14 burial grounds to this culture. Their geographical location allows us to assert that there was a solid early Mordovian community in the Oka - Sura - Tsna interfluvial zone in the 3rd–5th centuries. The author maintains that their division into two sub-ethnic groups - Erzya and Moksha - began later, not earlier than in 6th – 7th centuries, and was complete by the beginning of the II millennium AD.
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