The ritually disturbed burials of Yakuts (XVII–XVIII сenturies)

Abstract

Basing on the analysis of the archaeological data on medieval burials of Yakuts we raise the problems of interpretation of graves with traces of an ancient ritual penetration and violation of burial structures and of anatomical integrity of the skeletons of the buried, using ethnographic and folklore data. We give a generalized description of the main types of disturbed graves of the late Middle Ages of Yakutia: secondary burial, embalming, rendering a dangerous dead harmless, desecration, robbery, etc. We provide historical and comparative data from the ancient and medieval cultures of Central Asia, Southern Siberia and the Far East. We examine philosophical ideas about the afterlife, ritual actions of Yakuts against «dangerous» dead and sacred people.

Keywords

• Yakutia
• Yakuts
• Middle Ages
• burials
• disturbed graves
• post-inhumation rites
• ancient penetration into the grave
• interpretation
• ethnographic parallels
• folklore data