Characteristic Features of the Burial Rite of Eurasian Nomads in the Scythian Epoch (Burial Complexes with Harness and Horses)
Ochir-Goryaeva Maria A.
The author undertakes an analysis of burial monuments in five regions of Eurasia of the Scythian time: the North Pontic area, the Lower Volga region, the Southern Urals, the Semirechye region and the Highland Altai. She explores various types of correlation between the position of horse graves and harness in the upper part of the complexes and the «master’s» grave, additional graves and remnants of funeral feasts. Special attention is paid to the constructions around the kurgans, such as stone circles and rows of vertical stelae. As a result, she reveals two types of orientation used by the nomads of the Scythian epoch.
Keywords: archaeology, nomads, Eurasia, North Pontic region, Scythians