Material Evidence of Burial and Commemorative Rituals in the Burial Mounds and the Buried Soil of the Southern Burial Mound Group of the Anikin Kamen 1 Burial Ground

The Anikin Kamen 1 burial ground is located in the Tomsk district of the Tomsk region. A. D. Gaman excavated it in 1994 and 1996. The burial ground consisted of two groups of burial mounds: a northern and a southern one. This article examines the findings from the southern group. The work aims to analyze the objects and finds in the burial mounds and the soil, including special wooden constructions for burial and memorial rituals, from the southern burial mound group of the Anikin Kamen 1 burial ground and to relate these objects and finds to other cultures of the High Middle Ages in the upper and middle Ob region. In addition to the objects found in the burial mounds (animal bones, stones, pottery, personal items), burnt wooden constructions were also found in two burial mounds. Similar objects were found in monuments of the Srostki, Basandaika, and Kyshstovka cultures in western Siberia. The finds in the burial mounds and soil indicate that the burial and memorial rituals were carried out. These rituals can be traced back to the Upper and Middle Ob regions’ Early and High Middle Ages. In the High Middle Ages, special wooden constructions were erected inside and outside the burial mounds in this area. The author of this work agrees with the opinion of M. F. Kosarev that all burial and memorial acts are connected with a pagan worldview of rebirth.

burial ground, burial, funeral and commemoration rituals, wooden cult constructions