EVOLUTION OF FUNERARY SITES OF THE EASTERN AFGHANISTAN HIGHLANDERS IN 20th –21st CENTURIES

Abstract

The article illustrates the changes of the burial structures of Western Dardic and Nuristani peoples living in Eastern Afghanistan over the past 100 years. The research is based on photographic materials from expeditions of the last century, as well as on materials from the incursions of S.I. Kaverin to the provinces of Kunar and Nuristan in 2023. A classification of sites has been developed, and their evolution over time has been traced. It was found that, having been Islamized relatively recently, the Dardic and Nuristani peoples retained some types of pre-Islamic funerary monuments until the second half of the 20th century. It was from its last decades that the degradation of the highlander funerary art began, which is associated with the spread of Islamic fundamentalism.

A comparative analysis of the similarity of the early Muslim sites of Eastern Afghanistan with the burial structures of Northern Pakistan, the zone of residence of the Eastern Dardic peoples is given. Although Chitral district territory separates the two areas, there may have been a continuum in the past associated with a particular type of funerary monument. It turned out that the Pashtuns shared this complex, although it disappeared before it was studied. Thus, the affiliation of the material culture of the Eastern Afghanistan highlanders is confirmed not only with that of the Eastern Dards, but also with the Eastern Hindukush Pashtuns.