Funeral structures and archaeological complexes of the Kyzylkol 1 burial ground (based on materials from excavations in 2022)

Abstract

The publication highlights the results of research into burial structures and materials obtained during excavations at the Kyzylkol 1 burial ground in Southern Kazakhstan. During the excavation of a single mound near the burial ground, as well as mounds 6 and 7 of the main concentration of mounds of its western group, it was possible to discover and record two types of burial structures and obtain archaeological complexes that provide grounds for the reconstruction of funeral rituals, chronological and historical-cultural conclusions.

In the first case, under a stone embankment in a ground pit, the contours of which are lined with large boulders along the perimeter, a paired burial was discovered, the inventory of which is characterized by early Kangyu origin and dates back to the 2nd century. before — 1st century AD, in the second, under low embankments of small stone and crushed stone, “P” — shaped, mirror-shaped underground crypts were discovered, the walls of which were made of raw brick and pakhsa.

The presence of hemispherical vaults covering the burial space above the crypts with brickwork, the presence of a short dromos-entrance, the beginning of which was laid with large stones-boulders, as well as the location along the walls of the chamber of “L” — shaped low sufas made of pakhsa were noted.

Collective burials were practiced in the crypts, including inlet burials at different times, whose archaeological complexes in the historical, cultural and chronological aspects are related to the Kangyu state of the 3rd-5th centuries.