After 567, a certain nomad group of Eastern European origin arrived to the CarpathianBasin with the Avars and occupied the territory east to the TisaRiver. This population differs from the Inner Asian Avars by their burial customs whose best analogies can be found among the contemporary nomads of the steppe region of Eastern Europe, called Sivashovka group. The main aim of this article is a special rite of the two regions: burials with whole horse skeletons. This element of the burial rite was treated as a foreign influence — Avaric or Turkic. This study proves that this element was well embedded in the structures of the funerary rite in both regions. Additionally, there are similarities, which show that both populations get acquainted with this custom at the same time. We can state that the difference between the burials with horse hides and the burials with whole skeletons is based on social, rather than ethnic grounds.

Основной целью данной работы является апробация возможностей созданной в ИА РАН геоинформационной системы «Археологические памятники России», на материалах одного из локальных «археологических районов» России -Таманского полуострова (Темрюкский район Краснодарского края). В систему уже внесены данные о всех объектах археологического наследия, известных по исследованиям 1944-1954 гг. и 2008-2014 гг. Эти памятники имеют точную географическую привязку по данным приборов системы глобального позиционирования, приведенную в отчетах, или же их местоположение, реконструировано по топографическим планам и описаниям (в спорных ситуациях проведена проверка на местности). Рассмотрено распределение памятников по типам и эпохам. Установлено, что на территории полуострова доминируют курганные могильники и поселения. Большинство памятников относится к античной эпохе, при этом на втором месте по численности объектов -средневековье. Доисторические эпохи (каменный и бронзовый века) представлены небольшим количеством памятников. На сегодняшний день геоинформационная система Института археологии РАН является наиболее полной картой археологического наследия Таманского полуострова, имеющей точные географические привязки. Проделанная работа показала перспективность научного применения геоинформационной системы «Археологические памятники России» не только на макроуровне, но и на уровне отдельного региона.

В 1937 г. совместная экспедиция ГМИИ им. А. С. Пушкина и ГИМ под руководством В. Д. Блаватского исследовала участок западного некрополя Фанагории, где были обнаружены в том числе захоронения эпохи Великого переселения народов. Данная работа посвящена публикации наиболее богатого погребения – двухкамерного склепа № 50. В статье собраны все доступные сведения об этой гробнице, представлен анализ погребального обряда, инвентаря, делаются выводы о датировке комплекса, а также о социальном статусе погребенных. In 1937 a joint expedition of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the State Historical Museum (GIM) led by V. D. Blavatskiy excavated a section in the Phanagoria west necropolis where graves of the Migration Period were discovered among other burials. This paper publishes the richest burial, i. e. two-chamber vault No. 50. The paper contains all available data about the tomb, analyzes the burial rite, funerary offerings, provides conclusions about the assemblage dating as well as the social status of the deceased.

The paper addresses the results of the study of a rich Middle Sarmatian female burial (end of the 1st century BC — first half of the 1st century AD) discovered in the Sal-Manych steppe, on the border between the Rostov Oblast and Kalmykia. The funerary rite and goods are typical for elite burials of the Middle Sarmatian culture (diagonal burial in a large rectangular pit with a recess, two cast bronze cauldrons, clothes with golden elements, imported fibulae, a gem). The authors have conducted the comparative and typological analysis of chronological indicators found among the grave goods, as well as radiocarbon dating, which allowed to narrow down the chronological interval for the burial. Study of strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes ratio from the buried woman’s dental enamel and background samples from the studied region have showed that the Sarmatian woman buried in the Peschany IV barrow group was of local origin. The interdisciplinary approach allowed to reconstruct the life story of the buried woman and her grave goods.

In Russian archaeology radiocarbon dating is used in very rare cases when antiquities from historical periods are studied based on coin finds and historical sources which have their own historical chronology. However, this arrangement does not always work, as some graves do not contain items that can be dated to a narrow time span while a great number of graves often have no funerary offerings at all. The State Historical Museum in Moscow houses archaeological materials from the Phanagoria necropolis excavated in 1936. Phanagoria is is the largest city of the Classical period and the early medieval period (540 BC–10th century). The collection from the necropolis excavations has preserved organic carbon-containing finds from grave 21 (the wood served to make a coffin – juniper, and sea algae). These materials were selected for AMS-dating. The following results were obtained: wood: 342–420 calAD, sea algae – 132–241 calAD. Of particular interest is the impression of the coin of the Roman Emperor Valens (364–378) found in this grave. The AMS-date of the coffin wood fully confirms the traditional archaeological dating of the finds whereas the coin offers an opportunity to narrow down the timeline of the grave to several decades (375–420). The older age of sea algae is caused by a marine reservoir effect which must be taken into account during the verification of the radiocarbon age of the consumers the food intake of which probably included algae.