Intramural Burials of Children at Bronze Age Sites in the Southern Urals (Early 2nd Millennium Bc)*

Life in the fast lane: Settled pastoralism in the Central Eurasian Steppe during the Middle Bronze Age

“…An absence of, or very few, childhood deaths in an archeological context should in fact signal differential burial practices (Ucko, ), with special places or cemeteries devoted exclusively to children (e.g., Crawford, ; Finlay, ; Murail, Maureille, Peresinotto, & Geus, ). Unusual treatment for subadults associated with the Southern Ural Sintashta and Petrovka cultures was known as some were interred within settlements, typically near doorways or walls, but also wells (Vinogradov & Berseneva, ). One child was found under the floor of Structure 2 at Kamennyi Ambar (Vinogradov & Berseneva, ).…”

“…Unusual treatment for subadults associated with the Southern Ural Sintashta and Petrovka cultures was known as some were interred within settlements, typically near doorways or walls, but also wells (Vinogradov & Berseneva, ). One child was found under the floor of Structure 2 at Kamennyi Ambar (Vinogradov & Berseneva, ). Although ages were not available for all of the children in Vinogradov and Berseneva's () survey, two were estimated to be 1 year old, and another 6 months old, indicating that their deaths were not due to neonaticide.…”

“…One child was found under the floor of Structure 2 at Kamennyi Ambar (Vinogradov & Berseneva, ). Although ages were not available for all of the children in Vinogradov and Berseneva's () survey, two were estimated to be 1 year old, and another 6 months old, indicating that their deaths were not due to neonaticide. However, a prolonged infanticide or filicide cannot be ruled out in the case of a sickly or unwanted child, where the child is denied nourishment and nurturing (Ransel, ; Whitehead, Couper, Moore, Bourne, & Byard, ).…”

“…However, a prolonged infanticide or filicide cannot be ruled out in the case of a sickly or unwanted child, where the child is denied nourishment and nurturing (Ransel, ; Whitehead, Couper, Moore, Bourne, & Byard, ). Interpretations of ancestor worship, increased or restored fertility, emotional ties, and sacrifice have been proposed for subadult settlement burials in the South Urals (Vinogradov & Berseneva, ) and elsewhere (Borić & Stefanović, ). Whatever the reason, settlement burials were not the convention at KA‐5, and neonates were interred in kurgans with the socially embodied community during the Sintashta period (Berseneva, ).…”