Mound No. 24 of the Alebastrovo I Burial Ground and the Problem of Succession Among the Early Nomadic Cultures of the Southern Urals in the 6th – 4th and 3rd – 1st Centuries BC

Abstract

Abstract. The article focuses on one of the burial mounds -Alebastrovo I, which is situated in the middle reaches of the Ural river. The analysis of the burial rite and grave goods reveals the combination of features peculiar of the culture of early nomads from the 6th to the 4th centuries BC and later features typical for the 3rd -1st centuries BC. The collective nature of the burial in a large square pit (burial no. 2) relates to early features. Such burials are typical for the 5th and 4th centuries BC. But a dagger with a direct crosshair and a crescent-shaped pommel found in the burial belongs to the 3rd -1st centuries BC. Findings of a mirror, a spoon and a whorl also deserve special attention. On formal grounds a mirror belongs to the type "Skripkin 1.6" -with a flat disk without roll and stick in the form of a triangular stem. They appeared in Sauromatian time, but were not widespread. Most of these mirrors refer to the turn of the eras -the first centuries AD. However, in our view the mirror from Alebastrovo I has the greatest similarity with the mirror disks of the so-called "musical" mirrors, which date back to the 2nd half of the 4th century BC. The bone spoon belongs to the type I, peculiar of the Sauromatian-time things of the 6th -4th centuries BC. However, the pattern is similar to that on the handle of the bone products of later time -the 3rd -2nd centuries BC. Clay whorl has a pattern in the form of 4 sectors, decorated with grooves and pits. Analogies are available on this ornament spindles from the 3rd -2nd centuries BC of the Kara-Abyz culture in the Southern Urals. According to the set of attributes, this burial mound dated to the second half of the 3rd -2nd centuries BC. The finds from this burial mound confirm the conclusion of the first explorer B. F. Zhelezchikov about continuity of the development of the early nomadic culture of this region in the 6th -3rd centuries BC.