Zur sozialen und kulturellen Identität in früheisenzeitlichen Gesellschaften: Das Adelsgrab Karas'e 9 im Voruralgebiet

• Autores: Andrej Kovrigin, Svetlana Sarapova V., Ludmila Korjakova N., Dmitrij Razev, Marie-Yvane Daire, Loïc Langouet, Patrice Courtaud
• Localización: Eurasia antiqua: Zeitschrift für Archäologie Eurasiens, ISSN 0949-0434, Nº. 20, 2014 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Alexandru Vulpe), págs. 273-298
• Idioma: alemán
• Títulos paralelos:
  • On the social and cultural identity in Early Iron Age societies
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • In the summer of 2000 the Zaural’skaja Lesostepnaja Archeologiceskaja Expedizija of the Institute of History and Archaeology of the Ural Division of the Russia Academy of Sciences (RAN) in cooperation with the National Center for Scientific Research in France (universities of Rennes 1 and Bordeaux 1) carried out excavations of kurgan burials in the surrounding of Lake Karas’e in the district of Tyumen. The work was conducted within the framework of the international project ‘‘Settlements and Cemeteries of the Early Iron Age at the Crossroads of Eurasia’’. In addition to the presence of archaeological findsas such, there are also manifestations of social status and cultural identity, which can be observed through the prism of one of the burial complexes of the Sargat culture(-community): namely, in the cemetery of Karas’e 9.One kurgan (no. 11) in this cemetery was excavated. The rather flat mound was noticeably disturbed through the years-long agricultural activities; it still measured 32–35 m in diameter. A uniform enclosure ditch surrounded the burial place, in which two graves were located. The first grave (Grave 1) lay practically in the geometric centre of the kurgan and had already be encompletely looted. It still contained the skeletal remainsof two individuals (burnt fragments of a skull, a jaw and several teeth). There was a noticeable difference in theage of the skeletons (one older than 30 years and the other 9+-2 years), in the state of their preservation (the bones of the adult were burnt), and in the find contexts(some of the skeletal fragments were found und erneath the mound).The remnants of the once rich grave inventory were found at different levels within the grave fill: beads made of blue glass, fragments of iron objects, some with traces of applied silver foil and gold ornaments, impressions of textiles and leather, and numerous pieces of gold thread. Furthermore, a hollow was discovered at the base of the grave, the sides of which displayed the colour of oxidisedbronze- doubtlessly from the foot of a bronze cauldron that was stolen by the grave robbers. The remains of offerings of food were evidenced in the form of horse bones as well as cattle bones with traces of cut marks (the crushed fragment of the left foreleg, from the shoulder blade to the ulna).

    The second grave (Grave 2) was situated in the southern sector of the kurgan. There the complete skele-ton of a female with an artificially deformed skull was re-vealed. The position of the skeletal components showed that the soft tissues had already decayed before the corpse was placed in the grave. The body itself had been wrapped in something; the mortal remains were then in-terred without removing the burial shroud. The pottery in the grave is quite remarkable: among others, a Sargat ves-sel with an atypical flat base, and also handmade imitation Nomadic vessels.

    The analysis of the position of the bones in Grave 1 allows the assumption that a much earlier burial of an adult individual was already located in the place where the kurgan was later erected; the pottery of the latter might be associated with the beginning of the Iron Age. Nonetheless, the child in the central Grave 1 should be assigned to the Sargat elite. Considering the rarity of burials of children in central graves in kurgans, the exclusivity of this find is especially distinctive.

    The social status of the female in Grave 2 remains unclear. However, a great amount of the remains of food offerings were found in the grave: part of the pelvic bone of a horse and traces of food in the vessels. Other features such as ‘Nomad pottery’ and the unusually long preservation and transport of the corpse with the aim of its burial in precisely this particular cemetery point to the special status of this individual. No less important is the physical state of the bones: the absence of signs of wear indicate the person’s high-quality standard in life.

    Also interpretable here is the practice of skull de-formation: the unusual form of the skull served as a means of outer distinction from other persons and held a special position within society. Hence, there is a distinction of a certain segment of society and the manifestation of the formulation: ‘‘us’’ and ‘‘them’’. The chronological difference between the central burial and the grave 2 should be estimated as relatively small, in view of the presence of unique decoration on the vessels typical of the forest steppe. Presumably, the practice of artificial deformation of the skull among members of the Sargat culture was widespread in the 1st century BC, at the latest. It is equally as conceivable that within Sargat society there was a possible differentiation between ‘‘us’’ and ‘‘the others’’. Namely, handmade Sar-gat vessels were always deposited in the burials as a sign of ‘‘Sargat identity’’