«BULLETIN OF THE IRKUTSK STATE UNIVERSITY. GEOARCHAEOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY, AND ANTHROPOLOGY SERIES»
ISSN 2227-2380 (Print)

List of issues > «Geoarchaeology, Ethnology, and Anthropology Series». 2015. Vol. 14

The New Object of the Archaeological Heritage Romashka in the Northern Angara Region

Full text (russian)

Author(s)
S. P. Dudaryok, D. N. Lokhov, N. A. Leibova
Abstract

The article presents the results of studying of the new object of the archaeological heritage Romashka. In 2014 at the site there was found the burial of the early Bronze Age with the abundant grave goods. The main elements of the obsequies rite have common traits with those in the burial complexes of the Bronze Age found in the North Angara region and in the South of Middle Siberia. The article shows the preliminary results of the anthropological study of the osteological burial material. At the burial site near the head of a buried man was found and recorded a unique artifact made of the woman’s skull – the “mask”. The “mask” is a fragment of the skull with the lower jaw marked with an artificial treatment – the occipital part is cut out, and in the upper part there is a decorated oval hole. Under the “mask” were recorded the grave goods. The analysis of the obsequies rite and grave goods shows that the burial can be dated 4200–3500 BP. The archaeological excavations conducted in autumn 2015 have proved that there is the compressed living surface. It contains remnants of the material culture dated back to the Middle Ages up to the Early Neolithic.

Keywords
Northern Angara region, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Middle Ages, burial, grave goods, mask of a human skull
UDC
902(571.53)