Design of the Kurgan Area in Burial Complexes of the Sintashta and Petrovka Cultures

Abstract

Purpose. A funeral rite is one of the most stable components of any archaeological culture. Even though it is the most conservative and stable element, ritual practices may vary depending on the culture. The causes of variation might be cognitive mechanisms and random errors which appeared while copying funerary traditions. In a society with a close cultural basis, reproduction of the same rituals may include different symbols. Their transformation will have either a cluster character or may be smooth. In the Sintashta and Petrovka cultures, the lines of evolutionary development are determined by such elements of the funeral rite as principles of organization and decoration of the kurgan space. We describe these elements in our article. Results. In conditions of population mobility whose cultural basis is close but the hierarchy is weak, reproduction of cultural stereotypes is most susceptible to variability. While studying interactions between the Sintashta and Petrovka archaeological cultures, we identify a definite link in their burial rites. They are characterized by a sustainable complex of individual items. In this article, we relate the rite features to the methods of constructing and planning of the enclosing kurgan structures, the ground and burials. A variability of the elements is due to a change in the ways of implementing actions aimed at sending the deceased to the other world. The ritual forms could have been changed intentionally, or it might have been an error while copying the mythological constructs with subsequent preservation of its meaning. The range of activities before creating a burial mound is determined by the methods of constructing and planning the surrounding structures, kurgan platforms and gravel pits. To analyze characteristics of each group considered, we used a database of 19 burial grounds - 61 kurgans representing the Sintashta culture (16 sites) and the Petrovka culture (45 sites). We consider the dimensions of mounds, types of fences (ditches, shafts, stone fences), their shape, planning of gravel pits and the design of the kurgan platform. Conclusion. The distribution of objects with different architectural elements and ways of kurgan space decorating indicate the presence of local traditions characteristic only for a certain area. Some variability is expressed by a change in the way how symbolic actions were implemented. Mounds with ditches are more common in the Tobol region, while stone fences were found only in Central Kazakhstan. Replacement of ditches on the weakly deepened fences might have been done intentionally, or it could have been a result of an error while copying the mythological construct, with subsequent preservation of its meaning.