History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Caucasus

The article deals with the specifics of the ceramic collection of 4 separate groups of burials (№1-4) of the Northern section of the Palace-Syrt burial ground of the IV–V centuries (hereinafter – the Northern Palace-Syrt), the excavations of which were carried out in 1982-1985. the Purpose of the study is to identify the features of this ceramic complex and to compare the data with the available results of the classification of ceramics of the barrow groups of the southern section of the burial ground (hereinafter – the southern Palace-Syrt), which was studied in 2009-2016.Separate burial mounds are essentially closed collective burial complexes connected by common social factors. Analysis of materials, such as certain groups of graves, and the comparative parsing of the entire series of mound groups located in the same area of the burial ground (planigraphy burials, funeral rites, especially the inventory, etc.), allows to determine in the burial traditions of the manifestations of the social structure of the population, and to identify common and particular in the ethnic composition of a large Union of tribes. The method of step analysis of the ceramic collection of burial mounds groups used in this work: burial – group of burials – group of burials of a separate certain area of the burial ground – group of burials of 2 sites of the burial ground, tested on the materials of the southern Palace-Syrt. It allows us to record both the General trends in the formation of the ceramic complex among the socially distinguished population, and to identify the principles of creating a clothing component of the funeral rite of the population. The authors give the characteristics of the sets of ceramics of each of the groups of burials of the Northern Palace-Syrt, on the basis of which a summary classification of the entire collection of ceramics is carried out. According to the authors ' conclusion, in the barrow groups №1-4 of the Northern Palace-Syrt there was no typological monotony of ceramic vessels, both in the sets of dishes of individual burial groups.