EARLY MEDIEVAL BURIAL GROUND GUSARA I IN NORTH OSSETIA

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32653/CH163811-829

Keywords:

Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, burial ground of Gusara I, Alan culture, 2nd half of VI – 1st half of VII century A.D.

Abstract

In 2003 the Alagir archaeological team of the Institute of History and Archaeology (IHA) at Khetagurov North Ossetian State University (now the IHA of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania) carried out excavation works at the Gusara I burial ground in the Alagirsky district of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. A destroyed and looted part of approximately 70 square meters of the burial ground was studied. In total, three underground catacombs were excavated. They contained a little, but quite extensive archaeological material (fibulae, buckles, beads, etc.). The studied catacombs are built in the T-shaped catacombs of type I. There are two varieties of burials according to the details of its constructions: 1) the entrance pits are narrow and long; the bottom of the entrance pit and the chamber are at the same level, the dromos is not expressed, the vault of the chamber is flat. The chambers are small, most likely intended for the burial of a single person. Presumably, the buried people were put with their heads to the left of the entrance; 2) the entrance pit is short; a step separated the bottom of the entrance pit from the bottom of the chamber; the dromos is expressed; the vault is designed in the form of an arch; a bed of organic origin under the buried is traced. The buried lay with their heads to the left of the entrance; an artificially deformed skull was recorded. According to the funerary rite and equipment, investigated underground catacombs belong to the early medieval stage of the Alan culture in the North Caucasus during the second half of the VI – the first half of the VII centuries A.D. The studied archaeological inventory resembles the materials of both early Alan culture and the Hun period. The aim of the article is to present the archaeological materials of Gusara I to the scientific community.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

  • Zalina Petrovna Kadzaeva, Institute of History and Archaeology
    Researcher
  • Maria Maratovna Kanukova, Institute of History and Archaeology
    Researcher

References

Smirnov KF. Sarmatian chamber (catacomb) burials of the Southern Transurals, the Volga region, and their connection to the catacombs of the North Caucasus [Sarmatskie katakombnie pogrebeniya Yuzhnogo Priuralya, Povolzhya i ikh otnoshenie k katakombam Severnogo Kavkaza]. Sovetskaya Arheologiya = Soviet Archeology. 1972(1):73-81. (In Russ).

Kovalevskaya VB. (with the participation of R.A. Bahtadze, V.A. Galibina, Z.A. Lvovoj). Computer processing of mass archaeological materials from the early medieval monuments of Eurasia [Kompyuternaya obrabotka massovogo arheologicheskogo materiala iz rannesrednevekovyh pamyatnikov Evrazii]. Moscow: DSTI PSC RAS Publ., 2000. (In Russ).

Mastykova AV. Early medieval beads of the burial ground Brut 2 [Rannesrednevekovye busy mogilnika Brut 2.] Gabuev TA., Malashev VYu. Monuments of the early Alans of the Central regions of the North Caucasus [Pamyatniki rannikh alan tsentral'nykh rayonov Severnogo Kavkaza]. Moscow: Taus, 2009:438-466. (In Russ).

Mastykova AV. Women’s costume of the central and western Ciscaucasia in the late 4th – mid-6th centuries A.D. [Zhenskij kostyum Centralnogo i Zapadnogo Predkavkazya v konce IV – seredine VI v. n. e.] Moscow: Institute of Archeology, RAS, 2009. (In Russ).

Rumyanceva OS. Beads of the grave site Brut 2 in the second half of the II – middle of the III century [Busy mogilnika Brut 2 2-j poloviny II–serediny III v.] Gabuev T.A., Malashev V.Yu. Monuments of the early Alans of the Central regions of the North Caucasus. Pamyatniki rannikh alan tsentral'nykh rayonov Severnogo Kavkaza]. Moscow: Taus, 2009:341-437. (In Russ).

Shestopalova EY. Ancient Dagom. The materials of archaeological excavations of the Dagomsky catacomb burial ground of the VI-VIII centuries [Drevnij Dagom. Po materialam arheologicheskih raskopok Dagomskogo katakombnogo mogilnika VI–VIII vv.] Vladikavkaz: Tsopanova IPC IP Publ., 2018. (In Russ).

Abramova MP. Early medieval burial ground near the village of Chmi in North Ossetia [Rannesrednevekovyj mogilnik u s. Chmi v Severnoj Osetii. Novye materialy po arheologii Severnogo Kavkaza]. Ordzhonikidze, 1986:49-71. (In Russ).

Hajnrih A. Early medieval catacomb burial grounds near the Chmi and Koban (based on the materials of the Vienna Natural History Museum) [Rannesrednevekovyye katakombnyye mogil'niki u seleniy Chmi i Koban (po materialam Venskogo Yestestvenno-Istoricheskogo muzeya)]. Alany: istoriya i kul'tura = Alans: history and culture. Vladikavkaz, 1995:184-258. (In Russ).

Gavrituhin IO. Oblomskij AM. Gaponovsky treasure and its cultural and historical Context [Gaponovskij klad i ego kulturno-istoricheskij kontekst]. Moscow, 1996. (In Russ).

Gavrituhin IO. Fibulae of the Mamisondon burial ground in the context of Caucasian findings [Fibuly mogilnika Mamisondon v kontekste kavkazskih nahodok Albegova Z.H., Vereshinsky-Babailov L.I. Early medieval burial ground of Mamisondon: results of archeological studies of 2007-2008 in the construction area of Zarmagsky Hydroelectrical powerplant [Rannesrednevekovyj mogilnik Mamisondon: rezultaty arheolog. issled. 2007-2008 gg. v zone stroitelstva vodohranilisha Zaramagskih GES]. Moscow: Taus, 2010: 410-428. (In Russ).

Ambrose AK. Fibulae of the south European part of the USSR (II century BC – IV century BC) [Fibuly yuga evropeyskoy chasti SSSR (II v. do n.e. – IV v. n.e.) Collection of archaeological studies [Svod arkheologicheskikh issledovaniy]. D1-30. Moscow, 1966. (In Russ).

Gabuev TA., Malashev VY. Monuments of the early Alans of the central regions of the North Caucasus [Pamyatniki rannikh alan tsentral'nykh rayonov Severnogo Kavkaza]. Moscow: Taus, 2009. (In Russ).

Albegova (Tsarikaeva) Z.H, Uspenskiy P.S. Fibulae of the Dargavsky early medieval Alanian catacomb burial ground (on materials of excavations of R. G. Dzattiaty, 1993-2009). [Fibuly Dargavsskogo rannesrednevekovogo katakombnogo mogil'nika alanskoy kul'tury (po materialam raskopok R.G. Dzattiaty 1993–2009 gg.) The Scythian-Alanian heritage in the Caucasus. Collection of scientific articles [Skifo-alanskoye naslediye Kavkaza. Sbornik nauchnykh trudov] Vladikavkaz: SOIGSI VSC, RAS, 2017:87-114. (In Russ).

Abramova MP. The Early Alans of the North Caucasus [Rannie alany Severnogo Kavkaza]. Moscow: Institute of Archeology, RAS, 1997. (In Russ).

Dzattiaty RG. Early medieval burial ground in the Edys village (South Ossetia) [Rannesrednevekovyj mogilnik v selenii Edys (Yuzhnaya Osetiya)]. SA. Moscow: «Nauka», 1986(5):198-209. (In Russ).

Gavrituhin IO. B-shaped buckles made with shield holder [V-obraznye pryazhki, izgotovlennye vmeste s shitovidnoj obojmoj] Permian world in the Early Medieval age [Permskij mir v rannem srednevekove]. Izhevsk, 1999(1): 160-208. (In Russ).

Malashev VYu. Periodization of belt garniture of Late Sarmatian time [Periodizatsiya remennykh garnitur pozdnesarmatskogo vremeni] The Sarmatians and their neighbors on the Don [Sarmaty i ikh sosedi na Donu]. Rostov-on-Don: Terra, 2000(1):194-232. (In Russ).

Malashev. VYu. Some aspects of contacts of bearers of Late Sarmatian culture of the South Urals steppes with the population of the wood and forest-steppe belt of the Volga region and the Ural area [Sarmaty i vneshnij mir. Materialy VIII Vserossijskoj (s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem) nauchnoj konferencii «Problemy sarmatskoj arheologii i istorii» IIYaL UNC RAN, 12-15 maya 2014 g.]. Ufimskij arheologicheskij vestnik. Ufa, IHLL UNC RAS Publ., 2014(2):130-140. (In Russ).

Kovalevskaya VB. Chronology of antiquities of the North Caucasian Alans [Khronologiya drevnostey severokavkazskikh alan] Alans: history and culture Alany: istoriya i kul'tura]. Vladikavkaz, 1995:123-182. (In Russ).

Goldina EV. Beads of burial grounds of the Nevolinsky culture (end of the IV-IX centuries) [Busy mogilnikov nevolinskoj kultury (konec IV–IH vv)]. Izhevsk: OAO «Izhevskaya respublikanskaya tipografiya» Publ., 2010. (In Russ).

Malashev VYu., Gadzhiev MS., Ilyukov LS. The Land of Maskuts in the Western Caspian region. Burial mounds of the Caspian Dagestan of the III – V centuries AD [Strana maskutov v Zapadnom Prikaspii. Kurgannye mogilniki Prikaspiyskogo Dagestana III–V vv. n.e.]. Makhachkala, Mavraev Publ., 2015. (In Russ).

Downloads

Published

2020-11-01

Issue

Section

Expedition

How to Cite

1.
Kadzaeva ZP, Kanukova MM. EARLY MEDIEVAL BURIAL GROUND GUSARA I IN NORTH OSSETIA. ИАЭК. 2020;16(3):811-829. doi:10.32653/CH163811-829