A burial in a clay-made fence in the lower part Of the bolshoy and maly uzen rivers
Keywords:
archaeology, Western Kazakhstan, Golden Horde, clay-made fence, burial riteAbstract
This paper deals with the results of excavations of a clay-made fence conducted in 2014 by an expedition of the West Kazakhstan Regional Center of History and Archaeology under the supervision of the author. The excavations conducted in the Volga–Ural interfluve, on the northern edge of the Volga–Ural sands. The territory of the lower part of the Bolshoy and Maly Uzen rivers occupies a key position among the Golden Horde antiquities of Western Kazakhstan. Here, in the immediate vicinity of the Zhalpaktal settlement site, are such well-known burial grounds as Mokrinsky I, Mokrinsky III, Zhalpaktal, Koshkar and others are concentrated. Such high density of archaeological sites is explained by the fact that the area of the endorheic basins of the Bolshoy and Maly Uzen rivers serves as the main and often the only source of water for the vast interfluve area. Research in this region is crucial for filling in the gaps in the history of the Golden Horde, particularly in the nomadic lands located between the major sedentary centers of the Lower Volga region, southern Kazakhstan and Khwarazm. An important feature of the Raiym burial ground is that it is among the few Golden Horde necropolises in Western Kazakhstan where a rich set of grave goods has been discovered. The burial in barrow 5, dating to the first half of the XIV century (not earlier than 1322–1323), is accompanied by the following finds: a silver coin minted under Uzbek Khan in Sarai al-Mahrusa in 722 or 723 AH (1322–1323 AD), a bronze mirror, an iron knife, a ring-shaped fire lighter, hinged scissors and a double-sided comb.
References
Baibakov, K. M., Akhatov, G. A., Smagulov, T. N., Amirgalina, G. T., Seitkaliev, M. K., Tokbergenov, D. 2006. Kulturnoe nasledie Zapadno-Kazakhstanskoi oblasti: gorodishche Zhaiyk (Cultural heritage of the West Kazakhstan region: Zhaiyk settlement). Archive of the Institute of Archeology named after. A.Kh. Margulan. Dossier 2725 (in Russian).
Bisembaev, A. A. 2010. Kochevniki srednevekovia Zapadnogo Kazakhstana (The nomads of the Middle Ages of Western Kazakhstan). Aktobe: “Zhanadilov S.T.” Publ. (in Russian).
Evglevskii, A. V., Potemkina, T. M. 2000. In Evglevskii, A. V. (ed.). Stepi Evropy v epokhu srednevekov’ia (Steppes of Europe in the Middle Ages) 1. Donetsk: Donetsk National University, 181–208 (in Russian).
Zilivinskaya, E. D. 2014. Arkhitektura Zolotoi Ordy (Architecture of the Golden Horde) 1. Kul’tovoe zodchestvo (Ritual Architecture). Moscow; Kazan: “Otechestvo” Publ. (in Russian).
Maryksin, D. V. 2009. In Voprosy istorii i arkheologii Zapadnogo Kazakhstana (Issues of History and Archaeology of Western Kazakhstan) 1. 246–273 (in Russian).
Maryksin, D. V. 2011. In Vasiliev, D. V., Zeleneev, Yu. A., Sitdikov, A. G. (eds.). Dialog gorodskoi i stepnoi kul’tur na evraziiskom prostranstve (Dialog of Urban and Steppe Cultures on Eurasian Territory). Kazan; Astrakhan: Institute of History named after Shigabuddin Mardzhani of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, 200–205.
Maryksin, D. V. 2010. In Bisembaev, A. A. (ed.). Materialy II Mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii “Kadyrbaevskie chteniia – 2010” (Proceedings of 2nd International Research Conference “Kadyrbaev Readings – 2010”) Aktobe: Aktobe Regional Historical and Local Lore Museum, 151–154 (in Russian).
Maryksin, D. V. 2026. In Arkheologiia Evraziiskikh stepei (Archaeology of Eurasian Steppes) 3, 261–269 (in Russian).
Myskov, E. P. 2015. Kochevniki Volgo-Donskikh stepei v epokhu Zolotoi Ordy (Nomads of the Volga-Don Steppes in the Golden Horde Period). Volgograd: “RANKhiGS” Publ. (in Russian).
Nastich, V. N. 2004. In Mel'nikov, A. S. (ed.). Dvenadtsataya Vserossiyskaya numizmaticheskaya konferentsiya. Tezisy dokladov i soobshchenii (12th All-Russian Numismatic Conference. Abstracts and Reports). Moscow: State Historical Museum, 84–85 (in Russian).
Pachkalov, A. V. 2009. In Voprosy istorii i arkheologii Zapadnogo Kazakhstana (Issues of History and Archaeology of Western Kazakhstan) 1. 276–281 (in Russian).
Poliakova, G. F. 1996. In Fedorov-Davydov, G. A. (ed.). Gorod Bolgar. Remeslo metallurgov, kuznetsov, liteishchikov (City of Bolgar. Craft of Metallurgists, Smiths, Founders). Kazan: Institute of Language, Literature and History Institute named after G. Ibragimov, Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan, 154–268 (in Russian).
Rudenko, K. A., Oborin, Yu. V. 2014. In Soenov, V. I. (ed.). Drevnosti Sibiri i Tsentral'noi Azii (Antiquities of Siberia and Central Asia) 20 (8). Gorno-Altaisk: Gorno-Altaisk State University, 143–168 (in Russian).
Sinitsyn, I. V. 1956. In Shakhmatov, V. F. (ed.). Trudy Instituta istorii, arkheologii i etnografii AN Kazakhskoi SSR (Proceedings of the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR) 1. Alma Ata: Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, 87–139 (in Russian).
Fedorov-Davydov, G. A. 1966. Kochevniki Vostochnoi Evropy pod vlast’iu zolotoordynskikh khanov: Arkheologicheskie pamiatniki (East-European Nomads under the Golden Horde’s Khans: Archaeological Sites). Moscow: Moscow State University (in Russian).
Kharuzin, A. N. 1890. Kurgany Bukeevskoi stepi (Barrows of the Bukey steppe). Moscow: “tipografiei t-va A. Levenson i K°” Publ. (in Russian).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
