УДК 902/904(470.313)«1/4»

EDN HPLUEO

 

Original article

 

Burials And Cremation Traces of the Shokshinsky Grave Field

Golovin R. E.

 

Abstract

Introduction. In recent years, in archaeological science, along with the study of individual monuments of the Ryazan-Oka culture, special attention has been paid to clarifying the dating of certain types of jewelry and the chronology of the existence of this culture as a whole. Funeral rites, in particular cremation, play an important role. The Shokshinsky grave field, opened in 1976, demonstrated the presence of a significant layer of material culture of the Volga Finns in the V — XI centuries.

Materials and methods. The research material were the scientific reports of the excavations of the monument, as well as the archaeological material from the burials of the Shokshinsky grave field. On the base of comparative typological, statistical methods, as well as the method of synchronization and analogy, 109 burials with a recorded and well-traced cremation ritual were examined and typologized in the area of the Shokshinsky grave field.

Results and discussion. The result of that diverse and long-term study of the materials was the work “Shokshinsky Grave Field”. The publication of the two-volume study was especially important, since the materials from this landmark monument for the study of the archeology of the Volga region were almost not covered in the current scientific literature. This work, which touches on the problems of the funeral rite of cremation based on the materials of the Shokshinsky grave field, is intended to continue the study of various areas of the material and spiritual culture of the population that left such a large-scale monument of archeology. This article examines the burials of the Shokshinsky grave field from the point of view of the cremation rite, in particular, the features of burials and cremation, the typology of the funeral rite of cremation, as well as the significance of cremation for this grave field and the culture of the Ryazan-Oka Finns in general.

Conclusion. The data obtained in the course of the study allowed us to draw a typology of the Shokshinsky burials and cremation, make preliminary conclusions about the role and place of such burials. Further works devoted to various aspects of the study of the Shokshinsky grave field will help to present in more detail and holistically the population of the Lower Moksha region in the V — XI centuries.

Keywords: subsoil grave field, culture of Ryazan-Oka grave fields, Lower Moksha region, cremation, funeral rite, Middle Ages, archaeological excavations.

For citation: Golovin RE. Burials And Cremation Traces of the Shokshinsky Grave Field. Bulletin of the Research Institute of the Humanities by the Government of the Republic of Mordovia. 2023;15(4):146—160. EDN HPLUEO

 

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The article was submitted 26.05.2023, approved after reviewing 01.09.2023, accepted for publication 08.09.2023.

 

Information about the author:

Roman E. Golovin, Researcher of the Archeology Sector of Department of History of the Mordovian Republican United Museum of Local History (2 Saranskaya Str., Saransk 430005, Russia); Post­Graduate Student of Department of Archeology of the Research Institute of the Humanities by the Government of the Republic of Mordovia (3 L. Tolstogo Str., Saransk 430005, Russia), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6795-8710, roman_golovin_96@mail.ru

 

Conflict of interests: the author declares no conflict of interests.

 

The author has read and approved the final version of the manuscript.