Pages: 175-192 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp235175192 

The article deals with a rare find of unburned human remains in the Slavic dwelling 13 in the Kurilovka 2 settlement (Sudzha district, Kursk region, Russia). Тhe construction belongs to the Sakhnovka-Volyntsevo stage of the site occupation (end of the 7th — 8th c.).
Skull bones belonging to a 3—4 years old child were found in the near-bottom filling layer of the dwelling. Parts of the postcranial skeleton, like the lower jaw, are missing. The preservation of the bone tissue is good, no disturbances of the surface layer, common for remains from ground burials, were noted. Manifestations of a genetic pathology (early stenosis of the frontal bone) were revealed on the skull, indicating that the child suffered from rare deviations in physical development.
The completeness of the remains, their preservation, and the peculiarities of their occurrence in cultural strata suggest that we are dealing with the deposition of an isolated child’s skull without a lower jaw in the living space of a house. It was probably an important non-utilitarian object that could be associated with ideas about rebirth, preservation of life and other manifestations of fertility and vitality cults in the broadest sense of these terms. Such an interpretation corresponds to the modern understanding of the ritual objects of the Volyntsevo culture. As recent studies have shown, its sites contain mainly traces of rituals associated with ensuring prosperity and well-being, that is, of a vital nature.

Keywords: Early Middle Ages, Eastern Europe, early Slavs, Sakhnovka-Volyntsevo horizon, fertility cults, anthropological remains

Information about authors:

Vlasta Rodinkova (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0009-0003-1177-9507
Maria Dobrovolskaya (Moscow, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-9695-4199
Natalia Svirkina (Moscow, Russian Federation). Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-5712-5953