Pages: 69-106
The cemetery Okoshki 1 is located in South-Eastern Transbaikalia, in the valley of the Urulyunguy river. Majority of these burials belong to the middle of the 13th — the beginning of the 15th centuries. The Khirkhira town, located at the distance of 1.5 km to the south-east of the cemetery Okoshki 1, is dated by the same time. For several decades, Okoshki 1 was the cemetery for the residents of this ancient town founded by Yesünggü, a nephew of Genghis Khan. The people buried on the cemetery belong to different social groups. Their burials differ by the form of tumulus, grave chambers and sizes of grave pits. The largest funerary structures are found in the south-western part of the burial ground and are represented by ground barrows with a diameter of 11—14 m and 0.7—1.2 m high. Stone barrows with a diameter of 4.7—6.0 m and 0.3—0.4 m high are localized in south-western and central parts of the burial ground. Flat stone structures, 2—8 m in diameter, are located in the central and south-eastern parts of the necropolis. So far, Okoshki 1 yielded 14 Mongol burials of the imperial period. All examined skulls typically belong to the Central Asian anthropological type. Judging by features of the funerary ritual and anthropological data, the people of lower social status, those who worked hard, were buried in the north-eastern part of the cemetery, while the south-western part of the necropolis was reserved for the elite.
Keywords: Mongol Empire, Mongols, Transbaikalia, funerary ritual, gravestone, grave pit, human remains
Information about authors:
Artur Kharinsky. Doctor of Historical Sciences. Irkutsk National Research Technical University. Lermontov St., 83, Irkutsk, 664074, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]
Marina Rykun. Candidate of Historical Sciences. National Research Tomsk State University. Lenin Ave., 36, Tomsk, 634050, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]
Evgeny Kovychev. Candidate of Historical Sciences. Transbaikal State University. Aleksandro-Zavodskaya St., 30, Chita, 672039, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]
Nikolay Kradin. Doctor of Historical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology, Far-Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Pushkinskaya St., 89, Vladivostok, 690001, Russian Federation; Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist, and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Sakhyanova St., 6, Ulan-Ude, 670047, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]