Pages: 105-115

The article suggests the reconstruction of the social structure of the Pskov Long Barrows Culture as one or several cult unions. From the point of view of archaeology, cult unions were considered in detail by R. Hachmann, who noted their connection with the unified funerary rite and the prevalence of similar things within a union. Many facts indicate that burial rituals played a culturally important role for the Long Barrows Culture. The proposed pattern is in good agreement with the unity of the funerary rituals on a large territory, possible presence of a cult costume, existence of stable links within the cultural area. Existence of a cult union implies presence of an organizing force, which could be represented by priests, which is in good agreement with absence of “elite” or military assemblages in the Long Barrows Culture. The same pattern could exist in other “egalitarian” communities of the Eastern European forest zone.

Keywords: forest zone of Eastern Europe, Pskov Long Barrows Culture, cult unions, funerary rites, social organization

Information about author:

Elena Mikhailova (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Saint Petersburg State University. Universitetskaya Emb., 7/9, Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]