Mariupol burial ground
Coordinates: 47 ° 6 ′ 31 ″ N , 37 ° 36 ′ 38 ″ E
The Mariupol burial ground is a Neolithic burial ground near the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on the north bank of the Azov Sea , a northern tributary of the Black Sea . The cemetery was discovered in 1930 during the construction of the "Azovstahl" (Russian: Азовсталь) steel works on the left bank of the river and excavated by the Russian archaeologist M. Makarenko .
The people buried in the burial mounds of Mariupol hills used amulets, figurines of bulls, various idols .
122 graves with pottery and other grave goods were recovered. There were large numbers of worked mussel shells: mostly plates and scrapers, including sickle-shaped parts. According to M. Makarenko's interpretation, they were also used as means of payment, as components of corpse clothing - possibly attached to shrouds (?), As protective amulets .
Two carved bull figures stand out among the finds. Small finds come from pearl necklaces, traditional costumes for clothing, often made from boar tusks , spindle whorls and weaving tools.
The decoration of the pottery is similar to that in cemeteries from the Dnieper region to the Don .
The anthropological examination of the skeletons places them close to the Caucasians , they had very long legs and a "massive" skeleton, the average height was around 172-174 cm. According to archaeological evidence, this site was assigned to the Lower Don culture (Russian: Нижнедонская культура) and dates back to before 5100 BC. Dated. At that time, the region on the western Sea of Azov had an arid climate . From the contacts to the neighboring Surskij culture that went Azov-Dnieper culture produced (5100-4350 BC..): (Азово-днепровская культура Russian).
In addition to the typical stretchers in the supine position, it also contained some burials from the Eneolithic in stone boxes in the stool position .
literature
- Yuri yes. Rassamakin: The North Pontic Steppe in the Copper Age. Graves from the middle of the 5th millennium to the end of the 4th millennium BC Chr. 2 volumes. von Zabern, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-8053-3486-9 ( Archeology in Eurasia 17, Volume 2 in Russian).