To the issue of anthropomorphization of cremated remains in the funeral rite of the population Andronovo cultural-historical community

In the Bronze Age the Andronovo cultural-historical community occupied vast expanses of steppe and forest-steppe zone of the Southern Urals, Kazakhstan and Western Siberia. The Problem of the ethnicity of Andronovo population is controversial. Many researchers refer the Andronovo population to the Indo-Iranians. This allows to draw to the interpretation of the Andronovo material written sources of peoples with Indo-European roots (ancient Iranian, Indic, Hittite, Greek, etc.). One of the striking elements of the funeral rite An-dronovo (Fedorovo) population was the ritual burning of the deceased. The rite of cremation was carried out on the side, and compact accumulations of calcified bones placed in the burial. Materials of Andronovo burials with cremated remains attract attention because they allow us to trace the emergence of different ways of anthropomorphization of cremated remains. We can distinguish three main variants: 1) cremated remains are arranged in the form of compact accumulations and accompanied by ornaments; 2) cremated remains are given anthropomorphic form; 3) cremated remains are placed in a vessel. In the first variant the anthromorphization was happening, probably, by creating a funeral "doll", or by placing the cremated remains in the clothes of the deceased, on which were sewed embellishments. Despite the presence of embellishments should not uniquely determine such burial as female. Cremation could be applied to a male warrior, for example, who died far from home, and the embellishments are the details of the funeral suit, which was more rich. In the third variant, means of anthropomorphization was placing cremated remains in the vessel. In this regard the particular interest is the M.P. Gryaznov’s assumption about the possibility of transferring ornament from clothes on the vessels. Analogies to considered way handling with cremated remains there are in Homer's "Iliada". Also these analogies are interesting that this rite was used by the ancient Greeks in relation to the warriors. Cremation destroyed human form, therefore to reconstruct destroyed by fire image Andronovskoe people used different ways anthropomorphization. In the environment of the Andronovo population cremated remains, anthropomor-phizated by different ways, probably, was regarded as the receptacle of the soul of the deceased. This is confirmed by the subsequent ritual feeding of the deceased, as evidenced by the presence vessels and ribs of animals (mostly horses) in the Western half of the burial chamber.

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