Tagar Burial Vault with Objects of Golden Foil in Mariinsk Forest-Steppe (materials from excavations of 1969)

Work with museum collections of objects from past years excavations necessary for preparation of materials for publishing, taking specimens for tests and different kinds of precisions can sometimes lead to unexpected, sensational findings. Burial mound Serebriakovo I situated in Mariinsk forest-steppe (Tisul district, Kemerovo region) was examined in 1969 by the Kemerovo State Pedagogical Institute expedition under the direction of A.I. Martynov. 17 kurgans of the burial mound were excavated. According to the publication, in the kurgan 12, many objects made from golden foil were found. Some representations given in the work did not give an idea about these objects. We examined this collection of golden foil in the holdings of the museum "Archaeology, Ethnology and Ecology of Siberia" of Kemerovo State University. After straightening and cleaning, some of fragments unclear before, showed distinctive outlines. Among them, there were some especially remarkable ones - a fantastic animal figurine (1 fragment) and feline figurines (14 fragments). Besides that, there were other recognizable objects: a pendant to an ear ring (1 fragment); relief rims for semi-spherical plate (11 fragments); a garland of triangles (3-5 fragments). In total 121 fragments of objects, and most of them were decoration elements for other objects (from bronze, wood, clay) or burial chamber hanging. Similar objects were found in elite complexes of Scythian Times in Sayan and Altai Mountains. Besides, bronze objects covered with golden foil are kept separately in the museum: a horseman's pick, two deer plates, two torcs and a fragment of an unknown object. The burial vault of the kurgan 12 was robbed and burnt in ancient time. Among the remained objects, there are small knives and daggers, shaft-hole and eye lug horseman's picks, disc-like mirrors with one loop and one medal-like one, a torch support with three goat figurines, a cap of a spear halt, three and four component semi-spherical plates. A lot of objects of ceramic ware were found in the burial mound (about 50 (?) vessels), a fragment of a wooden vessel and birch bark tussak. About 20 people were buried in the burial vault. According to the funeral rites and most of the tools, the kurgan 12 is of Lepeshkinsk (Late Saragashensk) type of Tagar culture sites - II-I centuries BC. Presence of a medal-like mirror allow to precise the date of Kurgan 12 - I century BC. The kurgan 12 of the burial mound Serebriakovo I is the only complex with many objects of golden foil in Mariinsk forest-steppe. This is the only place where golden feline figurines and a fantastic animal figurine have been found. This allows arguing about the unique character of the complex in the North-Western (forest-steppe) part of Tagar culture oecumene and exclusive status of the people buried there.

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