The elite burial with forging tongs in the burial mound site «Arkhiereiskaya Zaimka» (Tomsk Ob River Region)

The article publishes archaeological data on the "elite" burial 5 in the burial mound site "Arkhiereiskaya Zaimka" (Ob Tomsk River Region, Western Siberia), which was excavated by S.K. Kuznetsov in 1896. The finds are represented by forging tongs, a full set of weapons (dagger, arrowheads, swords; armor, knives), the leather belt with different types of iron buckles and bronze plaques, bronze cult and art artifacts (a bowl and the image of a mythical animal (Simurgh) from Central Asia, a relief image of a bird with a human face in the center, beads) and ceramic vessel. Materials of this burial have been already published, but not all findings have been published and correctly attributed, and some things have been mistakenly associated with burial 5 by previous researchers. In addition, for the first time archival data on the funeral rite in this mound are published. The deceased was chopped off his head, and his head was buried in a bronze bowl. Bronze idol (image of a bird with a human face in the center) was set vertically near bronze bowl with deceased's head inside. The date of burial 5 is clarified - the end of the VII - the first half of the VIII c. The basis for dating is the bronze bowl, which was made in Khorezm School in VII-first half of VIII c. Most likely, Asian items were imported to taiga Siberia through Sogdian merchants, who controlled the trade ways at that time. There are other elite Early Middle Ages burials with blacksmith tools (tongs and hammers) in Western Siberia. All burials are dated back to the VI-IX centuries and located in Tomsk-Narym Ob River Region. Early Middle Ages burials with blacksmith tools outside this territory have not yet been found in Western Siberia. The combination of blacksmith tongs and rich grave goods in these burials (a full set of weapons, rich belts, cult and art artifacts), in my opinion, reflected the high social status (the ruling elite) of the deceased. The blacksmith's tongs and hammers played a symbolic function and were the attributes of a power in these burial rites. Perhaps, the presence of tongs and hammers in burials symbolized the connection of the ruler-warrior with the magical power, associated with the mythical figure of blacksmith in the beliefs of medieval societies in different Regions of Eurasia. However, forging tools are also found in Siberian Middle Ages burials that do not contain prestigious elite items. In this case, perhaps, blacksmith tools reflected the professional specialization of the deceased as blacksmith-craftsman.

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