Multi-activity of ritual actions and exhumation in Tashtyk burial complexes (based on excavations of the Oglakhty burial ground in 2020)

The new materials obtained during the 2020 excavations in the emergency site of the Oglakhta burial ground are introduced into the scientific community. In its central part, a soil burial ground of the Tashtyk culture, located in a wooden blockhouse, was investigated. In the burial were found compactly positioned cremated remains of an adult at the northern wall of the log cabin, while in the southern half of the log cabin we found scattered unburnt limb bones, not in anatomical order, belonging to another adult. It has been established that the remains of two individuals were originally placed in the grave. The first was burned on the side, and his cremated remains were probably placed in a burial “doll.” The second person was buried in an inhumation ceremony. Paired burials are quite typical of the Tashtyk culture. After some time had passed, during which the soft tissues and ligaments of the individual buried according to the rite of inhumation had partially or completely decayed, his remains were carefully removed from the grave. After that the integrity of the funerary structure was restored - the log cabin was covered with a roll-up of ten logs and “wrapped” in layers of birch bark. We considered cases of exhumations in other burial grounds, and outlined the prospects for reconstruction of the complex ritual scenario of the multistage Tashtyk burials.

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