Neolithic Burial Ground Bolshaya Umytia 100 in the North of Western Siberia: planography, chronology, stratigraphy

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of the Neolithic burial ground Bolshaya Umytia 100, located in the upper part of the Konda River – the left tributary of the Irtysh River. The burial ground is characterized by biritual mortuary practice, i.e. inhumation and cremation in rectangular-shape burials, oriented NW–SE. The deceased were buried in a stretched position with their heads to the NW, cremated bones – in the center of the pits. The remains were covered with ochre. According to stratigraphy and carbon-14 dating, it was found that the most ancient were the burials of the first grave row. The recorded grave goods include renovated stone tools (adzes, chisel, point, arrowhead, plane tool), as well as unique artefacts – resin tube beads and an item made of a human skull. In contrast, the graves on the periphery of the burial ground with a spatial structure different from that of the central ochre graves, yielded no skeletal remains and grave goods. According to the few finds of Shoushma-type ceramics inside graves and on the ancient surface, the burial ground is dated back to the Middle Neolithic of the VI millennium BC at the Konda River. In terms of the scale and structure of the cemetery, the site is comparable to the large Meso-Neolithic burial grounds of the VIII–VI millennium BC in the northeast of Europe.