Abstract

One of the aims of my PhD project is to reconstruct the burial ritual of a double inhumation burial (Kurgan 4), part of an Early Saka-Scythian burial complex, Eleke Sazy, located in East Kazakhstan. It has been radiocarbon dated to 793-547 BC. A teenage male and female were buried in the same burial chamber of a burial mound (kurgan). Excavated in 2018, the male inhumation was found almost entirely intact, which is a very rare case for the Iron Age dated kurgans in general, while the female was almost entirely looted. In my presentation I am going to show the whole assemblage from the kurgan, including organic and inorganic materials, as well as human remains. As my main specialisation is archaeometallurgy I am looking for opinions and advices on how to reconstruct the burial ritual and get maximum information from the assemblage, including but not limited to post-mortem body manipulations, cause of death, sources and manufacturing technologies of different materials, kurgan construction technologies, etc.