A. N. ALEKSEEV, E. K. ZHIRKOV, A.D. STEPANOV, A. K. SHARABORIN, L. L. ALEKSEEVA
Yakut State University, Museum of Archeology and Ethnography

58 Belinsky St., Yakutsk, 677000, Russia

E-mail: mae-ysu@rambler.ru

Introduction

In 2004, during the exploration work carried out by the Zarechny Archaeological Team of the Yakut State University in Churapchinsky ulus of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the burial of a warrior or military leader with a shield and armor made of bone plates was discovered in the Kerdyugen area. The burial is confined to a large lake island formation with a size of 60 × 140 m and a height of 10 m. It is located in a lake system that stretches from north to south and belongs to the catchment area of one of the left tributaries of the upper reaches of the Tatta River (a left tributary of the Aldan River). The burial site is located about 125 km to the east of the Lena River.

Description of the burial site

On a relatively small burial site, the burial site was miraculously spared man-made destruction: a power transmission line-300 pole was dug 1.5 m south-east of the buried man's skull (Fig. 1). In parallel, literally end - to-end, the grave is located presumably in the XVIII-XIX centuries (Fig.2, 3).

The described burial was located at a depth of 35 cm from the modern day surface. Part of the inventory and bones were found already at a depth of 7-10 cm (Fig. 4). The buried person was laid on his back, with his arms stretched out along the body, his head facing south-south-east (see Fig.3, 4), parallel to the lake. The grave pit can't be traced. The layers opened under the turf bear traces of a strong fire. From the tomb structure of the XVIII-XIX centuries. only the charred carcass of two charred blocks remained.

The buried person was completely covered by a shield consisting of more than 100 bone plates, most of which are broken (see Figures 3, 5). The plates on the shield were arranged horizontally in two rows. At his feet lay a partially shielded suit of armor made of long horn plates with holes for mounting (see Figs. 3, 6).

The buried mature male is characterized by an unusually large skull (Fig. 7) with a broad lower jaw and a flattened facial profile (visually comparable to the Bugachan skull [Yakimov, 1950, Fig. 33-36]). His lower teeth are completely missing on the right side, and the alveoli are already almost completely closed. On the fibula of the right leg, there is an incorrect fusion after a fracture or injury.

The anatomical order of the backbone is disturbed on the right side below the pelvis - the bones of the hand are scattered, the bones of the leg are shifted (see Figs. 3, 5). In the area of the knee of the right leg of the buried person, there are bones of the second person collected in a pile (see Figs. 3, 8, 9). These bones, lying close to the surface and discovered during the excavation, were initially taken for a destroyed burial.

The backbone is strongly stretched in the vertebral region and lower extremities. The length to the heel bones of the left leg was 192 cm. Accompanying inventory,

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1. View of the area where the Kerdugen burial site was discovered.

Fig. 2. General view of the excavation site. In the center is an outcrop of armor and shield plates. In the near right corner are the remains of a wooden tombstone of the XVIII-XIX centuries.

Fig. 3. Kerdugen burial plan. 1-a polished slate knife; 2-a fragment of smooth-walled ceramics; 3 - a polished adze; 4-a fragment of the bone lining of a bow; 5-arrowheads; 6-a multi-facet cutter; 7 - flakes; 8-a scraper on a flake; 9-an end scraper; 10-a bone hollow; 11-a bone rod-shaped tip; 12-side scraper; 13-fragments of bone intermediaries-holders; 14 - fragments of abrasive; 15-broken bone harpoons; 16-chisel; 17-kneecap.

4. Burial profile along the I - I'line.

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5. General view of the burial.

Fig. 6. Clearing the armor. Top right - the bones of the second skeleton, the remains of a post and logs of a tomb structure of the XVIII-XIX centuries.

7. Fragment of the upper part of the skeleton with an adze.

Figure 8. General view of the backbone.

apart from his shield and armor, he wasn't rich. At the right humerus, under the shield, there was a polished adze with a petiole made of black slate (see Figs. 3, 3; 7). Its length is 10.5 cm, blade width is 3.8 cm, thickness is 2 cm. The length of the retouched, ground petiole is 5 cm, the cross-section dimensions are 2.7×1.5 cm (Figs. 10, 4). Perhaps, this is the only petiolate adze in the materials of the Ymyyakhtakh culture so far.

Above the skull, a 5.3 cm long polished slate knife with a concave, one-sided sharpened blade was found (see Fig. 3, 1: 10, 6). Its location at the head of the buried, I think, is not accidental. Other accompanying equipment was concentrated in the legs (see Figure 3). Near the tibia of the left leg were located

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9. Accumulation of bones of the second skeleton (large bones-femur and tibia-belong to the first bone).

Figure 10. Accompanying inventory. 1-shingle; 2-end scraper; 3 - multi-facet cutter; 4 - shale polished adze; 5 - chisel; 6 - shale polished knife; 7-side scraper - knife; 8-abrasive.

Fig. 11. Bone products. 1-4-post holders; 5-rod-shaped arrowhead; 6-broken harpoon; 7 - harpoon nozzle (?); 8-product of unknown purpose; 9 - fragments of bow linings.

12. Flint arrowheads.

several broken bone objects: a horn hollow consisting of three fragments at the time of discovery (see fig. 3, 10; 10, 7); a harpoon without a point (see fig. 3, 15; 11, 6); a fragment of the nozzle (harpoon?) (see Fig. 3, 15; 11, 7); awl-shaped tip with a one-sided flattened nozzle (arrowhead?) 10 cm long, 0.35 - 0.45 cm in diameter (see Figs. 3.11; 11, 5) ; fragments of intermediates-

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bodies (see fig. 3, 13; 11, 1 - 4) 11, 8), the purpose of which is unclear. Stone objects were also located here: three shale and two flint flakes (see Figs. 3, 7), a skobel on the flake (see Figs. 3, 8), an end under a triangular scraper 1.8 cm long and 1.9 cm wide (see Fig. 3, 9; 10, 2), multi-facet cutter 2.3 cm long, 1.3 cm in diameter (see figure. 3, 6; 10, 3), chisel 5 cm long, 2.1 cm wide, 1 cm thick (see fig. 3, 16: 10, 5), side scraper-knife 5.5 cm long, 2 cm wide (see figs. 3, 12; 10, 7) 3, 14), which apparently exfoliated and disintegrated under the influence of humidity, only a few fragments with two semicircular grooves with a width of 0.4 cm and a depth of 0.1 cm were preserved (see Figures 10, 8).

On the right side, near the hip and pelvis, fragments of bone plates were found, judging by the shape, size and cross-section, which do not belong to a shield or armor (see Fig. 3, 4; 11, 9). With their curved shape and semicircular cross-section, they resemble the side pads of a reinforced or composite bow. These fragments are similar to bone objects from the Late Neolithic burials of the Deering-Yuryakh burial ground, which are also interpreted as onion pads (Fedoseeva, 1992, Fig. 6, 9, 15, 16, 22; 11, 12]. On the right side of the skeleton there was also a cluster of 17 flint arrowheads of two types (most of them pointed at the feet of the buried person): nine triangular arrowheads 2.5 - 3.3 cm long and 1.1 - 1.2 cm wide, and eight elongated triangular arrowheads 4-6.2 cm long and 1-1.2 cm wide (see Figs. 12).

Not far from the skull, on the border with the burial pit of the XVIII - XIX centuries, a fragment of smooth-walled ceramics was found (see Figures 3, 2). This location of the find does not allow it to be attributed to the accompanying inventory of the ymyyakhtakh burial. It is possible that the pottery accidentally fell into the pit of a late Medieval burial site along with the dump. Several fragments of smooth thin-walled ceramics of the Early Metal age, as well as cord Belkachinskaya and Yakut ceramics were found in the excavation laid at the burial site. Roller ceramics with stamps of the transition period from bronze to iron are presented in lifting collections. No Ymyyakhtakh waffle ceramics were found.

Under the skull was a small patch of punctured ground with a few embers. No burn marks were found on the skull itself. Perhaps there was a symbolic rite of purification of the grave by fire.

Inventory typology

Flint tools find quite clear analogies in the materials of the Ymyyakhtakh Late Neolithic culture. A sub-triangular scraper with an arched convex blade (see Fig. 10, 2) belongs to type 1A according to the classification of S. A. Fedoseeva [1980, p. 178, Fig. 102, 2], elongated-triangular arrowheads (see Fig. 12, 10-17) - 1Aa, 1Da, triangular (see Fig. 12,1-9) - 1Ab, 1dB [Ibid., pp. 181-182, Fig. 102, 36, 37, 44]. Similar arrowheads were found in the Chuchur-Muran and Deering-Yuryakh burial grounds [Ibid., fig. 51, 52; Fedoseeva, 1992, Fig. 4, 1 - 7, 10; 7; 8, 1 - 6]. A multi-facet cutter (see Fig. 10, 3) with a nucleoid, partially retouched handle corresponds to Type 2 (Fedoseeva, 1980, p. 184, Fig. 102, 87). Chisels belong to type 1A retouched, petiolate and are also one of the characteristic tools of the Ymyyakhtakh culture (see Figs. 10, 5).

An interesting find is a fully polished shale knife with a concave blade (see Figs. 10, 6). Its shape is similar to polished knives from the Isakov and Serov burials of the Baikal region (Okladnikov, 1950, p. 194, Fig. 26, 1; 40, 7].

A few bone products are represented mainly by broken objects and fragments. So, the harpoon was without a point. The length of the fragment is 14.2 cm, the width of the nozzle is 1 cm. Two beards with a height (from the base) of 0.7 cm have been preserved, and the remains of a third one can be seen at the broken end (see Figures 11, 6). Harpoons are isolated finds on the monuments of the Ymyyakhtakh culture (Alekseev, 1996, Tables 28, 4). A bilaterally flattened harpoon-type nozzle with a cut-out shallow stop (line stopper) is also represented by a fragment. Its length is 5.3 cm, width is 1 cm, and thickness is 0.4 cm (see Figs. 11, 7). It seems that objects that have fallen out of use were put in the burial. In any case, this is true for broken bone products.

Fragments represent objects interpreted as intermediaries-holders of tips or points and blades. A fragment of a product with a through groove and a rounded head at the base, which cannot be called a nozzle, is probably part of the rod of a composite fish hook (see Fig. 11, 1). Two fragments, probably of the same product, are semicircular in cross-section, with slit-like holes 0.5 cm long and 1.5 mm wide (see Fig. 11, 3, 4). The fact that these are fragments of the intermediary holder, and not the button fastener, is indicated by the pointed head decorated on one of them with a grooved groove in the base for interception.

The massive horn hollow assembled from three fragments has a semicircular cross-section, a length of 28.6 cm, a width in the middle part of 3.4 cm, and a thickness of 1.3 cm (see Fig. 10, 1). It would seem that in a burial of this rank it is more appropriate to find a dagger, as in the Bugachan burial [Okladnikov, 1946, Tables VIII, IX]. This product although received a conditional name

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13. Horn and bone (5) plates before the rush.

"dagger", but tools with a semi-circular or straight flattened working end with a grind, usually made of tubular bones, are traditionally interpreted as hollows.

Of course, the most striking finds are the armor and shield made of plates. At the time of excavation, the armor consisted of 338 fragmented fragments, 7 whole and 26 broken plates, mostly made of horn, only a few of bone (Figure 13). In total, there are 52 whole and assembled plates. The length is as much as 12.5-25 cm, width 1.5-5, thickness 0.2-0.3 cm. The location to the hurry of a compact mass allows us to hope for its reconstruction.

Bone carapace plates in the Ymyyakhtakh culture of the late Neolithic are known in Yakutia from the Burulgino site on Indigirka and Ulakhan Segeleny sites on Tokko (Fedoseeva, 1980, Fig. 87; Alekseev, 1996, p. 39, Tables 28, 2, 3]. All these findings relate to the end of this culture.

Outside of Yakutia, similar bone carapace plates were found in the 2nd layer of the Tugarinov Cave (Mandryka et al., 1996, pp. 88-89, Figs. 8, 1-4), and in the Glazkov burials of the Ust-Ilga monuments on the Upper Lena and Perevoznaya on the Yenisei (Okladnikov, 1955, p. 233). 234, 248-250, 252, fig. 118-120]. At the Rostovka burial ground, bone armor was found in three graves [Matyushchenko and Sinitsyna, 1988, pp. 8, 46, 88-89, fig. 8, 10, 61 - 66].

It is interesting that in the burial at d. Perevoznaya near Krasnoyarsk, where three people were buried, bone plates with holes were also located in the legs of one of them. V. V. Peredolsky, who discovered this monument, considered these plates to be the remains of a shield, but we are inclined to agree with the opinion of A. P. Okladnikov, who directly calls them bone plates [1955, pp. 249-250, fig. 120].

Description of the shield, problems of reconstruction

The shield measures approximately 45x155 cm (Fig. 14). The plates were placed horizontally under each other in two vertical rows. There are 105 of them in total: 53 in the left row (Fig. 14, B), 52 in the right row (Fig. 14, A). There are 44 whole plates, the rest are broken, many in a fragmentary state, some are gnawed by rodents. Initial position

14. Reconstruction of the shield.

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most of the plates, especially the right row and the lower part of the shield, are broken (see Figures 3, 5). In the right row, almost all the plates were broken during the construction of the burial of the XVIII-XIX centuries. No remains and traces of the shield's skeleton base were found. All plates are made from the tubular bones of a large animal, most likely an elk. The length of the plates is from 8.5 to 27 cm, width 1.5-3.5 cm, thickness 0.2 cm; there are four narrow plates with a width of 0.9 - 1.3 cm. By length, they are divided into several groups with different numbers of plates. There are 13 such groups in the left row, and 16 in the right row. This discrepancy may be due to the loss of the plates. The available plates of different lengths suggest that the shield was smoothly narrowed downwards. An accurate reconstruction of its shape is impossible due to the fragmentary nature and violation of the original position of the plates of the right row. It might be one of the ancient reinforced shields.

The solution of the question of fixing the plates on the shield also remains in the field of assumptions. The vast majority of them have no holes. On 16 plates, there are 27 round drilled holes and their fragments with a diameter of up to 0.3 cm (Fig. 14; 15, 4). Between the two plates, there is another one, oblong, formed by four closely drilled round ones. The presence of holes between tightly shifted plates indicates that they were drilled already on the plates fixed on the shield and do not play a role in fixing the latter. Perhaps the holes are related to fixing additional elements of the shield or patches. All this suggests that the tightly fitted plates were glued to a leather base stretched over a wooden frame. On two plates (see Fig. 14, B-3, A-23) there are rectangular cutouts (see Fig. 15, 1), made after fixing them on the shield, as evidenced by the traces of cutting on the adjacent plates. Whether these were inspection slots or cutouts for repair inserts remains to be seen.

On 28 plates, there are 48 through holes and edge chips from the impact of arrows (see Figure 14), of which four or five are quite large (see Figures 15, 2); about 20 hits led to cracking or breakage of the plates. 14, B-10) was reinforced with a patch in the form of a short narrow plate, after which it was again pierced together with this patch. In addition to holes, 56 arrow caverns were found on 41 plates (see Figure 14). In six of them, broken arrowheads made of light gray or white flint were found stuck (see 15, 3). It is possible that the number of arrow marks is much higher; we have recorded only those that are clearly visible.

Two plates are badly broken, and one of them has dents made by a blunt object.

Perhaps the Kerdugen shield is not the only find of this kind. In the double Glazkov burial of Ust-Ilga, the plates, also made of moose bones and without holes, were also placed horizontally under each other, covering one of the buried almost completely [Okladnikov, 1955, p. 248, Fig. 118, 119].

The looting problem

The appearance of a number of plates is characteristic of bones lying in the open air, and suggests that at some time the burial (or part of it) was exposed (specially dug?). The original position of some of the shield plates is broken, as if someone was raking them in search of some objects (see Figs. 3, 5). In addition, the position of the bones of the right leg of the buried person indicates that, probably, when the bones were still connected to each other by tendons or even remnants of muscle tissue, the leg was bent at the knee and thrown to the side. This suggests analogies with the Deering-Yuryakh looted burials [Fedoseyeva, 1988,1999] or disturbed burials of the Rostovkinsky burial ground [Matyushchenko and Sinitsyna, 1988]. However, there the funerary complexes were disrupted after only skeletons remained from the buried.

The armor in the Kerdugen burial was also disturbed, as some of its plates lay on top of the shield (see Figs. 3, 6). Moreover, this happened at a time when the fastening binding between them was not yet complete.

15. Shield bone plates. 1 - with a slot (for eyes?); 2 - with holes from arrows; 3 - with cavities from arrows (in one of them the tip of the tip is stuck); 4 - with drilled holes; 5-short.

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it's not completely rotten. Even in the broken position, the plates lay in grouped blocks, and it can be assumed that some of the bindings withstood the extraction and repeated dumping of the armor into the grave.

The location of the bones of the second person on the shifted right femur of the first person is also of interest. This conglomeration, consisting of the right scapula, left clavicle, ulna and radius bones of both hands, humerus of the right arm, tibia of the left leg, and a fragment of the male pelvic bone, gives the impression of a very neatly stacked, compact pile (see Figures 3, 9). The chronological gap between looting (?) and stacking of bones the second backbone has not yet been installed.

Conclusion

Based on a comparative analysis, the burial of Kerdyugen is clearly dated to the end of the Ymyyakhtakh culture. At this stage, the Ymyyakhtakh society, most likely, experienced some internal crisis of a socio-economic or political nature, which led to rather long inter-tribal or inter-tribal military conflicts. It is possible that there may have been an external reason. The widespread use of bone armor in the cultures of the Early Bronze Age of Siberia evidently indicates an increased intensity of military clashes over a fairly large territory. The appearance of bone armor and a heavy shield with bone overlays is a natural result of the development of military affairs in the conditions of a long period of the "age of battles".

Prolonged wars may have contributed to the emergence of special groups of people who received special military training. The tribe or clan selected physically strong boys who were trained for war from an early age. Of course, it is impossible to call them professional warriors or vigilantes who are cut off from the community or opposed to it. Like other male hunters, they remained within the social structure that was dictated by the economic factors of the hunting industry. In case of military danger, these people-warriors (or, as it is customary to call such people among the Siberian peoples, heroes) were supposed to lead the resistance or form a shock detachment for a raid. Such actions are described in the folklore of many peoples of Siberia [Solov'ev, 1987, p. 125-126; Vasiliev, 1995, p. 129-140].

The shield and armor in the grave, of course, emphasize the special social status, rank of the buried person or his belonging to a special group of people - warriors, heroes. From other similar burials with bone armor, Kerdyugenskoye is better preserved, which allows us to hope for a positive solution to the reconstruction of ancient protective weapons.

The study of this unique burial provides extensive material for studying many problems (anthropology, burial rites, social differentiation of society, military affairs, etc.) related to the Ymyyakhtakh culture of the late Neolithic (XXIII - XIV/XIII centuries BC) of Northeast Asia.

List of literature

Alekseev A. N. Ancient Yakutia: Neolithic and Bronze Age. Novosibirsk: IAEt SB RAS, 1996, 143 p. (in Russian)

Vasiliev F. F. Voennoe delo yakutov [Military affairs of the Yakuts]. Yakutsk: Bichik Publ., 1995, 221 p.

Mandryka P. V., Makarov N. P., Martynovich N. V., Ovodov N. D., Andreenko O. V., Cheha V. P. Comprehensive study of the Tugarinov cave // Antiquities of Yenisei Siberia. Krasnoyarsk: Krasnoyarsk State University, 1996, issue 1, pp. 83-115.

Matyushchenko V. I., Sinitsyna G. V. Burial ground near the village of Rostovka near Omsk. - Tomsk: Publishing House of the Tomsk State University, 1988. -135 p.

Okladnikov A. P. Lena antiquities. - Yakutsk: [Yakut State University]. type.], 1946. - Issue 2. - 187 p.

Okladnikov A. P. Neolith and Bronze Age of the Baikal region: (Historical and archaeological research), Moscow: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1950, 412 p. (MIA; N 18).

Okladnikov A. P. Neolith and Bronze Age of the Baikal region: (Glazkov time), Moscow: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1955, 373 p. (MIA; N 43).

Solov'ev A. I. Military affairs of the indigenous population of Western Siberia: The Epoch of the Middle Ages. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1987, 193 p. (in Russian)

Fedoseeva S. A. Ymyyakhtakh culture of North-East Asia. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1980, 224 p. (in Russian)

Fedoseeva S. A. Deering-Yuryakhsky burial ground: (Grave robbery and the problem of the origin of primitive atheism) / / Archeology of Yakutia. Yakutsk: Yakut State University, 1988, pp. 79-98.

Fedoseeva S. A. Deering-Yuryakhsky burial ground: (Typology of stone funeral equipment and the place of the monument in the ancient history of North-East Asia) / / Archaeological research in Yakutia. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1992, pp. 84-105.

Fedoseeva S. A. [Grave robbery and the problem of the origin of primitive atheism at the turn of the stone and early metal epochs] / / Archeology of Yakutia and its place in the world science of the origin and evolution of mankind. Yakutsk: Litograf Publ., 1999, pp. 86-118.

Yakimov V. P. The Bronze Age human skull from Yakutia//Okladnikov A. P. Lena Antiquities, Moscow; L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1950, issue 3, pp. 189-198.

The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 11.05.05.

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