Новые раннеболгарские погребения из могильника Дроновка-3 (Лиманское озеро) на Северском Донце

Abstract

The excavations of the early Bulgarian cemetries of the Saltov - Mayatsky culture Volkovoye and Limanskoye Ozero in the basin of the Seversky Donets in 1974 - 1986 discovered 5 burials with horse skulls and horse bridle and stirrups. In 1986 -1988 the burials with horse skulls and complete sets of horse harnesses were found on the Limanskoye Ozero site. All the interments are grouped on a small area and are isolated from those found in 1974 -1978. They could be regarded as a family cemetry and have distinct social stratification: there are burials of adults and children contaning no grave goods, children’s burials with grave goods, and rich interments. None of them were broken or mixed with other burials, which is the evidence that 1) all of them appeared within a relatively short period of time, and 2) they must have had some outer features. The data of 1987-88 excavations suggested that on the cemetry there had been interments with complete skeletons and those with incomplete or intentionally broken skeletons. Incomplete skeletons belonged to both poor (int. 34) and rich (inc. 37) adults. We consider this phenomenon to be of cult nature.