Vasiliev D.V., Zilivinskaya E.D., Boldyreva E.M. Complex of “Abandoned” Burials from the Samosdelka Settlement Territory
Dmitry V. Vasiliev, Candidate of Sciences (History), Associate Professor, Department of History, Astrakhan Tatishchev State University, Tatishchev St, 20a, 414956 Astrakhan, Russian Federation; Senior Researcher, Department of History, Astrakhan Museum-Reserve, Sovetskaya St, 15, 414000 Astrakhan, Russian Federation
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Emma D. Zilivinskaya, Doctor of Sciences (History), Leading Researcher, Department of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prosp. Leninsky, 32a, 119334 Moscow, Russian Federation
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Ekaterina M. Boldyreva, Candidate of Sciences (History), Senior Researcher, Department of Archaeological Monuments, State Historical Museum, Red Square, 1, 125009 Moscow, Russian Federation
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Abstract. The article is devoted to the introduction into archaeological scholarly discourse of the mediaeval era complex, discovered at the Samosdelka settlement in the Volga River delta. It consists of the remains of two dwellings – a clay-built above-ground and a yurt-shaped one – that were destroyed in a fire, as well as two “abandoned” burials inside the yurt-shaped dwelling. The purpose of the study is to determine the chronological horizon which the complex is associated with. The goal is to date the period of operation of the complex and explain the circumstances of its origin. The skeletons of the deceased individuals bear traces of violent death; they were located in the ruins of a burnt-out dwelling on top of each other in free (chaotic) poses, which suggests that they had been thrown into the dwelling and then burnt along with it. Analysis of weapons and inventory items accompanying one of the burials allows us to determine the date of the archaeological complex. The fragment of an iron sabre and an iron axe date back to the period of the 10th – 11th centuries; the copper cauldrons found between the burnt yurt-like and the above-ground dwellings with adobe-and-pole walls date back to the same time. However, the fragment of a Kashi vessel found there allows us to push back the upper limit of the dating of the complex to the early 12th century. The dating of the complex of the burnt dwelling and two “abandoned” burials to the end of the 11th – beginning of the 12th centuries is connected with the historical realities of that period: the raid of the Kipchaks and Yemeks on the city of Saksin, which, according to historical sources, was the object of their military expansion for some time. The attack took place in the winter and was accompanied by military actions on the river ice, as evidenced by the discovery of an ice-breaking spike in the inventory of the military burial.
Key words: Middle Ages, Samosdelka settlement, city of Saksin, Volga River delta, sabre, axe, ice-walking spikes, copper cauldrons.
Citation. Vasiliev D.V., Zilivinskaya E.D., Boldyreva E.M., 2025. Kompleks «broshennyh» zahoroneniy s territorii gorodishcha «Samosdelka» [Complex of “Abandoned” Burials from the Samosdelka Settlement Territory]. Nizhnevolzhskiy Arkheologicheskiy Vestnik [The Lower Volga Archaeological Bulletin], vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 171-185. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/nav.jvolsu.2025.2.9
Complex of “Abandoned” Burials from the Samosdelka Settlement Territory by Vasiliev D.V., Zilivinskaya E.D., Boldyreva E.M. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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