On the classification of burial structures of burial grounds of the koban archaeological culture in the territory of modern Kabardino-Balkaria

Kabardino-Balkaria is a republic with a rich archaeological heritage. It represented archaeological sites from the Paleolithic era in its territory. The article proposes a classification of burial structures of the Koban archaeological culture in this region. It is noted that their study makes it possible to identify the features of the funeral rite of the local population and trace the dynamics of its ritual-ritual activity throughout the entire period of the existence of this culture. To do this, the article attempted to specify the typology proposed in 1989 by V.I. Kozenkova, considering the specifics of the funeral structures of the Koban culture identified on the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria. The work notes that the need for such a revision and clarification of known classifications with the definition of local features on KBR materials is increasing against the background of a sharp increase in the number of burial structures discovered and the appearance of new studies of Koban cultural monuments. During the study, funerary structures are classified considering their differentiation into simple and complex ones. There are considered 2 types of simple (burials in soil pits of oval, rectangular or underground rectangular forms and burials in stone boxes) and 3 types of complex burial structures (mounds with a stone cover with soil burials, mounds with stone boxes and stone cover from cobblestones and stone tombs). Each of the proposed funerary structures is characterized considering the division into subtypes. It was revealed that almost no burial ground of the Koban archaeological culture on the territory of the KBR can be traced to the observance of a single type of burial structure.

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