Ethnoarchaeological study of Bronze Age monuments of the Central Ciscaucasia (using the example of the Kamlyuk mound)

The article discusses the problems of ethnogenetic interpretation of archaeological cultures and the chronological determination of burial complexes using the example of the Kamlyuk mound. The source used is materials stored in the scientific archive of the Institute for Humanitarian Research of the Kabardino-Balkarian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A short historiographical review of the history of the study and discovery of archaeological monuments on the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria is presented. The study applies methods of ethnographic and archaeological study, and uses the concept of “ethnoarchaeology”. Typological features of burials are highlighted, similar and distinctive features are compared and analyzed, and an ethnographic description of the funeral rite is given. The question of the relationship between the concepts of “archaeological culture” and “ethnicity” is considered. The ethnicity of burial complex builders is discussed in relation to ancient Bronze Age archaeological cultures (Maikop and North Caucasus) and the ethnic communities that have lived in this territory since antiquity. Attention is focused on the need for additional research, considering an interdisciplinary approach.

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