FUNERAL RITES OF THE SEBYS' BURIAL GROUND OF V-VI CENTURIES A.D

Abstract

The article presents the results of the analysis of the materials gathered from the Sebys’ burial ground, which dates back to the era of the Great Migration in the European Northeast. The Sebys’ burial ground belongs to the early group of tumuli, which were characteristic of the first wave of tribes settling the European Northeast. These tribes are known to have had the tradition of making mounds over the burials. Being a part of the same cultural phenomenon as the necropolises of the Veslyanskiy I burial ground, it has certain local characteristics. Sebys’ burial ground is marked by a number of features. A gradual decrease in the height of the mound, a transition from grooves to pits for soil sampling, a greater number of inlet burials and paired mounds, presence of post-burial rites, and a small number of burial items compared to other monuments can be named as distinguishing characteristics. Another peculiarity is the extraordinary ceramic collection implying interaction with groups of the bichevnik population. Of all the cemeteries, it finds the most marked resemblance with the Shoinayag burial ground. They may belong to a local group associated with the Kharin stage of the Lomovatovo culture.