BURIAL WITH TWO HORSES DATED BY THE EPOCHS OF THE TURKIC KAGANATS FROM THE GORNYI-10 NECROPOLIS (Northern Altai)
The article presents the publication of materials from the excavations of the grave 10 of the Gorny-10 necropolis located in the Krasnogorsk region of the Altai Krai. The authors concern a detailed description of the research results, including a description of the burial rite and the accompanying inventory. It was established that the analyzed complex shows both general characteristics, traditional for the population of the Forest-Steppe Altai in the era of the Turkic kaganates, and a number of rare indicators. The latter include such an element of the ceremony as the burial of two horses - the only case to date, noted in the sites of Forrest-Steppe Altai of the beginning of early Middle Ages. More “standard” features of the ritual are the orientation of the deceased person in the northwestern sector of the horizon and the location of the nearby dog. The authors assume a fairly high lifetime position of the deceased person in society, as evidenced by not only the designated ritual indicators, but also a representative subject complex. Analysis of the inventory allows determining the dating of grave no.10 within the framework of the end of the 6th - 7th centuries AD. Clarification of the chronology of this object is associated with further processing and interpretation of materials from the excavation of the Gorny-10 necropolis.