Unique Ground Burial Structure of Ak-Suu-4 Cemetery Burial No. 1 (Chui Valley, Kyrgyzstan)
The article is devoted to methods of revealing leveled burial mounds dated back to the Saka Epoch and results of rescue archaeological excavations of Ak-Suu-4 cemetery burial mound No. 1 located in the Moskovsky district of the Chui region of the Kyrgyz Republic. During the excavations, a unique burial ground structure of the mound was revealed in the form of eight successive stone rings laid out on the day surface around the grave pit. The revealed structure is unique and expands our understanding of the ideology and worldview of the local tribes of the Saka culture, reflected in the funeral rite. The tradition of building stone rings at a certain distance (from 2 to 10 meters) from the edge of the burial mound, along the perimeter of the mound and the grave pit is a kind of marking feature of the burials in the Saka culture of Semirechye. The concentric stone rings, the relatively equal distance between them (from 1 to 2 meters), and the location of the mound in a chain leave no doubt in defining its cultural and chronological affiliation. At the same time, the issues of the origin and continuity of this type of the ground part of the burial structure as a part of the funeral rite of the Saka Epoch in the Chui Valley remains open.