Bioarchaeological aspects of studying medieval evidence from the Novaya Kurya burial ground of the barrow type (Northern Kulunda)

This article analyzes anthropological and faunal remains found in burial mound No. 5 at the Novaya Kurya burial ground located in the Northern Kulunda steppe. The radiocarbon dating has clarified the time when the complex functioned (until the late 10th-first third of the 11th century AD). Bioarchaeological evidence is represented by the remains of two humans and a horse. Craniological and odonatological methodologies as well as carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes analysis were used for studying the human bones; isotope analysis was applied to horse bones. Human skulls were examined using the standard craniometric methodology; teeth were studied using the standard odonatological methodology adjusted for archaic markers. It was concluded that both humans showed morphological differences and had a mixed Mongoloid-Caucasoid origin with the predominance of two heterogeneous Mongoloid components. Carbon (S13C) and nitrogen (S15N) stable isotopes analysis in the collagen of both humans indicated their similar diet based on meat and dairy foods of nomadic cattle breeding. The S13C isotopic signature in the collagen of the humans and horse significantly exceeded fractionation level, which indicated their different origin. Horse likely lived in a forest-steppe zone whereas both humans lived in the steppe for their last 2-3 years. Craniological features of both individuals and differences in their burial rites, associated with the use of horse in the ritual and placement of burials under the mound (center - periphery) may manifest ethnic or social-political differentiation in the context of political unions among the Medieval Asian nomads.