Biritual Burials at the Noven'koe-1 Kurgan/In-ground Cemetery: Paleodemographic Aspects of the Study

The study of the composition of the Medieval Russia rural population that lived in 12th – first half of 13th centuries using the materials from almost completely excavated kurgan/in-ground cemetery is promising not only for obtaining paleodemographic data but also for understanding cultural traditions. Besides the general paleodemographic analysis of the population that has left behind the Noven’koe-1 cemetery, the tasks and the objectives of this study also included comparison of the age and sex structure of the individuals buried in the kurgans and the inter-kurgan areas as well as determination of the distribution patterns of males, females and children within these burial complexes. A total of 76 individuals were examined including 32 individuals from the burials beneath the kurgans and 44 individuals from the in-ground burials in the areas between the kurgans. The in-ground burials have three times more buried women and two times more buried children, while the number of buried men in the burials beneath the kurgans and the number of those in the burials without mounds are comparable. The demographic situation is characterized by a high mortality rate among children and an older average age at death of the individuals from the kurgans. The people who have left behind Noven’koe-1 constituted a single population group that buried the dead both in the in-ground burials beneath the kurgans and the burials not covered by the mounds depending on status, role or kinship relations of the deceased person.