A rich grave at the settlement of Mukhino-2in the Upper Don region and property gradation of the hun period elite graves in Barbaricum (the Untersiebenbrunn group)

The discussed female burial of the Hun period was discovered in the UpperDon Region at the settlement of Mukhino-2 (Lipetsk Region, Zadonsk district). It ischaracterized by presence of prestige items of female attire. The most reasonable date ofthe burial is approximately 430-450. The grave is referred to a group of princely barbarianelites of the first half of the 5th century, known as Untersiebenbrunn group (horizon).This paper undertakes an attempt to correlate the Mukhino grave with prestige finds fromEuropean Barbaricum based on the criteria developed by V. Bierbrauer for the Carpathian-Danube Basin. The comparison of this grave with the Danube graves of the EasternGerman tradition suggests that it belongs to the highest group, i.e. group I. At the momentthe grave of the so-called princess at Mukhino-2 remains to be the most spectacular andrich in the entire Upper Don Region.