Large pin sets from the graves of the Kendelenskaya I kurgan group and "belt sets" of the middle bronze age from the Central Fore-Caucasus

The paper is devoted to the publication of a series of graves associatedwith the developed stage of the North Caucasus culture from the Kendelenskaya I burialground (Baksan Gorge, Kabardino-Balkaria) that contained large pin sets composedof several dozen and even hundreds of items. The assemblages described in this paperare unique materials for studying the material culture of the population that inhabitedthe Central Fore-Caucasus in the second quarter of III mill. BC. Preliminary analysisprovides, in particular, strong evidence that in the Bronze Age some pins were madefrom organic materials, most likely, wood. At the same time, the composition andthe position of large pin sets in the graves of the kurgan cemetery near the villageof Kendelenskaya make researchers be very cautious as to interpretation of such setsas certain parts of the garments worn by the population of the Central Fore-Caucasusin the Middle Bronze Age.