Khasaut cemetery and other early medieval rock-cut tombs of the North Caucasus (questions of cultural and ethnic attribution)

The article deals with a particular type of archaeological monuments of the early Middle Ages - the so-called rock tombs. The paper provides a brief history of the study of the rock tombs in the gorge of Khasaut River in the North Elbrus region. The article includes the archaeological description of the necropolis and related neighbouring settlements and stone crypts of the second half of the I millennium. The author compares Khasaut rock tombs with typologically close tombs of the Big Laba Valley (Moshchevaya, Gamowskaya ravines and others), Big Zelenchuk Valley (Podorvannaya ravine and others), the Upper Kuban, the surrounding area of Kislovodsk and the headwaters of Malka River (Kharbaz I cemetery). The article analyses the general situation of formation and existence of Adyghe-Alan population who performed the funeral rites in rocks. The author considers the close connection of the Trans-Caucasian branches of the Silk Road with the Adyghe-Alan population who made the rock tombs.