Excavations of the Ust-Isha-5 burial ground of the barrow type (Piedmont Altai) in 2023

This article discusses the results of studying the Ust-Isha 5 burial ground in the field season of2023. The main objective of works was to examine the barrow with two overlapping mounds, which was one of the largest objects at the burial ground, and to clarify the cultural homogeneity of the burial space in the southern part of the necropolis. Three burial mounds were excavated. It was established that objects of the Early Scythian period formed the main core of the burial space. They were concentrated in the central and northern parts of the site, while mainly burial structures of the Bystryanka culture of the Early Iron Age were grouped in the southern part. In 2023, two burial mounds of the Early Scythian period were excavated, confirming the previous observations about planigraphy of the burials in the space under the mound. The central graves were disturbed in ancient times. Only some remains have survived in situ, making it possible to reconstruct the funeral rite as inhumation of crouched body on the right side with the head towards the western sector. A connection between stone stelae and burial mounds has been established. The stelae were set on the border or beyond the mound in the southwestern sector. According to the funeral rite, this burial complex correlates with evidence from the Berezovka-1, Surtaika-1, and Surtaika-2 burial grounds located in the lower reaches of the Katun River in a similar geomorphological situation on the right bank terrace. Inventory and specific features of burial practice indicate that the excavated objects belonged to the Early Scythian period of the Altai (11th-8th centuries BC).