Studies of a Late Tagar kurgan in Mariinsk forest-steppe

In summer of 2024, "Solitary kurgan Alchedat III", a site of the Late Tagar Culture (Chebula municipal county, Kuzbass) was excavated. By the time of the excavations, the kurgan was destroyed considerably. Due to the burrowing animal activity, the grave goods and human bones were exposed. Radio-carbon analysis of the latest finds produced calibrated dates in the range of the 2nd century BC to 1st century AD. The excavations aimed at gaining new data about Late Tagar assemblages in the Mariinsk Forest-Steppe. The kurgan dimensions were 30 x 29 m; the height of the mound from the level of the topsoil was 1.3 m. The square burial vault was 5.27 x 5.65 m, up to 1.3 m deep from the level of the ancient surface. The tomb was bridged over with a layer of logs covered with a birch-bark sheet; the walls were framed with log construction, and an entrance-manhole was established in the southwestern wall. The burial vault was looted and burnt in ancient time, most of burial remains and tools were found in the tomb filling. Several ceramic vessels and separate objects were found on the bottom in situ. Among them there were fragments of a tool bag with a knife, an awl and a mirror. Seeds of Cannabis sativa L were found on the floor. The main burial of the kurgan has been attributed to the Lepyoshkino group of the Late Tagar sites and dated to the 2nd-1st centuries BC on the base of the tool assemblage. A circular stone construction with the diameter of 15 m was uncovered in the mound. The mound contained single and paired burials of children and adults mainly without grave goods; these interments were attributed to the Tes group of the Late Tagar population. Three more burials were located at the level of the ancient topsoil and attributed to the Kamen Culture.