On the typology and chronology of bronze age cemeteries in the mountainous area of the Trans-Ili Alatau

Purpose. Scientific research in the alpine region of the high mountain range of the Trans-Ili Alatau in the southeast of the Land of Seven Rivers in Kazakhstan was first carried out in the 1980s and 1990s. Thereby, among others, cemeteries of the Bronze Age were localised and some were archaeologically investigated. The necropolises display clear parallels with the Fedorovo culture of the Bronze Age Andronovo cultural sphere, particularly with regard to funerary rituals. Nonetheless, some differences could be noted as well. These disparities gave rise to differentiating the cemeteries and distinguishing them as monuments of the so-called Kul'sai group of the Bronze Age. To what extent are the Fedorovo culture and the Kul'sai group related? How do the two entities correlate chronologically with one another and with the entire chronological coordination of the Land of Seven Rivers? These were the most important questions in our investigation. Results. Graves of the Kul'sai group were positioned within stone enclosures. In some cases, several enclosures were successively built, one upon another. The majority of the deceased lay in wooden frameworks, some of which were covered with wooden beams. In one cemetery, some cremations, inhumations and bi-ritual burials were found all together, with one cremation together with an inhumation in the same grave. The repertory of grave items comprises mainly pottery and bronze jewellery. The pottery reflects similar ceramic forms of the Middle Bronze Age Fedorovo culture. However, contrary to the «classical typifying vessels», most of the pottery of the Kul'sai group is not decorated. Bronze jewellery found in the graves was made primarily of bronze sheets. The bronze earrings found were trumpet-shaped, and the bracelets had spiral ends. Similar to Fedorovo graves of the Andronovo cultural sphere in other regions, grave items such as tools and attendant animals were extremely rare at this burial. Several parallels among the artefacts led to interpreting the Kul'sai group as a regional group of the Middle Bronze Age Fedorovo culture. This hypothesis was confirmed by 14C datings gained from the grave material, which date the burials to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC (19th-15th century BC). Conclusion. We carried out frequency analysis and serration analysis, which did not show any differences between the graves with regard to either the age and gender or the social status of the deceased persons. However, analysis of the distribution of the graves within the cemetery revealed a certain pattern, with cremations and inhumations located in separate halves of the necropolis. There were graves with bi-ritual burials found where the halves joined or overlapped. Comparative analysis of the grave items and the 14C datings supported our attributing the Kul'sai group to the Middle Bronze Age. Hence, older statements of the 1990s and beginning of 2000, which had placed the Kul'sai group in the Late or Final Bronze Age, are no longer up-to-date. The Early Bronze Age remains unknown within the entire chronological development of the Bronze Age in the Land of Seven Rivers. The Kul'sai group can be dated to the Middle Bronze Age. The Late Bronze Age is associated with the culture of roll-type ceramics.