Features of ritual manipulations with animals in the funerary rites of the Muroma (on the basis of archaeo-zoological materials from the Podbolotyevo burial-ground)

Archaeo-zoological investigation of animal bones from the Podbolotyevo burial-ground was carried out. This led to the identification of two assemblages consisting of the remains of sacrificial food offerings: one including meat and the other without it. The first of these included the front and back of a cow’s thigh and its rump complete with pelvis, which was interpreted as meat to sustain the deceased. The second assemblage consisted of bones from parts of the carcasses of a cow and pig without meat, which had been the remains of ritual feasts for the living. Complete horse skeletons were also discovered. An unusual position was reconstructed in imitation of a large animal lying on its belly with its legs bent and head raised. Similar horse burials are also known from the sites of other Finnish peoples in the Volga region from the medieval period.