Cremated bones in burials of the Fedorovo culture (evidence from the Zvyagino-1 burial ground in the Southern Transurals)

This article presents metric measurements of cremated bones from the Zvyagino-1 burial ground of the Fedorovo culture in the Southern Transurals (17th-16th century BC). Ten burial mounds containing 13 pits were excavated by 2023. Many burials were disturbed, and cremated bones were found only in ten of them. The total number of cremated human bones was 3009 with the total weight of 1 kg 753.2 g. A large part of the collection (83 % of the total number) consisted of bones from 0.2 to 1.5 cm long; 16 % of bones were 2-4.5 cm long, and only 1 % of bones were 5-7 cm long. According to anthropological analysis of cremated bones, people of different gender and age (women/men, adults/teenagers) were buried in the graves. Cracks on the surface of burnt bones indicate cremation at a temperature of600-700C. Metric parameters of bones from cremations revealed a number of specific aspects of corpse burning in the Fedorovo culture. The weight of cremated bodies in undisturbed burials (400-600 g) did not correspond to the estimated volume of bones of a burned adult (on average, 2500 g). The missing volume of burnt bones correlates with high degree of grinding of bones, which indicates special rituals of burning and collecting cremated remains. The rituals of the common Indo-European heritage indicate fragmentation of bones resulting from extinguishing the funeralfire with water. Similar aspects of cremation at the Fedorovo, Alakul, and Andronovo burial grounds in other areas make it possible to consider these procedures with bones as a part of the common Andronovo tradition of corpse burning.