New data to differential diagnosis of system disease of arepresentative of the Maikop elite from kurgan burial Maryinskaya 3

Kurgan 1 of the Maryinskaya 3 burial site on the right bank of the Kura River inStavropol district of Russia was investigated in the 2007 field season by joint expedition ofHistorical faculty of Moscow University and of Institute of Archaeology, RAS. A huge moundindicated a burial of a remarkable person. The earthen mound was over 4 m high, 40 m indiameter. It was surrounded by a ditch up to 2,5 m deep. The main burial in the kurgan (№ 18)was interpreted as grave of the Maikop leader buried between 3405-3360 BC (Kantorovich,Maslov, 2009). Rich grave goods suggest idea of high social rank of the individual. Accordingto the anthropological determination, the individual was a male 40-44 years old at death.Robusticity of tubular bones and arthropathies typical of the individual could be explainedas signs of system disease. Differential diagnostics includes bacterial infection, generalizedosteosclerosis, in particular, osteopetrosis, poisoning, oncology. X-ray-fluorescent analysisof the preserved fragment of artificially coloured frontal bone showed that it was paintedby cinnabar or vermillion (HgS). Mercury could have been used for different purposes, e. g.for treatment or as sacral substance. It is one of the earliest evidence for this mineral use infuneral rite.