"Sleeping" positions in the bronze age burials

The authors propose to check the interpretation of the contracted position of the skeleton lying on the side as a symbol of a sleeping individual in the Early Bronze Age burials in the steppe belt of Eastern Europe. The sample of 77 images featuring modern people in the state of morning dream in summer from the areas in the Russian South with a semi-desert climate demonstrates indisputable prevalence of contracted positions despite the fact that people can sleep in an extended posture. Comparison of positions in which modern persons sleep with the positions of the skeletons found in the Early Bronze Age burials of the Kuban region revealed a number of coincidences regarding the main types of positions, incidence of contracted positions as a whole and minor details of hand and arm positions as well as the turn of the body. The interpretation of the contracted position as a typical posture of a sleeping person has been recognized as acceptable.