Pit-grave (Yamnaya) and pit-grave-Maikop burials at Levoyegorlyksky-3, Stavropol

We describe four unusual burials (No. 4, 8, 13, and 15) displaying features of the Pit-Grave rite under mound 1 at Levoyegorlyksky-3 in the Stavropol Territory, dating to mid-4th millennium BC. The mound had been constructed to mark the main burial (No. 15), which predates others. While the preservation of skeletons is poor, the position of the deceased was determined as flexed supine. The mound was encircled by a stone curb (cromlech). Inside the mound and the cromlech, fragments of early Maikop vessels were found. The main burial, however, contained pottery typical of the steppe Chalcolithic cultures. In the intrusive burial No. 4, a Maikop-type dagger, a stone pick, a gold pendant, and a flint flake were found. The dagger has early Maikop parallels, whereas the pick is similar to late Maikop (Dolinskoye) ones, found in the central piedmont of northern Caucasus. This burial presents a striking testimony to the impact of the funerary tradition of the Maikop military elite on the Pit-Grave rite. On the other hand, it suggests that Dolinskoye-type stone picks may evidence the influence of the Pit-Grave culture at the early stage of Maikop.