Burials under oval-shaped stone mounds in Tien Shan and some issues of studying medieval Mongolian burial complexes

Purpose. Identification and investigation of medieval burials left by the Mongols is one of the important issues in Eurasian archaeology. A large number of different types of burials attributed to medieval Mongolian tribes have been excavated in Mongolia and Transbaikalia. However, in the western regions of former Mongol empire no burials have been discovered which could be definitely identified as Mongolian. Thus, burials with oval-shaped stone mounds in Tien Shan are of special interest. In this paper, we describe, analyze and determine the ethno-cultural attribution of the monuments. Results. The first scientific excavations of burials with oval-shaped stone mounds in Tien Shan were carried out by A. N. Bernshtam, A. K. Kibirov, D. F. Vinnik and A. K. Abetekov in the middle of the 20th century. In the 1990s, K. Sh. Tabaldiev, M. I. Moskalev, O. A. Soltobaev and Yu. S. Khudyakov discovered and excavated a substantial number of medieval burials in question. The materials were summed up in the K. Sh. Tabaldiev's dissertation devoted to the funerary rites of medieval nomads in Tien Shan. In 2012-2014, the authors of this article excavated several new tombs in Ysyk-Köl and Naryn regions. The burials are situated on hills and mountains. They rarely form large cemeteries consisting of more than 10 tombs. Mounds of the burials are made up of stones which form an oval shape. Several times the stone was erected vertically at the northern end of the mound. The deceased were laid supine with their heads to the north. The grave goods found correspond to the sex of the deceased: men were provided with weapons (bows, arrows, quivers, knives etc.), horse trappings (bridles, saddles, stirrups), flints etc.; women - with horse trappings, knives, mirrors, earrings, combs, beads and special headdresses known as a «bogtog». Both male and female burials contain certain bones of a sheep, viz. tibia, shoulder blade and vertebra. Interestingly enough, there are similar tombs among heterogeneous antiquities of the early Mongolian archaeological culture in Mongolia and Transbaikalia. A detailed comparative study of the burial complexes from all three regions demonstrates a close resemblance in their funerary rites and grave goods. Common characteristics include locating the cemeteries on hills and mountains; the oval-shaped stone mounds, sometimes with a rock vertically erected at the northern end of the mound; placing the deceased in a supine position with their head to the north; providing females with a headdress «bogtog»; adding sheep's bones (tibia, shoulder blade, vertebra) and saddles with trapeze-shaped pommels. All these features are current in the burial complexes of the 13-14th centuries in Tien Shan, Mongolia and Transbaikalia. Conclusion. The study allows us to attribute burials under oval-shaped stone mounds in Tien Shan to the Mongols, who came to the region during the expansion of the Genghis Khan's empire. The ethno-cultural characteristics of the burial complexes from Tien Shan, Mongolia and Transbaikalia that we describe in the article could be of help in identifying and investigating medieval Mongolian burials in other regions.