Funeral rites of the Tashtyk culture

The article represents the reconstruction of practical sphere of the Tashtyk funeral rites based on the complex analysis of construction typology and sacrificial funeral feasts. The research concerns 13 funeral memorials including 618 funeral erections. Funeral memorials were situated near crypts in the high-water beds or on the top of the ridges. As for the crypts there predominate the western and south-western disposition of funeral memorials and in line planigraphy of funeral objects. The following funeral objects were found out: holes with a funeral feast, holes with a stele, steles without a funeral feast. Logs, blocks and beresta were used for building ground-based and in-hole funeral constructions. As a funeral feast there could be watery food in earthenware crockery, meat of sacrificial animals put on beresta or in wooden bowls. There were 3 categories of crockery specialization according to its shape and volume: table crockery, household crockery and containers for keeping food. The variety of groups of funeral objects with different amount of crockery and types of sacrificial meat depends on the season when funeral feasts were held and social differentiation.