Sarmatian burials from the barrow 1 of burial mound near Kuleshovka village (excavations of 1982)

The article is devoted to the publication of series of five early Sarmatian burials in the barrow 1 of the burial mound, which is located to the West of Kuleshovka village of Azov district in the Rostov region. Burials were made inside of the barrow of the Bronze Age and formed a rough row in the west-east direction. The 10th burial destroyed the previous 9th burial. The burials were constructed inside of the undercuts and rectangular pits, in one case - in the double-chamber undercut. All the buried were stretched out on their back and oriented to the southern sector. The burial equipment is represented by swords, arrows, mirrors, beads and various ceramics. Most of the burials might form a family-clan burial mound. The analysis of the burial equipment shows that most of the burials belong to the early stage of the Early Sarmatian culture of the Lower Don region and dates from the 2nd century BC, perhaps, the second-third quarter of the century. This date is set by a sword with a sickle-shaped head, arrow heads with slightly profiled three-bladed heads and long petioles, the “megarian” bowl (burial 17), the mirror with a large diameter by the edge of the roller (burial 10), the red-lacquer kanfar and Bosporian jug (burial 29). The burial 24, which is located on the edge of the western row, might be an exception; because it has later equipment consisted of a sword with a ring-shaped head of later time and arrow heads with short petioles.