Traditions with animals in burials of Tien-Shan nomads

This publication examines one of the elements of the funeral ceremony of the nomads of the Tien Shan. In the early Iron Age, the Great Migration and the Middle Ages there existed strong tradition associated with the position of the accompanying food near buried. As such, using a part of the carcass sheep or ram. During the excavation of ordinary Iron Age burial mounds common part of the carcass fat tail (sacrum), which is often found in women’s graves. In the first half of the mounds I millennium AD found the femur and pelvis. Placed near the deceased carved fragment also closed part of the pelvic bone. Studies mounds Turks Tien Shan and, above all, mounds containing human burials with horse show typical use of the Turks in VII–IX centuries tibia. In the burials dated XIII–XIV centuries, tibia often fixed at the head. Some cemeteries near the tibia was detected and a spade. In the female burials in the waist and hip dimple placed 2–3 vertebrae ram. Standing next to the dead tibia in the first half of the II millennium AD is a feature characteristic of the early Middle Ages the Turks and later nomads Transbaikalia. In all likelihood, this ceremony, which was initiated by Turks in Mongolia's environment was more prolonged existence. Placing parts sheep carcasses in the burial was directly related to the allocation of meat treats for guests and relatives, which take account of their status, age. The individual elements of this tradition are preserved in the Kyrgyz culture ever since.