Secondary burial of the early middle ages from the Gorny-10 necropolis in the Northern Altai

This article discusses the evidence from excavations of grave 14 at the Gorny-10 necropolis located in Krasnogorsk District of the Altai Krai and studied in 2000-2003. This site can currently be considered a basic complex for various aspects of history of the population which lived in the south of Western Siberia in the initial stage of the Early Middle Ages, including specific features of ritual practices. The published object is a secondary burial of an elderly male with the accompanying grave goods which included weaponry, elements of outfit and jewelry, and household items. This set of items reveals a relatively high status of the person during his lifetime, who obviously did not belong to the elite of society, but despite his advanced age retained a fairly high position. Analysis of the finds has made it possible to establish the date of the object (second half of the 6th 7th centuries AD). Some features manifest the secondary nature of the burial, including disrupted anatomical integrity of the skeleton, which could not have happened for natural reasons, absence of traces of grave robbery, and discovery of similar objects at the necropolis. The overview of discoveries of secondary burials in the synchronous complexes of Western Siberia makes it possible to view the burial from the Gorny-10 site in the context of a widespread tradition of the initial stage of the Early Middle Ages. Considering limited capacities for studying and interpreting this phenomenon only by archaeological methods, the prospects for further study of secondary burials should be associated with targeted research of anthropological evidence.