The 4th century BC female burials with snakes from the burial ground at village Lyatoshinka

Introduction. The article presents the results of the study of two burials of the 4th century BC with snakes from the Lyatoshinka burial ground in the Volgograd Transvolga region. Methods and materials. In the process of investigation, an interdisciplinary approach was used with the inclusion of a typological method, the method of analogies and cross-dating, methods of craniological research (craniometry and cranioscopy), as well as methods for analyzing skulls pathological states. Ethnographic data were used to draw conclusions about semantics. The sources of the study are the paired burials 8 and 10 of kurgan 5 of the Lyatoshinka burial ground and three female skulls. Analysis . As a result of studying the funeral rite and elements of material culture, both burials were linked to the 4th century BC. The analysis of the anthropological material makes it possible to attribute the craniological type of women to the type of ancient Eastern Caucasoids, which is widely represented in the synchronous materials of the Southern Urals and the Lower Volga region. The morphological feature of this skull group is the presence of traces of deliberate fronto-occipital cranial deformation. The pathological state study of the skulls revealed that all the three women had chronic periodontal disease and severe tooth wear. Results and their discussion. The comprehensive analysis of the features of the funeral rite and grave goods, as well as the presence of traces of artificial cranial deformation, which at that time is very rare, suggests the lifetime function of these three women as female clergy.