Жертвенники с костями животных в грунтовых могильниках степи – лесостепи Понто-Каспия и некоторые вопросы развития производящего хозяйства в регионе (VI–V тыс. до н. э.)

Sacrificial Altars with Animal Bones in the In-Ground Cemeteries of the Pontic-Caspian Steppes and Forest-Steppes and Some Issues of Producing Economy Development in the Region (VI–V Millennia BC)

The paper reports on the materials from the cemeteries in the Dnieper-Don-Volga region dating to VI–V millennium BC by describing the tradition of making sacrificial altars with animal bones in the cemetery area or creating such altars for specific burials. The paper also analyzes species composition of the fauna from the funerary assemblages. It describes the development of the tradition related to the occurrence of animal bones at burial sites from the Neolithic to the Eneolithic as well as changes in faunistic species preferences over time. Based on the presence of domesticated species bones in “closed” archaeological assemblages, the time and the trajectory of the tradition appearance in this vast region are suggested through the analysis of funerary rite development. Materials from the adjacent areas are also used in the analysis.