Russian Federation: Barsuchij Log

The grave tumulus of Barsuchij Log, Republic of Khakassia: a large kurgan from the Early Iron Age in the Minusinsk Basin

Studies of Scythian elites in the South Siberian steppe.

Location

Kurgans in the steppe along the middle Enisey river

The kurgan of Barsuchij Log is situated in South Siberia in the Minusinsk Basin which is surrounded by the mountain ranges of the Eastern and Western Sajan and the Kuzneckij Alatau. The tumulus is located in a wide steppe valley c. 45 km northwest of Abakan, capital of the Republic of Khakassia.

Objectives

Burial grounds that were in use for centuries indicate that a large portion of the prehistoric cultures of South and West Siberia consisted of egalitarian societies. However, beginning with the Early Iron Age that was characterized by Scythian material culture, a fundamental change took place. This process started in the ninth/eighth century B.C. with the occurrence of a deep social stratification that was expressed particularly in the building of monumental graves (large kurgans) with richly equipped burial chambers. A long-term project aims to investigate in detail one large kurgan in each main archaeological regions of the Eurasian steppe. 

History of Research

	During the excavation works

Research into the large kurgans of the Iron Age in the Eurasian steppe region was started with the excavations at Bajkara in the North Kazakh forest steppe (1997-1999) and then continued in Arzhan in Northern Tuva (2000-2003). In both cases it became apparent that these monumental graves had been built in stages. It is a particular type of architecture which allows significant observations of the ritual and staging of the burial process and the associated cult practices. In addition, Arzhan produced unique finds. In 2004 the excavation of the large kurgan of Barsuchij Log was started in the Minusinsk Basin, another archaeological province. 

Previous Activities

	Results of the geomagnetic survey

The fieldwork began in 2003 with a first surface survey of the site. In the following years a geophysical survey was carried out on the monument in order to gain first information on the structure of the kurgan and its immediate surroundings as well as on possible burial chambers and other interior constructions. This survey was carried out by DAI archaeologists, scientists of the Institute of Geophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk, and specialists of the Eastern Atlas Meyer & Ullrich GbR in Berlin. In 2004 and 2005 the monument was excavated. 

Current Work

	Exposing the cover of the burial chamber

The final field season is planned for the summer 2006. The excavation will be completed, and subsequently the DAI will participate in the handing over of the site to the local authorities and the proposed preparation of the monument for public presentation. Further details concerning the burial ritual which is so far unique, as well as the exceptional building style of this kurgan will have to be extricated in the process of interpreting the evidence from the excavation. 

Results

	The site after the excavation of the mound
	Gold finds from the looted central grave

The kurgan, about 10 m tall, had a unique pyramidal mound which distinguishes it from all other large Eurasian kurgans. It also had a stone enclosure of about 55 x 55 m including an entrance on the eastern side - features which are characteristic of the Saragas phase of the Tagar culture. The investigations indicated that the kurgan had been built out of grass sods, while its outer coat consisted of orange-red blocks of loam. Thus it would have been visible in the steppe from afar as a pyramid of reddish colour. Two platforms separated by an entrance way (dromos) arose beneath the pyramid. This entrance was built of huge larch beams, around which a layer of birch bark had been wrapped for insulation. Because of its excellent state of preservation, the entrance way allowed for the documentation of numerous building details. Originally it led into a tomb that was also built of wood and covered by birch bark and that rose above the 7 x 7 m burial pit. After the deceased had been buried, this construction was incinerated in order to collapse into the pit, before the kurgan was erected on top of the grave. When around 200 B.C. the bearers of the Tes´-culture entered the Minusinsk Basin, they apparently intentionally opened and ransacked the "royal tombs" of the earlier rulers in this region, as also happened in the case of our kurgan in Barsuchij Log. 

Cooperation

The project is carried out by the Berlin Head Office of the German Archaeological Institute (Prof. Dr. H. Parzinger, Dr. A. Nagler) in cooperation with the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk (Prof. Dr. V.I. Molodin, Dr. N.V. Polos´mak) and the Khakassian State University in Abakan (Dr. A. Gotlib).  

Contact

Dr. phil. Anatoli Nagler

Vor- und Frühgeschichte Zentralasiens und Sibiriens
Telefon: +49(0)30/83008314
Telefax: +49(0)30/83008313
Email: an@dainst.de

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Hermann Parzinger

Vor- und Frühgeschichte
Telefon: 01888-7711-0
Telefax: 01888-7711-190
Email: hp@dainst.de