Жертвенные ритуалы в башнях Маркульского городища: интерпретация результатов археологических исследований
Sacrificial Rituals in the Towers of the Markul Settlement: Interpretation of the Results of Archaeological Research

Summary/Abstract: During excavations at the Markul settlement in the southern tower of Alakhash-abaa in 2018, next to the hearth, under the top layer of the floor, the remains of bones of domestic and wild animals were found, on which there were no traces of either “kitchen” crushing or exposure to fire. In 2019, excavations were carried out in the northern tower, and bones from an almost complete set of two individuals of cattle (Bos Taurus) were also found in it, under a layer of the upper floor, next to the hearth. These two finds are united by the fact that in both cases they were found under a layer of the upper floor, next to the remains of the hearth and inside the tower complexes, that is, they are synchronous. The difference between the finds is in the species and anatomical set of bone remains. In the first case, these are the remains of animal heads, in the second, the remains of two calves. The bones of the calves are crushed, they have traces of kitchen butchering, but they were preserved in rather large fragments, as if they were specially wanted to be preserved. This may indicate the ritual nature of the meat meal, after which the bones must be collected and preserved. Similar customs are recorded by Caucasian ethnography. This article is devoted to an attempt to find an interpretation of these finds, including with the involvement of ethnographic material for those rituals that existed in the Caucasus in antiquity, and some exist to this day.

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