Burial Mounds of the Steppes called Kurgans
A kurgan is a type of burial mound built by several groups of the nomadic people of central Asia, the oldest dating to the Bronze Age. Kurgans are large circular mounds of earth situated in the summer pasture lands, and they were primarily single burials, although they were often reused, with later persons interred alongside the original burial.
The earliest kurgans were made by Scythians in southeastern Europe and the Crimea and contained the remains of chieftains. These kurgans also contained retainers (other people), horses and a variety of portable art. Some, known as tsar kurgans, are very large, up to 100 meters in diameter; but the majority of between 1 and 30 meters in diameter.
Sources
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology, Archaeology Site Types and Archaeology Burial Types.
Davis-Kimball, Jeannine 2008 Asia, Central, Steppes. Pp. 532-553 in the Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Deborah M. Pearsall, editor-in-chief. Elsevier:London.
Khomutova, Tatiana E., et al. 2007 An assessment of changes in properties of steppe kurgan paleosoils in relation to prevailing climates over recent millennia. Quaternary Research 67(3):328-336.
Sprague, Roderick. 2005. Burial Terminology: A guide for researchers. Altamira Press, Lanham, Maryland.
Rakita, Gordon F. M., Jane Buikstra, Lane A. Beck, and Sloan R. Williams(eds). 2005. Interacting with the Dead: Perspectives on Mortuary Archaeology fo the New Millennium. University Press of Florida, Gainsville.
Wright, Joshua 2007 Organizational principles of Khirigsuur monuments in the lower Egiin Gol valley, Mongolia. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 26(3):350-365.
