UDC 903.5

S. P. Kovtun

Izhevsk State Technical University

7 Studencheskaya St., Izhevsk, 426069, Russia

E-mail: philosoph@istu.ru

The article provides a reconstruction of the social structure of the population of the Upper Kama region in the Early Middle Ages. The article presents the results of statistical and combinatorial analysis of materials of funerary monuments of the Nevolinsky culture of the IV-IX centuries, which were not previously considered as sources of social research. Using formalized statistical operations and comparative analysis, the dynamics of the numerical composition and degree of polarization of social groups (strata) in the structure of society, as well as elements of the funeral rite that mark the social status of individuals, were revealed. The materials of ethnographic research made it possible to link the social status of the buried during their lifetime with its ritual and mythological expression.

Keywords: funeral rite, social structure, statistical-combinatorial analysis, chronological groups, gender and age groups, social strata, socioinformativity.

Introduction

The result of the Great Migration to the Upper Kama region was the appearance of new ethno-cultural associations in the second half of the first millennium AD, which formed the basis of the historically known Uralic peoples. The successful study of the ethnic history of the Kama region paved the way for the reconstruction of the social organization of the peoples living there. The picture of their social development has so far been considered fragmentally in the context of solving other research problems. The lack of written sources directly related to the population of the Kama region of the first millennium AD, actualizes the problem of a comprehensive study of the socioinformative capabilities of various archaeological sites. This article is devoted to the social analysis of the funeral rite of the population of the Upper Kama region of the IV-IX centuries. and research of socio-informative opportunities of burial grounds of the Nevolinsky culture.

The significance of funerary monuments for solving sociological problems was considered by a number of archaeologists of the St. Petersburg and Moscow schools (Masson, 1976; Melnik, 1993; Olkhovsky, 1995). There is no doubt about the value of this type of source. In this case, it is necessary to find out the level and features of the socioinformative potential of Verkhnekamsk burial grounds in connection with the specific historical conditions of their appearance and functioning. Important tasks are: selection of the most socioinformative features; identification of markers of the social status of the buried during their lifetime; determination of the presence, nature and depth of social differentiation of the population that left the ancient necropolises; consideration of the evolution of the social structure during the period of cultural existence (IV-IX centuries).

page 44

Fig. 1. Map-layout of burial grounds of the Nevolinsky culture.

1-Gorbunyatsky; 2-near the lake. 3-Zaborsky; 4 - Kalashnikovsky; 5-Kurmanaevsky; 6-Spassky; 7-Brodovsky; 8-Plekhanovsky; 9-Nevolinsky; 10 - Bartymsky; 11 - Verkh-Sain; 12 - Kopchikovsky; 13 - Klyapovsky; 14 - Sukhoi Log; 15 - Ust-Igrinsky.

Sources, their ethnocultural features, research method, results of data formalization

Burial grounds of the Nevolinsky culture were selected for the study: Brodovsky IV-V centuries, Verkhsainsky VI-IX centuries, Nevolinsky VII-IX centuries, located in the Middle Urals, on the western slope of the main ridge. In the basin of the Sylva River (tributary of the Kama River) there are monuments Brodovsky and Nevolinsky, in the middle course of the Shakva River (tributary of the Sylva River) - Verkh-Sainsky (Fig.

It is generally assumed that migrants from the forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia, mainly Russian-speaking by origin, and the local Glyadenov population (ancient Permians) took part in the formation of the Nevolinsky culture. According to R. D. Goldina's opinion, which is shared by most researchers of the history of the Urals, the assimilation of newcomers by the Glyadenov population led to the emergence in the IV-VI centuries of new archaeological cultures - Nevolinsky (the Sylva basin), Polomskaya (the right bank of the Cheptsy River) and Lomovatovskaya (the Northern coast of the Kama River). Prikamye) [1998, p. 106]. Their carriers later participated in the ethnogenesis of the Prakomi-Permyaks (Nevolintsy and lomovatovtsy) and Praudmurts (Polomtsy).

"Burial grounds of the Nevolinsky type at an early stage are burial mounds, since the 7th century - non-burial mounds. Burials are made according to the type of corpse placement. Burials are mostly solitary, but there are also known collective burials. Inventory is diverse: jewelry, weapons, horse harness" [Ibid., pp. 106-108]. The Nevolinsky, Verkhsainsky, and Brodovsky burial grounds - the most preserved, representative, and studied monuments of the Nevolinsky culture-were analyzed using descriptive statistics. They are significant in terms of the number of burials (a total of 448 ground graves, of which 185 are on Verkh - Sayinsky and 263 on Nevolinsky). 108 mounds with 142 burials were excavated in the Upper Sayinsky necropolis. Brodovsky burial mound (51 mounds, 108 burials). There are anthropological definitions of the sex and age of many buried people. R. D. Goldina's development of the chronology of the inventory of burial complexes [1978, 1987, 1991] and E. V. Goldina's development of the bead material [2002] make the materials of monuments representative of statistical and combinatorial operations that are widely used in Russian archeology in solving problems of a sociological plan [Gening and Borzunov, 1975; Gening et al., 1990].

The method of statistical-combinatorial analysis proposed by V. F. Gening and V. A. Borzunov [1975] is ideally suited for comparing single-cultural monuments, it is quite simple and effective in application, which led to its use in this study.

Each monument was considered as an object with a number of characteristics (Gening et al., 1990, pp. 42-72). However, even at the first stage of reconstruction - when choosing socially significant artifacts - difficulties arose due to the cultural and historical conditions of the formation of burial grounds. So, the time of creation and functioning of monuments covers a long period. The processes of integration and assimilation of newcomers by the autochthonous peoples of the Kama region in the second half of the first millennium AD, studied by R. D. Goldina (1998, 1999), can be divided into three stages::

The first is the end of the fourth and sixth centuries, when new archaeological cultures, in particular the Nevolinsky culture, emerged under the influence of the peoples of the steppe and forest-steppe world of Eurasia;

the second - the end of the VII-middle of the VIII century. - the weakening of the influence of the Iranian world and the penetration of Ugric and Turkic-speaking groups of Proto-Kangars and early Bulgarians into the territory under consideration;

page 45
the third - IX century - the formation of the state of Volga Bulgaria in the new ethno-political situation and the extinction of the Nevolinsky culture.

Such ethnopolitical contacts, as history shows, often contributed to the decomposition of traditional social relations and the development of social stratification among ancient peoples. However, the material of the burial grounds under study, at first glance, demonstrates a certain uniformity of structural elements of the funerary monument as a traditional household object*. This allows us to put forward an assumption about the homogeneity of the society itself. The absence of pronounced sepulchral structures of the seventh and ninth centuries, the metric characteristics of burial mounds of the fourth and sixth centuries, and the simplicity of the construction of burial structures throughout the entire period of operation of burial grounds - all this reduces the significance of labor costs characteristics, which are traditionally taken into account by many researchers in the social interpretation of burials**. In this case, the criteria for systematization and classification of the features of the funeral rite can be formulated on the basis of the principle of symbolic determinism***, which requires the use of ethnographic data that reconstructs the burial ceremony.

The Udmurts, whose ancestors inhabited the Middle Kama region since ancient times, are a people who shared genetic roots with the Komi-Permian ethnic group. The funeral rite of the Udmurts of the XVI-XIX centuries is well studied by ethnographers (Vladykin, 1994; Shutova, 1991a, b; Ivanova, 1991). According to M. G. Ivanova and N. I. Shutova, it reflects the stabilization of many common elements of the funeral ritual of the entire Finnish-speaking population of the Kama region in the late IV century BC-XIX century AD [Ivanova, 1991, p. 49; Shutova, 1991a, p. 183-184]. Consequently, ethnographic evidence describing the burial customs of the Udmurts can be used as additional data on the funeral rite of the Nevolins in the selection of signs and interpretation of their meaning.

According to ethnographers, the medieval Udmurts perceived the cemetery as a settlement of the dead and looked like such [Shutova, 1991b, p. 6]. Burials of patronymic members form rows that usually contain female, male, and child burials. The planigraphy of burial grounds testifies to the antiquity and universality of the idea of the peoples of the Kama region about the need to bury their relatives - members of the patronymic group-in one row, closer to each other [Ibid., p. 7]. On the Nevolinsky burial grounds of the VI-IX centuries. graves are also arranged in rows, in each 4-14 burials. When burying the dead, they were covered with birch bark or laid on a bed of planks. The remains of wooden structures and birch bark coverings were preserved in burial grounds of the IV-IX centuries very poorly, so they cannot be taken into account in formal analysis.

According to I. N. Smirnov, "the Udmurts viewed death as a transition to another life, where a person preserves his nature, habits and environment" [1890, pp. 184-185]. Consequently, it was the burial inventory that could reflect the real social role of the individual. Since funerary complexes differ little in the types of funerary property, the descriptions of artifacts traditionally taken into account in the analysis were supplemented with data on the number of items of the same type in the grave, their place relative to the buried, and material.

The selected 193 features were divided into categories: size and complexity of burial structures (ground or burial mounds); orientation of graves and mounds; biological characteristics of the buried; burial equipment and sacrificial complexes. The funerary set of items was divided according to the characteristics that characterize the type, quantity, material, place in the grave relative to the skeleton. The task was to select socioinformative features from the presented list. It was solved using statistical operations of summary and comparative analysis of the burial rite of burial grounds, chronological and gender-age groups.

Comparative analysis of chronological and gender-age groups of burials

A comparison of the elements of the funeral rite reflected on different monuments allowed us to establish a high degree of similarity between burial grounds (80 %), as well as ground and mound burials (87.9%) [Kovtun and Nelyubina, 2006, p.25]. The results obtained indicate the stability of the mythological traditions of the population that left the monuments****.

To identify the evolution of the funeral rite and determine whether there is any connection between changes in the funeral rite and the main stages of ethnopolitical interactions in the region,

* For the structure of the funerary monument, see [Melnik, 1993, pp. 95-96].

** For the first time in Russian archaeology, this approach was justified by V. N. Masson [1976, p. 149-150].

*** Status of items that act as symbols.

**** We have published the results of a comparative analysis of Nevolinsky burial grounds and their justification, see: [Kovtun and Nelyubina, 2006, pp. 14-28].

page 46

2. Distribution of the main categories of inventory in chronological groups of burials of Nevolinsky burial grounds.

This was achieved through a comparative analysis of the chronological groups of burials. It was carried out on the basis of formal and typological definitions of burials given by R. D. Goldina [Goldina R. D., Vodolago, 1990, pp. 90-94, 162-173] for burials of the IV-V, VI, VII, VIII and IX centuries.

All burials for which there are chronological definitions were divided into groups: 1-IV-V centuries-93 burial mounds of Brodovsky burial ground; 2-VI century-42 burial mounds and 4 non-burial mounds of Verkhsainsky, as well as the non-burial mound of Nevolinsky; 3-VII century-28 ground burials of Nevolinsky, as well as 16 burial mounds. and 5 ground burials of Verkhnyaya Sain; 4-VIII c. -90 ground burials and burial mounds of Verkhnyaya Sain, as well as 31 burial mounds of Nevolinsky; 5-IX c. - burial mounds and 21 ground burials of Verkhnyaya Sain and 5 ground burials of Nevolinsky burial ground.

The absolute degree of similarity between burials of different chronological periods turned out to be low - 45.3 %, which indicates the dynamics of burial traditions. The largest number of specific features were identified for burials of the IV-V and VIII centuries. For burials of the early stage of the culture, these are the characteristics of labor costs for the construction of the burial (the size of mounds and graves), at the late stage-signs reflecting the presence and set of inventory (Fig. 2). Grouping of signs revealed some common dimensions for the entire culture of graves of the VI century: depth 69 - 87 cm, length 158 - 199 and 200 cm. - 241 cm; width 73 - 102 cm. These parameters are close to the size of the burials of the Udmurts of the XVI-XIX centuries [Shutova, 1991b, p. 9]. This allows us to consider them a certain standard for the funeral rite of the medieval inhabitants of the Kama region. Graves that exceed the norm in size are a feature of the group of IV-V centuries. The latitudinal orientation of graves and mounds is most characteristic of the IV-V centuries, while the western and southern orientation of skeletons is most characteristic. In the VI-VII centuries there was a change of orientation. By the seventh century, the orientation of the skeletons to the east became predominant. In the IX century. the ancient custom of burying the dead with their heads to the west has once again become the most widespread. Thus, as the results of a comparative analysis of chronological groups show, significant changes in the characteristics of the funeral rite occurred in the IV-VI and VIII-IX centuries, which coincides with the moments of interaction of the ancient Permians with the Ugric and Turkic-speaking groups (late VII-mid VIII centuries). Consequently, there was a clear correlation between the formation of funerary traditions and the main periods of ethnic migration processes in the Upper Kama region.

The next stage of the study is a comparative analysis of gender and age groups. Children's and adult burials by all sets of signs of ob-

Table 1.

Grouping of burials of the Brodovsky burial ground of the IV-V centuries by social and gender-age characteristics of those buried

Burials

Men's

Female

Adults

Childish

Total

quantity

%

quantity

%

quantity

%

quantity

%

quantity

%

Total

21

100

26

100

47

100

12

100

59

100

Ordinary low-income people aged 15-55 (group 1)

11

52,4

13

50,0

24

51,1

5

41,7

29

49,2

Ordinary men 30-60 years old; women 20-50 years old (group 2)

7

33,3

6

23,1

13

27,7

-

-

13

22,0

Military leaders aged 30-45 and noble women aged 25-50 and children (group 3)

3

14,3

5

19,2

8

17,0

2

16,7

10

16,9

Non-eventful ones

-

-

2

7,7

2

4,3

5

41,7

7

11,9

page 47
they show a low degree of similarity - 25 %. Between male and female burials, the average degree of similarity in the totality of features is also low - 30.4 %.

Thus, formal analysis of burials was carried out using samples of burials of men, women and children. It included the calculation of the coefficients of mutual occurrence of burial features (see: [Gening et al., 1990, p. 98]) and the graphical expression of the obtained regularities. As a result, it was possible to identify the most sociodifferentiating categories and signs: for men's burials - different types of weapons, for women - individual types of jewelry and their number. The graphs were divided into components containing bundles of the most interdependent features, represented as ideal models of male, female, and child burial groups (three for each sample). According to the models obtained, the burials were divided into three main groups (Tables 1-3). They differed in number and

Table 2.

Grouping of burials of the Upper Sayinsky burial ground of the VI-IX centuries by social and gender-age characteristics of the buried

Burials

Men's

Female

Adults

Childish

Total

quantity

%

quantity

%

quantity

%

quantity

%

quantity

%

Total

52

100

66

100

118

100

6

100

124

100

Rank and file of the poor (Group 1)

31

59,6

38

57,6

69

58,5

-

-

69

55,6

Including:

16-45 years old or age unknown (1a)

6

11,5

7

10,6

13

11,0

-

-

13

10,5

18-25 years old or age unknown (1b)

15

28,8

14

21,2

29

24,6

-

-

29

23,4

30-35 years of women; 40-50 years of men or age not determined (1b)

10

19,2

17

25,7

27

22,9

-

-

27

21,8

Middle-income rank-and-file (Group 2)

13

25

20

30,3

33

28,0

2

33,3

35

28,2

Including:

16-30 years old or age unknown (2a)

10

19,2

9

13,6

19

16,1

2

33,3

21

16,9

30-50 years or age unknown (2b)

3

5,8

11

16,7

14

11,9

-

-

14

11,3

VI-VII centuries. (2b)

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Nobility, well-to-do (group 3)

6

11,5

7

10,6

13

11,0

3

50,0

16

12,9

Non-eventful ones

2

3,8

1

1,5

3

2,5

1

16,7

4

3,2

Table 3.

Grouping of burials of the Nevolinsky burial ground of the VI-IX centuries by social and gender-age characteristics of those buried

Burials

Men's

Female

Adults

Childish

Total

quantity

%

quantity

%

quantity

%

quantity

%

quantity

%

Total

83

100

119

100

202

100

6

100

208

100

Ordinary poor (group 1)

49

59,0

65

54,6

114

56,4

-

-

114

54,8

Including:

20-35 years old or undetermined age (1 a)

6

7,2

17

14,3

23

11,4

-

-

23

11,1

18-40 years or undetermined age (1b)

23

27,7

31

26,1

54

26,7

-

-

54

26

30-35 years of women, 40-50 years of men or age not determined (1b)

20

24,1

17

14,3

37

18,3

-

-

37

17,8

Middle-income rank-and-file (Group 2)

24

28,9

40

33,6

64

31,7

3

50

67

32,2

Including:

20-40 years or undetermined age (2a)

8

9,6

20

16,8

28

13,9

3

-

31

14,9

30-50 years or age unknown (2b)

12

14,5

20

16,8

32

15,8

-

-

32

15,4

VI-VII centuries. (2b)

4

4,8

-

-

4

2

-

-

4

1,9

Nobility, well-to-do (group 3)

9

10,8

12

10,6

21

10,4

3

50

24

11,5

Non-eventful ones

1

1,2

2

1,7

3

1,5

-

-

3

1,4

page 48

3. Distribution of the most rare ornaments in the chronological groups of Nevolinsky burial grounds.

a set of funerary equipment, in some cases - by the size of graves. Based on the provision on the reflection of the social status of the deceased in life in the rite of burial [Dobrolyubsky, 1982; Masson. 1976; Binford, 1971; Saxe, 1971], groups were defined as social strata.

Sociological analysis of burials

The main socio-economic unit of the marriage and family structure of the Kama peoples in the III-V centuries, according to R. D. Goldina, was a large patriarchal family, which remained until the end of the first millennium AD. " Burial grounds of this time often contain burials of members of the same community and are relatively small "(Goldina, 1999, p. 257). All this allows us to consider Nevolinsky monuments as communal cemeteries and to assume that the differences between burial groups established in the course of formal analysis reflect the differentiation within the community.

At different stages of the culture's existence, the selected strata manifested themselves differently - they had different specific weights (see Tables 1-3). In the burial grounds of the IV-VI centuries, Group 1 burials predominate, which are characterized by a minimal set of things and the absence of the most prestigious items: weapons in the graves of men, rare types of jewelry in the graves of women (Fig. 3). The deceased strata 1 were accompanied only by the most necessary items that were integral elements of the general cultural tradition of burial-symbols the otherworldly well-being of the deceased, regardless of his social status. These are fragments of ceramic dishes, knives, and occasionally one or two types of jewelry (beads or piercing). Male burials feature buckles and belt tips. The custom of placing these types of equipment in graves among the Kama population persisted until ethnographic modernity [Ivanova, 1991, p. 49].

Group 2 of the IV-VI centuries includes men's burials, which contain a set of Group 1 equipment, as well as bone arrowheads. Localization of arrowheads in the area of the bones of the pelvis and legs of the buried (in some graves of later times there were also quivers for arrows) gives grounds for the assumption of the deceased's lifetime professional activity (hunting, military security activities). The special status of individuals of group 2 among ordinary community members is also indicated by the length of their graves, which exceeds the norm - more than 241 cm. This group also included women's burials with a set of equipment that was localized in a certain place: beads or piercings were located in the area of the thoracic region or leg bones (3-5 copies), buckles (up to 3 copies), knives - the right femur or knee, and fragments of ceramics - the bones of the legs or head.

Markers of group 3 burials of the IV-VI centuries, regardless of the sex of the deceased, were the length and depth of graves exceeding the norm, as well as the length of mound grooves. A typical set of men's funerary items is a blade, bone arrowheads (in the area of the pelvis and leg bones) and horse harness items. In the graves of women, in addition to the traditional set of things, rare objects were found - gold pendants, a spinning wheel, an awl, and sometimes arrowheads (1 copy each), which were most often located in the thoracic region. In general, the groups of burials of the IV-VI centuries differ only slightly in the amount of funerary equipment. However, the specific composition of the clothing set (expanding the range of items) of Group 3 burials allows us to distinguish them from the main mass and interpret them as burials of notable persons. The status of men of this stratum in the IV-VI centuries, judging by the sets of funeral equipment, was determined by their leading role in military activities.

The specificity of the groups of the seventh and ninth centuries is shown in the set and quantity of accompanying inventory. Group 1 burials have the same characteristics as at the previous stage. In the seventh century, spears were added to arrowheads and individual belt details in the burials of Group 2 men.

Among the burials of the VIII-IX centuries, in comparison with the previous chronological periods, the highest proportion of burials of social stratum 2 (43.3 % - VIII century and 46.9 % - IX century). The deceased were buried with a set of equipment that most fully reflects the ideas of needs

page 49
an individual in the other world. Archaeological indicators of Group 2 of the 7th-9th centuries are stable, repetitive features that form the basis of funerary traditions of the autochthonous population of the Kama region. For example, horse-shaped pendants in women's graves are associated with the cult of the horse, which is a symbol of women and a mediator between the human world and the water element of the other world (Vladykin, 1994, p.89). The most important attribute of individuals and strata 2 and 3 was the belt. The semantic status of the belt in the Udmurt costume of the XVI-XIX centuries was determined by its connection with the center of the human body. It was believed that the belt had protective properties: removing it, the person left the society. Perhaps the belt was a marker of the age status of the initiated individual and his social maturity. The belt and axe were attributes of a warrior-vigilante among many peoples - Khazars, Avars, etc. [Pletneva, 1993, p. 167]. Based on similar ethnographic parallels, male burials of group 2 with a stable combination of features (axe and arrowheads (up to 7 copies), objects for making fire, and some details of the belt (most often buckles)) they were interpreted as graves of warriors and hunters of mature age. The correctness of this interpretation is confirmed by anthropological definitions of the age of the deceased available for some burials (16-50 years). Apparently, in the VIII-IX centuries. some community members have more opportunities to express their mythological ideas about the social role of the individual in the funeral rite. These opportunities were probably prepared by changes in both the cultural and economic spheres: the Upper Kama peoples, due to their ethnic consolidation in the face of opposition to Ugric and Turkic-speaking newcomers, finally formed a mythological picture of the world, developed a complex economy, trade exchange and craft production*.

Coins, including silver ones, were found in many burials of well-to-do women, as well as in the graves of the upper classes of society. Silver coins, glass and stone beads, belt sets were brought from Byzantium and Khorezm. Permian traders exchanged them for honey, furs, and wax [Goldina R. D., 1999, p. 391]. The presence of silver coins and other imported items in the graves of women may indicate that representatives of strata 2 and 3 were involved in trade exchanges and gives grounds to identify them as well-off members of the community who had access to handicraft products. In terms of prestige and symbolic meaning, coins in the afterlife could replace a set of other decorations, to which they were inferior in practical significance in real life**. According to N. I. Shutova, who studied the customs of the Udmurts of the XVI-XIX centuries, in some cases a silver coin was thrown into the grave in exchange for metal ornaments removed from the deceased. It was necessary, firstly, to "buy a place", secondly, to buy off the devil, who would torment a person after death for living on earth for a long time, and, thirdly, coins meant well-being both in the real and in the afterlife. In some graves of the 7th-8th centuries, coins are presented in combination with one or two other objects. In our opinion, such burials, despite the scanty set of inventory, can also be identified as burials of community members of social rank 2, if there are other signs (for example, the size of graves) that mark this status. It is quite possible that not only coins, but also other ornaments of high semiotic status (for example, pendants, especially zoomorphic ones, belt ornaments) could replace other parts of the costume. If we accept such an assumption, then women's burials of group 3 of the IV-VI centuries can be considered as burials of noble women, despite the scanty accompanying inventory.

A characteristic feature of burials of the highest social stratum (group 3) of the VIII-IX centuries is the overload of objects necessary for the burial ritual. For example, women's burials are overly decorated. Pendants, bracelets, and beads were also found in the graves of men. More than seven arrowheads were found in their graves. All the rare objects - metal pots, remains of gold and silver masks, mirrors, cloth with silver inserts - were found in the graves of group 3. Different in mythological and practical meanings, they could express one cultural meaning-the desire for individualization of individual representatives of society. In traditional cultures, where the algorithm of behavior of members of society is uniform and strictly defined, the presence of signs of individualism is proof of the stratification of society. The large size of graves is a sign of the special attitude of relatives to the deceased. Sabers in combination with other weapons mark the high position of their owners in the military hierarchy. It can be assumed that migrations of Ugric and Turkic-speaking groups of Proto-Hungarians and early Bulgarians in the late 7th - early 8th centuries. they also contributed to increasing the role of military leaders and their capture of key positions in activities related to the development of crafts and crafts.

* For these changes, see: [Goldina R. D., 1999, pp. 381-392].

** For the ideas of medieval Udmurts about the practical significance of coins in the afterlife, see [Shutova, 1991b, pp. 14-15].

page 50
trade exchange. Male burials of this stratum often contain two belts. In the VI-VII and IX centuries, the top of society was approximately the same in composition - 11.7 and 11.6%, respectively. In the IV-V centuries. it had the maximum specific gravity (see Table 1). The burials of its representatives dating from the eighth century are somewhat smaller (8.6%) than those of other periods, but they are the richest.

Children's burials are also divided into three groups, but it would be wrong to identify them with groups of adults. As a comparative analysis by age group showed, the society that left the burial grounds under study in the IV-IX centuries developed an idea of the unequal social roles of children and adults in the afterlife, which led to differences in the burial rite. In addition, the invariance of children's burials to a greater extent than that of adults could be due to the age factor. It can be assumed that the set of funerary equipment of a child changed depending on the degree of its involvement in social practice, which was associated with the process of its biological maturation and gradual entry into the life of its social group. Therefore, the graves of children of different ages, despite their parents ' belonging to the same rank group, could not be the same in terms of the composition of things. It is possible that the burial of a teenager who was initiated and participated in some types of adult activities (economic, military) was different from the burial of an infant who did not participate in social practice. Conversely, children who belonged to different social strata by origin could be buried in a similar way, if the degree of their participation in the life of society, corresponding to age, was the same.

Non-essential burials, the size of which is less than a certain norm, could belong to infants, and burials with things of two or three types (most often with temporal pendants and beads or penetrations and clay vessels) - to children of pre-adult age. Adolescence began, apparently, from the moment of initiation and did not depend on the biological criterion. This is evidenced by the presence of inventory in all burials of children older than six years. However, the children's burials of groups 2 and 3 apparently had not only an age, but also a status character: they included burials of children of different ages-from infants to seven or eight years old. All the children were buried in graves that were significantly longer or deeper than the norm, with items from adult burial sites in Group 2. In the burials of adolescent boys aged 10-12 years (group 3), there was a set of equipment typical of the male burials of group 2 of the VIII-IX centuries.

Thus, in the VIII-IX centuries, having preserved their biological foundations, the gender and age division turned out to be associated with the social role functions of individuals, their hereditary belonging to a particular social stratum.

Conclusion

As a result of the study, the three-stage structure of the ancient Permian society of the IV-IX centuries was reconstructed, which corresponds to the trichotomous model of the Finno-Ugric world of the Kama region, the structure-forming principle of which was man himself [Vladykin, 1994, p. 65]. The funerary rite of the bearers of the Nevolinsky culture reflects gender, age, property, rank and potestar differentiation.

In the IV-VI centuries, the division into three groups reflected mainly professional-rank and potestar differentiation, which occurred on a military-political basis. If the property wealth of the whole society was uniform, the rank of the buried person was expressed primarily through labor costs.

In the seventh and eighth centuries, the ratio of different strata changed. Among ordinary community members, there were signs of property differentiation. The boundaries between social strata have become clearer due to the expansion of the inventory set in graves, which makes it possible to identify some age groups. The division of the ordinary population into two social strata, as well as their fragmentation into several layers (see Tables 1-3), are the consequences of two processes: the first is the allocation of the poorest part and the most affluent, which occupied an intermediate position between the ordinary population and the top of society (groups 1 and 2, respectively); the second is the division into some subgroups (1f, 1b and 1b, as well as 2a and 2b) reflected not only rank, but also age differentiation of society, and among male burials - professional. This is evidenced by the different functional purpose of items marking graves, for which the age of the deceased is determined.

By the ninth century, the middle social stratum became predominant. Burials at the top of professional-rank and potestar structures in the VIII-IX centuries are characterized by some signs of individuality. The presence of items that were brought to the Upper Kama region and exported from it by the Permians who were developing the Volga-Baltic trade route at that time [Goldina R. D., 1999, p.391] in the graves of men of stratum 3 indicates their active role not only in military security activities, but also in organizing trade exchange. Management and PR activities-

page 51
the organization of trade exchange contributed to the concentration of prestigious values in the hands of representatives of the highest stratum and the allocation of management bodies on a plutocratic basis.

The formation of the social structure of the population of the Upper Kama region occurred in connection with ethnic consolidation and the need to defend their ethno-cultural identity in the face of complex migration and political processes. Social strata differed not so much in terms of the level of labor costs for burial or the richness of burial equipment, but in the degree to which a stable mythological tradition of the funeral rite was followed. Evidence for the stratification of the early medieval society of the Upper Kama region is that burials differ in the degree of following the mythological tradition by individual social groups, depending on the time and historical situation. In general, the social structure of the Upper Kama population of the second half of the first millennium AD was based on the same structuring principles as the mythological picture of the world. This was symbolically expressed in the common traditions of the funeral rite of the Finnish-speaking ethnic formations of the Middle Ages.

List of literature

Vladykin V. E. Religious and mythological picture of the Udmurt world. Izhevsk: Udmurtia Publ., 1994, 383 p.

Gening V. F., Borzunov V. A. Methods of statistical processing, characteristics and comparative analysis of the funeral rite // Questions of archeology of the Urals. Sverdlovsk: Publishing House of the Ural State University, 1975. 13. - p. 42-72.

Gening V. F., Bunyatyan E. P., Pustovalov S. Zh., Rynkov N. A. Formalized statistical methods in archeology (Analysis of funeral monuments) - Kiev: Nauk. dumka Publ., 1990, 304 p. (in Russian)

Sotsial'no-istoricheskie i metodologicheskie problemy drevnoi istorii Prikamya [Socio-historical and methodological problems of the ancient history of the Kama region]. - Izhevsk: Publishing house "Udmurt University", 2002. - p. 82-103.

Goldina R. D. Khronologiya pogrebal'nykh kompleksov rannego srednevekovya v Verkhny Prikamye [Chronology of burial complexes of the Early Middle Ages in the Upper Kama region].

Goldina R. D. Problemy etnicheskoi istorii permskikh narodov v epokhu zheleznogo (po arkheologicheskim materialam) [Problems of the Ethnic history of Perm peoples in the Age of Iron (based on archaeological materials)]. -research. Institute of the Council of Ministers of the Udmurt SSR, 1987, pp. 6-36.

Goldina R. D. O datirovke i periodizatsii nevolinskoy kul'tury [On dating and periodization of the Nevolinskoi culture]. - Ижевск: Удмурт. Institute of History, Language and Literature. UrORAN, 1991, pp. 167-192.

Goldina R. D. Osnovnye itogi izucheniya drevnoi istorii Komi-permyakskogo naroda po arkheologicheskim dannym [The main results of studying the ancient history of the Komi-Permyak people based on archaeological data]. Perm: Perm State University, 1998, pp. 95-119.

Goldina R. D. Ancient and medieval history of the Udmurt people. - Izhevsk: Publishing house "Udmurt University", 1999. - 464 p.

Goldina R. D., Vodolago N. V. Burial grounds of the Nevolinsky culture in the Urals. Irkutsk: Publishing House of the Irkutsk State University, 1990, 176 p.

Dobrolyubsky A. O. On the principles of sociological reconstruction based on the funeral rite data // Theory and methods of archaeological research. - Kiev: Nauk. dumka Publ., 1982, pp. 4-6.

Ivanova M. G. Pogrebal'nyj obryad severnykh udmurtov XVI-XIX vv. [Funeral rite of the northern Udmurts of the XVI-XIX centuries]. - Ижевск: Удмурт. Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ural Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1991. - P. 35-55.

Kovtun S. I., Nelyubina I. V. Comparative analysis of the funeral rite of burial grounds of the Nevolinsky culture as the first stage of social research: problems of formalization of data using a computer. IzhSTU-Special Issue, 2006, No. 1, pp. 14-28.

Masson V. M., Economy and social structure of ancient societies (in light of the evidence of archaeology). L: Nauka Publ., 1976, 297 p. (in Russian)

Melnik, V. I., Funerary Custom and Funerary Monument, RA, 1993, No. 1, pp. 94-97.

Olkhovskiy V. S. Pogrebal'naia obryadnost ' i sotsiologicheskie rekonstruktsii [Funeral rituals and sociological reconstructions].

Pletneva S. A. Vozmozhnosti vyyavleniya sotsial'no-ekonomicheskikh kategorii po materialam pogrebal'noi obryadnosti [Possibilities of identifying socio-economic categories based on the materials of funeral rituals].

Smirnov I. N. Votyaki. Istoriko-etnograficheskiy ocherk [Historical and ethnographic essay]. Department of Archeology, History and Ethnography at Kazan State University. un-te. - Kazan, 1890. - Vol. VIII, issue 2.

Shutova N. I. Nekotorye itogi izucheniya pogrebal'nykh traditsii naseleniya Prikamya kontsa IV vv. B.C.-XIX vv. A.D. [Some results of studying the funeral traditions of the population of the Kama region in the late IV century BC-XIX century AD]. - Ижевск: Удмурт. Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ural Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1991a, pp. 181-184.

Shutova N. I. Pogrebal'nyj obryad udmurtov XVI-XIX vv. [Funeral rite of the Udmurts of the XVI-XIX centuries]. - Ижевск: Удмурт. Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ural Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1991b. - p. 4-22.

Binford L.R. Mortuary Practices: Theire Study and Thaire Potential // Memoirs of the Society for American Archaelogy. -1971. - N25. - P. 6 - 29.

Saxe A. Social Dimensions of Mortuary Practices in a Mesolitic Population fromWadi Haifa // Memoirs of the Society for American Archeology. - 1971. - N25. - P. 39 - 57.

The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 29.06.07.

page 52

© elibrary.org.cn

Permanent link to this publication:

https://elibrary.org.cn/m/articles/view/ON-THE-SOCIAL-STRUCTURE-OF-THE-EARLY-MEDIEVAL-POPULATION-OF-THE-UPPER-KAMA-REGION-based-on-the-materials-of-the-Nevolinsky-burial-grounds-of-the-IV-IX-centuries