Excavations of the Kenes burial ground
The Ishim detachment of the North-Kazakhstan archaeological expedition excavated burial mounds near the village of Kenes, Sergeevo district, North-Kazakhstan region, 160 km southwest of the Petropavlovsk. The burial ground consists of five mounds located on the remnant of the first terrace on the left bank of the Ishim River. This is not a typical phenomenon for burial mounds of the Ishim region - usually, mounds occupy areas on high bedrock banks. Two burial mounds have been excavated.
Mound I had an oval mound, elongated along the north-south line, with a diameter of 48-54 m a height of 2 m. The mound's surface was lined with large blocks of white and pink marble. Until now, the population of the surrounding villages extracts stone from this "hill" for household needs. The stones at the base of the embankment were huge (weight up to 60 kg), where they form a powerful ring, making it possible to judge the original dimensions of the structure. A layer of pure clay 0.3-0.5 m thick was traced under the stone covering the entire embankment area. Below is black soil, alternating with layers of brushwood, birch bark and some other organic remains. The number of interlayers is different - in the peripheral parts of the embankment there are three or four, in the central one up to 16. Deflections of the interlayers indicate that the embankment had strongly subsided and had some kind of hollow structures in ancient times. The mound was encircled by an annular ditch 54-58 m in diameter, 1-2 m wide and 1-1.4 m deep. The ditch served to fix a solid wall of large logs, the tops of which were inclined towards the mound.
Under the embankment, at the level of the ancient surface, a polygonal wooden structure with an area of about 530 square meters was cleared. In the peripheral parts of the mound, the construction was laid out of small logs, birch bark, brushwood, and it was not possible to trace it in detail. In the central part, a laying of birch logs with a 30-40 cm diameter was well fixed. The lower layer forms inscribed polygons around the pit with 40-60 cm intervals. They had a continuous flooring of logs, which were laid radially to the center of the barrow. On the radial layout, several more log polygons were traced, repeating the construction of the lower layer. The flooring was made after the burial pit was dug, as the logs lie on the throw. It is possible that the wooden structure above the burial chamber was tent-shaped, from the supporting structures of which several pillar pits were preserved.
The grave, 1.3 m deep, was located in the center of the site and was oriented along the west-north-west-east-southeast line with its long sides. It is difficult to judge the original dimensions of the pit, since it has been badly damaged by a vertical predatory well. A well-preserved section of the dromos (length 5.5 m), which sloped up from the grave chamber to the level of the ancient surface and went beyond the mound at the eastern foot of the mound. The walls of the underground part of the corridor were lined with vertical planks; log remains of the ground structure of the dromos were not preserved.
The grave was completely robbed. Only scattered human bones were found here. Two fragments of ceramics and an oval-shaped stone altar on four legs were found on the ancient surface near the edge of the burial.
Mound II had a diameter of 16 m and a height of 0.4 m. 12 pits of various sizes were found under the embankment. In the center, two graves (depth about 2 m, width 2.7 m, length 3.4 m) were oriented along the northwest-southeast line. The remaining pits were located in a circle in the peripheral part of the embankment. Judging by the nature of the discharge, the burials were made for a long time, and the mound uniting the graves was built at the last stage of the site's functioning. Most of the graves have been robbed. Fragments of human and animal bones and fragments of Petrov (early Alakul) type vessels were found in the pits. Among the three unrobbed burials, grave 1 (2.9*2.5*1.3 m) in the northern part of the mound is of special interest. The buried lay with his head to the west, on his left side, crouched; arms bent at the elbows, hands at the face. At the head was a vessel, next to it was a hill of stones and a log-type knife with an interception. At chest level, a superbly polished stone mace was found, and in the pelvis area, a bronze lamellar knife with an outlined handle, a flat adze, was found. In addition, a bone awl and bones of a sacrificial animal, probably a ram, were found in the burial. Kurgan II is of great interest as one of the earliest monuments of the Andronovo-Srubnaya cultural community.
The expedition also continued excavating a children's burial ground on the Zhabai River near Pokrovka, Tselinograd Region. On 274 sq. m, 90 children's and three adult burials were unearthed. The collection from the monument contains 96 intact Alakul-shaped vessels, two bronze spiral bracelets, bronze and paste beads, and a bronze belt buckle.
In addition, a survey of the lakes of the Presnen and Bulaevo districts of the North Kazakhstan region was carried out along the Ishim and its tributaries (Koluton, Baksuk‚ Kairakty‚ Arshaly) within the Tselinograd region. 12 sites of the Stone Age, nine settlements of the Bronze Age were discovered, dozens of stone enclosures, barrow groups, single barrows were found and examined.