Excavations of Ak-toprak burial ground

The expedition detachment of the Karaganda Museum of Local Lore was excavating the burial ground, which occupied the eastern slope of the hill on the right bank of the Aksu River, 12 km northeast of the central estate of the "Budyonny" state farm, Ulyanovsk district, Karaganda region. The burial ground, which consisted of nine fences and two mounds, has been completely excavated.

The fences are rectangular (2, 5, 6, 8), oval (4, 9), square (7), measuring 2.5-5*1.75-4.5 m. Fence 5 had an extension on the north side. In the center of fences 2, 5, 7-9 there were ground-type boxes built from 4-10 stone slabs. Previously, a platform was cut out in the turf, where the slabs were placed, which were then lined with turf on all sides. Sod facing was protected by vertically placed slabs, forming a fence. In fences 4 and 6, stone cist was inserted into earth pits lined with slabs laid flat in one or three rows. All the graves had a transverse overlap of slabs. Burials, as a rule, are single, made according to the rite of burial; in fence 4, the burial was apparently a double burial. All boxes oriented along the west-east line (fences 5, 7, 9), with deviations to the south (fences 2, 6, 8) or north (fence 4), were robbed. The funeral rite and inventory of these fences find analogies in the monuments of the Begazy-Dandybai type.

In fences 1 and 3 (oval and round) 3*2 and 3*3 m in size, built from slabs laid flat, burials were made in soil pits (1.8*1*0.65 and 1.2*0.8* 0.35 m) in a crouched position on the right side, head to the south-southwest. A vessel was placed in front of the faces of the burials. In fence 1, the second vessel stood at the foot of the grave. The accompanying inventory and the rite of burial of these burial structures are similar to those recorded in the final bronze of the Urals and Kazakhstan monuments.

Under stone mounds with a diameter of 9 m and a height of 0.15-0.25 m, burials were found with a southern and eastern orientation, accompanied by fragments of a vessel, bronze, bone and paste decorations and fragments of iron products.