Eesearch in eastern Kazakhstan

The expedition of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Pedagogical Institute continued research of the Zevakino burial ground, located on the right bank of the Irtysh, in the Shemonaikha district. 28 mounds of different times were unearthed.

The arrangement of graves (quadrangular pits, a stone box, a cist and a wooden frame) in six stone rounded fences and the position of the buried (crouched on the left side, head to the west) is typical for the Andronovo culture of Kazakhstan. The accompanying inventory is monotonous - 13 clay vessels. All of them with a smooth profile line; a continuous ornament (zigzags, triangles, flutes), made with a comb-shaped, less often smooth stamp, covers the upper part of the vessels. A single type of ceramics makes it possible to date the studied burials to the Fedorovo stage.

The inventory from fence 72 B is interesting. The grave was robbed, the buried lay crouched, on his left side, with his head to the northeast. at the head

three crushed vessels and a bronze dagger were found. Pots with rounded shoulders are ornamented along the rim with a row of hatched triangles, on the neck there are Z-shaped figures or a double row of hatched triangles facing each other. Meander-shaped patterns are made on the shoulder with a comb stamp. At the bottom of two vessels, a row of shaded triangles is imprinted with their vertices up. The found dagger is leaf-shaped, with a flat stem, oval protrusions of the crosshairs and a rib on the blade. This type of petiolate daggers is widespread in the monuments of the Srubnaya and Andronovo cultures. Most researchers attribute them to the Alakul stage.

The discovery of the Alakul dagger with Fedorovo utensils allows us to suggest the possible coexistence of these stages. Interestingly, a similar combination of Fedorovo-type vessels with a Seima spearhead was recorded by E. A. Fedorova-Davydova in the Orenburg region. With the accumulation of material, the hypothesis of the relative synchronism of the Fedorovo and Alakul stages finds more and more supporters.

In the central part of the burial ground, five fences were excavated containing six graves, where five bronze knives, a clay vessel, a bone spindle whorl, a bronze diadem, an argillite clasp and a bronze ring were found. The inventory from the burials allows them to be dated to the 8th-7th centuries BC.

For the first time, a jar with a painting was found in the Zevakino barrows of early nomads (3rd-1st centuries BC). The drawing is applied on the upper part of the vessel with red mineral paint.

Homogeneous inventory (vessels, weapons, horse harness and jewelry) from the so-called "long mounds," which were Kimak family tombs, allows them to be dated to the 9th-11th centuries AD.

Noteworthy is the discovery of Chinese coins (4 copies) in two burial mounds. Coins were minted during the Tang Dynasty.