Research in the northeastern Aral Sea region
The Dzhetyasar detachment of the Khorezm expedition of the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences carried out protection work in the lower reaches of the Syr Darya. The burial sites of the Altynasar 4 burial ground were studied, within which several groups were distinguished, located on different channels in relative proximity to each other. All groups belong to the Dzhetyasar culture, but they are quite synchronous: burial structures of a specific type predominate in each of them.
About 140 burial structures have been excavated. All of them (both earth pits and underground brick crypts) were covered with unpreserved earth mounds, surrounded by ditches with lintels in the southern part. Structures dominated group A in the form of simple rectangular pits oriented along the long axis along the meridian (with seasonal deviations), with small niches, mainly in the eastern wall of the pit. The buried, wrapped in a reed mat, lay on his back in an extended position, with his head to the north. At all burials, more often - in a niche, less often - at the feet or at the head, there were vessels with funeral food. The bones of a ram are obligatory, occasionally - cattle.
In group B, burials inside chambers predominated. Usually, the linings are made in the western wall of the pit, but there are also in the eastern and (with a latitudinal orientation) - in the northern and southern. The funeral rite in most cases does not differ from the rite in group A, only the funeral food was placed at the head of the deceased. In both groups, burials were found where the buried were laid on their side strongly crouched in simple pits.
In group B, underground brick crypts built into the pit with rectangular chambers, covered with vaults, and with arched entrances protruding to the south, were mainly recorded. The internal layout of the chambers completely copies the typical interior of the main premises of the Dzhetyasar residential sections of the Dzhety-asar 1b and II stages: benches (sufa) along the walls, a votive copy of the central hearth, and an altar in front of the hearth.
Most of the graves were robbed in antiquity. According to the remains of the inventory, it can be assumed that the earliest (of the last centuries BC) burials are included in group A, and the latest (6th-7th centuries) are in group B. Most of the burials, apparently, belong to the 3rd-5th centuries.
In women's graves, bronze mirrors, chalk sticks, and shells are obligatory; in men - weapons. In addition to ceramic vessels, we note ornaments made of bronze, silver and gold, often of a polychrome style, richly decorated with granulation and inserts of semiprecious stones and glass (earrings, rings, rings, pendants), buckles and plaques of the Hunno-Avar type, decorations of dagger handles and swords. Stone Sassanian gems with images of people, a rider, and various animals have been repeatedly encountered. Iron, bronze, bone arrowheads, and bone linings of a complex bow were found.