Saka burial mound, later graves found in Kazakhstan
8/01/2018 06:00:00 PM
Archaeologists have begun excavating a Saka burial mound found 10 kilometres from Astana, in the course of their work discovering seven other graves dating to the much more recent past (to the 15th and 16th centuries), two of which held women’s jewellery.
“A female copper ring was found in one of the graves. More like a wedding ring. Another burial featured a bronze earring. Also, there was a silver buckle,†archaeologist Diana Duisekeyeva said.
The funerary practices and positions of the graves indicate that they belonged to Muslim people. Muslim rites hold that a grave should be at a right angle to the Qibla (the direction to the holy Kaaba in Mecca) so that the body, which is placed into its grave lying on its right side, without a coffin, faces the Qibla.
“Islam became the state religion on the territory of the central regions of Kazakhstan in the 14th century; naturally, before that period, these Muslim burials could not arise, so they belong to the 15th to 16th centuries,†the head of the research institute explained.
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