Sintashta Burial Ground Near the Village of Belyaevka in the Steppe Urals, According to Bioarchaeology
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The paper presents results of an interdisciplinary study of anthropological materials of the initial stage of the late Bronze Age from the burial site Belyaevka (Central Orenburg region), left by representatives of the Sintashta culture. Data of morphology, paleopathology, isotopic, and ancient DNA analyses in the archaeological context are considered. Among 17 remains of the Sintashta culture representatives, there are seven males, six females, and four children. It is possible that the topographic features of their burials reflect the social structure of society in accordance with age differentiation. We identified closely situated burials of pairs of three-year-old children and individuals of 15–19, 30–39, and 40–49 years old at death. The distinctiveness of the Belyaevka group is reflected in the presence of dental diseases, including caries, periodontitis, abscess, and antemortem tooth loss, which appear to be unusual for pastoralists of the Bronze Age. Stable isotope analysis suggests that in addition to a predominantly livestock-based diet, this population may have exploited food resources from freshwater bodies. Isotopic study of mobility established their “local” (Southern Ural) origin. Ancient DNA analysis identified the Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a1a1b2a (Z94) in a male from burial 1, a haplogroup previously found in Sintashta males from the Kamenny Ambar necropolis. However, the mitochondrial haplogroups (U5a1a1 and K1b2b) from the Belyaevka burial ground differ from those observed in the Kamenny Ambar sample, although they are widespread in the Volga-Ural region beginning with the Yamnaya population. Evidence of a well-healed intravital trepanation was identified, which in terms of the technique (scraping), has the closest analogies among people of the Middle Volga Abashevo culture.
Authors: Lydiya Kuptsova, Maria Mednikova
Subfield: Archeology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: Russian Science Foundation
Award: G9000407263
OpenAlex ID: W7214756372