Product Code Database
The Slab Grave culture is an archaeological culture of Late Bronze Age (LBA) and Early Iron Age Mongolia.Н.Наваан, Дорнод Монголын хүрлийн үе (Mongolian), N.Navaan, Bronze Age of Eastern MongoliaTumen D., "Anthropology of Archaeological Populations from Northeast Asia [1] page 25,27 The Slab Grave culture formed one of the primary ancestral components of the succeeding Xiongnu, as revealed by genetic evidence. The ethnogenesis of Turkic peoples and the modern Mongolian people is, at least partially, linked to the Slab Grave culture by historical and archaeological evidence "Other types of sources on the history of the Proto-Mongolian tribes are archaeological findings, which associate Mongolian ethnogenesis with slab grave cultures and the Lower Xiàjiādiàn." and further corroborated by genetic research on Slab Grave remains.
The Slab Grave culture is dated from 1300 to 300 BC. The origin of the Slab Grave culture is not definitively known, however, genetic evidence is consistent with multiple hypotheses of a local origin dating back to at least the Bronze Age. In particular, the people of the Ulaanzuukh culture and the Slab Grave culture are closely linked to the westward expansion of Neolithic Amur ancestry associated with Ancient Northeast Asians. The genetic profiles of individuals from the Ulaanzuukh LBA and the Slab Grave culture are identical, which is in agreement with the archaeological hypothesis that the Slab Grave culture emerged from the Ulaanzuukh.
To the west and northwest, the Slab Grave culture was adjacent to, and essentially contemporaneous with, the Deer stones culture of primarily Khövsgöl LBA ancestry, and various Saka cultures such as the Tagar culture, the Pazyryk culture and the Aldy-Bel culture for a period of several centuries. The Slab Grave culture was superseded by the Xiongnu culture, which formed a vast empire stretching across much of the Eurasian nomads world, and saw the hybridization of Scytho-Siberian and Eastern Steppe populations and cultures.
The most recent graves date from the 6th century BC, and the earliest monuments of the next in time Xiongnu culture belong to the 2nd century BC.
The fences vary from , a height of the slabs vary from . The grave pits under some kurgan mounds are covered with slabs that often are of considerable sizes. The depth of the burial pits vary from , in deep graves the side slabs were stacked and covered with several slab layers. In places within the fence sometimes deer stones, were installed which are single slabs with images of deer, less frequently of horses, accompanied with solar signs and armaments.
A burial complex on the Lami mountain in the Nerchinsk area consisted of graves about in length, divided into 4 sections. A not plundered fences was covered by several slabs each weighing up to half a ton. Under cover slabs was an altar with skulls of horses, cows and sheep. Below were five burial chambers for inhumation.
Most of the graves were looted. The buried clothing and footwear is colorful, with various ornaments of bronze, bone and stone: plaques, buttons, necklaces, pendants, mirrors, cowrie shells. The accompanying tools are rare: Needles and needle beds, knives and axes-celts. Even less common are weapons: arrowheads, daggers, bow end caps. Some graves contain horse harnesses and whip handles. There are bronze objects, and fewer made of iron and precious metals.
Jars are round-bottom earthenware, some tripods. Vessels are ornamented with impressions, rolled bands and indentations. The art of the Slab Grave culture belongs to the "animal style" art that depicts domesticated and wild animals, daily life and main occupations. The Slab Grave culture art has many common features with cultures of Southern Siberia: Karasuk culture, Tagar Culture, and others.
Genetic data indicates that the Slab Grave culture, in conjunction with the Chandman culture, gave rise to the succeeding Xiongnu confederation. Although early Xiongnu displayed a substructured genetic makeup, a differentiation based on social class is possible: While retainers of low status mainly displayed ancestry related to the Chandman/Uyuk culture or various combinations of Chandman/Uyuk and Ancient Northeast Asian Ulaanzuukh/Slab Grave profiles, high status Xiongnu individuals tended to have less genetic diversity, and their ancestry was essentially derived from the Ulaanzuukh/Slab Grave culture.
The analysis of the ancient genome of Empress Ashina, a ruler of the clan of the Göktürks, was shown to display close genetic affinities with the Slab Grave and Ulaanzuukh culture remains.
The transition from the Slab Grave culture period to the Xiongnu period was characterized as a massive increase of West Eurasian paternal ancestry, rising from 0% to 46%, which was not accompanied by increased West Eurasian maternal ancestry. This may be consistent with an aggressive expansion of males with West Eurasian paternal ancestry, or possibly marriage alliances that favored such people. According to Rogers and Kaestle (2022), these two scenarios are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but more data is needed to concisely explain why such an increase took place.
East Eurasian maternal lineages in the Slab Grave population can be easily traced to Transbaikalian neolithic agriculturalists. On the other hand, West Eurasian maternal lineages are believed to have complex origins, with many tracing back to ancient hunter gatherers who mixed with early agriculturalists in the early Holocene period, or to middle eastern agriculturalists who expanded eastward after the advent of sheep herding. Others could be linked to much later Bronze Age populations such as Afanasievo or Scythians. The complex diversity of West Eurasian ancestral lineages in the Slab Grave population makes it difficult to pinpoint their exact origin.
|
|
