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On Guard of Christianity: Burial of an Alan Warrior from the Settlement of Nizhny Arkhyz
 
PIIS207987840031704-3-1
DOI10.18254/S207987840031704-3
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Victor Chkhaidze 
Affiliation: Institute of Oriental Studies RAS
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Inga Druzhinina
Affiliation: Institute of Oriental Studies RAS
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Maria Mednikova
Affiliation: Institute of Archaeology RAS
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Kharis Mustafin
Affiliation: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Address: Russian Federation, Dolgoprudny
Irina Alborova
Affiliation: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Address: Russian Federation, Dolgoprudny
Anna Rasskazova
Affiliation: Institute of Oriental Studies RAS
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameISTORIYA
Edition
Abstract

The article presents the results of the study of materials of one of the seven burials discovered in 2019 by the Nizhne-Arkhyz archaeological expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the National Research University Higher School of Economics during the excavations of the Middle Zelenchuk temple, 10th century. A comprehensive analysis of archaeological and paleoanthropological data made it possible to reconstruct some circumstances of the buried man’s life. He turned out to be a man of 25—29 years old. Injuries and morphological features allow us to characterize him as a professional warrior. This man spent a lot of time in the saddle and was involved in combat encounters, one of which caused his death. The results of the paleo-DNA study showed that the terminal haplogroup G2a1a1a1a1a (Z6635), the most common among modern Ossetians of the North Caucasus, was detected in the genome of the buried man. The identified mitochondrial haplogroup H14b is characteristic of the modern population of the South and Northwestern Caucasus. The privileged social status of the man is evidenced by the fact of his burial in the inner space of one of the main capital temples of Alania, where members of the families of the highest Alanian nobility were buried, as well as the nature of his injuries and the pathologies identified, which indicate that this man had access to fairly high quality medical care, which allowed him to remain able-bodied and physically active. The archaeological context indicates that the initial decision to bury the warrior in the temple interior was influenced by the reasons and circumstances of his death rather than by his belonging to the ruling family. The paper presents the reconstruction of the face from the skull.

KeywordsNorth Caucasus, Nizhny Arkhyz settlement, Alania, Middle Zelenchuk temple, Christian burials, warrior burial, archaeology, paleoanthropology, genetics
AcknowledgmentThe research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22-28-01488 on the topic “Christians of the North Caucasus of the 10th–13th centuries: historical, social and demographic portrait”.
Received12.12.2023
Publication date15.07.2024
Number of characters28138
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