Ipatovo kurgan

The Ipatovo kurgans form a cemetary of kurgan burial mounds, located near Ipatovo, some 120 km north-east of Stavropol, Russia.

With a height of 7 metres, kurgan 2 of the Ipatovo barrow cemetery 3 was one of the biggest kurgans in the area. It was completely investigated in 1998–1999 revealing thirteen phases of construction and use, from the 4th millennium BC to the later 2nd millennium AD.

The first grave may have been a burial of the Maikop culture, which was destroyed by later graves. Earliest extant grave conained two young people, buried in a sitting position, dating to the late 4th millennium.

On top of the kurgan was a Sarmatian grave of the 3rd century BC. A woman had been buried here in extended position on the back, together with an exceptionally rich treasure of grave-goods: six solid golden necklets, two golden spiral bracelets, two golden fingerrings made from Hellenistic coins, a gilded wooden cup decorated with zoomorphic figures, a short sword with gold-decorated pommel (the presence a weapon in a woman's grave is not an unusual feature in Sarmatian contexts) and gold-covered scabbard, a sheet gold buckle, a gilded wooden cosmetics container, and clay vessels.

In the final phase, more than 100 plain graves were dug into the southern slope of the barrow, probably 18th century burials of the nomadic Turkic Nogai people.

External link

• Ipatovo (University of Reading)