Series | Eurasian Studies
Review | Armenia, Caucasus and Central Asia
Chapter | I kurgan reali del periodo scita: complessità architettonica, ideologia e ritualismo funerario
I kurgan reali del periodo scita: complessità architettonica, ideologia e ritualismo funerario
Abstract
The Scythians have always aroused a great interest, especially for their descriptions in Herodotus’ Histories, and for their rich tombs. Burial mounds, the famous ‘kurgans’, are the custodians of these wonders and secrets, and often show a great structural and architectural complexity, which mirror the ideological and social complexity of Scythian populations. Some royal mounds excavated in different ‘Scythian territories’ are analyzed. Preliminary results of the latest archaeological research conducted by Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue and Ca’ Foscari University in the Semirech’è region of south-eastern Kazakhstan are included in the discussion. The analysis aim at highlighting common aspect, architectural elements which are typical of the different geographical areas, and showing the relation of kurgan burials with complex and elaborate funerary rituals, with burial mounds becoming an aggregation center for the community.
Language: it
Keywords Funerary Ritual • Herodotus • Kurgan • Scythian
Copyright © 2016 Lorenzo Crescioli. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/6969-093-8/EUR-6-3
