Attribution of Beads from the Cemetery Filippovka 2 in the Southern Urals

This article presents the results of a comprehensive study of beads uncovered during the excavations of the burial mounds of early nomads in the Southern Urals (located in the Orenburg region). A mineralogical and technological study allowed for the classification of all beads according to their materials and manufacturing techniques. Possible production centers have been hypothesized based on comparing published beads of the same age from the Eastern Mediterranean, Near and Middle Asia, Persia, India, Egypt, Caucasus, Southern Europe, and the Northern Black Sea coast. A comparison of the obtained results with the distributional nature of studied bead types in early nomad burials of the Southern Urals shows the chronological order of their appearance in this region. Clarifying the location of some bead types in the funerary complexes in situ and the semantics of certain bead shapes determine the meaning of sacred beads and their use in religious rituals and ceremonies of early Sarmatians.