Horse Burials in Chamber 31 of the Arzhan-1 Mound (new data on cultural relations in the Eurasian steppes in the 8th – early 6th centuries BC)

The article presents the results of a study of finds from burial chamber No. 31 of the Arzhan-1 mound–ten horses buried with horse trappings. Next to horses No. 1, 6–10 lay the lower canine boars with drilled holes. The closest analogies to such finds are known in the south of the steppe zone of Central Asia, but most often on the sites of the 7th century. BC in Northern Caucasus and Ukrainian forest-steppe. In the mouth of the third horse, bronze two-part bits were found with a mouthpiece decorated with a two-row rectangular relief. Similar bits are found in the sets of the horse trappings of the classical Novocherkassk type and the early Zhabotin horizon of Eastern Europe connected from the end of the 8–7th c. BC. On the basic of the examination of the similar objects, the environment of the findings, we can establish, that burial chamber No. 31 was not dated earlier than the beginning of the 7th c. BC. According to the radiocarbon analyzes, the wooden construction of kurgan is dated back to the end of the 9th – beginning of the 8th c. BC. In the light of the new data, it is necessary to review the natural-scientific approach and a comprehensive analysis of archaeological materials dated from the 8th to the beginning of 6th c. BC.