Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2017 number

Enclosed-type wooden funeral beds in North and Central Asia are divided into the blocks and coffins. The first burials are in blocks carved from a tree trunk dating back to the early Scythian time. Burials in coffins made of boards appeared much later in the Hunnic time. On the shape and complexity of the devices the following types of coffins are distinguished: rectangular, trapezoidal as well as single or double. Despite the large variation in the size and complexity of the device, they are comprised of three main parts: a rectangular or trapezoidal box-cavity, the bottom and the lid. Boxes-cavity are collected from four - six right-hewn timbers and boards, interconnected by means of leather straps, rectangular and X-shaped curved slots (facets-cuttings) and the same form of wooden spikes (fasteners) or nails. Long coffins’ longitudinal walls in most cases are made with the residue. They are interconnected by means of grooves and thorns. edges of the sides and ends by means of the operation of slots-finger joints are attached to the bottom of one or more wide boards. Caps are generally flat, mounted from one to two and three rarely right hewn boards in exactly the same way as the bottom-cavities boxes. In the children’s coffins-cradle lids are nailed to the end walls of wooden nails (spikes). In double coffins external box-cavity usually made of hewn logs sided (half log) connected to each other «in junction», «in spike (inserted tenon)», very rarely - «paw (claw)». Cap or ceiling are constructed of two or three thick long timbers or a dozen short cross ones. To date in the territory of Mongolia and neighboring areas lots of Hunnic time burial plank coffins have been studied. Each new study of these archaeological sites provides new information about the features of the production of this type of burial bads and in general about the state of woodworking in the chronological period.