Abstract
The author analyzes the archaeological evidences on burial rites of the not nomadic population of Central Asia in the Early Iron Age. For a long time fi ndings of this kind were almost unknown; due to their probable absence a number of conclusions were made. Systematization of scattered information about fi ndings of human bones on Central Asian settlements and the recent such fi nds allows us to indicate the main features of the ritual. They are as following: the desire for isolation of the remains from the ground; fi nds of partial skeletons (mostly skulls); evidence of deformation of the corpses prior to decomposition of the remains; mixing human remains with bones of animals, etc. Based on the analysis of sources, the consideration of the identifi ed elements, exceptions and analogies, the author draws a conclusion that identifi ed evidence of Mazdenian funerary practices infl uenced greatly on the formation of the classical Zoroastrian funerary rite traditions in Central Asia.
Keywords
Central Asia, Early Iron Age, the fi nds of human bones, Mazdaism
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