The Burial of the Late Bronze Age from Mound 9 in the Pasture by the Town of Pokrovsk: Excavations by P.N. Shishkin

V. P. Shilov had made fundamental contribution to archaeology of Southeastern Russia and the Lower Volga region. His academic heritage is represented by numerous artefacts and materials from archaeological investigations. Among the wide range of scientific subjects, the archaeologist kept giving attention to studying the Bronze Age monuments. Much importance is attached to his research in the development of early nomadic cattle breeding and private ownership of cattle during the epoch of paleometals, on the problems of metallurgy and specifying the Bronze Age burials of foundrymen. He was interested in the issues of comprehending the cultural assignment of the Pokrovsktype monuments. Knives make the most common category among the metal items of that epoch in the Lower Volga region. Over 100 knives come from the Pokrovsk and the timber-grave culture monuments in the Lower Volga region. Their functional purposes were dissimilar. There are sparse burial complexes comprising two knives of different types. Those differ in shapes and parameters. Generally, one knife is larger and longer, while the other one is small and short. The Late Bronze Age grave complexes with two and more knives in Northern Eurasia deserve special analysis. P.N. Shishkin has examined one of those in a mound within the southwestern group near the town of Pokrovsk. The grave goods are represented by a pair of copper knives and hand-molded vessels. In terms of the rite and goods characteristics, this corresponds to the similar complexes of the Pokrovsk-timber-grave stage of the Late Bronze Age.