Ossetian custom and ancient rite. Elements of the burial rites of the Koban culture of the Caucasus and a number of customs of the Caucasian (Ossetian) folk tradition

Abstract

Aim. Consider and analyze the practice of placing fake weapons in the graves of the Kobani archaeo logical culture using the example of the later Caucasian (Ossetian) tradition.

Methodology. In the course of the work, a methodology typical of archaeological research, a com prehensive and comparative historical method was used, and ethnographic data were also used.

Results. In the course of the study, parallels were traced in the funeral rituals of the Caucasian tribes of the Early Iron Age and the Ossetian ritual tradition of the late Middle Ages and Modern Times.

Research implications. The article presents new data on the funeral rituals of the tribes of the Koban culture of the Caucasus in the 9th–8th centuries BC and its possible connection, in a transformed form, with the later Caucasian tradition.