A Tes Stage Mound-Vault at Skalnaya-5, Khakassia

Abstract

This article introduces the findings relating to the construction of a mound-vault Skalnaya-5 in Khakassia—the only virtually completely preserved Tes funerary structure. On the basis of these data and using the Blender 4 software, we carried out a visual reconstruction of the vault. This collective tomb was a cabin, whose walls were built of nine layers of logs and covered with a multi-layered timber ceiling. Functionally, such a construction ensured a maximal influx of air. The entrance, which had two steps at the inner end, was arranged as a special opening in the wall and was used for a considerable time. Inside the vault, there was a two-level construction with upper shelves made of three log-spacers opposite the entrance and the lower ones made of wide planks, placed along two walls. The bodies and/or their effigies with clay-plaster masks were laid on the shelves and on the log floor. The analysis revealed the secondary use of wooden details of dwellings or household buildings, which had been trimmed in situ before being joined. We were able to record construction techniques used during the Tes and earlier stages. These could be related to winter huts or utility buildings dug into the ground, or wooden structures strengthening the walls of mining shafts. The closest constructive parallels are found in the Pazyryk culture, possibly evidencing the conservatism of housebuilding in the Altai-Sayan highland during the Early Iron Age.