Age and Status of the Woman in Nomadic Society: an Ethno-Archaeological Insight
https://doi.org/10.22162/2500-1523-2018-15-108-123
Abstract
According to archaeological data, the social status of Scythian women was lower than that of men. Still, due to some contradictory evidence obtained from a number of female burials the revealed subordinate position of the woman in Scythian society cannot be recognized as a final conclusion. Those include mound burials that are similar enough in terms of prestige to those of men by a number of criteria, namely: those are central or accompanied by horse graves, or are situated along the same meridian line as the central tomb; and they were even disturbed in the same manner during post-burial rituals. The most characteristic female burial of the type is that of the Melitopol´ kurgan, the former was aligned with that of a male, has additional large-scale earthwork and reveals traces of a post-burial ritual disturbance.
It is noteworthy that in traditional nomadic cultures — especially those unaffected by Muslim religious ideas — women were recognized equal to men upon reaching advanced years or a particular life-cycle stage since the earliest times.
Keywords
Scythians,
royal graves,
Kalmyks,
gender transformations,
nomads,
kurgans,
post-burial rites,
emancipation
About the Author
M. Ochir-Goryaeva
Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS (8, Ilishkin Str., Elista, 358000, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Ph.D. in History (Doct. of Historical Sc.), Leading Research Associate, Department of History, Archaeology and Ethnology
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Review
For citations:
Ochir-Goryaeva M. Age and Status of the Woman in Nomadic Society: an Ethno-Archaeological Insight. Mongolian Studies. 2018;10(4):108-123. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22162/2500-1523-2018-15-108-123
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