Pigments from the cultural layer and the male burial of Sungir: preliminary results

Mineral pigments are one of the most common categories of finds at the sites of the Upper Paleolithic. The authors’ approach to the study of pigments is based on a detailed study of all available samples. The results of the archaeological study are complemented by the results of natural science analyses and expand the understanding of the utilitarian and symbolic use of ochre on the sites of the Upper Paleolithic. Statistical processing of the results makes it possible to compare pigments from different areas of sites. The article presents the results of studying 36 samples of pigments from the cultural layer of Sungir, as well as personal ornaments. The presence of a clay component in a thick mass prepared and used for staining a funeral costume is demonstrated. The main features of the use of pigments characteristic to the Sungir settlements include the use for household purposes of both hard and soft types of ochre, up to suspensions of varying degrees of density. The domestic use of pigments finds wide analogies on the Early and Middle Upper Paleolithic European sites, including the use of ochre as a part of the mixture originating from the filling of hearth. However, so far no materials have been identified on Sungir for the reconstruction of the entire сhaîne opératoire for the preparation of colorful substances. The symbolic use of pigments in graphic activities and practices of coloring symbolic objects on Sungir has fully similar, but not identical features with the materials of the Pavlovian sites. This is especially evident in the field of burial rite organization (staining the bottom of the grave), the use of plastic mass for thick staining of clo­thing, headdress, and the application of some personal ornaments on it, possibly partially interconnected, in the preparation of mortuary clothing. The use of suspensions of varying degrees of density on Sungir materials is shown for the first time. The methods of placing ornaments on the head associated with the burial tradition, which have direct analogies in the Moravian Pavlovian materials, have also not been discussed before.