Long Barrows

Long Barrows 

the burial remains of the Krivichi, dating from the sixth to 10th centuries. They are common in the upper reaches of the Zapadnaia Dvina, Dnieper, and Lovat’ rivers and in the basins of the Velikaia River and Pskov Lake. The barrows are earthen mounds, oval and elongated or bank-like in form, containing the remains of several cremations. They are usually 15-80 m long and 7-15 m wide with an average height of 0.8-1.5 m. Usually they contain from two to ten, less often 11 to 20, burials in small piles of charred human bones (sometimes in clay vessels). Occasionally metal objects, ornaments, buckles, and knives are found along with the remains. Long barrows were gradually superseded by round barrows containing single cremations.

REFERENCES

Cherniagin, N. N. “Dlinnye kurgany i sopki.” In the book Materialy i issledovaniia po arkheologii SSSR, no. 6. Moscow, 1941.
Tarakanova, S. A. “Dlinnye i udlinennye kurgany.” In the collection Sovetskaia arkheologiia, vol. 19. Moscow, 1954.
Sedov, V. V. “Krivichi.” Sovetskaia arkheologiia, 1960, no. 1.