Lugovoe Burial Ground

Lugovoe Burial Ground 

a remain of the Koban culture near the village of Muzhichi (formerly Lugovoe) in Sunzhenskii Raion, Chechen-Ingush ASSR. It was fully excavated in 1952 and 1955-57 by E. I. Krupnov and R. M. Munchaev. A total of 161 burials dating from the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. were investigated. They were all dug in the ground and covered by stones. The inventory included iron speartips, knives, axes, swords, horse bits, bracelets, and torques; bronze decorated plaques, buckles, and fibulae; bronze and silver pendants; glass, paste, and bronze beads; clay vessels; and spindle weights. Of particular interest are small plaques executed in the Scythian animal style, with representations of beasts of prey and of birds tearing apart fish; also of interest is a bronze statuette of a dog.

The finds in the Lugovoe burial ground characterize Ingushetia’s culture of the early Iron Age and its ties with neighboring tribes and the Scythian-Sarmatian world.

REFERENCES

Krupnov, E. I. Drevniaia istoriia Severnogo Kavkaza. Moscow, 1960.
Munchaev, R. M. “Lugovoi mogil’nik (Issledovaniia 1956-57).” In the collection Drevnosti Checheno-Ingushetii. Moscow, 1963.