DYNAMICS OF PLOWING MOUNDS IN THE STEPPE ZONE BASED ON OBSERVATIONS AT 40-YEAR INTERVAL

In 1984 and 2023, at a 40-year interval, area surveys were conducted in Kurganinsk District of Krasnodar Territory, twice covering 79 mound cemeteries of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. The measurements of the mound parameters were performed both times with comparable instrumental accuracy; the burial grounds are located in an arable landscape where agricultural use of the land was continuous. These facts made it possible to obtain statistically significant data for calculating the dynamics of the destruction of mound cemeteries by plowing. Frequency analysis of the measurement sample including 424 burial mounds identified two plowing scenarios manifested in the value distribution graphs: uniform plowing not aimed at intentional destruction of embankments, and intended leveling of burial mounds with a plough. According to calculations, the average rate of decrease in the height of burial mounds during uniform «unintentional» plowing is about 1 cm per year. Intended actions to destroy cemeteries with agricultural machinery increase this rate by three to seven times.

mound cemetery, burial mound, steppe belt, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, arable landscape, plowing dynamics, statistics