Могильник культурного круга Бабино у с. Буторы (группа Долы)
Cemetery of the Babino cultural circle near the Butory village (“Doly” group)

Summary/Abstract: The work for the first time publishes and analyzes the Bronze Age burials from barrows 2 and 3 of the “Doly” group near the Butory village, Grigoriopol district. All graves of this period belong to the Dnieper-Prut Babino culture and represent a compact grave field dating from the mid-20th to 17th centuries BC. The beginning of the formation of the cemetery dates back to the middle of the 20th century – first half of the 18th century BC and is associated with the construction of barrow 2 immediately above two burials (No. 11 and 14). Later, 8 more burials of the Babino cultural circle were made in mound 2, and barrow 3 was erected next to it in the middle of the 19th century – the 17th century BC. The burials can be divided into several ritual groups: 1) main burials in sub-round/sub-square pits, the deceased is placed with his head in the east sector (2/10, 2/14); 2) burial with dismemberment in a pit with ledges (2/6); 3) secondary burials in pits, the deceased is placed with his head in the north sector (2/2, 2/5); 4) secondary burials in pits with ledges, the deceased is placed with his head in the east sector (2/10, 2/13); 5) burials in niches, the deceased is placed with his head in the east sector (2/1, 2/9, 2/15, 3/1). Of particular interest are the stone steles from the Butory/Doly grave 2/14 and the stone stele depicting a human face from the Butory/Doly grave 2/13, which has no direct analogies among the Bronze Age materials of the North Black Sea Region. The images on stele No. 1 from grave 2/14 find direct analogies in a number of well-known steles of the Northern Black Sea Region (Kernosovka, Chobruchi, Fyodorovka, Natalievka idols). Previously, these objects, the context of discovery of which is unknown or has no clear chronological indicators, were attributed by most researchers to the Yamnaya cultural-historical community or to the Eneolithic. The graves of the Butory/Doly cemetery make it possible with a high degree of probability to reconsider the established views and attribute at least some of the above-mentioned sculptures to the Babino cultural circle.

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