The Social Structure of the Population of the Rural Chora of the European Bosporus in the II BC-II AD (Based on the Materials of the Zolotoe Necropolis)

The work is devoted to the reconstruction of the social structure of the population of the European part of the Bosporus in the II century BC-II century AD on the materials of the Zolotoe necropolis. In the course of the research, the history of the study of the material culture of the European part of the Bosporus in the III BC – III century AD is considered, the analysis of the funeral rite of the Golden necropolis is performed. The qualitative analysis revealed a number of features that could be characterized as markers of social prestige. Quantitative analysis allowed us to determine the standard, special and individual features of the funeral rite. Some of them were identified as gender- / age-related. The analysis of the space of the necropolis helped to identify the features of the placement of burial structures in different periods of its functioning. Based on the results of the analysis, groups of burials were formed by gender and age. For each of them, standard features were identified, and the difference between burials within the group and between different groups was recorded. The analysis of the social structure was carried out, as a result of which it was concluded that in the early period of the functioning of the necropolis (II–I centuries BC), the structure of society was characterized by a number of features as hierarchical. At a later stage (I-II centuries AD), it seems to have become heterarchical. A comparison of the results of the analysis with the social structure of the societies that left the necropolises of Belyaus and Starokorsunsky revealed a number of common features and differences between them. However, the conclusions about the social structure relate only to the society that left the Zolotoe necropolis. To form ideas about the social structure of the entire choir of the European Bosporus, it is necessary to conduct a similar analysis for other funerary monuments in the region.