BURANOVO SETTLEMENT SITE AND DRAWINGS

BURANOVO SETTLEMENT SITE AND DRAWINGS, archaeological sites of the Stone Age. They are located NE of Derevnya Yakhino of Salavatsky Raion, and on the left bank of the Yuryuzan River. The location is at a height of 15–20 m above the river in the middle of a rocky outcrop (300 m high). The Buranovo settlement site is a corridor­type cave (about 35 m long) exiting towards NW. It was discovered and explored in 1938–39 by S.N.Bibikov, in 1976 and 1981 – by V.T.Pet­ rin. In the upper, dark clayey layer of the settlement site, various ceramic items were found. Also, there were several knife­like plates of jasper. A grave of a female was discovered on the deeper level and deter­ mined to be from the Neolithic period. The woman was buried stretched out on her back, with her head placed in the direction of the S. The skull was found in a specially dug out pit (with the depth approx. 10 cm), filled with red ocher. 35 large green coil pendants were found in the area of the pelvis and the legs. At the depth of 2–2.5 m, in the layer of yellow clay, there was found a settlement site of the Upper Paleolithic period with remains of a hearth; 3 remnants of female bones were found. There were also 2 drawings made with red ocher. The Buranovo Drawings I consists of 2 figures located on the wall of the cave; The Buranovo Drawings II – of 4 groups of figures located above the entrance to the cave within the radius of 200 m. These drawings indicate the existence in the South Ural, in the era of the Stone Age, of a belief in the spirits of the mountains, as well as a developed system of rituals associated with hunting.