Gender analysis of 1990-1992 excavations of burials in Pokrovka, Russia

Abstract

The following work examines in detail the data recovered from the 1990-1992 burial excavations at the site of Pokrovka in southern Russia dating from the second half of the second millennium B.C. to fourteen century A.D. The objective is to evaluate the grave goods found among male and female Early Sarmatian nomads with a specific emphasis on the distribution of artifacts traditionally associated with weaponry, religion and weaving. This study is attempting to reinforce and reevaluate interpretations in regards to the gender roles of Iron Age nomads inhabiting the Eurasian steppes. This study will show that nomadic men were involved in religion and weaving more than previously thought, and women may not have been the so called "warriors" as they have been described.