BELIEF SYSTEMS, RITUAL AT LATE IRON AGE TASBAS, KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

This capstone project examines the single burial from the Late Iron Age period in East Kazakhstan. Earlier analysed in the dominant processualism framework, which relies on material culture, the individual agency and lived experience in shaping cultural practices were underestimated. Therefore, this project explores belief systems and rituals of the Wusun incorporating both processual and post-processual approaches. The multi-aspect analysis was used including osteological analysis, grave good analysis and burial features analysis. The results of the examination of the mortuary practices at Tasbas provided the exploration of multi-aspect identities of the individual within the Wusun social and cultural contexts. With the interplay between individual’s agency, social identity, and embodied experience we were able to get a deeper understanding of the complexity of Wusun society as well as the ways in which their lived experiences were influenced by both internal and external factors.