The Adyghe of the North-West Caucasus Foothills in 14th-18th Centuries (On Data from Burial Mounds of the Middle Abin River Area)

Abstract

The article is an analysis of the evolution of burial rites, religious views, and ethnic-social constitution of the North-West Caucasus foothills early population, drawn on the archaeological study of burial mounds in the middle Abin river area. The analysis points to a possibility of detecting the Shapsug ethnic component in the formation of the mound Gruzinka X and speaking of the presence of particular features of Shapsug’s burial rites.