N.V. Panasyuk

On the territory of the Middle Ergueni and Stavropol Hills there is a layer of Middle Bronze Age burials characterized by stretched skeletons and censers. The censers are a quite specific type of ritual vessel. In shape they are low wide vessels with four (sometimes six) short legs which contour the vessel. Sometimes there is a special “pocket” inside the vessel, often with apertures in the wall. The decoration is rather uniform: the vessels are decorated with lines and triangles taped with rope. Typological analysis allows to conclude that the censers are very similar in their morphological and decorative characteristics. Moreover, the comparison of the funeral rite in the burials where they were found indicates the existence of a certain layer of Early Catacomb burials with censers. The main characteristics of these burials are catacomb graves, stretched skeleton samply sprinkled with ochre, and specific assemblages of grave goods, which allow to securely date the graves to the Early Catacomb period. There is no doubt that this type of censers precedes the “classical” type of catacomb censers, which is verified by the stratigraphy and the funeral ritual.