Nauses of Kayragach
A.M. Belenitsky, analyzing the signs on the Pendzhikent khums, noted their similarity to the dynastic signs on Sogdian coins. He concluded that the signs on the vessels are the marks of their owners. Other signs, which do not have analogies among coin tamgas, also belong to noble individuals. Most of the vessels with signs found in Pendzhikent come from temples. A.M. Belenitsky suggested that the khums with signs containing some offerings were gifts to the temple from individuals, including royal figures. Thus, the donors marked their gifts with their own signs (Belenitsky, 1957). Perhaps the Kayragach khums can also be considered as offerings to the temple. The numerous finds and the variety of signs on the vessels suggest that the circle of donors was quite broad. Unfortunately, we know little about the Ferghana signs. Therefore, we are unable to compare the Kayragach signs with those of other monuments in Ferghana. However, they find numerous analogies in materials from the Tashkent and Pendzhikent regions. All this suggests that the images of the gods present in the Kayragach temple were revered by the population of a vast area.
To the southeast of the estate was the necropolis of the settlement. It included a platform paved with raw bricks and two nauses. On this platform were burials in niches, constructed with large raw bricks. There is almost no accompanying inventory in the niches; only three of them contained ceramic vessels similar to those found at the estate. On one narrow-necked jug, there was a Sogdian inscription made on wet clay. According to V.A. Livshits, the inscription conveys a measure of volume and can be dated to the 6th-8th centuries based on paleographic features. The burials can be dated to the mid-1st millennium AD.
In close proximity to the platform were two nauses with burials conducted according to Zoroastrian rites; in one of them, scattered human bones lay on the floor. Eight vessels were also present here. In one large vessel, there were human bones. Among the bones, beads and bronze rings were found.
The other naus is a square structure, the walls of which are built from raw bricks.
Along the walls, high benches stretch around the entire perimeter of the room. In the southwest wall, an entrance niche was carved into the wall's masonry. Through it, the naus was filled. It has the appearance of a very low arch, the floor of which is at the level of the naus's floor. A second opening was carved into the north wall later than the first.
Near the southeast wall, a "box" made of raw bricks was found, closely attached to the wall. Inside it were two skulls and scattered bones from two skeletons.
In the nauses, skeletons cleaned of soft tissues were placed. Sometimes the cleaning was incomplete, and clothing details ended up in the naus. This may explain the presence of a large number of ornaments and other items in the naus.
The place for displaying the corpses in Kayragach is still unknown.
The sequence of burials was carried out as follows. First, the remains of the buried were laid on the benches. After the benches were filled with bones, all the free space limited by the benches was filled. Bones were carried through the openings in the north and southwest walls and may have been dropped into a hatch in the vault. This explains the chaotic arrangement of the bones. Only the skulls, which lay in a small pit in the eastern corner of the structure, were neatly placed in the naus. They were treated with special care and were placed in the naus during the earliest period of its functioning.
In the naus, apparently, incomplete skeletons were placed. Primarily, skulls were buried, along with many limb bones. However, very few vertebrae and ribs are present. Pelvic bones are almost completely absent.
According to anthropologist G.P. Romanova, the remains of adult individuals, both men and women, were buried in the naus.
However, there are also bones of adolescents and children, though very few.
Near the north wall of the building, a crushed clay pot lay on the floor. Under the pot, an anthropomorphic sculpture made of loess with the help of adobe was discovered. It represents an image of a person up to the shoulders. The head is disproportionately large in relation to the torso. It is elongated and flattened at the front and back.
The forehead is high and flattened. The eyes are bulging and oval, the nose is straight, long, with a hump. The mouth is small, marked by a deep groove drawn on wet clay. The neck is long, the shoulders are narrow and rounded.
At the bottom of the sculpture, there was a cylindrical hole, with clear impressions of wood on the walls—most likely, the sculpture was intended to be placed on a wooden peg. The entire sculpture is covered with light pink paint.
Stylistically, it resembles alabaster sculptures from the Kayragach estate found in the sanctuary.
The greatest similarity in the interpretation of the face is traced with a large sculpture found in the center of the sanctuary.
The difference is that in the sculpture from the sanctuary, we have a complete image of a person, and his head is painted with black and red paints. There are small holes on the cheeks and in the earlobes (Brykina, 1962).
The sculpture from the naus, however, is entirely covered with pink paint. The sculpture accurately conveys the appearance of a specific person of the Europoid type. The prototype of this sculptural image was characterized by a lifetime deformation of the skull.
Since the sculpture was found in a burial structure, it can be considered a substitute for a person who died far from their homeland. The custom of placing sculptures in burial structures instead of the deceased was widespread among the population of Central Asia and other regions.
Both nauses functioned in the mid-1st millennium AD. This is evidenced by the entire appearance of the finds. The iron arrowheads—triangular and quadrangular in cross-section—are particularly important for dating.
There is also one three-bladed arrowhead with a rhomboid outline of the blade. Arrows of this type are the latest of all found: they spread in Ferghana only from the mid-1st millennium AD. The ceramic finds are similar to the vessels from the estate.
The similarity of the entire complex of material culture and cult from the nauses of the estate suggests that these monuments were left by the same population.
The nauses discovered in Kayragach are the first structures of this kind in the Ferghana Valley. They provided new materials for understanding the culture, burial rites, and worldview of the population living in the valley in the 1st millennium AD.
Kayragach Complex - The First Monument in Ferghana