Burial under the floor, in jars, or in kurgans and excarnation by vultures were common funeral customs among cultural groups living in the Caucasus region during the Iron Age, roughly 1200 to 550 BCE. These funeral customs inspired the burial practices of different ethnicities in my fictional world of Kolkha.
Migrants from the Fertile Crescent started entering the Caucasus plains (location of my fictional Kolkha) around 10,000 to 8000 BCE. The mudbrick homes of Oldtown in fictional Kolkha City are modeled after the houses of Çatalhöyük, which flourished around 7500 to 5700 BCE in central Anatolia.
Vulture murals in Çatalhöyük home.
The plaster walls of many homes were decorated with stylized vultures. Archaeologists believe bodies of the dead were offered to vultures on the roofs of the houses. Once the flesh was excarnated, the skeletons were then buried under the floor to keep the ancestors close to the living. In some cases, the skulls of revered ancestors were decorated and displayed so that members of the community could connect with their spiritual power.
 | Burying dead ancestors under the floor was common throughout Mesopotamia, often accompanied by food, tools, and other objects to ease transition into the afterworld, thought to exist deep underground. Mesopotamian merchants and traders, and refugees from Anatolia and Mesopotamia arriving in response to severe drought starting around 2200 BCE, would have brought these beliefs with them to Kolkha. Infants were often buried in storage jars (pictured), which was also common in the Caucasus region, including Kolkha. These practices of floor and jar burial were practiced by early residents of Oldtown in Kolkha City. |
 Scythian grave stela | Kurgan burials, pervasive on the Eurasian Steppe among the Skosak (Scythian) horse nomads, spread to Kolka and throughout the Caucasus region. These vaulted tombs were filled with weapons, beautiful gold jewelry, and other exotic grave goods, then covered with a mound of stone and dirt. Many had carved images (stelae) of the deceased. After the Great War (in which my fictional tribal federation of Kolka defeated the Kingdom of Diaokhi with the help of Skosak allies), the elite nobility relied exclusively on kurgan burials. Kurgans with carved stelae also became popular among a subset of wealthy merchants and artisans by the opening of Sky God’s Warrior, though most prefer traditional floor burials. |
Excarnation by vultures, or sky burial, was practiced in the Caucasus mountains. It was also adapted by early Persian Zoroastrians during the same time period as Sky God’s Warrior. The Zoroastrians built “Towers of Silence” specifically designed to offer their dead to vultures.
 Nakh defensive tower/home | The Nakh people of the northern Caucasus Mountains built defensive stone towers that would’ve been potential sites for vulture excarnation. As the Vainakh are believed to have originally migrated from the Fertile Crescent, this would link them to the excarnation practices of Çatalhöyük. For these reasons, the Nakh of my fictional world of Kolkha, dismember their dead on the roofs of their stone tower-homes for vultures to consume. They believe destroying the physical body frees the spirit to be reborn. |
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