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• kurgan
  kurgan

  noun

  a circular burial mound constructed over a pit grave and often containing grave vessels, weapons, and the bodies of horses as well as a single human body; originally in use in the Russian Steppes but later spreading into eastern, central, and northern Europe in the third millennium b.c.
• Kurgan
  Kurgan

  noun

  a city in the S Russian Federation in Asia, near the Ural Mountains.

kurgan

¹ American  

[koor-gahn, -gan] / kʊərˈgɑn, -ˈgæn /

noun

1. a circular burial mound constructed over a pit grave and often containing grave vessels, weapons, and the bodies of horses as well as a single human body; originally in use in the Russian Steppes but later spreading into eastern, central, and northern Europe in the third millennium b.c.

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Kurgan ² American  

[koor-gahn, koor-gahn] / kʊərˈgɑn, kurˈgɑn /

noun

1. a city in the S Russian Federation in Asia, near the Ural Mountains.

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Kurgan British  

/ kurˈɡan /

noun

1. a city in W Russia, on the Tobol River: industrial centre for an agricultural region. Pop: 344 000 (2005 est)

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Etymology

Origin of kurgan

1885–90; < Russian kurgán burial mound, Old Russian, apparently to be identified with kurganŭ fortress < Turkic; compare Turkish, Tatar kurğan, Chagatai, Kazakh korğan fortress, castle

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kurgan Kurgan

All told, the new paper reports five Yamnaya skeletons displaying at least four of six such traits out of a total of 217 skeletons included in the kurgan survey.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 3, 2023

For example, Savur-Mohyla is the site of a Bronze Age burial mound, or kurgan.

From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2022

One of the oldest dates, about 5400 years ago, comes from a horse’s leg bone buried with a small child in a kurgan built by the Maykop culture at Aygurskiy, in southern Russia.

From Science Magazine ● Oct. 20, 2021

When the kurgan or mound burial at a site called Koitas was excavated,  from it emerged the bones of a 25-45-year-old man, carbon dated to the 7th to 6th centuries BC.

From Forbes ● Jun. 8, 2015

Bronze Age kurgan makers carried their culture and their Indo-European dialects across Europe and as far as China and India, where rich men were buried alongside horse and cattle sacrifices.

From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2012

States of emergency have been declared in Kurgan region and in neighbouring Tyumen, in western Siberia.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2024

"So far, the forecast is not favourable. The water level continues to rise," Mr Peskov said, adding that a "large amount" of floodwater would soon also reach the nearby regions of Kurgan and Tyumen.

From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2024

The emergencies ministry in Kurgan region near the border with Kazakhstan said 46 suspects had been identified and seven criminal cases had been initiated against alleged arsonists.

From Reuters ● May 9, 2023

The Kurgan region's investigative committee opened a criminal investigation into a large-scale fire that killed three on Sunday and destroyed a number of houses and local businesses.

From Reuters ● May 8, 2023

The line crosses the Tobol at Kurgan, the Ishim at Patropavlosk, and the Irtish at Omsk, where the majestic new bridge spans a stream of two hundred yards.

From Russia As Seen and Described by Famous Writers by Esther Singleton