  The structure function of the nucleus in the cumulative region $x>1$ is
studied in terms of nucleon degrees of freedom. At high $Q^2$ the resulting
expressions are presented as a sum of contributions from few-nucleon
correlations. Two-nucleon correlations are studied in some detail. Spin
variables are averaged out. In the region $1<x<2$ the structure functions are
calculated for the relativistic interaction proposed by F.Gross {\it et al}.
They are found to fall with $x$ faster than the exponential. For Carbon at
$x=1.05$, where the method is not rigorously applicable, they turn out to be
rougly twice larger than the experimental data.
