Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 39 (1) 2011

Annotation:  Three Scenarios of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition. Scenario 2: The Middle to Upper Paleo Chronology and Periodization of the Neolithic in the Upper and Middle Kama Region Paleolithic Art of the Carpathian-Dniester Region Raw Materials and Paste from Wheel-Thrown Ceramics from the Gnezdovo Burial Ground The Origins of Lead Archaeological Artifacts Using Mass Spectrometry Analysis Kelteminar Arrowheads from the Altai Dagger from the Late Bronze Age Settlement on the Lyuskus River The Archekas Celt and the Issue of the Seima-Turbino Period in the Kuznetsk Basin and in the Achins Bone Anthropomorphic Sculpture from the Ust-Polui Sanctuary Images in Bronze from the Sarovka Ritual Complex: Reconstructing Semantics Information-Theoretical Database Management System in the Context of Monuments Dating to the Pre-Sc Ritual Complexes of the Bolshoye Storozhevoye Fortifi ed Settlement in the Middle Don Area Erlik Khan in the Traditional Worldview of the Khakas Copper Casting in the Daily Life and Ritual Practices of Komi Old Believers Dogs in the Traditional Worldview of the Chuvash People A Proximal Pedal Phalanx of a Paleolithic Hominin from Denisova Cave, Altai Secular Dental Changes in the Populations of the Armenian Highland: Evolutionary and Ecological Asp A Nonmetric Cranial Study of the Andronovo Series from the Altai   

Images in Bronze from the Sarovka Ritual Complex: Reconstructing Semantics

L.V. Pankratova.

The article reconstructs the semantics of imagery appearing in metalwork used in rituals performed by the Kulaika people in the 2nd–1st centuries BC at the Sarovka archaeological complex. The simultaneous and deliberate burial of objects at the ritual site makes it possible to view this collection of bronzes as a text. Here that text is compared with the mythological and folkloric texts of the Selkup people, who have been shown by Tomsk archaeologists to have their ancestors in the ancient Kulaika population. The heroes of Selkup mythology have much in common with fi gures depicted on Sarovka metalwork. They are consistently and systematically united by the fi gure of the celestial deity Kok. The ritual complex probably served as a place of worship to the ancient prototype of the Selkup god, whose veneration rituals were timed to celebrate the New Year. Evidently, rituals marking marriage between members of different clans were also at the site.

Keywords: Western Siberia, Early Iron Age, Kulaika culture, ritual bronze casting (metalwork), ritual place, semiotics, semantics, philosophy, reconstructions.