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   

Copper Casting in the Daily Life and Ritual Practices of Komi Old Believers

V.V. Vlasova.

This article offers a comprehensive description of the ritual and everyday practices related to the use of religious casting among Komi Old Believers. The study is based on the author’s fi eld materials (interviews with informants, personal observations, photographs, and video materials), collected during ethnographic expeditions of 1999–2007 in the Udora, Ust-Kulom, and Troitse-Pechorsk Regions of the Komi Republic, as well as on archival data. Cast icons are an integral part of daily life and the attributes of rituals which defi ne confessional affi liation (the sacrament of baptism and burial rituals). They have become one of the symbols of the Old Belief among the Komi.

Keywords: Komi Old Believers, copper casting, ethnic and confessional symbols, family and festive ritualism.