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   

Dogs in the Traditional Worldview of the Chuvash People

A.K. Salmin.

The dog has undergone a long process of domestication and in the mind of man has become a positive fi gure: people swore to dogs, composed eulogies to dogs and have created rules concerning the handling of dogs; dogs were even considered a means of delivering sacrifi cial gifts to the recipients. Etymologists associate a number of corresponding Turkic words with the Chuvash word jytă (dog). However, it is also possible that the etymology of the word jytă goes back to the Sanskrit idā, the name for food that modern Zoroastrians in Iran still feed dogs after the death of a relative. The dog is one of the most symbolic characters in the traditional beliefs of the Chuvash. It is believed that the dog is directly connected with the supreme deity Tură. At the semantic level, it has much in common with the wolf and man. The dog may be used as a sacrifi ce. According to traditional beliefs, the dog can also serve as a substitute for ancestral spirits and can communication with the other world.

Keywords: Ethnography, religion, Chuvash, dog, semantics