Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38 (2) 2010

Annotation:  Human Environment in the Nakhichevan Region during the Mousterian (Based on the Gazma Cave Site, Az The Earliest Evidence of Human Occupation in Southeastern Europe: A Processed Camel Bone Fragment f Holocene Dwellings in the Russian Far East: A Functional and Planigraphic Analysis Koshkino Bone and Horn Artifacts from Mergen-6 Glass Beads from Russian Villages in the Middle Irtysh Area with Reference to the Trade Links of Ru Radiocarbon Dating of Oglakhty Grave Using a Wiggle Matching Method Plant Remains from Noin Ula Burial Mounds 20 and 31 (Northern Mongolia) Elemental Analysis of Ceramic Incrustation Indicates Long-Term Cultural Continuity in the Prehistor “Staffs with Elk Heads” in the Culture of the Ancient Population of the Eastern Urals, Northern and Objects with “Animal and Rider Imagery on the Base” in the Medieval Culture of Northern Eurasia Khar Chuluu: A New Rock Art Site in the Mongolian Altai Genealogy of the Siberian Bukharians: The Imyaminov Clan Clothing in Yakut Traditional Wedding Rituals (19th–20th Centuries) The Yzykh in the Context of Traditional Khakassian Beliefs Daurs and Barguts: Issues of Ethnic History Komi-Permyak Traditional Culture: Photographic Collection by A.F. Teploukhov on Early 20th-century U The Population History of the Korean Peninsula: Dental Evidence Growth and Development of Russian and Tatar Children and Adolescents in Naberezhnye Chelny   

The Yzykh in the Context of Traditional Khakassian Beliefs

V.A. Burnakov.

The present article describes Khakassian beliefs and rites in relation to yzykhs, animals dedicated to the spirits and deities of the Khakassian pantheon. Research is based on archival material, fi eld material, and published data. The author explores the ways in which these beliefs and practices were linked to family and clan structures, their semantics and function.

Keywords: Sacred animals, ritual, shamanism, tyos, clan, spirits, totem.