Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 37 (3) 2009

Annotation:  Middle Paleolithic Industries of the Early Late Pleistocene (OIS 5) in the Southwestern Part of East Evidence of Environmental Instability of the Lake Baikal Area after the Last Glaciation (Based on P Radiocarbon Chronology of Neolithic and Bronze Age Cultures in Yakutia Clay Balls from Suchu Island as Neolithic Sacral Symbols Models of Metal Production in the Near East (Chalcolithic – Middle Bronze Age) Chinese Inscription on the Lacquer Cup from Noin Ula Mound 20 (Mongolia) Horse Forehead Pieces from the Kuban Region The Pakhomovskaya Culture of the Late Bronze Age Stone Stele Bearing a “Sun-Headed” Deity on the Tuim River, Khakassia (In commemoration of the Finni Methodological Issues in the Digital Mapping of Archaeological Sites The Church of the Saviour from Zashiversk: The Dendrochronological Aspect The “Harlequin”: An Ostyak Idol “Technological Eschatology” in Modern Traditions of Popular Orthodoxy and among the Old Believers o Mummery in the Calendar Rites of German Settlers in Siberia Silver of Kazakh Zergers: Traditions in Modern Jewelry Art Dental Remains from Mound 20 at Noin-Ula, Mongolia The Origin of the Medieval Population of the Novgorod Republic) (10th–13th centuries): A Craniometri   

The “Harlequin”: An Ostyak Idol

A.V. Baulo.

The current paper describes the ways in which certain foreign-made artifacts are used in the traditional Khanty and Mansi culture (17th–21st centuries). Most of these objects are toys, fi gurines, porcelain, and glassware primarily originating in Russia. The paper shows that such items were mainly used as images of deities and spirit-guardians. Less often they were employed in magic rites or as sacrifi cial substitutes. The use of the Russian “toys” in the traditional culture of the Ob Ugrians illustrates ethno-cultural contacts in northwestern Siberia over recent centuries.

Keywords: Ritual attribute, deity, rite, magic, ceremony, toys.