Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 35 (3) 2008

Annotation:  Sergeyevka-1: Neolithic Site in the Khanka Plain, and the Typology of Middle Neolithic Sites in Pri Cultural Change during the Late Prehistoric Period in Southern Primorye (Based on Archaeological Ev Formation of the Eurasian “Steppe Belt” of Stockbreeding Cultures: Viewed through the Prism of Arch Stages in the Settlement History of Chicha-1: The Results of Ceramic Analysis New Early Iron Age Culture in the Southern Taiga Zone of Central Siberia Prospects for Correlating Radiocarbon and Archaeological Chronologies of the Scythian and Hunno- Sa The Role of Migration in the Evolution of the Andronov Community The Bear Image in Western Siberian Art of the 2nd Millennium BC and its Relevance for Delimiting the Ethnic and Cultural Functions of Name in Traditional Japanese Society G.I. Choros-Gurkin’s Archaeological and Ethnographic Drawings at the National Museum of the Altai R Eco-museums in Siberia as Centers for Ethnic and Cultural Heritage Preservation in the Natural Envi Cranial Characteristics of the Saka Populations of the Eastern Pamirs   

Ethnic and Cultural Functions of Name in Traditional Japanese Society

E.L. Frolova.

The article examines traditional Japanese rites of the life cycle. Ceremonies related to birth, adolescence, and burial include manipulations with the personal name. Receiving the fi rst name (“the evening of the seventh day”) meant entering into society and acquiring a certain status. Initiation rites including the change of name, hairdo, and clothing were usually practiced during adolescence, but in aristocratic families they may have been performed at an earlier age. Having received a new name, an adolescent became a member of the clan hierarchy. Meaningful events at adulthood were accompanied either by a change of name or by the acquisition of a pseudonym. In the burial rite, the name was replaced by a posthumous name, which defi ned the person’s status in the afterlife by making him a member of the cohort of ancestors. The tradition stems from the age of the legendary fi rst Japanese emperors and, because of Buddhism, has been preserved to the present day.