Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 34 (2) 2008

Annotation:  New Insights into the Archaeological Record at Chikhen Agui Rockshelter (Mongolia) A Paleolithic Bracelet from Denisova Cave Principal Excavation Techniques under Permafrost Conditions (Based on Zhokhov and Yana Sites, Northe Late Pleistocene Bison (Bison p. priscus Bojanis, 1827) from the Southeastern Part of Western Siberi Infant Burials in Dwellings at Chicha-1, in the Baraba Forest-Steppe: Results of DNA Analysis Burial Assemblages of Boisman-2 – a Stratifi ed Site in Southern Primorye The Burial Construction of Noin Ula Mound 20, Mongolia Ornamental Traditions of the Lower Amur Neolithic Horseman Image on an Ostrich Eggshell Fragment Gamma-shaped Artifacts from Western and Southern Siberia, the Urals, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia Destiny in the Traditional Beliefs of the Aginsk Buryats A Historical and Ethnological Analysis of Intellectual Play in the Japanese Art of Incense Blending: Gypsy Easter The Paleodemography of Western Siberia in the Middle and Late Bronze Age The Origins of the Koreans: Evidence of Physical Anthropology   

Destiny in the Traditional Beliefs of the Aginsk Buryats

D.Ts. Tsydenova.

The article addresses the role of destiny in the culture and beliefs of the Aginsk Buryats. The analysis of Buryat terminology suggests that destiny was viewed as a share allotted to man by supreme forces at birth. The arbiter of destinies was a heavenly deity, a demiurge, whose earthly abode was the hearth. Buryat rites were shaped by the idea that human life was a divine gift. This people’s system of values, stemming from the parallel between destiny and one’s allotted share, determined ethical norms and practices of social paternalism, which are still important for the Buryats.