Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 42 (2) 2014

Annotation:  Pleistocene Environments of the Northwestern Altai: Vegetation and Climate Early Upper Paleolithic Assemblages from the Japanese Islands: A Case Study from the Musashino Uplan Studying the Forms of Ancient Ware: Theoretical and Practical Aspects A Morphological Analysis of Vessels from Middle Bronze Age (Early 2nd Millennium BC) Burials at Veng Dendrochronological Dating of Buildings in the Central Part of the Residential Area at the Staroturu Bronze Age Animal Figurines from the Taiga Zone of the Ob Region Kurgans of the Yenisei Kyrgyz at the Chineta II Burial Ground in the Altai The Origin of A-frame Carts in the Minusinsk Basin, Southern Siberia The Dolgaya-1 Site and the Novoromanovo Rock Art Gallery: A Tentative Interpretation with Regard to Cultivated Plants of the Bohai Population of Primorye According to Archaeobotanical Data Wood Painting Tradition of the Upper Vychegda Komi in the Late 19th – First Quarter of the 20th Cent Wedding Food of Germans Living in Siberia: Symbols and Signs Buccal Dental Microwear and Diet of the Sunghir Upper Paleolithic Modern Humans Dental Palaeopathological Analysis of the Eneolithic-Early Iron Age Populations from the Minusinsk B   

Wedding Food of Germans Living in Siberia: Symbols and Signs

S.R. Kurmanova.

This article presents an analysis of the food consumed during the wedding ceremonies of Germans living in Siberia, and describes the main functions and characteristics of this food. It explains the symbolic meaning of many ritual meals in relation to each element of the wedding ceremony, from matchmaking to the fi nal day of the celebration. Bread was the most important type of food in these rituals; it was present throughout the wedding ceremony as a symbol of wealth and prosperity as well as a sign of agreement and marital union. Elements of productive magic such as grains and legumes symbolized health, wealth, and procreation. Meat (pork and chicken) and the dishes prepared with it were seen as possessing powers of fertility.

Keywords: Siberia, Germans, wedding food, symbol, sign, ceremony, ritual.