Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 47 (3) 2019   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2019.47.3.104-110

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Evidence Relating to the Christian Missions
in the Trans-Urals and Northwestern Siberia
(8th to 16th Centuries)

A.V. Baulo

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

This study addresses the possible activity of early Christian missions among the Vogul (Mansi) of the Urals, Trans-Urals, and northwestern Siberia between the 8th-16th centuries. Three stages in their history are described. The first (700-1000 AD) was marked by the import of Central Asian silver dishes (patens) reproducing Biblical themes and Christian symbols. Specimens from Grigorovskoye, Anikovskoye, and from Malaya Ob were cast in the Nestorian communities of Semirechye. The imported paten-dishes gave rise to the tradition of offering food to deities on metal dishes. The second stage (1200-1400 AD) began when silver plaques depicting the famous iconographic subject (“The Miracle of the Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki Defeating King Kaloyan of Bulgaria”) were imported to the region. The third stage (15th and 16th centuries) correlates with the Russian expansion to Siberia and attempts to Christianize the local peoples. Symbols such as tin plaques were distributed to be worn by them. Apparently, most plaques represent the Biblical King David, and were manufactured by Russians in the late 1400s to early 1500s. In the 16th century, plaques with the figure of St. George appeared in Siberia. The analysis of items showing Biblical and hagiographical characters and analysis of their distribution in northwestern Siberia suggests that Christian missions were unable to oust paganism from the region. Russian religious items were used in rituals of the native peoples mostly if they represented horsemen, because these seemed to allude to the son of the Ob Ugric supreme deity Mir-Susne-Khum, also depicted as a horseman.

Keywords: Christianity, mission, silver, Urals, Siberia, Khanty, Mansi