Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 39 (4) 2011

Annotation:  The Upper Paleolithic Site of Dodekatym-2 in Uzbekistan Daggers from the Fofonovo Burial Ground in the Collection of the Museum of the Buryat Scientifi c C Hundidero: MIS 4 Open Air Neanderthal Occupations in Sierra de Atapuerca Absolute and Relative Chronology and Cultural Attribution of Neolithic Sites in the Kulunda Steppe Technological Analysis of Ceramics from Early Sarmatian Burials in the Southwestern Urals Archaeological Studies of the Kamenny Ambar (Olgino) Fortifi ed Settlement Silver Dish with Fighting Scenes from the Lower Ob Region Lacquer Cups of the Western Han Dynasty (Noin Ula, Mongolia): An Analysis of Inscriptions Tinder Bag with a Chinese Inscription Ancient Agriculture in Western Siberia: Problems of Argumentation, Paleoethnobotanic Methods, and A Red Marals at Satakular in the Alai The “Kirghiz Frontier” and the Frontier Volosts of the Tomsk Uyezd in the 17th Century: Formulation Sacred Space and the Art of its Representation in the Ethnic Culture of Northern Asia: Artifacts of Pottery Making in the Village of Balkhar, Dagestan The Diet of Siberian Peasants on Lenten Days (the 19th Century) Craniometric Characteristics of the Ust-Ishim People (the Southern Taiga Part of the Irtysh Basin,   

Sacred Space and the Art of its Representation in the Ethnic Culture of Northern Asia: Artifacts of Sakhalin

L.I. Missonova.

The article discusses the sacredness of art which refl ects the natural, vital needs of the indigenous people of Sakhalin Island. The article examines material artifacts including the Rukutama staff made of deer antler found in the Uilta air burial in the Rukutama River area (Poronai Region, Sakhalin Province), pottery dated to the 8th–13th centuries AD discovered in the Poronai and Korsakov Regions, as well as “verbal artifacts” preserved in language and myth. Ethnological data, collected by the author over 20 years of expeditions conducted in the Sakhalin Province is compared with artifacts from the museums of the Sakhalin Province, St. Petersburg, Osaka, and Hokkaido. The Tungus-Manchu dictionaries are widely used as an auxiliary source. A detailed analysis of the main themes of the Uilta sacred world including a ritual relationship to the fi re, dog, bear, and Kori bird is provided. The perception of space transmitted through the visual arts reveals the multifaceted nature of the perception and relationship to space among the ethnic culture of the Uilta people of Sakhalin Island and other Tungus-Manchu communities of the mainland: the Nanai, Ulchi, Negidals, and Orochi. Numerous similarities in the worldview of the Uilta people and the Evenki suggest their common origin.

Keywords: Sacred space, staff, deer antler, Sakhalin Island, Northern Asia, Tungus-Manchu, Evenki, Uilta.