The article deals with wooden anthropomorphic sculptures found on peat bogs of the Trans-Urals. Their archaeological context, dating, and image stylistics are analyzed. Data on anthropomorphic sculptures of Western and Eastern Europe are presented. In revealing the semantics of Trans-Ural sculptural images, the method of retrospective analysis of the myth-ritual practice of the Ob Ugrians is used.

Keywords: Trans-Urals, peat bog monuments, wooden anthropomorphic sculpture, archaeological context, dating, iconography, semantics.

Sources, archaeological context, and sculpture style

Probably, ten wooden anthropomorphic sculptures and one item classified as anthropomorphic were found on the peat bog monuments of the Trans-Urals: on the cult site of the VI Section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog (six), the Robber Island site (one) and among random finds from the Shigir peat bog (four)*. There is a mention of another idol found on the Gorbunovsky peat bog in 1932-1933 during the repair of a capital ditch located 300 m to the west of the VI Section. It has not been preserved, and its exact location, the complex of accompanying finds, and stylistic features are not known (Eding, 1937, p. 138).

Three whole sculptures and fragments of three sculptures were found in the VI Section (Eding, 1937, 19406, pp. 66, 102, Fig. 63; Gadzhieva, 2004; Chairkina, 2004, pp. 121-123]. In 1927, a wooden anthropomorphic sculpture lying face up was discovered at sites 68 and 69 at a depth of 250 cm, on sapropel. A piece of birch bark covered his face. The 123 x 9 x 9 cm figure is cut from a curved trunk with a knotted end for a stake. A specially selected head of an elongated shape is located on flat shoulders, a curve of the back is outlined; other details are not worked out, arms and legs are not depicted (Fig. 1). According to D. N. Eding, the safety of the idol is unsatisfactory: only the mouth opening is hardly visible on the front of the head. Next to the anthropomorphic sculpture, in areas 68 - 76, at a depth of 195 - 210 cm, a cluster of remnants of processed wood, wide and narrow pieces of birch bark spread out and bent in half were recorded; some showed traces of stitching, and one showed ornamentation with brown paint. At the same depth, a special site of 125 x 100 x 4 cm in size was observed in sections 71 and 72 of clearly introduced blue clay with fragments of birch bark (Eding 1927, p. 24, 25; 1929, p. 25). 12; 1937, p. 138].

In 1927, a wooden anthropomorphic head measuring 41 x 12 x 6 cm, facing downwards, was discovered on site 53 at a depth of 228 cm, on the border of peat and sapropel [Eding, 1927, p. 23, 24; 1929, p.12; 1937, p. 137, 138]. It has an elongated shape, cut from a narrow chopping block. Slightly burned occipital side is flat, the neck is thin. The nose in the form of a rectangular stripe is depicted in the same plane with a high and pointed forehead. Cheeks, eyes and mouth

*I express my sincere gratitude to the staff of the State Historical Museum, the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore and the Nizhny Tagil Museum-Reserve for the opportunity to publish materials from museum collections.

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1. Wooden anthropomorphic sculpture from the VI Section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog. Collection of GIM. Op. A381. N 8. Photo by V. A. Mochugovsky.

2). Sparsely scattered wood chips and isolated fragments of ceramics were found near the product; the remains of structures were not recorded.

During the excavation of 1931 on sites 265-268 at a depth of 155-200 cm, a wooden structure was discovered, in which fragments of a bucket made of kapa, a fragment of a wooden cup, a "hoof" and an ornamental birch bark with traces of sewing, a billet and a fragment of an oar handle were found. On site 265, at a depth of 185 cm, next to the flooring, there was an entire anthropomorphic sculpture with a height of 125 cm (Eding, 1932a, l. 18; 1937; 19406, pp. 66, 102, fig.63). Her head protruded slightly from the sapropel, in which the figure was sunk almost vertically. The long cylindrical torso without arms ends with a thin neck and a carefully designed oval head, with wide sections made with a grooved tool visible on its side surfaces and the occipital side. The nose does not separate the cheeks shown in one plane, but protrudes between the arched brows with a slightly upward curving protrusion, the end of which may be broken off. The eyes are not marked, and the deep mouth is oval in shape. Conventionally depicted is itulovo: the upper part of the chest and the lower part of the abdomen are pulled up; the shoulders are cut off steeply and the back side is cut so that the flat back bends from about half its length and protrudes in the pelvic area along with the back of the head. The rest of the surface is not treated, even the protrusions from the branches are not smoothed. The short legs are slightly bent at the knees; on the outside of the thighs, which are not specially emphasized, the natural surface of the trunk is preserved, their inner part is treated with wide sections. The lower legs are made in the form of pegs with small thickenings in the calf area (Fig. 3, 1). The knot mark preserved in the groin area may indicate that this is an image of a man.

In the inventory of objects found in the sixth Section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog in 1936, there are references to four idols. One of them - a stake with a length of 166 cm, in the lower part of which there is an anthropomorphic mask, was found in three fragments: two-on site 412 at a depth of 155-160 cm, in sapropel; one (upper part) - on site 391 in the peat-sapropel layer (Eding, 1936; 1940a, p. 54, 55; 19406, pp. 66, 67, 102, fig. 64]. The face is depicted in a two-plane manner: the forehead and nose in the form of a narrow strip separating the deep plane of the cheeks, merge with the surface of the face.-

2. Wooden anthropomorphic head from the VI Section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog. Collection of GIM. Op. A381. N 9.

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3. Wooden anthropomorphic sculpture from the VI Section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog. 1 - NTMZ collection. Pol. op. N 54; 2 - collection of GIM. Op. A387. N 595. Photo by V. A. Mochugovsky.

4. Fragment of a wooden anthropomorphic sculpture from the VI Section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog. The NTMZ collection. Pol. op. N 584.

stu of the trunk. Under the protruding lower contour, there is a poorly preserved inverted image of another disguise made in the same style (Fig. 3,2). At the same site, at a depth of 100 - 110 cm above the anthropomorphic sculpture, a wooden structure was recorded, next to which a bucket with a handle in the form of a swan's head and schematic figures of birds were found, and at the north-eastern edge - fragments of two wooden images of snakes.

In 1936, on site 413 under the edge of a wooden structure, at a depth of 135 cm, a fragment of an anthropomorphic sculpture 74 cm long was discovered-a fragment of the lower part of the torso and the left leg bent at the knee, pointed downwards. It is mentioned in a scientific report (Eding, 1936), but its description is absent in later publications. The figure partly repeats the iconography of the sculpture from the excavation of 1931, but clearly exceeds its size. The product is stored in NTMZ (field op. N 524).

In 1936, at site 422, at a depth of 140 cm, a fragment of an anthropomorphic sculpture was found in a secondary deposit along with ceramics, stone objects and handles with images of animal heads. It is mentioned in the scientific report [Ibid.], but not in scientific publications. The figure is represented by about a quarter of the left side of the torso to the beginning of the leg. The length of the fragment is 77 cm. It shows a narrow shoulder, a back treated with concoctions, tapering to the waist, and wide hips (Fig. 4). The figure is probably similar to the previous one and the sculpture from the excavation of 1931. An AMS date of 5070 ± 60 BP (AA-86207), or 3970-3710 BC, was obtained from this fragment (Chairkina, Kuzmin, and Burr, 2013).

In the collection inventory of GIM N A387 for 1936, under N 600, four fragments of the idol (?) found at site 391 "in vykida" are listed (Eding, 1936). However, there is no mention of it in the text of the report and in later publications. Perhaps, for the sculptural image in the field, fragments of the trunk with traces of processing were mistakenly taken.

Thus, the collections of the State Museum of Fine Arts and NTMZ now contain six anthropomorphic wooden sculptures from the VI Section of the Gorbunovsky peat Bog. Under unclear conditions in the lower part of peat deposits, at the contact of peat and sapropel, and in the upper part of peat deposits.-

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Fig. 5. Wooden sculpture.

1-anthropomorphic head from the Robber Island parking lot. Collection of the Institute of Fine Arts of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Op. 57. N 12; 2-a conventionally anthropomorphic product from the Shigir collection. The SOCM collection. S / m 8976 ASH-1036.

6. Small Shigir idol. The SOCM collection. S / m 8985 A-30.

in addition to Sapropel, fragments of two other sculptures may have been found, which have not been preserved. Their stylistic features are not known. Waterlogging and peat formation (the boundary between peat and sapropel) occurred in different sections of the VI Section at different times, in the late IV-early II millennia BC, during the Early Metal age, which is confirmed by a series of radiocarbon dates obtained from the host layer and fragments of wooden structures (Chairkina, 2010; Antipina, Panova,and Chairkina, 2010). 2013]. Anthropomorphic sculptures from the sixth Section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog can probably be dated to this period before conducting an AMS analysis and establishing the most accurate archaeological context (determining the depth of all types of ceramics and the complex of finds, their correlation with the depth marks and planigraphic location of wooden structures, etc.).

A wooden anthropomorphic head measuring 4.0 x 2.5...2.0 x 1.5 cm was found in the Early Metal Age layer at the Robber Island site (Fig. The product is partially burned, but the mold details are not deformed. The facial region is convex. The opposite side is treated with a single cut, reaching the occipital region, which is decorated in the form of a cornice, probably imitating hair or a headdress. The face is depicted in a two-plane manner: the forehead and nose in the form of a narrow strip separating the cheeks are shown as one plane, the mouth is not marked. According to the treated wood from the cultural layer, the product dates from 4,960 ± 210 BP (IERJ-131).

On the Shigir peat bog in unclear conditions, three (?) anthropomorphic sculptures and a wooden object with an anthropomorphic face, classified as conditionally anthropomorphic sculptures. The latter is oval in shape with a specially selected head and body (?), in the center of which there is a through hole. 5, 2). The same object, but without an anthropomorphic disguise, was discovered in 1932 at the Strelka site of the Gorbunovsky peat bog, on site XXII, at a depth of 117-135 cm, probably in a layer of the Early Metal epoch. [Eding 19326]. By analogy with it, the product from the Shigir collection probably dates back to the same time.

The small Shigir idol is approx. long. 20 cm-anthropomorphic head of an oval shape with a neck, well developed. Slightly deepened eyes and cheeks are depicted as a single plane, above which the brows and forehead rise. A large mouth is shown with a wide oval depression. The head, with the exception of the face, is covered with narrow grooves, and there are notches along the cheeks (Fig. 6). The wavy framing of the face, which probably reproduces a beard or headdress (hood?), and the nose, which is interpreted not as a continuation of the forehead plane, are not typical of Trans-Ural anthropomorphic sculpture. The product's age is not known.

The large Shigir idol (Fig. 7) is dated to the Mesolithic period by 14 S - 8,680 ± 140 (9467/1) and 8,750 ± 60 (9467/2) BP; 8,620 ± 70 (Le-5303) BP, or 7696-7540, 7886-7498 BC. A special article is devoted to the semantics of this sculpture [Chairkina, 2013].

In the 19th century, a small collection of objects from the Shigir peat bog was taken to Paris by the Baron de Bay. It is kept in the Museum of Man, a branch of the Museum of Natural History (Savchenko and Romain, 2011). Among the exhibits of this collection is dere-

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a faded anthropomorphic sculpture with a height of approx. 43 cm and a maximum width of 10 cm. The long pointed upper part of the head, the brow ridges, and the elongated rectangular nose separating the cheeks are conveyed by a single plane that rises above the cheeks and the lower part of the face. The eyes and mouth are not marked. The torso of the sculpture is not specifically highlighted, and the neck and shoulders are not marked. The head rests on small legs bent at the knees. Along the longitudinal edge located in the center of the reverse side, nine transverse notches are applied. There are no direct analogues of this figure among the wooden anthropomorphic sculptures of the Trans-Urals, some similarities can be traced in the design of the face and legs slightly bent at the knees. One gets the impression that it is more recent, probably of ethnographic time, as evidenced by rather close analogies in the materials of the Ob Ugrians (Gemuyev and Sagalaev, 1986). The inclusion of the sculpture in the Shigir collection is also possible: in the works of V. Ya. Tolmachev, which most fully reflects the history of research and the main categories of finds from the Shigir peat bog, there is no mention of this idol.

Thus, the collection of wooden anthropomorphic images of the Trans-Urals is now represented by 11 products. The Great Shigir Idol dates back to the Mesolithic period. In terms of semantics and stylistics, if there are some elements of similarity, it differs significantly from other images [Chairkina, 2013]. Most of the sculptures were found in the sixth Section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog in layers of the Early Metal Age. A miniature anthropomorphic head from the Robber Island parking lot and, probably, a product from the Shigir collection, classified as conditionally anthropomorphic sculptures, can also be dated to the same time. The Small Shigir idol is also clearly a metal tool. It is unlikely that today these products can be graded according to microperiods and cultural types of the early metal era. It is also obvious that it is impossible to build a straight-line typological series from "simple" stylized stake-shaped figures to more realistic sculptures with a well-developed head, torso and legs, which, as recent data show, have a rather early 14 C-date.

Wooden anthropomorphic sculpture of the early metal age of the Trans-Urals is represented by two colo-shaped figures, one of which has two opposite faces, the other with a worked head; a figure with a head, torso and legs; heads-masks; fragments of two idols with worked legs, torso and hips. All sculptures, with the exception of the fragments of the last two found in the VI Section, do not constitute stable types, are specific and individual. The style of body design is diverse: schematic or detailed in the image of individual parts.

7. The big Shigir idol. The SOCM collection. S/m8985A-1.

1-graphic reconstruction (based on: [Tolmachev, 1916]); 2-photo of the preserved part of the sculpture.

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elements. In the position of figures with a slightly bent lower back and legs, the same stylistic technique is used as in the depiction of some characters of the Big Shigir Idol, on a number of Ural scribbles and in graphic drawings on ceramics.

Modeling of the head can be traced on all sculptures, with the exception of a spike-shaped figure with two faces from the VI Section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog. The most canonical generalized interpretation of face iconography is the use of a two-plane manner of depicting the eyes, cheeks, nose and forehead. The mouth is absent on the faces of the spike-shaped sculpture and the miniature head from Robber Island, in other cases it is marked with a shallow oval notch.

The image of several faces facing each other is marked only on the spike-shaped figure from the VI Section. It is possible that the male figures are a figure with legs, discovered in 1931 at the VI Section, and an anthropomorphic head from the Shigir collection; the female ones are fragments of sculptures, found in 1936, with detailed thighs and legs.

In general, the wooden anthropomorphic sculpture of the Trans-Urals region is characterized by a variety of general forms, the predominance of emphasized modeling of the head, canonism in the design of the face; sometimes images with bent legs, always-the absence of hands.

Anthropomorphic sculptures of Western and Eastern Europe

Numerous wooden anthropomorphic sculptures from the Mesolithic - Iron Age period have been found in the marshlands of Western Europe near wooden roads and on religious sites [Immortal Images..., 2001].

The oldest (6400 ± 85 BC) small male figurine was discovered in Willemstad (Netherlands). The body of the figure is designed in the form of a rectangle, the wavy outlines of which make it look like the handle of an object. The hands and feet are not marked, the face is expressive: large eyes, nose, mouth and the lower contour of the head are depicted. Neolithic sculptures were found in Somerset and Dagenham (England), near Aurich (Germany) , and in Pohjankuru (Finland) (Fig. Figures from Aurich and Somerset were found near roads cut through the bog. Researchers pay attention to differences in their size and detection in different parts of structures. Spike-shaped anthropomorphic figures with pear-shaped and round heads from Aurich, found near the road that functioned between 2825 and 2140 BC, may have indicated its dangerous sections, being the" guardians " of travelers [Ibid., p. 78-80, 82]. A small sculpture in Somerset (3600-2200 BC) was "hidden" between the upper (4,840 ± 100 and 3,975 ± 92 BC) and older (4,570 ± 80; 4,266 ± 131 and 4,021 ± 103 BC) structures. According to researchers, it is an image of a "deity" or "substitute deity", a "guardian of the road", who protected it from "evil spirits" and ill-wishers. When the road became unusable or no longer needed, the "guardian" was thrown down and left nearby. D. and B. Coles suggest that this bisexual sculpture with a clearly recognizable head and three protrusions on the body, interpreted as breasts and a phallus, is a ritual sacrifice to ensure the success of the new road [Ibid, p. 88, 90].

The Bronze Age dates back to several sculptural images, the archaeological context of which is often not clear: figures in the form of a board from Lagore (Ireland) and Kragelund (Denmark), a tall figure with an elaborate head, torso and legs from Ralaghan (Ireland). Much more sculptures belong to the last centuries BC and the first centuries AD [Ibid., p. 11].

In Western European literature, the term "idol" is not used, but the term "anthropomorphic figure" is used, which, however, is interpreted quite broadly. Some figures are clearly identifiable as anthropomorphic, others only resemble them, are almost unprocessed natural trunks, with some details similar to the anthropomorphic

8. Wooden anthropomorphic sculpture of Western and Eastern Europe.

1-Pohyankuru (according to: [Immortal Jmages..., 2001, p. 16, fig. 9]); 2-Shvantoji settlement-28 (according to [Rimantiene, 2005, s. 103, abb. 46]).

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creature. Some sculptures represent only the head (Pohyankuru) or torso (Somerset). The most clearly anthropomorphic figures are from Lagore (3,650 ± 70 BP), Dagenham (3,800 ± 70 BP) and Ralagan (2,830 ± 70 BP). They have a head with eyes, nose, mouth and ears, a neck, torso and legs, but not all of them there are hands. The left half of the face of some sculptures was probably deliberately damaged in ancient times (Ralaghan, Dagenham). B. Coles, drawing on the data of Norse mythology, associates them with the god Thor or with a certain deity, his predecessor [Ibid., pp. 94-96]. The Lagore sculpture has a phallus, and the Dagenham figure has a hole in which it may have been inserted. More abstract is the sculpture from Aurich, which has no head, but accentuates the hips and legs [Ibid., p. 45].

The range of points of view on the purpose of wooden anthropomorphic figures and on what or who they represented is wide in Western European literature. Some researchers consider them to represent deities. So far, however, no sculpture has been unquestionably identified with a character known from written sources. It is believed that most of the figures were probably images of "substitute" supernatural beings, functioning as objects of worship. Perhaps some of them depicted real ancestors [Ibid., p. 26, 86-88].

An even smaller number of wooden anthropomorphic sculptures from the Neolithic - early metal age are known in Eastern Europe - four, and all of them come from the compact territory of the Baltic States. A stake - shaped figure with a length of 167 cm, made of deciduous wood, was found in the Sarnate-type dwelling "A" (first half, middle of the III-first half of the II millennium BC) at the Sarnate settlement in Latvia (Vankina, 1970, pp. 102, 103, Table XXXVII). The upper end of the trunk is cut from one side, the lower end is cut from both sides. In the upper part, at a distance of 46 cm from the end, a face is schematically depicted. The head and "legs", outlined by the narrow end of the trunk and a protrusion in place of the knees, are separated from the body by notches, the arms are not marked. According to L. V. Vankina, the sculpture was an image of a "domestic" spirit.

At the Shvantoji-28 settlement in Lithuania, a pillar-shaped figure with a height of 195 cm was found, carved from black alder (Rimantiene, 2005, S. 102-105, abb. 46). The head is 32 cm long and is modeled in the upper part of the trunk (Figs. 8, 2). The eye sockets and cheeks are slightly deepened and separated by a towering rectangular nose that forms one plane with the brow arches, forehead and trunk surface. The mouth is missing, the chin is narrowed, the cheekbones are emphasized. The upper part of the head, as well as the thin neck, is notched. The shoulders are marked and the upper front part of the body is slightly outlined in sections. The rest of the surface is not treated. The product, apparently, is not completed: the shoulders are located at different heights, and the torso is minimal. By 14 C, the sculpture dates from the first quarter of the IV millennium BC. e. Analogies to this image can be traced in Sarnatic sculpture and stake-shaped figures from the VI Section.

The third sculpture, probably from the Neolithic period, comes from the area of the mouth of the Malmuta River in the Luban Lowland in Latvia. The spike-shaped figure is made of deciduous wood. The head is not highlighted, and the upper part of the trunk shows a mask: the eyes and cheeks are transmitted in one plane, and the nose, straight brow arches and forehead that rise above them merge with the surface of the trunk. The lower part of the larva is deepened and probably indicates a mouth, the chin is convex (Lohse, 1987, p. 45, Fig. 4,1).

On the western coast of the Baltic Sea, at the Hopfenbach settlement, a stylized wooden anthropomorphic sculpture with a height of 350 cm was discovered, dated to 14 C 5,645 ± 135 BC. The head of the figure is slightly outlined, the face is not marked (Rimantiene, 2005, pp. 102-105).

The presence of spike-shaped forms, the interpretation of the face in a two-plane manner, images of schematic masks, the absence of hands and mouth, of course, bring Trans-Ural sculpture closer to the anthropomorphic figures of the Baltic States and Finland (Figure 8). Stylistic comparisons with Western European wooden sculptures are less definite. However, their location (including those dating back to a later time) is located near wooden roads and playgrounds, as well as on places of worship and in the form of objects (hoards?)deliberately placed in water or swamp. causes obvious associations with the context of Trans-Ural finds.

Semantic context

The analysis of the semantics of wooden anthropomorphic sculpture uses materials from the cult practice of the Ob Ugric peoples - Khanty and Mansi, which is based on the belief that there were at least Mesolithic - early metal cultures in the Trans-Urals that genetically preceded the taiga component of the Ugric community. Some elements of the worldview of the ancient Uralians are clearly preserved in Ugric legends and myths. Anthropomorphic sculptures of the early metal age and wooden and metal idols of the Khants and Mansi show features of stylistic unity in the iconography of the face, spike-shaped figures and figures with pointed heads, sculptures with legs but no arms (Gemuev and Sagalaev, 1986; Ivanov, 1970).

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Ob Ugrians are characterized by the presence of a large number of anthropomorphic images, the design of which depends on the personified character and the material used to make the idol. They could serve as a receptacle for the soul of a deceased ordinary family member or shaman, an embodiment of the ancestral spirit, or represent gods or spirits (see: [Sokolova, 2009, p. 530 - 537, 608 - 638]). There are male and female spirits that live in the sky, on earth, under the earth, in forests and waters. Local spirits (domestic, personal, clan or clan), unlike universal ones, are depicted as idols and are associated with a specific place. There are subordinate spirits-assistants or guardians of spirits-idols. As a rule, they are represented as a board or a block with a pointed head (Karjalainen, 1994). The image of domestic spirits, which are the protectors of the family, help in hunting and fishing, can be a stone of unusual shape, a doll made of cloth, bone figures, but most often - wooden and metal idols. They are stored in a chest, bag or container made of birch bark in a place of honor in the house; they can stand in the open air or on a platform [Heckel, 2001, pp. 17-19, 23]. Clan or clan spirits are deceased heroes, ancestors, and founders of a clan or clan. They are embodied in figures made of stone, wood and metal, most often-more or less carefully crafted anthropomorphic idols that stand in a sacred place, in a special house or building made of pillars. Nearby there may be a house-barn for victims-food, things, animals. Clan spirits, as well as domestic ones, help with hunting, fishing, reindeer husbandry, health and childbirth, but they are more powerful. There are certain taboos associated with sacred places and idols. Almost every local spirit is associated with an animal whose figurine is made of wood, stone, or metal. Their connection takes two forms:: the spirit transforms into an animal or uses it as a vehicle (Heckel, 2001, pp. 19-27).

The stability of ideological traditions and ritual practices of the ancient population of the Trans-Urals was manifested in the preservation of many structural elements of religious sites found on the Ural peat bogs, in Ugric places of worship, primarily dedicated to the spirit-or ancestor-patron; in inaccessibility (secrecy)."protection") of sacred places, the presence of special buildings (sites?), next to which anthropomorphic sculptures and figurines of animals are placed; offering them sacrificial gifts; in utensils (silver saucers - clay plates, flat wooden spatulas and spoon-shaped breast bones of birds-wooden spoons and ladles; metal arrows-stone arrowheads, etc.Analogies can also be traced in relation to anthropomorphic sculptures: "it is forbidden to see the face of an idol that was wrapped up", "while changing clothes, the sacred image was fenced off with a birch bark screen" [Gemuev and Sagalaev, 1986, pp. 124,146-148], storage in a container made of birch bark - the ubiquitous presence of pieces of birch bark next to sculptures in the VI Section The face of a cone-shaped figure discovered in 1927 was covered with birch bark from the Gorbunovsky peat bog.

The wooden anthropomorphic sculpture of the Trans-Urals, including the Mesolithic period (the Big Shigir Idol), is so realistic in all its schematics that it gives the impression that it corresponds to well-defined mythical characters or, taking into account the significant chronological gap between archaeological and ethnographic materials, to their prototypes in Ob-Ugric mythology. Golovalichina, discovered at the fishing site Robber Island, could be a domestic spirit-a defender of the family, helping in hunting and fishing. The archaeological context of the sculptures of the Shigir peat bog is not clear, and the analysis of their semantic texts is difficult. It is possible that the sculptural image of an anthropomorphic head was deliberately placed in water or a swamp as a sacrifice or gift, and the product referred to as anthropomorphic conditionally was a kind of amulet. The Big Shigir idol is probably a mythical text, a narrative about the world order of the Mesolithic population of the Trans-Urals (Chairkina, 2013).

It is possible that the anthropomorphic sculptures found at the cult site of the sixth Section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog, according to numerous Ob-Ugric analogies, were the incarnations of ancestors or patron spirits, and the figurines of animals and birds were images of helpers or elements (spheres of nature) subject to this or that spirit, its "vehicle", its form. transformations. A certain subordination of zoo-and ornithomorphic images to anthropomorphic ones is probably indicated by their size (always less than life size) and the manner of stylistic implementation, mainly on oars, vessels, handles of objects used in cult practice or specially made for carrying out these procedures, but remaining essentially everyday. Anthropomorphic sculptures are close to the natural size, they are "independent", but they are made schematically and crudely. Of fundamental importance is the early appearance in the population of the Trans-Urals of worldviews associated with the first ancestor and/or ancestors (?), various spirits embodied in anthropomorphic sculptures, and the attributive, subordinate position of animal images. Materials of the VI Section indicate the existence already in the era of the Russian Academy of Sciences-

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It consists of special wooden structures ("houses"?) or platforms "for idols" and a large number of them in one "sacred place".

Wooden and stone anthropomorphic, zoo - and ornithomorphic sculptures, their graphic images on vessels and scribbles are known on the monuments of the early metal age of the Trans-Urals. The beliefs associated with them, of course, were not identical and were not limited to the aspects considered, each image is multi-layered and polysemantic.

List of literature

Antipina, T. G., Panova, N. K., and Chairkina, N. M., Dynamics of the natural environment in the Holocene according to a comprehensive analysis of the sixth Section of the Gorbunovsky Peat Bog, Izv. Komi nauch. tsentra UrB RAS, 2013, issue 4 (16), pp. 1-9.

Vankina L. V. Sarnate peat bog site. Riga: Zinatne Publ., 1970, 267 p.

Gadzhieva E. A. Idols of the sixth Section of the Gorbunovsky peat Bog (several comments on the issue of cultural and chronological belonging). Yekaterinburg: Aqua-Press Publ., 2004, pp. 91-99.

Gemuev I. N., Sagalaev A.M. Religion of the Mansi people: Places of worship (XIX-early XX centuries). Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1986. 192 p.

Ivanov S. V. Sculptura narodov Severa Sibiri XIX-pervoi poloviny XX v. Sculpture of the peoples of the North of Siberia of the XIX-first half of the XX century.

Karjalainen K. F. Religion of the Ugra peoples. - Tomsk: Publishing House of the Tomsk State University, 1994. - Vol. I. - 152 p.

Loze I. A. Images of man in the Stone Age art of the Eastern Baltic States // Anthropomorphic images. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1987, p. 3718 (Primitive Art).

Savchenko S. N., Romain O. Shigirskaya kollektsiya barona de Baya v muzei Cheloveka (Paris, France) [Shigir collection of Baron de Bai in the Museum of Man (Paris, France)]. Yekaterinburg: Kvadrat Publ., 2011, pp. 250-259.

Sokolova Z. P. Khanty i mansi: vzglyad iz XXI v. [Khanty and Mansi: A view from the XXI century]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 2009, 756 p.

Tolmachev, V. Ya., Wooden idol from the Shigir peat Bog, Izv. Imp. Archeol. commissions. - 1916. - Issue 60. - p. 94-99.

Haekel Y. Veneration of spirits and the dual system among the Ugrians (on the problem of Eurasian totemism) / translated from German by N. V. Lukina. Tomsk: Publishing House of the Tomsk State University, 2001, 107 p.

Chairkina N. M. Secrets of peat bogs / / Cult monuments of the mountain-forest Urals. Yekaterinburg: Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2004, pp. 109-143.

Chairkina N. M. Arkheologicheskoe issledovanie stoyki VI Razrez Gorbunovskogo torfyanika v 2007 g. [Archaeological study of the site VI Section of the Gorbunovsky peat Bog in 2007]. Yekaterinburg: Bank of Cultural Information, 2010, issue 6, pp. 140-164.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 18.10.13, and the final version was published on 29.10.13.

Abstract

Wooden anthropomorphic sculptures found in pit-bogs east of the Ural Mountains are described. Their archaeological context, chronology, and stylistics are analyzed. The Uralian specimens are compared with those from Western and Eastern Europe. The possible meaning of these representations is reconstructed on the basis of Ob Ugrian rituals and mythology.

Keywords: Trans-Urals, peat-bog sites, wooden anthropomorphic sculpture, archaeological context, dating, iconography, semantics.

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