PALEO-SELKUPS’ BURIAL IN BOATS
Abstract
The article presents the results of field and desk research of burials in boats left by the Narym (southern) Paleo-Selkup people (16th–17th centuries). It examines the burial structures, the form of the discovered boats, and details of burial and commemorative rituals. The study is based on the findings identified and studied by the author from mounds 13 and 13A of the Kustovsky burial ground, left by representatives of the locally-dialectal Shiyesgula group. Published data from paleoethnography and ethnography on similar rituals among other groups of Narym Paleo-Selkup people are used as comparative material. Burials were performed under small mounds in shallow pits, which were previously burned before the boats were placed in them as containers for the deceased in their entirety, without dismemberment. The boat bottoms were supported by beam supports, and the pits were covered with wooden planks. Carved boats of two types were used for burial: a pointed prow and a blunt-sterned dugout. The form of the prow corresponds to the ethnographically documented shamanic boat called“rontyk,” which is also a boat for guiding the dead to the aft erlife. The deceased were laid on their backs, with their heads in the stern and their feet downstream.”
Downloads
Metrics
References
Alekseenko E.A. Shamanic Narta (Kossul) among the Ket People. In: Material culture and mythology. Collection of MAE. Vol. 37. Leningrad : Nauka, 1981. Pp. 169–178. (In Russ.)
Al’bedil’ D.N., Berezkin U.E. Dwellings of the Peoples of the World. A Small Encyclopedia. Kaliningrad : Yantarnyj skaz, 2002. 46 p. (In Russ.)
Anuchin D.N. Sleds, Boats, and Horses as Burial Accessories. Archaeological-Ethnographic Study. Archaeological-Ethnographic Study. In: Antiquities: Works of the Imperial Moscow Archaeological Society. Vol. 14. Moscow : Tipografi ya i Slovolitnya O.O. Gerbek, 1890. 146 p. (In Russ.)
Antropova V.V. Boats. In: Historical-Ethnographic Atlas of Siberia. Moscow ; Leningrad : Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1961. Pp. 107–130. (In Russ.)
Bel’gibaev E.A. Traditional Material Culture of the Chelkans in the Lebed River Basin (Second Half of the 19th 20th Century). Barnaul : Izd-vo Alt. un-ta, 2004. 300 p. (In Russ.)
Bereznickiy S.V. Ethnic Components of Beliefs and Rituals of Indigenous Peoples of the Amur-Sakhalin Region. Vladivostok : Dal’nauka, 2003. 486 p. (In Russ.)
Besprozvanny E.M., Starostina E.E. Burial in the Lower Irtysh Region // Problems of Ural-Siberian Archaeology. Sverdlovsk : Izd-vo Ural. un-ta, 1986. Pp. 33–37. (In Russ.)
Bobrova A.I. Letter from the Middle Ages. In: Land of Upper Ket. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1997. Pp. 118–130. (In Russ.)
Bobrova A.I. Selkups of the 18th–19th Centuries (based on materials from the Tiskinsky burial ground). Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 2007. 176 p. (In Russ.)
Bobrova A.I. Th e world is real and otherworldly (to the problem of reconstruction of the life support system ). In: The life support system of traditional societies in antiquity and modernity. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1998. Pp. 168–170. (In Russ.)
Bobrova A.I., Gerasko L.I. Tyagolovsky Necropolis — Results of the 2001 study. In: Samoyeds. Materials of the IV Siberian Symposium “Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Western Siberia”. Tobolsk ; Omsk : Omskij gosudarstvennyj pedagogicheskij universitet, 2001. P. 19–21. (In Russ.)
Bobrova A.I., Mec F.I. Boat-Shaped Vessels and Vessels with ‘Handles’ among the Medieval Population (Tiskin Complex of Sites). In: Current Issues in Ancient and Medieval History of Siberia. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1997. Pp. 304–316. (In Russ.)
Bobrova A.I., Petrova N.V. Tyagolovsky burial ground. In: Archaeological research in Middle Priobye. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1993. Pp. 97–112. (In Russ.)
Bobrova A.I., Rykun M.P., Tuchkov A.G., Chernova I.V. Narym Ob Region in the 2nd Millennium AD. (X–XX centuries). Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. ped. un-ta, 2016. 278 p. (In Russ.)
Boyarshinova Z.Ya. Population of Western Siberia before the Beginning of Russian Colonization. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1960. 151 p. (In Russ.)
Brodyanskiy D.L., Rakov V.A. Ancient Boats and Mariners of the Northwest Pacific. Arheologiya, etnografi ya i antropologiya Evrazii = Archaeology, Ethnography, and Anthropology of Eurasia. 2003;2:41–47. (In Russ.)
Varga D. Ancient East. At the Beginning of the History of Writing. Budapest : Korvina, 1979. 160 p. (In Russ.)
Vasil’ev E.A. Boat-Shaped Vessels from the Early Bronze Age of the Lower Ob River Region. In: Art and Folklore of the Peoples of Western Siberia, Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1984. Pp. 5–17. (In Russ.)
Vasil’ev E.A., Settlement of Vara-Khadita II and Problems of Primitive Archaeology in Yamal. In: Scientifi c Bulletin. Salekhard : Izd-vo UrGU, 2000. Vol. 2. Pp. 24–31. (In Russ.)
Vulli L. Ur-Haldeev. Moscow ; Leningrad : Izd-vo vostochnoj literatury, 1961. 255 p. (In Russ.)
Gening V.F., Zdanovich S.Ya. Likhachevsky Burial Ground on the Ishim River — a Site of the Potchevash Culture of the 6th–8th Centuries BC. Early Iron Age and Middle Ages of the Ural-Irtysh Interfl uve. Chelyabinsk : Izd-vo ChGU, 1986. Pp. 119–133. (In Russ.)
Golan A. Myth and Symbol. Jerusalem ; Moscow : Russlit, 1994. 375 p. (In Russ.)
Gracheva G.N. Burial Structures of the Nenets People. In: Religious ideas and rituals of the peoples of Siberia in the 19th — early 20th centuries. Collection of MAE. Vol. 27. Leningrad : Nauka, 1971. Pp. 248–262. (In Russ.)
Dzhenkins N. Lad’ya pod piramidoi. Moscow : Nauka, 1986. 127 p. (In Russ.)
Ancient East. Atlas of Primitive History of Egypt, the Near East, India, and China. Leningrad: OGIZ, 1937. 259 p. (In Russ.)
Dremov V.A. Results of Preliminary Identification of Bone Anthropological Materials from the Kustovsky Burial Mound, r. Kyong, Excavations of the Archaeological Expedition of Tomsk University led by Yu.I. Ozheredova, 1990. In: Preliminary Determinations of Sex and Age Based on Bone Anthropological Materials. List 195. Archive of the TSU Anthropology Cabinet. Case b.n. (In Russ.)
Dulzon A.P. Khanty Burial Mounds of the 16th–17th Centuries near the Village of Molchanova on the Ob River. In: Scientifi c Notes of Tomsk State Pedagogical Institute. Vol. XIII. Tomsk : Izd-vo TGPU, 1955. Pp. 97–154. (In Russ.)
Devlet M.A. Boats of the Dead? In: Eurasia through the Ages. St. Petersburg : Filologicheskij fakultet SPbGU, 2001. Pp. 63–64. (In Russ.)
Devlet E.G., Devlet M.A. Myths in Stone: Th e World of Petroglyph Art in Russia. Moscow: Aleteja, 2005. 472 p. (In Russ.)
Zuev V.F. Materials on the Ethnography of Siberia in the 18th Century (1771–1772). Works of the Institute of Ethnography. New Series. Vol. V. Moscow ; Leningrad : Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1947. 96 p. (In Russ.)
Klemen K. Th e Life of the Dead in the Religions of Humanity. Moscow : Intrada, 2002. 224 p. (In Russ.)
Klengel’-Brandt E. Journey to Ancient Babylon. Moscow : Nauka, 1979. 259 p. (In Russ.)
Krasnov P.V. Description of the Life of Indigenous Khanty People in the 5th Section of the Vasyugan Volost of Tomsk District. 1877. In: Archive of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of Tomsk State University. Document 1062. (In Russ.)
Kulemzin V.M., Lukina N.V. Vasyugan-Vakhov Khanty People. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. unta, 1977. 225 p. (In Russ.)
Kungurov A.L., Gorbunov V.V. Random Archaeological Finds from the Upper Chumyshe River (Based on Materials from the Museum of the Village of Pobeda). In: Issues in the Study of Ancient and Medieval History. Barnaul : Izd-vo Alt. un-ta, 2001. Pp. 111–126 (In Russ.)
Kyzlasov L.R. Th e Oldest Khakassia. Moscow : Izd-vo MGU, 1986. 295 p. (In Russ.)
Kyzlasov L.R. Essays on the History of Siberia and Central Asia. Krasnoyarsk : Izd-vo Krasnoyarskogo un-ta, 1992. 224 p. (In Russ.)
Lukina N.V. Means of Transportation of the Narym Selkups. In: Scientific Notes of Tomsk State University. No. 60. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1966. Pp. 108–118. (In Russ.)
Lukina N.V. Formation of the Material Culture of the Khants. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1985. 365 p. (In Russ.)
Martynov A.I. Boats into the Land of Ancestors. Kemerovo : Kn. izd., 1966. 36 p. (In Russ.)
Matveev A.V., Zak V.A., Volkov E.N. Study of the Eneolithic Burial Site Buzan-3 in the Ingala Valley. Vestnik arheologii, antropologii i etnografii = Bulletin of Archaeology, Anthropology, and Ethnography. 1997;1:156–158. (In Russ.)
Myths, Legends, and Folktales of the Khants and Mansi. Moscow : Nauka, 1990. 568 p. (In Russ.)
Maritime Encyclopedic Reference : In 2 Volumes. Vol. 1. Leningrad : Sudostroenie, 1986. 512 p. (In Russ.)
Murashko O.A., Krenke N.A. Aboriginal culture of the Obdorsky North in the 19th Century. Based on the Archaeological and Ethnographic Collections of the Museum of Anthropology of Moscow State University. Moscow : Nauka, 2001. 160 p. (In Russ.)
Novgorodova E.A. In the Land of Petroglyphs and Edelweiss. Moscow : Znanie, 1982. 80 p. (In Russ.)
Ozheredov Yu.I. Burial of a Selkup Warrior. In: New Developments in Archaeology of Siberia and the Far East. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1992. Pp. 110–115. (In Russ.)
Ozheredov Yu.I. Kustovsky Complex of Archaeological Sites. In: Peoples and Cultures of the Tomsk-Narym Ob Region: Materials for the Encyclopedia of the Tomsk Region. Tomsk: Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 2001. Pp. 84–86. (In Russ.)
Ozheredov Yu.I., Yarzutkina A.A. The Boat in the Mythology of Siberian Tatars and Samoyedic Selkups. In: Culture and Interaction of Peoples in Museum, Scientific, and Educational Processes — Key Factors of Russia’s Stable Development. Omsk : Nauka, 2016. Pp. 165–170 (In Russ.)
Okladnikov A.P. Neolithic and Bronze Age of the Baikal Region. Part III. Moscow; Leningrad: Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1950. 412 p. (Materials and Studies on the Archaeology of the USSR. No. 18) (In Russ.)
Okladnikov A.P., Zaporozhskaya V.D. Lensk Petroglyphs. Moscow; Leningrad : Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1959. 144 p. (In Russ.)
Okladnikov A.P., Martynov A.I. Treasures of the Tomsk Petroglyphs. Rock Drawings from the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Moscow : Iskusstvo, 1972. 255 p. (In Russ.)
Pelikh G.I. Elements of the Central Asian Culture among the Narym Selkups. In: Collection of Scientific Works of Historical Departments. Works of Tomsk University. Tomsk : Izdvo Tom. un-ta, 1963. Vol. 171. Pp. 159–174. (In Russ.)
Pelikh G.I. Origin and History of the Selkups: Abstract … Doctor of Historical Sciences. Tomsk, 1972a. 38 p. (In Russ.)
Pelikh G.I. Origin and History of the Selkups: Dissertation … Doctor of Historical Sciences. Tomsk, 1972b. 577 p. (In Russ.)
Pelikh G.I. Origin of the Selkups. Tomsk : Izd-vo TGU, 1972v. 424 p. (In Russ.)
Pelich G.I. Materials on Selkup shamanism. In: Ethnography of North Asia. Novosibirsk : Nauka, 1980. Pp. 5–70. (In Russ.)
Pelikh G.I. Th e Selkups in the 17th Century (Essays on Socio-Economic History). Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1981. 176 p. (In Russ.)
Pelich G.I. Selkup mythology. Tomsk : Izd-vo NTL, 1998. 80 p. (In Russ.)
Prokofi eva E.D. Conceptions of the World by Selkup Shamans (Based on Drawings and Watercolors of the Selkups). In: Collection of MAE. Vol. ХХ. Moscow ; Leningrad : Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1961. Pp. 54–74. (In Russ.)
Prokofi eva E.D. Some Religious Cults of the Taz Selkups. In: Cultural Monuments of Siberian and Northern Peoples. Collection of MAE. Vol. XXXIII. Moscow ; Leningrad : Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1977. Pp. 66–79. (In Russ.)
Prokofi eva E.D. On Water Transportation among the Taz Selkups. In: Ethnocultural Contacts of Siberian Peoples. Leningrad : Nauka, 1984. Pp. 139–142. (In Russ.)
Rudenko S. Objects from the Ostyak Burial Site near Obdorsk. In: Materials on the Ethnography of Russia. Petrograd : Tipografi ya R. Golike i A. Vilborg, 1914. Vol. II. Pp. 35–56. (In Russ.)
Ryndina O.M., Bobrova A.I., Ozheredov Yu.I. Th e Khants of the Salym Region: Culture in an Archaeological and Ethnographic Dimension. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 2008. 412 p. (In Russ.)
Sagalaev A.M. Ural-Altaic Mythology. Novosibirsk : Nauka, 1991. 155 p. (In Russ.)
Semyonova V.I. Medieval Burial Sites of the Yuga Priobye. Novosibirsk : Nauka, 2001. 296 p. (In Russ.)
Sirelius U.T. Journey to the Khants. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 2001. 344 p. (In Russ.)
Smirnov Yu.A. Th e Labyrinth. Morphology of Deliberate Burial. Research, Texts, Dictionary. Moscow : Vostochnaya literatura, 1997. 279 p. (In Russ.)
Sokolova Z.P. Remnants of Religious Beliefs among the Ob Ugric People. In: Cultural Monuments of Siberian and Northern Peoples. Collection of MAE. Vol. XXVII. Leningrad : Nauka, 1971. Pp. 211–238. (In Russ.)
Sokolova Z.P. In Pursuit of a Mystery. Sovetskaya etnografiya = Soviet Ethnography. 1986;4:136–145. (In Russ.)
Sokolova Z.P. Ethnocultural Connections between the Ob Ugric People and the Hungarians. In: Materials from the 6th International Congress of Finno-Ugric Studies. Moscow : Nauka, 1989. Vol. 1. Pp. 269–271. (In Russ.)
Sokolova Z.P. Th e Ob-Ugric Phenomenon. Th e Place of Khanty and Mansi Culture in the Culture of Siberian Peoples. In: Historical Yearbook. Special Issue. Omsk : Izd-vo Omskogo gos. un-ta, 2001. Pp. 36–53. (In Russ.)
Solovyov A.I. Some Results of the Study of Burial Mounds near the Village of Ust-Izes. In: Issues in Archaeology, Ethnography, and Anthropology of Siberia. Novosibirsk : Izd-vo IAET SO RAN, 1997. Pp. 281–288. (In Russ.)
Somye S. Summer in Siberia among the Ostyaks, Samoyeds, Zyryans, Tatars, Kyrgyz and Bashkirs. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 2012. 640 p. (In Russ.)
Stratonovich G.G. Folk Beliefs of the Population of Indochina. Moscow : Nauka, 1978. 256 p. (In Russ.)
Terekhova L.M., Karacharov K.G. Sredneobskaya lowland. In: Essays on the cultural genesis of the peoples of Western Siberia. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1994. Pp. 277–289. (In Russ.)
Tomilov N.A. Ethnography of the Turkic-Speaking Population of Tomsk Priobye (Economy and Material Culture). Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1980. 200 p. (In Russ.)
Tolstov S.P. Ancient Khwarezm. An Attempt of Historical-Archaeological Research. Moscow: Izd-vo MGU, 1948. 352 p. (In Russ.)
Tresidder D. Dictionary of Symbols. Moscow : FAIR-PRESS, 2001. 448 p. (In Russ.)
Fedorova E.G. On Some Features of the Burial Cult of the Ob-Ugric People. In: Integration of Archaeological and Ethnographic Research. Omsk ; Khanty-Mansiysk : Izd-vo OmGPU, 2002. Pp. 242–244. (In Russ.)
Firks I. von. Viking Ships. L. : Sudostroenie, 1982. 104 p. (In Russ.)
Frobenius L. Th e Childhood of Humanity. St. Petersburg : Izdanie knizhn. Magazine P.V. Lukovnikova, 1914. 368 p. (In Russ.)
Khomich L.V. The Nenets. St. Petersburg : Russkij dvor, 1995. 336 p. (In Russ.) Tseren E. Biblical Hills. Moscow : Pravda, 1986. 480 p. (In Russ.)
Chernetsov V.N. Concepts of the Soul among the Ob-Ugric People. In: Research and Materials on Primitive Religious Beliefs. Moscow : Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1959Pp. 114–156. (TIE. New Series. Vol. LI). (In Russ.)
Chindina L.A. Sarov Fortifi ed Settlement. In: Questions of Archaeology and Ethnography of Siberia. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1978. Pp. 51–80. (In Russ.)
Chindina L.A. Roelka burial ground on the Middle Ob. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1977. 192 p. (In Russ.)
Chindina L.A. Ancient history of the Middle Priobye during the Iron Age. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1984. 255 p. (In Russ.)
Chindina L.A. History of Middle Ob in the Early Middle Ages. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. unta, 1991. 184 p. (In Russ.)
Chindina L.A., Yakovlev Ya.A., Ozheredov Yu.I. Archaeological Map of the Tomsk Region. Tomsk : Izd-vo Tom. un-ta, 1990. Vol. 1. 340 p.
Shukhov I.N. Th e River Kazym and Its Inhabitants. In: Essays on the Ethnography and Geography of Middle Asia. Vol. XXVI. Tobolsk : Tipografi ya Eparhial’nogo bratstva, 1915. Pp. 1–57. (In Russ.)
Copyright (c) 2023 Ю.И. Ожередов
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Theory and Practice of Archaeological Research is a golden publisher, as we allow self-archiving, but most importantly we are fully transparent about your rights.
Authors may present and discuss their findings ahead of publication: at biological or scientific conferences, on preprint servers, in public databases, and in blogs, wikis, tweets, and other informal communication channels.
Theory and Practice of Archaeological Research allows authors to deposit manuscripts (currently under review or those for intended submission to ABS) in non-commercial, pre-print servers such as ArXiv.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
2.jpg)
