Stone rod with a human mask from a burial in the Mayskoye V burial mound group

Abstract

A new finding of a human image on the stone rod is published that originated from the subsoil burial (grave No. 3) near Mayskoe village, Eastern Kazakhstan, later covered by the barrow hill of Mayskoe V Saka burial ground. There is a detailed description of the product itself and the anthropomorphic mask on it. In combination with the materials from the neighboring subsoil grave No. 2, the item is dated to the Late Neolithic, the chronological existence horizon of Isakovo and Serovo complexes burial traditions of the Baikal region. As the closest comparison thereof, one can consider the sculptural image on the stone rod from the Tanai 4a settlement and stone sculptures from the Samus IV settlement. Common features are identified in the form of blanks determining the architectonics of images, in the interpretation and techniques of depicting specific elements of human images. All the examined analogies come from the territory of the Ob-Irtysh basin and are associated with local cultures of the late Stone Age or, like the Samus culture, going back to the local Neolithic environment. Despite the uniqueness of the images, they have a number of common features and signs that allow us to consider these anthropomorphic images as essentially similar and created within the framework of common cultural and artistic tradition in different versions and at different stages of their implementation.