Issue 1 (58)
| “TRANSPARENT” FLESH: INTERPRETING ANTHROPOMORPHIC FIGURES ON THE SHIGIR IDOL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2018 | Number | 1(58) |
| Pages | 20-28 | Type | scientific article |
| UDC | 903.26 (470.5)“633” | BBK | 63.442.12(235.55) |
| Authors | Devlet Ekaterina G. |
Topic | SHIGIR IDOL: DATES, CONTEXTS, INTERPRETATIONS |
| Summary | Seven anthropomorphic figures, with articulated ribs, and zigzags on the Shigir Idol are examined in their correlation to other images in the X-ray style. They are depicted as if their flesh were transparent, showing their skeletons. X-ray style figures, common for prehistoric art are interpreted in the context of the plot of obtaining shamanic gift, shamanic initiation, known by ethnographical materials, when spirits check the skeleton of a would-be shaman in order to find a particular bone corresponding to his high shamanic vocation. Overcoming the opposition of life and death is in the core of the semantics of X-ray figures. The seven vertically aligned anthropomorphic figures on the Shigir Idol conceptually conform with the notion of shaman clans, inherited shamanic gift and shamans-ancestors who give their successor special powers. Structural and semantic unity of shamanic initiation and initiation of the ordinary members of the community of adepts was noted by various researchers. Death and revival experience runs through early religious beliefs and world religions, while symbolic meaning of the skeleton transforms from shamanic into later systems of view of the worked. The mythological motive of “splitting” of the body transforms and passes to epic and folk tales. Zoomorphic images in X-ray style are more numerous than anthropomorphic ones. They can be semantically collated with the notion that the soul of an animal is bound with some part of its skeleton and that animals’ resurrection begins with bones. The study presents methods of modern documentation of petroglyphs and other materials useful for demonstrating hardly visible details. | ||
| Keywords | X-ray style, Shigir Idol, rock art, semantics, shamans | ||
| References |
Alekseev N. A. Traditsionnye religioznye verovaniya yakutov v XIX — nachale XX v. [Traditional religious beliefs of the Yakuts in the 19th — early 20th century]. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1975, 200 p. (in Russ.). Chairkina N. M. Torfyanikovye pamyatniki Zauralya: analiz i interpretatsiya. Diss. Dokt. [Peat monuments of the Trans-Urals: analysis and interpretation. Doct. Diss.]. Ekaterinburg, 2015, vol. 1, 338 š. (in Russ.). Devlet E. G. [Rock paintings in the X-ray style and a mythological story about finding a shamanic gift]. Arkheologiya, etnografiya i antropologiya Yevrazii [Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia], 2000, no. 2, pp. 88–95. (in Russ.). Devlet E. G., Devlet M. A. Mify v kamne. Mir naskalnogo iskusstva Rossii [Myths are in stone. The world of rock art of Russia]. Moscow: Aleteyya Publ., 2005, 472 p. (in Russ.). Devlet E. G. The skull motif in rock art of Far East: symbol of death, rebirth and the link between the generations. Expression, 2017, no. 17, pp. 34–44. (in English). Dyrenkova N. P. [Reception of shamanic gift according to the views of Turkish tribes]. Sbornik Muzeya antropologii i etnografii [Collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography]. Leningrad: AN SSSR Publ., 1930, vol. 9, pp. 267–291. (in Russ.). Eliade M. Mify, snovideniya, misterii [Myths, dreams, mysteries]. Moscow: Relf-buk Publ., 1996, 228 p. (in Russ.). Eliade M. Shamanizm: Arkhaicheskie tekhniki ekstaza [Shamanism: Archaic techniques of ecstasy]. Kiev: “Sofiya” Publ., 1998, 480 p. (in Russ.). Ivanov S. V. Materialy po izobrazitelnomu iskusstvu narodov Sibiri XIX — nachala XX v. [Materials on the fine arts of the peoples of Siberia 19th — early 20th century]. Moscow-Leningrad: AN SSSR Publ., 1954, 838 p. (in Russ.). Ivanov S. V. Skulptura altaytsev, khakasov i sibirskikh tatar (XVIII — pervaya chetvert XX v.) [Sculpture of Altaians, Khakassians and Siberian Tatars (18th — first quarter of 20th century)]. Leningrad: Nauka Publ., 1979, 194 p. (in Russ.). Koksharov S. F. [On the content and dating of a group of Ural pisanits]. Problemy izucheniya naskalnykh izobrazheniy v SSSR [The problems of studying rock carvings in the USSR]. Moscow: IA AN SSSR Publ., 1990, pp. 79–83. (in Russ.). Ksenofontov G. V. Legendy i rasskazy o shamanakh u yakutov, buryat i tungusov [Legends and stories about shamans from the Yakuts, Buryats and Tungus]. Moscow: Bezbozhnik Publ., 1930, 126 p. (in Russ.). Leontev N. V. [Stela at the river Askiz (image of the male deity in percussive fine arts)]. Okunevskiy sbornik: Kultura. Iskusstvo. Antropologiya [Okunevsky collection: Culture. Art. Anthropology]. Saint Petersburg: Petro-RIF Publ., 1997, pp. 222–237. (in Russ.). Lødøen T. Rock Art as Mortuary Practice in the Late Mesolithic of Western Norway. Expression, 2015, no. 9, pp. 43–47. (in English). Lvova E. L., Oktyabrskaya I. V., Sagalaev A. M., Usmanova M. S. Traditsionnoe mirovozzrenie tyurkov Yuzhnoy Sibiri: Chelovek. Obshchestvo [The traditional worldview of the Turks of Southern Siberia: Human. Society]. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1989, 243 p. (in Russ.). Molodin V. I. Grot Kuylyu — kultovyy kompleks na reke Kucherle (Gornyy Altay) [Grot Kuilju — a cult comp lex on the river Kucherle (Gorny Altai)]. Novosibirsk: IAE SO RAN Publ., 2010, 262 p. (in Russ.). Novik E. S. Obryad i folklor v sibirskom shamanizme. Opyt sopostavleniya struktur [Rite and folklore in Siberian shamanism. Experience in comparing structures]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1984, 304 p. (in Russ.). Okladnikov A. P. Petroglify Baykala — pamyatniki drevney kultury narodov Sibiri [Petroglyphs of Lake Baikal — monuments of the ancient culture of the peoples of Siberia]. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1974, 125 p. (in Russ.). Propp V. Ya. Istoricheskie korni volshebnoy skazki [The historical roots of the fairy tale]. Leningrad: LGU Publ., 1986, 366 p. (in Russ.). Sagalaev A. M., Oktyabrskaya I. V. Traditsionnoe mirovozzrenie tyurkov Yuzhnoy Sibiri: Znak i ritual [The traditional worldview of the Turks of Southern Siberia: sign and ritual]. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1990, 209 p. (in Russ.). Shirokov V. N., Chairkin S. E. Naskalnye izobrazheniya Severnogo i Srednego Urala [Rock images of the Northern and Middle Urals]. Ekaterinburg: OOO ID “Azhur” Publ., 2011, 182 p. (in Russ.). Vaynshteyn S. I. Mir kochevnikov Tsentralnoy Azii [World of nomads of Central Asia]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1991, 296 p. (in Russ.). |
||
| Download in PDF | |||
