Some aspects of the ornithomorphic image in the cult metalplasty of the peoples of Siberia and the Urals

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The bird symbol permeates the entire period of the existence of human culture. From the very first manifestations, ornithomorphic image acted as an integral component of the embodiment of the worldview of people in material objects. Analyzing the creative samples of ancient masters, we can judge that the use of this element served not so much as a fact of displaying everyday reality, but as had a deep cosmological, mythological and cult meaning.

Exploring world history in symbiosis with fundamental institutions (culture, art, religion), we meet our winged companion in almost all sources. In most religious cults, the spiritual essence of one or another feathered representative, its connection with the divine, is noted. Sometimes he himself acts as a demiurge of all that exists and almost always appears to be a mediator between gods and people. Each of us, at least once in our life, looking at the sky, watched the smooth, independent flight of the bird and wanted to be in its place. And how many fabulous feelings we experience when flying in a dream! The interconnection of the human soul and the winged rulers of the airspace is reflected not only in countless mythical legends, but also in many examples of metal-plastic, This is especially clearly expressed in the archaeological material of the Ural-Siberian region. This article is unable to cover the entire volume of available and studied information about the cult metal-plastic of the peoples of Siberia and the Urals. In it, the author will allow himself to dwell only on some aspects of using ornithomorphic image in the specified region on the basis of funds available in the virtual galleries of the electronic resource "Domongol".

The use of an ornithomorphic image at the dawn of mankind.

As far as scientists and historians know, the earliest images of an ornithomorphic image appear in the Paleolithic in the painting of caves, drawings on the rocks "pisanitsa", in the form of small sculptures made of stone, bone, mammoth tusk.

The oldest example of bone sculpture depicting a bird is a figurine of a heron, carved from the bone of a mammoth and found relatively recently during excavations in the Swabian Jura (the territory of modern Germany). The age of the found artifact is estimated at about thirty-two thousand years (Fig. 1). No less famous is a swan carved from a mammoth tusk, discovered during excavations of a hunters' camp near the village of Malta near Irkutsk in Siberia and stored in the funds of the State Hermitage. Its approximate age is twenty two thousand years (Fig. 2). The figurine of a bird from the Mezino site (near Novgorod-Seversky), also made of mammoth tusk and attributed to the Late Paleolithic period, deserves special attention, the entire surface covered with ornaments (Fig. 3).

The close attention of scientists on the subject of the study of the display of an ornithomorphic image in antiquity was paid to the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods, as the most saturated material presented. Studied sculptural (images made of bone, flint, clay, amber, wood) and graphic (images on ceramics, rocks, grottoes, etc.) transmission of the winged image. The most common in these periods was bone grafting. In this regard, we can highlight the work of EA Kashina and AV Emelyanov dedicated to the bone images of birds of the end of the Stone Age [11]. They examined and thoroughly examined more than thirty bird-like figurines of the Neolithic period. As a result, it was concluded that, in addition to food, through feathered representatives, people received: tools of labor - punctures, musical instruments - bone flutes, as well as bone pendants (a prototype of metal pendants), which played a cult and magical role. The latter is indirectly confirmed by the coating of some appendages with red ocher, the importance of which in primitive thinking and ritual practice, its connection with the idea of life, was repeatedly emphasized in his works by A. D. Stolyar [17]. According to the authors, the production of the above bone images could be timed to some magical rituals aimed at increasing the bird and / or ensuring hunting success. In addition, the bird symbol could be associated with protective magic.

It should be noted that the overwhelming majority of ornithomorphic images known in antiquity are dedicated to a waterfowl, the significant role of which is explained by the fact that in ancient times it was an important food resource. NN Gurina associated the cult of migratory waterfowl among the northern Neolithic population with the enormous economic significance that the hunt for them in the spring had [8]. Moreover, as far as we can judge, certain ideological ideas and myths were associated with them in ancient times. MF Kosarev, on the basis of elaborated archaeological and ethnographic materials on the Urals and Siberia, concluded that the cult of migratory waterfowl was closely connected with the ideas of the ancients about the dying and revival of nature [13]. SV Bolshov and NA Bolshova in their joint work connect the spring arrival of birds in the associative perception of ancient man with the awakening of nature and the revival of life [3]. Probably, it was with the bird that a person connected a piece of his soul, which in the fall, before the onset of cold weather, flew somewhere to the south, where there was an unknown land, and, returning in the spring, led the hunter to the lakes rich in fish, where forest animals gathered for watering. The image of a waterfowl is one of the most stable images in the worldview model of the ancient population. With the construction of a mythological picture of the world, the duck is assigned the role of its organizer, the creator of the universe. The transmigration of the soul of the deceased is associated with her image, and with the appearance of a trichotomous model of the world (lower, middle and upper worlds). She is also assigned the role of mediator between the worlds. Birds traveling from north to south and back connect two worlds horizontally: the world of the dead (north) and the world of the living (south). Observing a waterfowl in real life, a person saw that the bird connects worlds vertically: it flies in the sky (upper world), nests on the ground (middle world) and dives into water (lower world).

MF Kosarev also believes that the winged image in ancient society could be related to totemistic ideas [13]. Various breeds of birds were revered as totems of clans and individual clan groups among different peoples of the Urals and Siberia: eagle, hawk, wood grouse, crane, raven, swan, gogol, owl, duck, woodpecker, etc.

One of the priceless treasures of mankind that has preserved rich archaeological material is the territory of the Urals. Many wooden ornithomorphic items of the Eneolithic period were raised and studied from its peat bogs. Many mountains, caves and grottoes still keep drawings of ancient masters depicting birds. The Urals served as the cradle for the bright and outstanding Itkul culture, whose bronze ornithomorphic idols are its kind of "visiting card".

Ornithomorphic image in the Itkul culture.

Ornithomorphic metal-plastic (bird-shaped idols made of copper and bronze) became widespread in the Ural-West Siberian region. It is distinguished by its iconography and the period of its existence. The earliest examples of this art casting date back to the beginning of the Iron Age and are primarily associated with the Itkul culture of the Middle Trans-Urals.

The Itkul culture belongs to the first half of the early Iron Age (VII-III centuries BC), and was located in the regions of the mountain-forest and forest-steppe Trans-Urals. It was discovered by K. V. Salnikov during the research of the settlement on Lake Itkul, after which it got its name. In the economy of the Itkul people, the main one was the production economy - metallurgy and metalworking. Non-ferrous metallurgy, bronze casting and blacksmithing were especially developed. Metallurgists did not experience a shortage of raw materials, since the main part of the settlements was located in the strip of ore deposits. The assortment of non-ferrous metallurgy products included dozens of categories of weapons (daggers, spearheads and arrows), tools (Celts, knives, needles), dishes (cauldrons), jewelry, toilet items (mirrors) and cult (anthropomorphic "tree-like" and ornithomorphic idols, other items of worship). Itkul copper in the form of ingots came to the Ural tribes, and in the form of weapons to the Sauromato-Sarmatian nomads of the southern Urals. The Itkul metal also penetrated into the regions of Western Siberia and far to the north. The basis for the formation of the Itkul culture was the cultural complexes of the Berezovsky stage of the Mezhovskoy culture of the Trans-Urals, which indicates its Ugric affiliation.

More than one hundred and twenty poultry doves belonging to the Itkultu culture are officially known. The most complete systematization of them was attempted by Yu. P. Chemyakin, who cataloged eighty-four images of Itkul ornithomorphs [20]. Based on the works of V. D. Viktorova [5] and Yu. P. Chemyakin, it can be judged that winged idols, as a rule, were part of sanctuary complexes or treasures, or were random, single finds that were found on the tops of the mountains, at their foot or in the grottoes. In significant "sacrificial" complexes there could be from three to several dozen castings from one form, and besides the poultry-idols themselves, the complexes could contain mirrors, weapons, anthropomorphic idols or other items. Most of the Itkul ornithomorphs bear the features of diurnal birds of prey, such as the eagle, hawk, kite, and falcon. However, there are also those that can be attributed to the image of a woodpecker, raven or owl. These idols differ not only in the images of birds embodied in metal. Significant differences are contained in the iconographic performance, in size, in the manner of conveying volume, in the presence of fasteners ("loops" for hanging), in the degree of processing after casting. There are complexes that include products that are not processed after casting, with an undefined part of the head, sprue remnants, no spills, etc. Along with the aforementioned ornithomorphs, the same complex usually includes specimens of a larger size, with a detailed and polished relief, with loops for hanging. What is the reason for this difference? Answering this question, we come close to the very essence of winged idols, to what they were created for.

Scientists of the late XIX - early XX centuries believed that these artifacts are objects of sacrifice or intermediaries "helpers" in shamanic rituals. VD Viktorova in her work makes a different conclusion [5]. She believes that, most likely, the bird-doles are the receptacle of the souls of the dead Itkul people - "ittarma", thereby giving an answer to the question of the heterogeneity of ornithomorphs. That is, the difference (difference in forms and specific features) is due to the different social status of members of itcult society, totem or clan affiliation, and was determined by the type of occupation. In support of this conclusion, it should be noted that the absence of burials in the ground is a distinctive feature of the aborigines of the mountain-forest Trans-Urals since the Stone Age. The few burials in the grottoes and near the entrances to the caves are a special honor that fell out to a few individuals (leaders, heroes, shamans), while the main part of society was buried in flowing water, going to the Lower World.

YP Chemyakin in his work noted a curious symbiosis of an ornithomorphic and anthropomorphic "tree-like" image in some winged idols [20]. The fact is that in the tail part of individual poultry idols there are characteristic “bulge” ridges, which, when the artifact is turned 180 degrees, form the “eyes, mouth” facial features of the “tree-like” idol. In Figure 4, among other Itkul ornithomorphs of the 7th-3rd c. BC, there is one representing the synthesis of bird-like and tree-like idols located in the solar circle. The solar circle among the Itkul metallurgists was associated with the sun and fire, heat, which was so important in their production. The author of the article happened to come across a sample of an Itkul idol, the body and each wing of which depicted an anthropomorph. Such incarnations of various images in a single piece of bronze casting art require the deepest semantic analysis. Itkul poultry doles are fraught with more than one riddle, which you can try to solve through the most complete systematization and study of them.

Ornithomorphic image in the Kulai culture.

No less remarkable and unique in terms of their iconography are the samples of bronze art plastics of the Kulai culture.

The green strip on the map, which stretches to the east from the Ural Mountains through the whole of Siberia, almost to the Pacific Ocean, reveals on the ground a secluded taiga world full of mysteries and ancient secrets, which has become the birthplace of the Kulai culture. It is one of the most striking cultural and historical communities that existed in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. until the middle of the 1st millennium A. D. This culture originated in the Narymsky Ob region in the center of the West Siberian Plain and spread over a large territory of Western Siberia. The lack of writing, as well as the remoteness of the territory of formation from the world centers of civilizations, made this culture absolutely unknown until recently. It got its name from the place of discovery in 1922 of a treasure, which consisted of a bronze cauldron and small bronze and silver items on Mount Kulaike in the Chainsky district of the Tomsk region. This complex was the first officially studied complex of the Kulay culture. It served as the base material for its separate selection.

The Kulai culture received due attention from scientists only in the middle of the 20th century when its cult complexes containing typical samples of metal-plastic were discovered. One of them is the complex from the Sarov cult place of the Kolpashevsky district of the Tomsk region, studied in detail by Ya. A. Yakovlev [22]. In his work on his systematic analysis, he noted that the most popular image of artistic casting from the monument he studied is a bird, the images of which, as a percentage of the rest of the images, make up about 40%. The above statistics serve as another argument that in the Ural-Siberian cult, bronze-casting art of the early Iron Age and the Middle Ages, the most numerous are images of ornithomorphic characters and scenes with their participation. A notable example of Kulay metal-plastic from the Sarov cult site is the image of symmetrically opposite birds and a tree between them. The motive of the "world tree" is common to traditional cultures. Thus, in this composition, the close relationship of the image of a bird with the foundations of the universe was displayed.

While studying the Kulai bronze plastics, Ya. A. Yakovlev also notes the frequent iconographic depiction of ornithomorphic diadems on atropomorphic faces [22]. This observation is confirmed by examples from the collection of the Kholmogory complex. In the Kholmogory treasure, three masks were identified, which were crowned with diadems in the form of an owl or an eagle owl.

A. I. Solovyov also pays due attention to the studies of the winged image in the Kulay culture, whose main research topic was Siberian weapons and ammunition of taiga warriors. In particular, it follows from the works of A. I. Soloviev that the Kulays wore bird-like headdresses, as evidenced by both drawings on bronze mirrors and flat images of masks [16]. These "hats" were made in the form of solid figures of birds, as if sitting on the crown of the head. It can be assumed that some of them could be stuffed real feathered representatives, attached to a metal hoop. These headdresses had an undeniable sacred meaning and were used in cult ceremonies. AI Solovyov believes that the headdresses richly decorated with ornithomorphic images were mainly the privilege of shamans, however, he admits that they could be worn by the leaders who had the opportunity to single-handedly embody spiritual and secular power [16].

It is also necessary to note the distinctive features of the early Kulai style in metal-plastic, the specificity of the iconographic canons of displaying the surrounding world. NV Polysmak and EV Shumakova indicate in their work that the West Siberian bronze casting of the Early Iron Age is characterized by the so-called skeletal style in the transmission of anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, ornithomorphic and other images [15]. It is characterized by a realistic rendering of the heads of animals, the display of the contours of their figures showing the internal structure: ribs and a vertical line ending in an oval, which, possibly, provides for the internal organs. The skeletal style is known in the examples of many Siberian, Ural and Scandinavian writings depicting people, birds and animals. Realistically feasible drawings are often chronologically preceded by images with elements of the internal structure. Scientists note that this style of depiction should not be perceived as a degradation of fine art, since such images are based on knowledge of the nature of the object. The regularity of the transition from the skeletal style to the real display can be traced in the West Siberian metal-plastic.

Examples of volumetric highly artistic casting are samples of the Kulai bronze sculpture from the Kholmogory complex. Among them, a number of three-headed skillfully executed bird-like figures can be distinguished separately. All of these items were presumably made in the III-IV century AD, that is, in fact, at the end of the Kulay culture. They are distinguished by high relief, high-quality elaboration of details and rich ornamentation.

Speaking about poultry doles, it is necessary to pay attention to their specimens with a mask on the chest. Finds of such idols are known in the Tomsk Ob region and the Tyumen region. According to scientists, this style of display is an invention of the Kulai plastic art. As noted by A. I. Solovyov, the image of a bird with a face on its chest is a popular subject that has gone from schematic flat images of the Sarov stage of the Kulay culture to full relief details, carefully worked out figures of the Middle Ages, inherited by the population of the West Siberian taiga [16]. Many decryptions of this symbol have been proposed, one of the options is a bird that takes away the soul of a hero. An example of such an image can be seen in the figure below. (Fig. 5 - an ornithomorphic hanging idol with a face on the chest and two ornithomorphic figurines, the first half of the 1st millennium AD).

Ornithomorphic image in the medieval culture of the Finno-Ugric peoples.

The Finno-Ugric community of cultures includes more than twenty different ethnic groups located practically throughout the territory of Russia. Despite the common roots, the culture of each of them, its myths, metal-plastic iconography and other fundamental ethnic features have characteristic differences. Within the framework of this article, the author will only allow himself to highlight some aspects of the winged image in metal-plastic work of the Finno-Ugric peoples of Siberia and the Urals, while not going beyond the material of the Domongol electronic resource available in the galleries.

One of the main ornithomorphic images in the Finno-Ugric culture is the image of a waterfowl. The specific type of this bird depends on the mythology of a particular ethnic group. It can be a duck, a loon, a dive, etc. (Fig. 6-8, ornithomorphic pendants of the 11th-13th centuries AD).

The importance of the waterfowl is due to the fact that, according to mythical legends, it, along with the gods, participated in the creation of the world. In this regard, it is necessary to clarify the cosmological picture in the view of the Finno-Ugric peoples. In their understanding, the Cosmos includes three spheres: the upper (heavenly), middle (earthly) and lower (underground) worlds. The upper world is the habitat of the demiurge (higher gods), the middle world is the world where people live and the lower world is the abode of the dead, evil spirits. It was during the creation of the middle world (Earth), by the will of divine forces, that the duck took the most direct part. According to some myths, the modern Earth is secondary in relation to the primary water element, stretching in all directions without end and edge. The embryo of the earth, in the form of particles of bottom silt, was taken out by the divine birds, diving deeply into the abyss after it. From this small lump, the earthly firmament began, which later became the support for all living things. Every day it grew more and more, so that the old man living on a hummock was forced to send a raven to reconnoitre and determine the boundaries of the land. The growth rate of the territory turned out to be so high that on the third day the land acquired its present size. IA Ivanov in his studies of this myth notes that paleogeographic data correlate with it [10]. Scientists confirm the fact that 25 million years ago the West Siberian Plain came out from under the sea level. At first it was flat and even, but gradually began to be dissected by the rivers that appeared. According to other myths, a waterfowl laid eggs on the lap of the Mother of Waters goddess, and from them the world arose. There are other variations of this myth.

According to AV Varenov's research in the burials of the Finno-Ugric peoples who inhabited the Russian North and the vastness of Western Siberia already in the Neolithic era, archaeologists find a lot of so-called noisy pendants depicting waterfowl representatives of the feathered species [4]. Initially, these pendants arose as an indispensable part of the shaman's attire - parka, which helps the shaman in communicating with the spirits. Later, they become more widespread and become an element of clothing, mainly for women. The noisy pendants carried a kind of sacred, magical protective idea. It was believed that the noise they made was a protection from external harmful forces. Examples of noisy ornithomorphic pendants, along with other zoomorphic Finno-Ugo jewelry, are described and systematized in sufficient detail in the work of LA Golubeva [6]. Samples of such pendants of the 11th-12th centuries A. D. are presented in Figures 9-11.

The connection of birds with the spiritual world literally permeates the mythology of the Finno-Ugric peoples. The identification of the soul with the winged image can be traced in almost all aboriginal ethnic groups of Siberia and the Urals. From the works of VN Chernetsov on the study of the Ob Ugrians' ideas about the soul, it follows that the Khanty and Mansi assumed that a living person had five or four souls, while three souls had an ornithomorphic appearance [21]. The Narym Selkups believed that there are four souls, and the main one (personifying the life principle) of them looks like a bird with a human face. Ya. A. Yakovlev in his research notes that the idea of the soul and its reincarnation (the endless cycle of rebirth) led to the creation of a special material storage for it and the bird, which, firstly, by its one kind was the personification of the soul, and, secondly, due to its cosmic nature, it was able to overcome the boundaries of the worlds (upper, middle and lower), came up for this in the best way [22].

According to the religious and mythological views of the Finno-Ugric peoples, divine forces used the ornithomorphic image as one of the options for their physical incarnations in the human world. Perhaps this is the reason for the fact that among different peoples of the Urals and Siberia, birds often acted as totems of the “ancestors and spiritual patrons” of clans or separate clan groups. The most varied types of totems were revered: eagle, kite, hawk, wood grouse, crane, swan, duck, raven, owl.

Among other ornithomorphic images used in medieval bronze casting of Finno-Ugric peoples, I would like to highlight the image of an owl. The owl appears to be an ambiguous character in mythology. On the one hand, it is a nocturnal predator and, therefore, is associated with the spirits of the lower (dead) world, but on the other hand, it can act as a faithful helper and is often a clan totem. Some researchers associate the image of an owl with the shamanism of the taiga peoples. Remarkable is his iconographic specificity of the image in metal-plastic, where he is depicted either entirely with spread wings, or only his head in full face (Fig. 12 - ornithomorphic hanging plaque of the XI-XII centuries AD, Fig. 13 - ornithomorphic thread IX -XI century A. D., Fig. 14 - ornithomorphic plaque X-XIII century A. D.). Of all the bird-like diadems found on the faces or idols, the image of the owl is the main one.

Considering the samples of artistic medieval Finno-Ugric metal products, it should be noted that the winged image is found on the widest range of products of ancient masters. In addition to the above examples of images in the form of pendants, plaques and piercings, it is also found on armchairs (as a rule, in the form of birds located opposite each other, sometimes with a scene of the birds being tormented by the victim), knife handles (in the form of a bird pecking a snake), on plaques of a belt a set (the head of an owl in front), on complex zoomorphic buckles (in the form of a tongue receiver), in the form of bracers, etc.

Talking about the bird-like style, it is impossible to ignore the theme of the Ural-Siberian shamanism. In all world myths about the emergence of the first shaman, with a difference in interpretation and some points, nevertheless, there are two integral symbols of the World Tree and a bird, and the latter acts in them as its creator or initiator. Birds, with their cosmic essence and ability to cross the boundaries of worlds, are integral guides and helpers of the shaman. Almost all cults use ornithomorphic elements in their attributes and clothing. Often, shamans make their own headdress in the shape of a bird or its head, and metal-plastic products serve in their cult practice for the repository of helper spirits. It is possible with a high degree of probability to assume that in Figures 15, 16, it is the shamans who are depicted.

In conclusion, I would like to note that in this article, using the examples of the material available in the virtual galleries of the electronic resource "Domongol", the author wanted to show how significant the role of the ornithomorphic image in ancient metalplastics is, to conduct a short excursion for the reader from Paleolithic bone images to images of birds in metal in the era of the Middle Ages in Siberia and the Urals.

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