“Paraboloids”, “lattice figures” and “poles with canvases” (petroglyphic images and ethnographic parallels)

Abstract

The article is focused on the study of the geometric petroglyphs of Southern Siberia and Mongolia. All of them are characterized by the presence of anthropomorphic features. The petroglyphs were divided into three complexes. The first complex is a parabola with a recess at the top and a pair of “legs” at the bottom. The second one is a combination of rectangles and trapezoids with “legs”. Sometimes they have “heads”, “hands” and “vulvas”. The third one is poles with crossbars, on which rectangular canvases with fringe are suspended. According to archaeologists, the first complex dating back to the Eneolithic — the Bronze Age belongs to the Chemurchek and Karakol cultures, the second to the Afanasiev and Karakol cultures, and the third to the Okunevo culture. The latest is the third complex, which belongs to the final stage of the Okunevo culture. Based on the results of a comparative analysis of ethnographic materials, it can be assumed that the petroglyphs of the first complex depicted people hidden under shoots, grass or straw. These mummers during the rituals represented vegetative spirits. The petroglyphs of the second complex, which were characteristic attributes used on holidays and rituals associated with the change of seasons are presented by dummies in the form of women. The petroglyphs of the third complex had a memorial character, depicting models of the deceased in the form of a cross with suspended shrouds. In general, all the complexes reflected different variants (or stages?) of anthropomorphic modeling: a mummer—a dummy (doll)—a model..