The purpose of this study is a comprehensive analysis of a new find of a plaque depicting “bears in a sacrificial pose” from the Chumysh-Perekat necropolis. Such artifacts were widespread in the early Middle Ages in the taiga, forest and forest-steppe zone of Eurasia in vast territories from the Urals to the Achinsk-Mariinsk forest-steppe. The Chumysh-Perekat necropolis is located in the Upper Ob region, in the north-east of Altai Krai, on the right bank of the River Chumysh. Seventeen early medieval burials of the Odintsovo Culture have been studied there. The plaque was found in women's grave No. 30. The grave goods included some decorations and fragments of belt sets, which have similarities in complexes of the Kudyrge stage. At the same time, the plaque depicting “bears in a sacrificial pose” only finds analogies in the north, in necropolises of the Novosibirsk and Tomsk Ob regions. To date, more than 100 rectangular plaques with images of “bears in a sacrificial pose” are known. The presented find is one of the southernmost in Western Siberia. This artifact belongs to the vertical class, group 3 (depicting three bear heads), type 2 (the plate is divided into three vertical stripes, the bear heads are positioned on the central, widest part), subtype 3 (with a detailed imaging of bears’ face and paws), according to the typology of Yu.P. Chemyakin. Metal analyses show that the compositions of alloys used for the production of the plaques and belt sets found on site differ significantly. A copper-silver-tin-zinc alloy and lead brass were used for manufacturing belt plates. The plaque with “bears in a sacrificial pose” is made of copper-lead-tin alloy. The complex has been dated to the middle of the 7^th — turn of the 8^th c. AD. The micro-collective, whose representatives were buried in the Chumysh-Perekat, apparently was of a high social status. This is indicated by several facts: the presence of a number of male burials with a horse, the presence of “rich” and extraordinary female graves which include decorations, both of local origin and characteristic of the “Turkic” and “Ugric” world, finds of belt sets not only in male, but also in female and children’s burials, etc.

Keywords: Altai, Odintsovo culture, Verhneobskaya culture, cult сasting, early Middle Ages.

 

Acknowledgements. The authors are grateful to N.S. Kurganov (restoration of artifacts) (IHMC RAS), A.A. Tishkin (X-ray fluorescence analysis), V.E. Alekseeva (anthropological definitions), V.O. Sai-bert (graphic illustrations) (AltSU), E.V. Trusova, V.Yu. Ganenok (KemSU), all participants of the Salair Archaeological Expedition, as well as the Editorial staff and anonymous reviewers, thanks to whom it was possible to significantly improve the text of the article.

Funding. The research was carried out within the framework of the program “Features of the change of archaeological cultures among pastoralists of Eurasia and farmers of the Caucasus and Central Asia in the Neolithic — Early Middle Ages” (FMZF-2025-0008) (A.V. Fribus) and within the framework of the state task of the Altai State University “The Turkic World of the Greater Altai: unity and diversity in history and modernity” (project 748715F.99.1. BB97AA00002) (S.P. Grushin). Field research in 2014-2019 conducted by a joint expedition of Kemerovo State University and Altai State University with the financial support of the Saint-Petersburg State Museum-Institute of the Rerich Family.

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Accepted: 19.12.2024

Article is published: 15.03.2025