Psalia Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The article analyzes the inventory of burials with psalia in the cultures of the Bronze Age of steppe Eurasia. The collection, where the first version of this article was submitted, had not been published for several years. During this period the authors continued to monitor the situation, noting both the new studied complexes and the new literature. A long-prepared collection has recently been released, but the accumulated data has allowed to propose an expanded version of the article, which is based on the information from 106 burial complexes. Based on the collected complexes, the authors attempt to determine the social status of the people buried with psalia. Information about the burials with psalia of several cultures (Sintashta, Petrovskaya, Potapovskaya, Alakulskaya, Pokrovskaya, Don-Volga Abashevskaya) or cultural entities (Nurtai complexes, Zeravshan version of the Bactrian-Margian archaeological complex) was collected by the authors. Throughout the new version of their work, the authors verify which of their conclusions have passed the test over the time period, however short it may be, and make adjustments in their earlier assumptions. After an analysis of the obtained information the authors concluded that the more burials with psalia are introduced into scientific discourse, the more questionable is the hypothesis that these artifacts primarily mark the carriers of military function who fought on chariots. The harness located in the grave was a token of a high social status of the deceased, but the person did not necessarily belong to a military function.

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- Social Structure, Burial, Sintashta, Psalia

The authors analyze the available materials and suggest that the psalia of the Maklasheevo culture can be legitimately synchronized with the psalia used in the southern part of Eastern Europe during the subsequent Belozersk period. The early Belozersk psalias of the south of Eastern Europe are prototypes for the late Belozersk psalia of this territory, and for the psaltery of the Maklasheevo culture. At the same time, no psalia which are similar to the Early Belozersk ones in question have been discovered in the Volga-Kama region. Obviously, the Late Belozersk type of psalia appeared in the area of the Maklasheevo culture in an already established form. The authors also suggest a certain influence on the horse bridle of the Volga-Kama region from the east - the Trans-Urals and Siberia. However, the strongest influence on the appearance of the Maklasheevo bridle was made by the cultures (or a single culture) of the southern part of Eastern Europe. This was most likely facilitated by the fact that certain groups of the Maklasheevo culture settled in the steppe. Due to the scarcity of available information the scale of penetration of the Maklasheevo culture representatives into the steppe remains uncertain: it either had a character of a migration or short-term visits.

The article features an analysis of the spiritual culture of the Ananyino population on the basis of materials deposited in the archaeology and ethnography laboratory of the Yelabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University. The author provides a comprehensive analysis of the findings obtained at Lugovskoy burial ground on the basis of the classification by V. A. Shatalov, mythology and epic literature of the Komi-Zyrians, Komi-Permians and Udmurts. The art of Ananyino population reflected in the further worldview of the peoples of the Volga-Kama and northeast Europe, having formed the Ananyino Cultural and Historical Community. The cultural system of the Ananyino population constitutes a complex system of view and values, which distinguishes it from the other archaeological cultures of the Volga and Kama regions, and Northern Europe.