The Deer Goddess of Ancient Siberia: A Study in the Ecology of Belief (Studies in the History of Religions)

This study examines the ecology of belief traced in rock carvings and monolithic stelae of the Neolithic period and Bronze Age and in the bronze, gold, and wood sculpture of the early Iron Age nomads of South Siberia. THE DEER GODDESS OF ANCIENT SIBERIA: A STUDY IN THE ECOLOGY OF BELIEF CONTENTS List of Plates List of Abbreviations Technical Notes Acknowledgments I. The Reconstruction of Symbolic Systems A. The Problem B. The Background: People, Land and Cultures C. The Art of the Scytho-Siberians and the Image of the Deer II. The Image of the Deer: Theoretical Constructs III. Images and the Symbolizing Order of Images in the Art of the Early Nomads A. Objects, Images, and Styles B. Predation, Transformation, and Axial Order 1. Arzhan 2. Tuekta 3. Berel, Bashadar, and Katanda 4. Pazyryk 5. Ulandryk and Tashanta 6. The Crown Ornament from Aluchaideng 7. The Issyk Headdress 8. Late Scytho-Siberian Headdresses and the "Woman Under the Tree" IV. Rock Carvings and Paintings from the Neolithic and Aeneolithic Periods A. Methodological Considerations B. The First Tradition: the Elk of the Siberian Neolithic Period C. The Second Tradition: Anthropomorphic Imagery of the Aeneolithic and Early Bronze Age D. Carved Monoliths of the Minusinsk Basin E. Conclusion V. The Elaboration of Image and Meaning: The Petroglyphic Tradition of the Middle and Late Bronze Age A. Image Types and Their Realms of Reference B. Ritual Figures and Figures in Interaction C. Wheeled Vehicles, Warriors, and Theories of Culture VI. Deer Stones and Warriors: Anthropomorphic Monoliths of the First Millennium B.C. A. Historical and Geophysical Context B. Deer Stones of Mongolia and the Transbaykal C. Deer Stones of the Sayan-Altay Region D. Deer Stones as Symbolic Systems E. Cimmerian Stelae and Scythian "Baba" F. Gathering together: Scythian Baba, Cimmerian Stelae, and the South Siberian-Mongolian Deer Stones VII. In Search of the Animal Mother: Pre-Shamanic, Shamanic and Mythic Traditions A. The Shamanic Tradition B. Pre-Shamanic Cults C. The Evenk and Evenk Mythic Traditions D. The Ket and Ket Mythic Traditions E. The Origins of Shamanism and the Prefiguring of Shamanism within Early Nomadic Symbolic Systems F. Conclusion VIII. Absence and Presence: the Deer Goddess of Ancient Siberia Bibliography Index Plates STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS NUMEN BOOKSERIES Central to this study is the image of the deer within the iconography of the Early Nomads of South Siberia. By examining the symbolic structures revealed in the art and archaeology of the Early Nomads, the author challenges existing theories regarding Early Nomadic cosmology. The reconstruction of meanings embedded in the deer image carries the investigation back to rock carvings, paintings, and monolithic stelae of South Siberia and northern Central Asia, from the Neolithic period down through the early Iron Age. The succession of images dominating that artistic tradition is considered against the background of cultures -- including the Baykal Neolithic Afanasevo, Okunev, Andronovo, and Karasuk -- evolving from a hunting-fishing dependency to a dependency on livestock. The archaic mythic traditions of specific Siberian groups are also found to lend critical detail to the changing symbolic systems of South Siberia.