The article reconstructs the semantics of metal-plastic images from the place of worship and the rites performed by the Kulai people of the II-I centuries BC at the Sarov complex of archaeological sites. The simultaneous deliberate burial of objects at a place of worship allows us to consider this collection of bronzes as a text and compare it with the mythological and folklore texts of the Selkups, whose ancestors, as studies by Tomsk archaeologists show, were probably Kulaytsy. Characters similar to Sarov's images in Selkup mythology are systematically and consistently united by the figure of the celestial deity Kok. Probably, the cult complex was a place of worship of the ancient prototype of the Selkup god, whose rites of worship were timed to coincide with the celebration of the New Year. Apparently, the rites of marriage between representatives of different families were an integral part of the ritual practice.

Keywords: Western Siberia, Early Iron Age, Kulai culture, bronze cult casting (metalplastics), cult place, semiotics, semantics, worldview, reconstructions.

Introduction

The Sarov Settlement and Sarov Place of Worship archaeological sites are located in the eastern part of the village. Sarovki, Kolpashevsky district, Tomsk Region, on the right terrace at the mouth of the Bolshaya Sarovka River , a right tributary of the Ob River. The ancient settlement is located on the cape kultovoe mesto - 180-190 m to the north behind the defensive system, on a hill bordering the swamp. The ancient settlement was explored in 1971-1974 and 1976 by L. A. Chindina, who excavated 350 m2 of the monument's area. Excavations at the place of worship in 1996 were carried out by Ya. A. Yakovlev, opening 800 m 2. It is established that the ancient settlement belongs to the Sarov (second) stage of evolution of the Kulai culture, built on the site developed by people in the Early Bronze Age and Vasyugan (first) stage of cultural development. The place of worship existed in the initial period of the settlement's functioning in the II-I centuries BC (Chindina, 1978; Yakovlev, 2001).

Sarov's place of worship was discovered as a result of plowing the area of an ancient monument for vegetable gardens by residents of the village of Sarovka. The first bronze object, according to local residents, was found in the mid-1970s, but did not fall into the hands of archaeologists. The expansion of the area of vegetable gardens in the early 1990s led to the final destruction of the place of worship. As a result of agricultural work, objects were moved to the arable layer, some of them were found by the owners of vegetable gardens and transferred to the Kolpashevsky Museum of Local Lore, after which Ya.A. Yakovlev undertook emergency excavations [Yakovlev, 2001]. In total, 69 objects were found at the place of worship: 2 of them were found by local residents, but later lost; 2 were transferred to the Kolpashevsky Museum of Local Lore; 65 finds were received by the Tomsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. In the course of an inpatient study-

The work was carried out with the financial support of RGNF, project N07-01-00103a.

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Two objects that contained the Kulay cult casting were identified during the construction of the monument. 62 bronze images made in the technique of flat and three-dimensional hollow casting, 3 bronze and 2 bone arrowheads were found at the place of worship [Ibid., pp. 18, 25-30, 158]. A syntactic analysis of metal-plastic images from a cult site is given in the monograph by Ya. A. Yakovlev [2001]. Thus, the cultural layer, characteristics of the objects, as well as the composition of the finds indicate the cult character of the monument.

There is no doubt that the Sarov settlement was used not only as a fortified settlement, but also as a sacred center. This function of the monument is indicated by massive accumulations of ceramics and animal bones in powerful hearths of dwellings; the species composition of animals; inventory, represented by a significant number of weapons, spoons, spatulas, combs, traditionally used by the indigenous peoples of Western Siberia as ritual objects. The burial of a teenager in building 6 and a female skull in building 7 also indicate the cult purpose of the ancient settlement objects (Chindina, 1978, p. 64-68). The cult character and synchronicity of the existence of monuments (at least at the initial stage of the settlement's functioning) allow us to consider them as a single complex.

Problem statement and research methodology

The aim of the work is to reconstruct the semantics of metal-plastic images from the place of worship and rituals performed at the Sarov complex of archaeological sites. In ritual practice, the language of things was used to " express those ideas, concepts, and values that could not be expressed equally adequately in other languages, including with the help of words "(Baiburin, 1989, p. 83). Therefore, deciphering the symbolic meaning of the things involved in the rites is one of the ways to understand the meaning and purpose of the rite.

Metalplastics of the Kulay people is a phenomenon of ancient traditional art and at the same time canonical art. The peculiarity of the latter's texts is automation, the fixed content area in the absence of it in the expression area [Lotman, 1973, p. 17]. This means that the language of such works can only convey certain content. And since canonical art is conditioned by the existence of relatively small, complete and more or less well-known information in a particular culture (in the absence of writing), the stability of this content depended on the size of the collective and its homogeneity [Antonova, 1981, pp. 6-7]. In other words, the collective performing ritual actions at the Sarov complex of archaeological sites was a consolidated association that had a common system of ideas about the world, primarily mythological.

In primitive society, mythological perception was a universal means of structuring the universe. The appeal to the same models in understanding different aspects of reality was dictated by monotonous and limited social practice. The modeled parts of the universe are isomorphic to each other and form "semantic series", where the world of things acts as one of the equal ones. Since the structuring of the world was based on myth, the consideration of the world of things in an indissoluble connection with myth is methodically justified [Antonova, Rayevsky, 2002, p. 14]. One can understand the meaning of primitive canonical and syncretic art "only by correlating its works with myths and rituals" (Antonova, 1981, p.7). This, in turn, means that data from ethnography, folklore, and linguistics play a significant role in reconstructing the semantics of pictorial images of ancient cultures.

The main ethnogenetic processes that resulted in the formation of modern West Siberian ethnic groups occur in the Early Iron Age (Chernetsov, 1971; Chindina, 1984, 1991; Istoriya..., 1995). A special feature of the cultural and historical development of the Middle Ob region is the long-term preservation of traditions, which makes it possible to link the Early Iron Age with paleoethnography, which clearly demonstrates the Kulai traditions in both the Relkin and Late Medieval cultures of the Middle Ob region, which characterize the history of the Selkups [Chindina, 1991, p. 122]. The continuity of historical and cultural processes makes it possible to use ethnographic data, primarily from the Selkups, to reconstruct the semantics of the region's visual monuments. Although, of course, any semantic interpretation should be considered only as one of the possible options.

Sources and reconstructions

Regardless of the casting technique, the plot, and the number of images, the personification of complete and reconstructed images from the Sarov cult site is limited: an anthropoid, an elk, a bird, a snake, a fish (?), and so-called chthonic animals whose biological identity cannot be determined unambiguously. The study of the mythological representations of the Selkups about these characters shows that the selection of metal-plastic images is not accidental and can be interpreted consistently. Reconstruction of the CE-

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mantles of bronze items from the place of worship significantly complement the materials of the Sarov settlement.

Analysis of the ornaments of the ceramic complex allowed us to formulate a hypothesis that a ritual in the form of a potlatch was performed on the Sarov settlement, as evidenced by the distribution of fragments of broken dishes in different buildings of the monument. Taking into account the specific nature of potlatch as a rite designed to establish connections between representatives of different associations [Moss, 1996], L. V. Pankratova suggested that members of exogamous groups that make up an endogamous association use the ancient settlement [2008a]. According to ethnographic data, such meetings were timed to coincide with New Year's celebrations, which many peoples of Western Siberia, which have a solar-lunar time scale, arrange twice during the astronomical year [Vasiliev and Golovnev, 1980; Sokolova, 1990; Simchenko et al., 1993; Golovnev, 1995].

Autochthonous inhabitants of the Ob region under consideration-Selkups-celebrated the New Year in spring and autumn. Spring festival was celebrated when the grass and trees were green, but there were no mosquitoes yet [Selkup Mythology, 1998, p. 47], on the spring solstice on March 17-21 [Kim, 1997, p. 161]; autumn festival was celebrated in August, on the day of the last full moon, according to other sources - on the day of the new moon [Ibid., p. 161]. 15]. It is also believed that New Year's holidays were timed to coincide with the arrival or departure of ducks [Golovnev, 1995, p. 329]. If you compare the elements of festive rituals, you can see that in many ways New Year's celebrations are mirror-symmetrical (similar and different at the same time). To organize the holidays, Selkups of all families living in a certain territory gathered. Before the start, children (a boy in autumn and a girl in spring) lit bonfires. Sports competitions were an obligatory element of the holidays: in spring-archery at bear figures fixed on the top of trees, in autumn-races on caresses and swimming competitions [Selkup Mythology, 1998, p. 47; Kim et al., 1996, p. 210; Kim, 1997, p.161]. Spring ritual activities include men's jumping dances. During the autumn New Year's celebration, men, boys and boys jumped over the bonfire [Selkup mythology, 1998, p. 47; Kim, 1997, p. 161].

In the mythological version of the Selkups, New Year's holidays were associated with the image of the heavenly deity Numa (Noma, Nop). It is known that other Samoyedic peoples of Siberia also sacrificed to this deity in spring and autumn (Khomich, 1977, pp. 5-6). As researchers have repeatedly pointed out, the Samoyedic people's ideas about it are blurred. The deity's characteristic is missing. Num has no shape - it is the sky [Prokofieva, 1976; Khomich, 1977; Selkup Mythology, 1998; Kim, 1997]. The iconography of the deity among the Selkups is limited to three notches marked on the trunk of a tree (stump or pillar) and denoting the eyes and mouth. The supreme god of the Selkups is often called Paride-num (Pari-Num). At the same time, Pard ("the great beast") they called Pollak numa , a forest god who was worshipped in the form of a bear (Selkup Mythology, 1998, pp. 38, 70, 75). Thus, it can be assumed that the heavenly deity had several hypostases, manifesting itself in different spheres of the universe in certain guises. And the word num/nom denoted the generalizing concept of "God", since in the materials of G. P. Blavatsky. I. Pelikh is also mentioned by Kweid-nom, Kor-num, Monga-num, Ngo-num [1972, pp. 42, 49, 67, 70]. The fact that "God is not one, there are several of them in the sky," was reported to the ethnographer by one of the residents of d. Napas [Ibid., p. 339]. It was believed that Num in the form of a bear was the patron saint of the year-summer.

During the winter hibernation of the bear, the elk remains the largest and strongest in the forest. It is one of the main symbols of the autumn New Year's holiday. For the dialectical group of Ob Selkups (Sheshkups), on the territory of which the Sarov cult complex is located, the Moose serves as a marker in the annual calendar cycle. The Selkups say: "Elk begins winter, ends summer" [Mythology of the Selkups, 2004, p. 239]. The autumn Moose festival marked the migration of the Nop to the "other sky" [Kim, 1997, p.159]. But this does not mean that this deity was the central figure of the holiday, although the moose was considered the spirit of the heavenly Nop [Ibid., p. 160; Mythology of Selkups, 2004, p. 239]. A whole complex of ideas in the Selkup religion points to the connection of the moose with another inhabitant of the sky. Since water and the moon (month) were also revered on the autumn New Year's holiday, and the place of rituals was "the river bank, near the dwelling of the water spirit (üt kok)" [Kim et al., 1996, p. 205; Kim, 1997, p. 159-160], it is probably the divine Kok ~ Kon ~ Cronin represented the year-winter. One of its incarnations was the deer/ elk (Prokofieva, 1976, p. 109, 110).

E. D. Prokofieva noted that the definitions derived from the name of the Krk existed "as equivalent to the term num" [Ibid., p. 109]. However, although the adjectives zero and kol are translated the same, they are not synonymous, since words with the definition of zero refer to beings and objects dedicated to God, and with the definition of kol - to those in heaven [Prokofiev, 1949, p. 336]. E. D. Prokofieva also saw a connection between the name of the celestial deity of the Selkups and the social terms "lord, prince" of the Kamasins, Koibals, and Mators - gon, kond, kok, kåk, kån, gan - suggesting that the name of the God of the First heaven is not less significant than that of the Num. the name can be translated as "lord of heaven, Prince of heaven" [1976, p. 110]. Probably,

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Bronze items from the Sarov cult site (according to: [Yakovlev, 2001, N 26, 29, 32, 46]).

the term not only conveys the social status of the character, but also allows you to determine its gender.

The phonetic association is obvious when comparing the name of the heavenly Cook ~ Kona ~ Kuna with the name Kanda-numa-the lord of the underground permafrost. In the past, Kanda-num (or Kandalduk) was one of the Selkups ' most revered gods (Pelikh, 1980, p. 8). G. I. Pelikh associated the semantics of the deity's name with the word konde/kande - "root" and translated the name as "root old man" or "old man-frost, lord of cold, ice old man" [Ibid., pp. 10-12]. Since the roots of the sky tree, according to the Selkups, are stars, sometimes kandal/kandyl is translated not only as "root", but also as "star". In this translation, Kanda-num appears as a "Starry Sky" (Golovnev, 1995: 514, 515). The mythological image of Kandalduk reconstructed by G. I. Pelikh finds obvious parallels in the Nenets mythology (Numgymboy) [Golovnev, 2004, p. 313], which may be evidence of the existence of such a character in the mythology of the ancestors of modern Samoyeds.

Both Kok and Kandalduk have an animal hypostasis in the image of a deer, which is manifested in its anthropomorphic appearance. When depicting Kandalduk, the Selkups drew a mask with widely spaced almond-shaped eyes, a wide animal nose, and a beard (Pelikh, 1980, p.9). A similar image was found in object 1 of the Sarov cult site [Yakovlev, 2001, N 46] (see Figure 1). The anthropoid's facial features are extremely concise. Oval eyes with pupils and a mouth with vertical rollers-strokes above the upper and under the lower lip are indicated. The last detail probably conveys the hairline on the male character's face. Another symbol that allows us to see in the considered guise of Kandalduk is the image of a tree growing from the head of an anthropoid, since the Selkups believe that if a symbolic sign of a tree is depicted together with a deer, a person, or even a bird, then we are looking at the image of this deity [Pelikh, 1980, p.11].

It is also important that the beginning of the new year was identified with the moment when Kandalduk emerged from the water [Ibid., p. 10]. Probably, at the Sarov cult complex, rituals related to the autumn New Year's holiday were held. Moreover, in the collection of bronzes, the image of the moose is repeated many times [Yakovlev, 2001, N 1-3, 32]. Despite the fact that one image (see Figure 2) is supplemented with the heads of moose, chthonic animals and an anthropoid, which artistically convey the spreading horns of the animal, the entire figure is figuratively perceived not as a plot composition, but as a portrait. And all these characters, as will be shown below, are not random, complementary to the considered image-symbol. Among the single images of an elk, animals with horns (2 units) and without them (2 units) are represented. Obviously, the ancient masters depicted females and males. The latter have horns during the rutting season, which dates fall just at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, which coincides with the time when the Selkups hold the Moose festival.

Other symbols of the autumn New Year's holiday are the moon, water, and thunder. The image of the celestial being is inextricably linked with the Selkups ' ideas about the month. The mask depicting Kandalduk was called loz Tylas, which means "month" (Pelikh, 1980, p. 8). One of the distinguishing features of this deity is a large belly. Selkups believe that Kandalduk chases after the heavenly sun and, having overtaken it, swallows it. This happens every day. As a result, the deity's belly swells, bursts, and part of his body falls off. Candalduc's celestial consort puts him in a magical cradle and cradles him like a newborn. Gradually, the fallen part of the body grows, and the month again becomes a full moon. This is how the Selkups explained the phases of the moon (Selkup Mythology, 1998, p. 42). In another version of the myth, the two suns are the celestial sun

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and the underworld - are the wives of Kandalduk and appear as moose of the Upper and Lower Worlds (penge-poryt and penge-kase) [Pelikh, 1980, p. 14]. This metaphor clarifies why the moon chases the sun, and the swallowing motif, typical of solar myths [Jung, 1998, p. 352, 357], confirms the hint of the autumn rut of moose.

Another fake name Kanda-numa-Ira ("Old man") is consonant with the concept of iret ("month") [Golovnev, 1995, p.515]. In this name, another dimension of time is actualized - the month, and Kandalduk-Iret opens the way to reading the Selkup calendar. Thus, the deity to whom the autumn rites of the annual cycle were dedicated embodied the concepts of night time (night/starry sky), month (segment of the calendar year) and year-winter (winter/ cold sky).

The personification of the year-winter and month among the Selkups is also a large mythical bird-the man Shor (Sor, Sir) [Pelikh, 1980, p. 17]. In the external appearance of Kandalduk and Shor, there are common features. Their images emphasize the deformity of the left arm and left wing-arm, respectively [Ibid., pp. 13, 17]. Just like Kandalduk, Shor is called an "icy old man" or a "devil who makes frost" (Pelikh, 1980, p. 18). Despite the noted similarity, G. I. Pelikh believed that the characters in question could not be hypostases of the same deity. In her opinion, Sir-lo is a powerful spirit of cold, the opposite of the celestial Nome, which lives in the northern latitudes. Kandalduk is also opposed to the heavenly Nop [Selkup Mythology, 1998, p. 70] and, judging by the Selkup legends, is the lord of permafrost, an underground spirit, but it has the characteristics of a folk trickster [Pelikh, 1980, p.18-19]. Taking into account the fact that the horizontal and vertical models of the world in the Selkups ' views co-exist and complement each other, these differences in the location of mythological creatures do not seem insurmountable. Characters that embody the features of the god of the Lower World and the " cultural hero "(often appearing in the guise of a trickster) are noted in the mythologies of the peoples of the Old World and the tribes of America [Golan, 1994, p.44]. The characteristic features of the images of Kandalduk and Shor, as well as the functions of the creatures, are similar. It is interesting that the name of the mythical bird Shor (Sir) evokes an association with the Nenets deity Sir-tso Iriko ("Ice (White) Island of the old Man") [Golovnev, 2004, p. 321] and, possibly, it was borrowed by the Selkups.

Both Kandalduk and Shor in Selkup mythology are associated with wedding rituals. The Selkups used the allegorical "freeze the girl" instead of the word "matchmaker" (Pelikh, 1980, p. 12,18). It is possible that matchmaking and weddings were timed to celebrate the beginning of the year-winter. The connection of wedding rituals with the autumn ("dead") season is noted in many traditional cultures [Gennep, 1999, p. 128]. The idea of marriage among the Selkups is very clearly expressed in the language of things. So, the matchmaker went to the bride's house, holding a cauldron with gifts for her family in his left hand, and a staff with a red handkerchief tied to the upper end - in his right. When the marriage was agreed to, the cauldron was left in its chum or put out empty. In other words, it was one of the symbols of Selkup wedding ceremonies, a "sign of the marriage proposal" (Golovnev, 1995, p. 257). Among the Nenets, the conclusion of a marriage agreement was accompanied by an exchange of cauldrons, which was given the importance of establishing a union between two "hearths" [Golovnev, 2004, p. 43]. Materials from the Sarov settlement indicate that dishes were used as a symbol of exchange between "hearths" in the marriage ceremony by the indigenous inhabitants of the Ob region since ancient times (Pankratova, 2008a).

Since marriages were made between members of exogamous groups, there could be some tension between the parties being treated. Real or ritual hostility between relatives of the bride and groom is noted in marriage ceremonies of a wide variety of cultures. Folklore of the indigenous peoples of the Ob region abounds with stories about military conflicts that arose due to the desire of heroes to possess" foreign " women. A man's power and social status were often directly related to the number of wives and their ethnicity. Women of a different tribe were socially more prestigious wives, since such marriages allowed establishing diplomatic relations with their neighbors [Golovnev, 2004, p. 44]. It is significant that among the Ob Ugrians, the epithets "headless" and" irrevocable " were used in relation to both a wedding and a war. The metaphor of "losing your head" meant marriage and the transition of the girl to the family of her spouse. Marriage separated a woman from the" head "of her parents' house, which was symbolized by a ladle, most often decorated with a carved animal head, a comb and a canopy (Golovnev, 1995, p.287). Thus, marriage and war are related social phenomena.

A hint of military themes is also discernible in the Sarov anthropoid. Assuming that the image of the spirit, called Kandalduk by modern Selkups, is conveyed in metalplastics, we will focus on one detail of its image. The upper part of the product from the outside was covered with a copper plate overlay and two narrow copper ribbons. Ya. A. Yakovlev believes that the copper strips symbolized the diadem [2001, p. 124]. However, another interpretation is not excluded, especially since the real, and not symbolic, bronze diadem was found directly on the head of the anthropoid, and yet

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one is nearby [Ibid., pp. 26, 27]. The folklore description of the Nenets equivalent of the Selkup Kandalduk - "god of the starry sky" Numgymboy-allows us to understand the purpose of metal ribbons. He lives in a chum (hut), the top (roof) of which was blown off by an arrow. Consequently, the divine inhabitant of chum took part in military operations. The character himself appears ill, with his head wrapped in an iron bandage [Khomich, 1976, p. 22; Golovnev, 2004, p. 313]. Perhaps the copper plates on the head of the Sarov anthropoid were an integral part of the iconography of the image. Probably, the idol is an image of a warrior, besides, a Kulay bronze arrowhead was found in a complex with it. And copper bands can mean a metal bandage on the head of the deity. It is possible that the proposed interpretation is a late interpretation, apparently canonized details of the character's appearance.

According to the ethnography of the West Siberian peoples, the metal crown is an attribute of the gods, an element of the shaman's costume, participants in ritual actions, and the dead. In other words, it symbolized the inclusion of a person in a special ritual space-time continuum, a way out of everyday reality. The number of metal crowns-diadems (13 copies) found at the Sarov cult site is also striking. Apparently, it is no coincidence that the collection of metalplastics is dominated by images of animal and human heads. Selkups believed that in the head (in the skull) is the soul of Kedo, which after the death of a person turns into a spider. The shaman's head was radically different from the head of an ordinary person. In it, instead of the soul of kedo, which was eaten by the vines ("devils") at the time of the initiation rite, kava-loz - the ancestor spirit-settled, protecting its owner from evil spirits (Pelikh, 1972, p. 117; Selkup Mythology, 1998, p. 30-31). After the shaman's death, kava-loz could only be freed by separating the head from the body. At the same time, it was boiled in a cauldron over a fire or burned and only then buried in the ground. It is interesting that the Selkups did the same with the bear's skull at the beginning of the XX century. [Pelikh, 1972, p. 117]. Given the significance of the image of the bear in Siberian mythology, it can be assumed that kava-loz could have lived in its head. Probably, this type of funeral rite was used to mark mediators connected with both the real and otherworldly worlds.

Crowns in the form of city towers in different cultures are often crowned with images of the mother goddess, because fortified cities are one of the symbols of the mother archetype. Cities that protect their inhabitants like mothers are often compared to impregnable virgins. And the possession of the city is perceived as the possession of a woman, it symbolizes marriage, copulation [Jung, 1998, pp. 314-315].

The isolation of the space of fortified settlements, the creation of real and symbolic borders around them, the shape of the space, its structure-all these features create a relationship of similarity between the settlements and the so-called spinning disks and metal mirrors-disks (or sectors of bronze disks) of the Kulay people (Pankratova, 20086). In general, the space transmitted on a ritual object with all its attributes is a special kind of space in which elements of real space appear, dictated by the ritual-mythological context [Antonova, 1991, p.20]. The similarity is also revealed at the symbolic level of their functioning. The use of disc-shaped objects as handwheels or pommels of a bow drill for extracting sacred fire once again actualizes the erotic aspect associated with the symbolism of both the ancient settlement and the disks [Pankratova, 20086].

The connection of discoid objects simultaneously with solar symbols and fire symbols is not perplexing. The already mentioned wives of Kandalduc, the sun of the heavenly and underworld worlds, are the daughters of a heavenly old woman whose "face is fire" [Pelikh, 1980, p. 14]. G. N. Gracheva noted that even in the Nganasan ideas, the cot* of fire is mixed with the cot of the sun. The sun-bed (otherwise - day/light-bed) was embodied in the form of a round metal pendant or a metal mirror. The bed of fire could represent a copper (metal) circle with an ornament arranged in concentric circles, as well as any metal pendant (preferably copper or bronze) or a button sewn on the front side of a bag with ashes or embers from the chum bonfire. The bag could be decorated with an ornament of concentric circles embroidered with beads. Beads and metal ornaments were hung on its strap. Old nganasanki women said that before this bag with charcoal or ashes of the ancestral hearth was worn by everyone [Gracheva, 1977, pp. 223-224]. Perhaps the "lifeline", which is often seen on Kulai images of people and animals, is the designation of such a metal symbol of the sun-fire or an embroidered bag symbolizing the fire-hearth.

In the materials of the Sarov complex of archaeological sites, the symbolism of copulation is repeatedly conveyed in the language of things (Pankratova, 2008b). Symbolic pairs are also represented in the metal-plastic of the Sarov cult place. The metaphor of birth is conveyed in a composition consisting of the heads of two moose and a calf between them [Yakovlev, 2001, N 28].

* The Nganasans used the word koka to refer to "any visible, tangible object that is endowed with the ability to act independently" (Gracheva, 1977, p.218).

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Images of moose, birds, and snakes are presented as paired images [Ibid., N 25-27]. Animals in a pair, on the one hand, are opposed to each other, on the other-their muzzles are turned to each other. Similarly, in ancient times it was customary to depict a married couple [Antonova, 1991, p. 21]. Perhaps this explains the differences in the iconography of moose heads. In one image [Yakovlev, 2001, N 26], the head of the animal located on the right is more massive, with a clearly marked ear and a tightly closed mouth (see Figure 3). In another product [Ibid., N 28], both moose have ears and open mouths. The differences can be traced in the shape of the eyes: on both crafts, the animals on the left have almond - shaped eyes, while the moose on the right have rounded ones. It is known that in the ideas of the indigenous peoples of Western Siberia, the opposition of right and left means at the same time the opposition of male and female. In addition, the juxtaposition of the right and left sides can be considered as an antagonism of the sunny side and the dark side (Prokofieva, 1951, p. 144). Probably, in this reading, we can interpret a paired composition consisting of the heads of a chthonic animal and an elk [Yakovlev, 2001, N 29] (see Figure 4). The opposition of the left dark chthonic creature and the right light one is also emphasized by the position of the heads turned away from each other.

Similar compositions, which have the form of a fork, are recorded by ethnographers among the Ents, Nenets and Selkups. The latter believe that a person came from the birch fork. The fork is a significant detail of the shamanic tambourine. With the help of a fork in the arrowhead, the shaman returns the soul to the sick person [Prokofieva, 1976, p. 114, 121]. The two-headed anthropomorphic image of the patron spirits of the fire of the plague-" fire - father "and" fire-mother " - was carved on the branch of a tree by an Enets shaman to protect the inhabitants of the dwelling from the raging epidemic of smallpox [Prokofiev, 1951, p.150]. The creation of images in the form of a fork was timed to coincide with special situations when there was a violation of the balance between the worlds of people and spirits. Since this violation is considered as a consequence of the destructive forces of the "alien" sphere, it is possible to restore the balance as a result of the contact of "one's own" and "another's" in the ritual [Baiburin, 1989, p. 83]. A universal form of ritual restoration of balance and establishment of order in the universe is the New Year's holiday, during which different worlds are connected and blocked with the help of things that symbolize "one's own" and "someone else's" [Ibid., pp. 85-86].

In the fork of the rivers - on a promontory at the mouth of Bolshaya Sarovka, which flows into the Ob - the Kulay people chose a place for a cult complex. And this is not accidental, because it was the river fork (the place where the tributary flows into the river) that was considered the abode of the water spirit. It is known that in such places gifts were brought to the spirit of the river, and there were also sacred barns [Prokofieva, 1977, p. 68]. Both the mouth and the source of the river were special places that opened a passage between worlds [Mythology of the Selkups, 2004, p. 102]. According to the Selkups, the Kandalduk lives at the source of rivers or at the lakes from which rivers flow. Here an "earthen chum" was built for him and an image of the spirit was carved out of a "living" growing tree. However, not only the upper reaches of the river could be the habitat of Kandalduk. There is evidence that the spirit was forced to go upstream when "enemies came to the river" (Pelikh, 1980, p. 8, 9, 11). Perhaps, before the place of its habitation was located downstream of the river. In any case, gifts to the owner of the forest river were thrown into the water from the cape at its mouth [Selkup Mythology, 1998, p. 39].

It is noted that often the butts of the cult sites were placed in bronze cauldrons. In connection with the reconstructed complex of images, the peculiarity noted by L. A. Chindina in transmitting the shape of the head of anthropoids and fork motifs in Kulai art casting, which resemble the outline of a bronze cauldron, is interesting [2003, p.111-111].

A sacred tree grows in Kandalduk's habitat, near the "hole" that connects the real and otherworldly worlds. Seven snakes inhabit its roots, protecting the road to the Lower World from evil spirits and guarding the souls of unborn people [Prokofieva, 1961, p. 58, 62; Pelikh, 1980, p. 11]. Snakes that live in the center of the universe are divided into red and black. They perform different functions, but both of them are depicted in the drawings of Selkup shamans as winged ones flying from the sky to the ground (Prokofieva, 1961: 58, 62, 68). The serpents of the heavenly prince Krk are dark winged creatures painted on shamanic tambourines as an image of an ancient spirit. It is believed that they guard the sky and the sun, and at nightfall they guard the earth and the sun from the messengers of the evil spirit of the Lower world loz [Ibid., p. 68].

However, there is another snake. E. D. Prokofieva noticed that when the Selkups say "go on the road", they use the expression with the word shu ("snake"). Literally, this expression translates to "on the road of the snake". The summer path and road leading to the earth from the Lower World from the sacred tree are called sarpas, which also means "snake" in Sanskrit [Prokofiev, 1949, p.369; 1961, p. 59]. In other words, snakes symbolize roads, space, and traffic. It is known that the peculiarity of the archaic worldview of space and time is their inseparability, which forms a unity-the chronotope. Apparently, this is why the symbols of space and time - the moose and the snake-are united by the image of Kandalduc, who represents time and space of the cosmos

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more clearly, ideas about the space-time of year-winter and year-summer are expressed by the descendants of the Kulay people-Relkintsy (for example, bronze zoomorphic crafts from the Ob-Yenisei Canal, from the Redka burial ground, the Vasyugan treasure, from the Shutovsky and Sobakinsky localities). Probably, the symbol of the year-winter in Relka metalplastics is the image of a deer/elk/horse jumping on a snake (Relka burial ground, Vasyugan treasure), and the symbol of the year-summer is the image of a bear walking on an animal (Timiryazevsky I and Relka burial grounds, Vasyugan treasure, etc.). evolution, which was expressed in the appearance of a new image-a horse. Selkups believe that shamanic deer will be born from the heavenly horse. The image of the heavenly horse is accompanied by all the same symbols-thunder, which is caused by its running, fire and lightning blazing from its nostrils. It is noteworthy that it lives on the cloud, i.e., in the same place as the heavenly snakes [Prokofieva, 1961, p. 56]. Sometimes the sign of a horse (long tail) can also be found in an elk (Relka burial ground). The image of a horseman riding on a horse, a moose-horse (Relka burial ground, Jester's location) appears in metal-plastic.

The dark serpents of the heavenly K,oka are otherwise called labira. The Libbe Ents called the eagle by its name [Prokofieva, 1951, p. 133; 1961, p. 68], so labir (leb-ira) can also be translated as "eagle-old man" or "eagle-month" [Pelikh, 1992, p.79]. The Selkups say that an elk can escape from a hunter by turning into an eagle or a sturgeon [Mythology of the Selkups, 2004, p. 24]. Signs of snakes, fish and birds are combined in shamanic fetishes, called allegorically "goldfish". These images are associated with the image of the flying snake-fish Munga, which the Selkups said was "just like our gods." The serpent flies like a fiery arrow or lightning, lives in underground waters or terrestrial (lakes) and heavenly (clouds), can take on a human form. At the same time, it is the main serpent of Lo, the dragon that devours the sun (Pelikh, 1980, p. 4). 24 - 25]. The motif of hunting, chasing and swallowing the sun combines the image of a winged snake-fish with the moon-Candalduc. In this regard, it is important that the "goldfish" is repeatedly combined in the complexes of shamanic objects with the image of a deer. According to G. I. Pelikh, such selection of fetishes is not accidental. Fetishes similar to the "goldfish" accompany the figure of a deer in the Enets shamanic costume [Ibid., pp. 35-36]. It is interesting that the Selkups of the Keti river used the word kavya as the name of the deer, which in colloquial speech means "tench", and in the case of the Alexander Khanty, the name kamya-olen means "taiga fish" [Ibid., p. 37]. Images of fish made in the technique of hollow volume casting were found at the Sarov cult site [Yakovlev, 2001, N 59, 60, 62]. According to the Selkup mythology, the elk turns into the mythical kamya-eta pike in its declining years [Selkup mythology, 1998, p. 37 - 38]. The name of this monster is often translated into Russian with the word "mammoth". It is described as a toothy, sometimes horned animal. The mammoth, a powerful spirit of the Lower World, had an otter helper spirit. Perhaps, in the metal-plastic of the Sarov cult site, the image of the mythological deer - the mammoth pike-is conveyed by images of so-called Chthonic animals. A hollow three-dimensional product (Yakovlev, 2001, N 61) can be interpreted as an image of an otter.

Conclusions

Since the collection of bronze objects from the Sarov cult site in the archaeological context represents the simultaneous burial of objects in a limited space [Yakovlev, 2001, p. 244], it is obvious that the set of mythological images was formed by the Kulais consciously and purposefully, which means that it can be considered as a text [Antonova, Rayevsky, 2002, p.16]. The creatures whose images are revealed on the monument-an anthropoid, an elk, a snake, a fish, a chthonic animal and a predator-are characters of Selkup mythology, and they are systematically and consistently united by the image of a Kok (Kandalduk). A comparison of the folklore and mythological texts of the Selkups with the text expressed in the language of items from the Sarov collection suggests that the ideas about the heavenly Cook, his incarnations and helper spirits go back to the Early Iron Age. Probably, the Sarov complex of archaeological sites was a cult place of the prototype of the Selkup Kok. Perhaps, Kok, Kandalduk, Shor are three hypostases of one mythological character, whose manifestations in different spheres of the universe have specific incarnations and characteristics. It seems that the accepted division of mythological characters into spirits of the Upper and Lower worlds, as expressing the opposition sacred/pure - sinful/filthy, is not quite correct.

According to E. D. Prokofieva, the Selkups did not have "a rich, well-defined pantheon of gods" [1949, p.336]. However, studies by G. I. Pelikh and A. A. Kim show that there was a hierarchy in their system of religious representations, the levels of which are recorded by folklore and ethnographic data. The upper level represents the Num, its analogs and antipodes. The next level of the hierarchy is occupied by spirits who are masters of natural objects (rivers, lakes, forests, etc.). Even lower in the mythological stratification are spirits subordinate to deities and shamanic spirits-assistants. The last step of the Zani hierarchy-

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home spirits-idols are used [Kim, 1997, p. 126]. Characters of the highest level of the pantheon have their own names (Ilyntyl Kota, Num, Kok, Y, Kyzy). They are usually called deities. Representatives of other levels of the hierarchy are referred to by the term loz, which is usually translated into Russian as "host", "spirit", "devil". It is used to denote both creatures that are negatively disposed towards people, and benevolent representatives of the other world. The term acquires an evaluative character, apparently, in connection with the semantics of the Russian word "devil". Perhaps it was also used to refer to characters of the highest rank. In any case, one of the Selkup spirits of the Lower World, who occupies the highest place in the hierarchy of evil beings, the antipode of the heavenly Numa, is called [Mythology of the Selkups, 2004, p. 186]. It is possible that the Selkups used the word loz as a dummy when communicating with representatives of other ethnic groups, and the real name of the inhabitants of the mythological space was hidden or, less likely, forgotten. This idea is suggested by two circumstances. First, according to G. I. Pelikh, one of the informants let slip that "kava-lozy is in Russian", but "how Ostyak he forgot" or, in her opinion, did not want (was afraid) to say it [1980, p. 64]. The term loz was probably used to the extent that it was well known to Russians. Secondly, A. A. Kim believes that the origin of the word should be sought in China, from where it came to the Selkups through Turkic mediation. This assumption is supported by the lack of etymological connection with other Samoyedic languages [Kim, 1997, p. 127, 129]. It is possible that the word was borrowed to replace the tabooed name when communicating with the Turkic-speaking population, and later became known to Russians. Thus, in the Early Iron Age, most likely, the Kulay people used other names to refer to mythological characters.

There is reason to assume that the representatives of the highest rank of the mythological hierarchy had their own system of subordination. This is evidenced by the names of a number of characters. For example, the celestial deity Kok (Kan) in the Middle World corresponds to the divine Kandalduk (Kand-ildzha, Kandel-Ira) - the "root old man" who lives at the source of the mythological river. At the same time, each particular river in the taiga has its own owner-Kanal-loz (Konjil ira). Apparently, this system of hierarchy also includes a variety of Selkup shamanism - kandelok (shamans who performed kamlaniya mainly at night). It is possible that metalplastics from the Sarov cult site represent mythological characters that make up the hierarchical "retinue" of the heavenly spirit (deity ?), which has come down to ethnographic modernity under the name of Kok (Kana). Each of them actualizes certain functions of this spirit in one or another sphere of the universe, while at the same time being a part of the essence of the celestial being.

The connection of Sarov metalplastics with shamanism is indicated by metal rings, plates attached to products. There are 11 such crafts [Yakovlev, 2001, N 1, 12, 20, 22, 28, 31, 32, 34, 46, 59]. One item [Ibid., No. 26] was also found with a metal band, but the winding was lost by a woman who found it in the arable land of a vegetable garden [Ibid., p. 215]. Ya. A. Yakovlev suggests that the number of such finds could have been greater, since fragments of similar metal bands-rings were revealed during excavations [Ibid.]. A metal ring (varnish) was attached to images of shamanic spirits-assistants. This meant that the spirit was "ringed", i.e., tamed, subordinated to the will of the shaman (Pelikh, 1980, p. 27). Given that such rings are not found in all images, it is probably possible to single out the most "significant" ones among the same ones. All the characters identified at the place of worship were symbolically highlighted: moose (4 units) [Yakovlev, 2001, N 1, 26, 28, 32], birds (2 units) [Ibid., N 20, 31], anthropoids (2 units) [Ibid., N 34, 46], snake [Ibid., N 22], fish (or predator?) [Ibid., N 59] and a chthonic animal [Ibid., N 12].

Based on the functions and characteristics of mythological images, it can be assumed that Kulais performed rituals associated with the New Year's holiday marking the end of the year-summer and the beginning of the year-winter at the Sarov cult complex of monuments. This important event in the life of the ancient population of the Middle Ob region was associated with the idea of a mythological character that influences different spheres and life cycles of the universe. It can be assumed that the rites of celebrating the New Year also included marriage ceremonies, accompanied by a ritual exchange of ceramic dishes (or its fragments). Perhaps part of the ritual activity was the production of bronze figures of mythological creatures that form the hierarchy of the deity/spirit to which the holiday was dedicated. Most likely, the functions of the priest were performed by a shaman, since the meaning of images is revealed through shamanic ideas about the world. The ceremonies ended at the tree symbolizing the world tree. The topography of the monument also corresponds to the mythological concept of the location of the world tree on a mountain near a reservoir.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 18.11.09.

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