“Priest’s Staff” from Fort Nadym of the 16th–17th Centuries

“Priest’s Staff” from Fort Nadym of the 16th–17th Centuries

O.V. Kardash.

The study presents a series of artifacts discovered in the layers of the late 12th to the fi rst third of the 18th centuries during the archaeological examination of Fort Nadym, which is attributed to the indigenous population of Northwestern Siberia. An analysis of ethnographic collections and the ritual practices of the indigenous peoples of Siberia, as well as the morphological features of the artifacts themselves, has lead to their identifi cation as shaman’s staffs, or priest’s staffs. For the fi rst time these ritual objects, wooden staffs and bone spoons with zoomorphic fi nials, are introduced for the purposes of research. An analysis is given of the semantics of the zoomorphic compositions recorded from the early layers of Fort Nadym. Shaman’s staffs represent the most ancient magical attribute although their function was very similar to that described in ethnographic record. Functionally different objects of ritual use carry the same zoomorphic decoration, the archetype of which appeared in Northwestern Siberia in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. Unlike other similar sites such as the Voikar or Polui (Obdor) fortifi ed settlements, at Fort Nadym many ritual objects have been discovered, which would appear to testify to the great religious and ritual importance of the site.

Keywords: Northwestern Siberia, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, Fort Nadym, Nadym River, Ob River, Samoyeds,
Ostyaks, religion, rituals, priests, shamans, staffs.