Portable Sculptures from Neolithic and Bronze Age Habitation Sites near Lake Baikal
Portable Sculptures from Neolithic and Bronze Age Habitation Sites near Lake Baikal
DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2016.44.4.060-066
A.G. Novikov and O.I. Goriunova
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
Irkutsk State University, Karla Marksa 1, Irkutsk, 664003, Russia
Portable sculpture provides important information on past worldviews, the ways various objects were perceived, and subsistence activities. This study addresses fi gurines from Neolithic and Bronze Age habitation sites on Lake Baikal, relying on a summary of published specimens, plus those from recent excavations: in total, 32 intact and fragmentary figurines from twelve sites. Chronology, assessed on the basis of stratigraphic observations and radiocarbon analysis, suggests that fi gurines had been manufactured on Lake Baikal since the Early Neolithic (over 7000 cal BP). Most of the early specimens represent fi sh, some depict Baikal seals. They conform to the Kitoy artistic tradition. Late Neolithic figurines (5590–4870 cal BP) evidence a different style, typical of the Serovo-Glazkovo tradition. Bronze Age depictions of fi sh are highly stylized. Overall, these differences make it possible to track chronological changes in the content and styles of portable sculpture in the region. Most representations of fi sh have hanging-holes and were probably used as bait. Larger ones without holes might have been used in rituals.
