Pages: 127-140 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp265127140

Using an interdisciplinary approach, the author explores the semantics of Cuman stone statues and demonstrates their association with the ancestor cult. The paper argues that each stone sculpture represented a specific deceased person and served as a “vessel” for his or her soul. Through an analysis of the funerary and commemorative practices of Turkic peoples in Inner Asia and the Caucasus, the author identifies shared traditions associated with belief in the immortality of the soul and proposes a new interpretation of the sacred connection between the statue and the deceased through the mediation of the tul. These findings provide the basis for reconstructing Cuman funerary and memorial practices associated with the carving and installation of stone statues.

Keywords: stone statues, Cumans, sanctuaries, commemorative practices, ancestor cult, shamanism, medieval nomads, Eastern European steppes

Information about author:

Alina Kharlamova (Kharkiv, Ukraine). Independent Researcher.
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-7660-6939