Pages: 135-144 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp225135144

Written accounts provide information that allows us to assume the existence of a special group of people among the early medieval Turks of Central Asia associated with the implementation of cult activities. At the same time, the definition of their specific functions, the establishment of the attributes of such a practice, and many other aspects within the framework of the designated subject remain debatable. Significant prospects are associated with the study of archaeological materials that quite fully characterize the material and spiritual culture of the Turks. The article presents an overview of the extensive source base, analyzes the results of excavations of burial complexes, and compares the observations made with the existing experience in interpreting sites from various chronological periods. This made it possible to present a range of objects that were supposedly associated with the implementation of cult activities. It has been established that most of these finds from burials demonstrate the spread of the practices of “personal magic”, including things that served as personal amulets. The author formulates assumption that the absence of explicit burials of clergymen among Turks reflects the performance of such actions not by a special professional group of people, but by the heads of clans or elders.

Keywords: Central Asia, Turks, cult artifacts, archaeological sites, written accounts

Information about author:


Nikolai Seregin (Barnaul, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Altai State University. Lenin Ave., 61, Barnaul, 656049, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-8051-7127