Pages: 146-154

The paper is an attempt at studing the genesis and semantics of the bestiary of one of the most interesting Bronze Age cultures of Central Asia. A number of its traits, e.g. the diversification of the bestiary, its connection with the complexity of the social life, the reasons for the domination of certain compositions, etc., may be interpreted on the basis of D.S.Raevsky’s ideas on Scythian perception of the animal world. A comparison of bestiaries of the bearers of various economic-cultural types can throw a new light on the specificity of the relevant societies.