Pages: 253-265 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp223253265

The article is devoted to the ritual practices of the population of the Gorokhovo culture, which were reconstructed based on materials of the burial mounds Vodennikovo-I and Murzino-IV. We assumed that the vessels with red-hot talc hammers were used for ritual purification and fumigation of the space before placing the deceased. Bronze bells were probably considered magical items that could provide a link between the living and the dead. We associate the absence of a bell clapper with the Ugric tradition of tying up clappers and hiding noisy things during the wake, as well as the tradition of deliberately damaging the things. Bronze wheels could be used as flywheels for whirligig in divination or spindle whorls in sacral spinning. This material allows us to talk about two main components that underlie the worldview of the population of the Gorokhovo culture — substrate Ugric component and superstrate Iranian component.

Keywords: Trans-Urals, Tobol basin, forest-steppe, Early Iron Age, Gorokhovo culture, cults, rituals

Information about authors:

Natalia Matveeva (Tyumen, RussianFederation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. TyumenStateUniversity.  Volodarsky St., 6, Tyumen, 625003, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003- 0240-0561
Maria Prokonova (Tyumen, Russian Federation). Tyumen State University. Volodarsky St., 6, Tyumen, 625003, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-2008-4814