Pages: 179-194

The ancestor worship from cemeteries of 9th—11th cc. in the Vetluga-Vyatka region is reflected in the complexes of items found in between the burials. The sacrificial complexes are divided into 4 groups by content and design: group III existed throughout the whole period of function of the cemetery, sacrificial groups II and IV did not appear before the middle of 10th c., sacrificial group I appeared in 11th c. Sacrificial complexes of group III are found only in the Vetluga-Vyatka watershed region and are an ethnographic identifier of the Mari funeral rite in 9th—11th cc.

Keywords: Volga-Vyatka region, Middle Ages, sacrificial complexes, typology, ancestor worship

Information about authors:

Tatyana Nikitina (Yoshkar-Ola, Russia). Doctor of Historical Sciences. V. M. Vasilyev Scientifi c Research Institute of Language, Literature and History in Mari
E-mail: [email protected]
Diana Efremova (Yoshkar-Ola, Russia). Candidate of Historical Sciences. V. M. Vasilyev Scientifi c Research Institute of Language, Literature and History in Mari
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]