THE PLEIADES AS OPENINGS, THE MILKY WAY AS THE PATH OF BIRDS, AND THE GIRL ON THE MOON: CULTURAL LINKS ACROSS NORTHERN EURASIA
Abstract:The Baltic-Finnish and the Baltic (Latvian and Lithuanian) cosmonyms mostly coincide while the Baltic and Slavic cosmonymic patterns are different. The Pleiades in the Eastern Baltic are 'a sieve', the Milky Way is 'the path of migratory birds' and a girl holding water p...
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ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.1045.7365 2023-05-15T18:15:02+02:00 THE PLEIADES AS OPENINGS, THE MILKY WAY AS THE PATH OF BIRDS, AND THE GIRL ON THE MOON: CULTURAL LINKS ACROSS NORTHERN EURASIA Yuri Berezkin The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1045.7365 http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol44/berezkin.pdf en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1045.7365 http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol44/berezkin.pdf Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol44/berezkin.pdf text ftciteseerx 2020-04-05T00:18:18Z Abstract:The Baltic-Finnish and the Baltic (Latvian and Lithuanian) cosmonyms mostly coincide while the Baltic and Slavic cosmonymic patterns are different. The Pleiades in the Eastern Baltic are 'a sieve', the Milky Way is 'the path of migratory birds' and a girl holding water pails is seen on the Moon. Across most of Central, Western and Southern Europe the Pleiades are 'a hen with its chicken', the Milky Way and the lunar spots have other (and different) interpretations. The Eastern Baltic pattern is identical with the Middle Volga one where it is widespread among both Finnish-Permian and Turkic groups and probably relates back to the (Proto-Baltic?) culture of the Iron Age. However, parallels for the cosmonyms in question are found across most of Northern Eurasia and find corresponding similarities in some parts of North America. 'Water-carrier on the Moon' is the most widespread of these motifs being known in Japan and Polynesia. In Eurasia, the Northern Samoyeds noticeably lack all three images. The initial emergence of at least some of the cosmonyms under discussion in the Terminal Pleistocene of northern East Asia and their further dissemination towards the West, down to the Baltics, is a hypothesis to be checked. Key words: Asian-American cosmonymic links, folk astronomy, lunar spots, prehistory of Northern Eurasia, the Milky Way, the Pleiades Seven objects in the night sky attracted attention in Eurasian cultures outside the Tropical Zone. These are the Moon with dark spots on its disc, Venus, the Milky Way, the Big Dipper, the Pleiades, the Belt of Orion, and Polaris. Other planets, stars and constellations were also singled out by some cultures, yet ignored by others. Though the number of Eurasian cosmonyms is great, most of them are either rare or are mere variants of a few dominant ways of interpretation. The conservatism of cosmological vocabulary and of mythopoetic ideas which underlie it makes them a good source of data on the past's ethnocultural development. The cosmonymic map of Europe lets ... Text samoyed* Unknown Milky Way ENVELOPE(-68.705,-68.705,-71.251,-71.251) Orion ENVELOPE(-59.800,-59.800,-62.438,-62.438) Pleiades ENVELOPE(165.533,165.533,-72.700,-72.700) Pleiades The ENVELOPE(165.533,165.533,-72.700,-72.700) The Pleiades ENVELOPE(165.533,165.533,-72.700,-72.700) Venus ENVELOPE(-57.842,-57.842,-61.925,-61.925) |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Unknown |
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ftciteseerx |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract:The Baltic-Finnish and the Baltic (Latvian and Lithuanian) cosmonyms mostly coincide while the Baltic and Slavic cosmonymic patterns are different. The Pleiades in the Eastern Baltic are 'a sieve', the Milky Way is 'the path of migratory birds' and a girl holding water pails is seen on the Moon. Across most of Central, Western and Southern Europe the Pleiades are 'a hen with its chicken', the Milky Way and the lunar spots have other (and different) interpretations. The Eastern Baltic pattern is identical with the Middle Volga one where it is widespread among both Finnish-Permian and Turkic groups and probably relates back to the (Proto-Baltic?) culture of the Iron Age. However, parallels for the cosmonyms in question are found across most of Northern Eurasia and find corresponding similarities in some parts of North America. 'Water-carrier on the Moon' is the most widespread of these motifs being known in Japan and Polynesia. In Eurasia, the Northern Samoyeds noticeably lack all three images. The initial emergence of at least some of the cosmonyms under discussion in the Terminal Pleistocene of northern East Asia and their further dissemination towards the West, down to the Baltics, is a hypothesis to be checked. Key words: Asian-American cosmonymic links, folk astronomy, lunar spots, prehistory of Northern Eurasia, the Milky Way, the Pleiades Seven objects in the night sky attracted attention in Eurasian cultures outside the Tropical Zone. These are the Moon with dark spots on its disc, Venus, the Milky Way, the Big Dipper, the Pleiades, the Belt of Orion, and Polaris. Other planets, stars and constellations were also singled out by some cultures, yet ignored by others. Though the number of Eurasian cosmonyms is great, most of them are either rare or are mere variants of a few dominant ways of interpretation. The conservatism of cosmological vocabulary and of mythopoetic ideas which underlie it makes them a good source of data on the past's ethnocultural development. The cosmonymic map of Europe lets ... |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Yuri Berezkin |
spellingShingle |
Yuri Berezkin THE PLEIADES AS OPENINGS, THE MILKY WAY AS THE PATH OF BIRDS, AND THE GIRL ON THE MOON: CULTURAL LINKS ACROSS NORTHERN EURASIA |
author_facet |
Yuri Berezkin |
author_sort |
Yuri Berezkin |
title |
THE PLEIADES AS OPENINGS, THE MILKY WAY AS THE PATH OF BIRDS, AND THE GIRL ON THE MOON: CULTURAL LINKS ACROSS NORTHERN EURASIA |
title_short |
THE PLEIADES AS OPENINGS, THE MILKY WAY AS THE PATH OF BIRDS, AND THE GIRL ON THE MOON: CULTURAL LINKS ACROSS NORTHERN EURASIA |
title_full |
THE PLEIADES AS OPENINGS, THE MILKY WAY AS THE PATH OF BIRDS, AND THE GIRL ON THE MOON: CULTURAL LINKS ACROSS NORTHERN EURASIA |
title_fullStr |
THE PLEIADES AS OPENINGS, THE MILKY WAY AS THE PATH OF BIRDS, AND THE GIRL ON THE MOON: CULTURAL LINKS ACROSS NORTHERN EURASIA |
title_full_unstemmed |
THE PLEIADES AS OPENINGS, THE MILKY WAY AS THE PATH OF BIRDS, AND THE GIRL ON THE MOON: CULTURAL LINKS ACROSS NORTHERN EURASIA |
title_sort |
pleiades as openings, the milky way as the path of birds, and the girl on the moon: cultural links across northern eurasia |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1045.7365 http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol44/berezkin.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.705,-68.705,-71.251,-71.251) ENVELOPE(-59.800,-59.800,-62.438,-62.438) ENVELOPE(165.533,165.533,-72.700,-72.700) ENVELOPE(165.533,165.533,-72.700,-72.700) ENVELOPE(165.533,165.533,-72.700,-72.700) ENVELOPE(-57.842,-57.842,-61.925,-61.925) |
geographic |
Milky Way Orion Pleiades Pleiades The The Pleiades Venus |
geographic_facet |
Milky Way Orion Pleiades Pleiades The The Pleiades Venus |
genre |
samoyed* |
genre_facet |
samoyed* |
op_source |
http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol44/berezkin.pdf |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1045.7365 http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol44/berezkin.pdf |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
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1766188073083731968 |