In Search of Shamanic Themes in Eastern Siberian Rock Art (Sakha/Yakutia Republic)

• Main Author: Rozwadowski, Andrzej
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: rock art; shamanism; Siberia; Yakutia; Olenëk; Sakha; lena river; Sakha Republic; Yakut; Yakutia Republic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10593/11344

This article is based on new research which was undertaken by a Polish– Yakut team in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic between 2001 and 2003. Accepting that shamanism is an archaic cultural practice of the Sakha people, and that it is also present in the wider territory of Siberia, it is assumed that some common topics of Siberian shamanism can provide a semantic context for elucidating the social or semantic meanings of rock art in the territory of the Sakha Republic. After a general characterization of rock art in Yakutia, the paper analyzes the possible shamanic overtones of some rock images from southern parts of the country, mainly along the middle Lena River basin, and in the northern territory, on the cliffs of the Olenëk River. Attention is also paid to the contemporary veneration of sites with rock art, where ritual offerings are still practiced.