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<article article-type="research-article" dtd-version="1.3" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xml:lang="en"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">nsc</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title xml:lang="en">Archaeology, Ethnology &amp; Anthropology of Eurasia</journal-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="ru"><trans-title>Археология, этнография и антропология Евразии</trans-title></trans-title-group></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="ppub">1563-0110</issn><publisher><publisher-name>IAET SB RAS</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.17746/1563-0110.2026.54.3.105-112</article-id><article-id custom-type="elpub" pub-id-type="custom">nsc-2533</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Research Article</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="section-heading" xml:lang="en"><subject>ETHNOLOGY</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>Ob Ugrian Sanctuaries on Lake Balbanty</article-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="ru"><trans-title></trans-title></trans-title-group></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes"><contrib-id contrib-id-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4083-1920</contrib-id><name-alternatives><name name-style="western" xml:lang="en"><surname>Kenig</surname><given-names>A. V.</given-names></name></name-alternatives><bio xml:lang="en"><p>Kenig A.V., Laboratory Head</p><p>Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090</p></bio><email xlink:type="simple">akenig@bk.ru</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-1"/></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes"><contrib-id contrib-id-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8379-3760</contrib-id><name-alternatives><name name-style="western" xml:lang="en"><surname>Baulo</surname><given-names>A. V.</given-names></name></name-alternatives><bio xml:lang="en"><p>Baulo A.V., Leading Researcher</p><p>Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090</p></bio><email xlink:type="simple">bau194@yandex.ru</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-1"/></contrib></contrib-group><aff xml:lang="en" id="aff-1"><institution>Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences</institution><country>Russian Federation</country></aff><pub-date pub-type="collection"><year>2026</year></pub-date><pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>04</day><month>10</month><year>2026</year></pub-date><volume>54</volume><issue>3</issue><fpage>105</fpage><lpage>112</lpage><permissions><copyright-statement>Copyright &amp;#x00A9; Kenig A.V., Baulo A.V., 2026</copyright-statement><copyright-year>2026</copyright-year><copyright-holder xml:lang="ru">Kenig A.V., Baulo A.V.</copyright-holder><copyright-holder xml:lang="en">Kenig A.V., Baulo A.V.</copyright-holder><license xml:lang="ru" license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple"><license-p>Данная работа распространяется под лицензией Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.</license-p></license><license xml:lang="en" license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple"><license-p>This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.</license-p></license></permissions><self-uri xlink:href="https://journal.archaeology.nsc.ru/jour/article/view/2533">https://journal.archaeology.nsc.ru/jour/article/view/2533</self-uri><abstract><p>Sanctuaries of various ranks are one of the means whereby traditional worldview and ritual practices of Ob Ugrians are translated. Especially informative are those situated in contact zones between Mansi and Khanty residence areas such as the one around Lake Balbanty in the Berezovsky District of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, an area sacred to both the Lyapin Mansi and the Synya Khanty. On the basis of our 2023 survey, we describe two sanctuaries and their history. The fi rst one relates to Mansi mythological characters—the Chokhryn-Oyka deity and the menkv forest spirits. Other northwestern Siberian places devoted to them are briefl y described, too. The second sanctuary is related to the patron of the reindeer-breeders of northern Urals_Kevvur-khu-akem-iki. Its central feature is a large fi r tree with the deity’s mask carved on its trunk. Information about two other places where Kevvur-khu-akem-iki is venerated by the Synya Khanty is provided. The structure of ritual platforms and the way fi gures of patron-spirits are rendered are more suggestive of the Mansi tradition, whose typical features are structures made of wooden statues supported by a horizontal bar, and masks carved on trunks. The revival of the tradition venerating Ugric deities at Lake Balbanty was triggered by a private initiative and supported by governors of the two federal okrugs. Hopefully, those sanctuaries will be preserved, marking the joint ritual practices of two local groups of Ob Ugrians.</p></abstract><kwd-group xml:lang="en"><kwd>Lake Balbanty</kwd><kwd>Khanty</kwd><kwd>Mansi</kwd><kwd>deities</kwd><kwd>rites</kwd><kwd>sanctuaries</kwd></kwd-group></article-meta></front><back><ref-list><title>References</title><ref id="cit1"><label>1</label><citation-alternatives><mixed-citation xml:lang="ru">Baulo A.V. 2013 Svyashchenniye mesta i atributy severnykh mansi v nachale XXI veka: Etnogr. albom. 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