nscArchaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of EurasiaАрхеология, этнография и антропология Евразии1563-0110IAET SB RAS10.17746/1563-0110.2026.54.3.113-122nsc-2534Research ArticleETHNOLOGYEurasian-American Ethnoastronomic Parallels in the Context of New Data from Indiahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6001-7339BerezkinY. E.

Berezkin Y.E., Head of the Department

Universitetskaya nab. 3, St. Petersburg, 199034

berezkin1@gmail.comPeter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of SciencesRussian Federation202604102026543113122Copyright © Berezkin Y.E., 20262026Berezkin Y.E.Berezkin Y.E.Данная работа распространяется под лицензией Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.https://journal.archaeology.nsc.ru/jour/article/view/2534

New folkloric data collected in Maharashtra, India, have changed our views of the ancient ethnoastronomy of South Asia. Previous reconstructions of beliefs about celestial objects were nearly exclusively based on the comparison of data on Northern and Central Eurasia with those on the New World. Motifs relating to Ursa Major , one of the most important constellations in folk astronomy, are described. An attempt is made to assess the relative age of these beliefs by collating data on Eurasia and America. Four routes whereby people had migrated to the New World are reconstructed, one of these being related to the spread of Algonquin ancestors. Rather than being Paleolithic relicts, parallels between Siberia and India were caused by later northern infl uences on South Asian ethnoastronomy.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest present.