Water and Cosmology in the Stone Age of Northeastern Europe
Abstract
This paper explores water and watery places as sacred elements among the cultures of the northern boreal zone during the Stone Age, and especially the Neolithic period, through materials deriving from Northwestern Russia and Fennoscandia. The peculiarity and importance of water and certain watery environments, like rivers, lakes, bogs, waterfalls, and rapids, are discussed through depositional practices of material culture, mainly lithic artifacts. Rock-art provides further tools for approaching the topic, not only through its locations in the landscape but also through its motifs, which allow parallels to be drawn to later ethnographical sources and folklore, too. Finally, the paper briefl y touches upon the rationality behind making a strict separation between “sacred” and “mundane” when interpreting prehistoric cultural phenomena. Water was integral to human life in many different ways, but bodies of water and watery places could also be threatening and unpredictable. Therefore water would have been an ambivalent element, probably invested with signifi cant cultural meanings in the Stone Age world.
About the Authors
K. Nordqvist
University of Helsinki
Finland
Finland
V.-P. Herva
University of Oulu
Finland
Finland
S. Sandell
Finland
References
1. Брюсов А.Я. История древней Карелии. – М.: ГИМ, 1940. – 320 с.
2. Герман К.Э., Мельников И.В. Археологические исследования в заповеднике «Кивач» в 2014–2016 гг. // Культурные процессы в циркумбалтийском пространстве в раннем и среднем голоцене: докл. междунар. науч. конф., посвящ. 70-летию со дня рождения В.И. Тимофеева. СанктПетербург, Россия, 26–28 апр. 2017 г. – СПб.: МАЭ РАН, 2017. – С. 181–186.
3. Гурина Н.Н. Оленеостровский могильник. – М.: Изд-во АН СССР, 1956. – 429 с.
4. Жульников А.М. Петроглифы Карелии: Образ мира и миры образов. – Петрозаводск: Скандинавия, 2006. – 222 с.
5. Кочкуркина С.И. Археологические памятники Карелии: каталог. – Петрозаводск: КарНЦ РАН, 2007. – 198 с.
6. Лобанова Н.В., Филатова В.Ф. Археологические памятники в районе Онежских петроглифов. – М.: Рус. фонд содействия образованию и науке, 2015. – 464 с.
7. Нордквист К., Херва В.-П., Санделл С. Вода и водные объекты как сакральные элементы в эпоху неолита–энеолита на Северо-Западе России // Археология сакральных мест России: тез. докл. науч. конф. с междунар. участием. Соловки, 7–12 сент. 2016 г. – Архангельск, 2016. – С. 25–30.
8. Савватеев Ю.А. Залавруга: Археологические памятники низовья реки Выг. – Л.: Наука, 1977. – Ч. 2: Стоянки. – 323 с.
9. Сериков Ю.Б. К вопросу о сакральном использовании акватории озер и рек // Тверской археологический сборник. – Тверь: Триада, 2015. – Вып. 10, т. I. – С. 440–446.
10. Шумкин В.Я., Колпаков Е.М., Мурашкин А.И. Некоторые итоги новых раскопок могильника на Большом Оленьем острове Баренцева моря // Зап. ИИМК РАН. – 2006. – Вып. 1. – С. 42–52.
11. Aldhouse-Gren M. Dying for the Gods: Human Sacrifi ce in Iron Age and Roman Europe. – Stroud: Tempus, 2002. – 240 p.
12. Berezkin Y. The Pleiades as Openings, the Milky Way as the Path of Birds, and the Girl on the Moon: Cultural Links across Northern Eurasia // Folklore. – 2010. – Vol. 44. – P. 7–34.
13. Bird-David N. ‘Animism’ Revisited: Personhood, Environment and Relational Epistemology // Current Anthropol. – 1999. – Vol. 40, N S1. – P. 67–91.
14. Bradley R. Archaeology of Natural Places. – L.: Routledge, 2000. – 177 p.
15. Brown L.A., Walker W.H. Prologue: Archaeology, Animism, and Non-Human Agents // J. of Archaeol. Method and Theory. – 2008. – Vol. 15. – P. 297–299.
16. Chadwick A.M. Routine Magic, Mundane Ritual: Towards a Unified Notion of Depositional Practice // Oxford J. of Archaeol. – 2012. – Vol. 31, iss. 3. – P. 283–315.
17. Edgren H. Suomen kampakeraamisen kulttuurin reikäkivet. – Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto, 1978. – 114 s.
18. Edgren T. Formgivning och function: En kamkeramisk studie. – Helsinki: Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistys, 1982. – 78 s.
19. Fredengren C. Water Politics: Wet Deposits of Human and Animal Remains in Uppland, Sweden // Fornvännen. – 2015. – Vol. 110. – P. 161–183.
20. Gjerde J.M. Rock Art and Landscapes: Studies of Stone Age Rock Art from Northern Fennoscandia. – Tromsø: Univ. of Tromsø, 2010. – 505 p.
21. Goldhahn J. Roaring Rocks: An Audio-visual Perspective on Hunter-gatherer Engravings in Northern Sweden and Scandinavia // Norweg. Archaeol. Rev. – 2002. – Vol. 35, iss. 1. – P. 29–61.
22. Grönhagen J. Ristiinan Astuvansalmi, muinainen kulttipaikkako? // Suomen Museo. – 1994. – Vol. 101. – S. 5–18.
23. Hallgren F. Mesolithic Skull Deposits at Kanaljordern, Motala, Sweden // Current Swed. Archaeol. – 2011. – Vol. 19. – P. 244–246.
24. Helskog K. The Shore Connection. Cognitive Landscape and Communication with Rock Carvings in Northernmost Europe // Norweg. Archaeol. Rev. – 1999. – Vol. 32, iss. 2. – P. 73–94.
25. Herva V.-P. Living (with) Things: Relational Ontology and Material Culture in Early Modern Northern Finland // Cambr. Archaeol. J. – 2009. – Vol. 19, iss. 3. – P. 388–397.
26. Herva V.-P., Ylimaunu T. Coastal Cosmologies: Longterm Perspectives on the Perception Understanding of Dynamic Coastal Landscapes in the Northern Baltic Sea Region // Time and Mind. – 2014. – Vol. 7, iss. 2. – P. 183–202.
27. Holbraad M. Ontology, Ethnography, Archaeology. An Afterword on the Ontography of Things // Cambr. Archaeol. J. – 2009. – Vol. 19, iss. 3. – P. 431–441.
28. Huurre M. Satakunnan kivikausi // Satakunnan historia 1. – Rauma: Satakunnan maakuntaliitto, 1991. – S. 85–323.
29. Kuusi M., Bosley K., Branch M. Finnish Folk Poetry: Epic. – Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 1977. – 607 p.
30. Lahelma A. Excavating Art. A ‘Ritual Deposit’ Associated with the Rock Paintings of Valkeisaari, Eastern Finland // Fennoscandia Archaeologica. – 2006. – Vol. XXIII. – P. 2–23.
31. Lahelma A. A Touch of Red: Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings. – Helsinki: Finnish Antiquarian Soc., 2008. – 77 p.
32. Lahelma A. Strange Swans and Odd Ducks: Interpreting the Ambiguous Waterfowl Imagery of Lake Onega // Visualising the Neolithic: Abstraction, Figuration, Performance, Representation. – Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2012. – P. 15–33.
33. Larsson L. Water and Fire as Transformation Elements in Ritual Deposits of the Scandinavian Neolithic // Documenta Praehistorica. – 2011. – Vol. XXXVIII. – P. 69–82.
34. Lewis-Williams D., Dowson T. Through the Veil: San Rock Paintings and the Rock Face // South African Archaeol. Bull. – 1990. – Vol. 45. – P. 5–16.
35. Nordqvist K. Kiviniemen seutu kivikaudelta keskiaikaan // Kuohuva Kiviniemi: Sakkolassa Karjalan kannaksella. – Lempäälä: Sakkola-säätiö, 2013. – S. 20–33.
36. Nordqvist K. The Stone Age of north-eastern Europe 5500–1800 calBC: Bridging the gap between the East and the West. – Oulu: Univ. of Oulu, 2018. – 164 p.
37. Nordqvist K., Seitsonen O. The Finnish Archaeological Activities in the Present-day Karelian Republic until 1944 // Fennoscandia Archaeologica. – 2008. – Vol. XXV. – P. 27–60.
38. Pääkkönen L.V. Kesämatkoja Venäjän Karjalassa sekä hajanaisia kuvauksia Karjalan kansan nykyisyydestä ja entisyydestä. – Helsinki: Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistys, 1898. – 257 s.
39. Pälsi S. Ein Steinzeitlicher Moorfund // Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistyksen Aikakauskirja. – 1920. – Vol. 28, N 2. – S. 1–19.
40. Pentikäinen J. Saamelaiset. Pohjoisen kansan mytologia. – Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1995. – 408 s.
41. Rainbird P. The Archaeology of Islands. – Cambridge: Cambr. Univ. Press, 2007. – 200 p.
42. Ruohonen J. Kuolleiden saaret: Historiallisen ajan keskisuomalaisten saarihautausmaiden luonne ja käyttö hautapaikkoina. // J@rgonia. – 2010. – Vol. 17. – S. 1–25.
43. Saarnisto M. Emergence History of Karelian Isthmus // Karelian Isthmus – Stone Age Studies in 1998–2003. – Helsinki: Finnish Antiquarian Society, 2008. – P. 128–139.
44. Sarmela M. Suomen perinneatlas. – Helsinki: Finnish Literature Soc., 1994. – 259 s. – (Suomen kansankulttuurin kartasto; N 2).
45. Siikala A.-L. Suomalainen šamanismi: Mielikuvien historiaa. – Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1992. – 359 s.
46. Takala H. Äyräpään kihlakunnan esihistoria I: Muinaislöydöt 1847–1944. – Lahti: Vuoksen vartio, 2005. – 216 s.
47. Wessman A. Levänluhta: A Place of Punishment, Sacrifi ce or Just a Common Cemetery // Fennoscandia Archaeologica. – 2009. – Vol. XXVI. – P. 81–105.
48. Westerdahl C. Seal on Land, Elk at Sea: Notes on and Applications of the Ritual Landscape at the Seaboard // Intern. J. of Nautical Archaeol. – 2005. – Vol. 34. – P. 2–23.
For citation:
Nordqvist K., Herva V., Sandell S. Water and Cosmology in the Stone Age of Northeastern Europe. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2019;47(1):23-32. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2019.47.1.023-032
Views: 140
Email this article 