Figure of a Mansi family guardian spirit with the bronze frog

The frog played an important role in the religious and mythological beliefs of the Ob-Ugric people. In ritual practices, frogs are perceived as a tribal or family guardian spirit. New data on the existence of the frog cult have been obtained by the subpolar ethnographic team. A figure of a family guardian spirit, the base of which was a medieval cast bronze figurine of the frog, was discovered. The figure of the spirit was made in the 1930s-1950s. This finding is the evidence of wide circulation and great age of the totemic cult of the frog.