Rocks in the religious beliefs and rites of the Ob Ugrians

This study, based on materials collected in the 18th-20th centuries, and on the author's field findings over the last 40 years, shows the role of rocks in the Ob Ugrian worldview and ritual practices. Rocks were venerated and areas around them became sanctuaries. Reasons behind the cult of such sacral places are discussed. One reason was that the rock resembled a human or animal figure. In legends and myths, stone houses of heroic ancestors correlate with numerous caves in the Ural Mountains. The main part of the article introduces materials relating to figures of deities and patron spirits. They are supported by stories explaining the ways a mythological hero can turn into a rock. Examples are cited where effigies of deities had a stone base: this was practiced by local groups of Ob Ugrians, such as the Lyapin and Sosva Mansi, Synya and Polui Khanty. Rocks were used in childbirth and funerary rites, and those accompanying subsistence activities, such as fishing. In Khanty and Mansi mythological beliefs, the attribute "stony” was equivalent to "iron” and "strong”.