Ritual places of Ust-Izes: reconstruction issues

During the excavation of the medieval necropolis, an archaeological complex was discovered under the burial mound, comprising charred remains of a burnt wooden structure, where ceramic vessels were installed upside down. In the group of coals in an area partially bounded by burnt soil along the perimeter, two Mongolian-time arrowheads were found with the structural elements of the forest Ugrian and Samoyed population tradition. The ceramics includes a series of pointed-bottomed vessels ornamented with a comb stamp and two belts of holes. The shape and features of the ornament make it possible to attribute it to the Ust-Izes stage of the Kyshtovka culture of the southern forest part of the Ob-Irtysh basin. This type of sites is quite new for the north forest-steppe. Findings of wooden idols of different size resembling the Khanty idols allowed seeing the connection with the rite of burning itterma dolls - temporary “repositories” of the souls of the deceased. These materials were divided into types and allowed to distinguish several types of wooden construction design. Ethnographic sources demonstrate the high probability of building models of doll dwellings, which were burnt together with them and their gifts (things belonging to itterma). The experiments carried out made it possible to reconstruct one of these models close to the architecture of long-term dwellings of the indigenous population of the south forest region of Western Siberia. Differences in attributes between archaeological and ethnographic materials indicate a simplification of the material side of the rite and the fact that the process followed the path of abandoning less significant elements and transforming the rest to the possibilities of the economy and social life. Analysis of archaeological sites can provide new information about the nature of the housebuilding traditions of the Ob-Irtysh south forest region medieval population.