Сultic Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites of Ural: problems and perspectives of research

All cultic Paleolithic sites which were found in Ural region are connected with rocks objects. More often such natural objects were caves. Kapova cave with its realistic Paleolithic painting is the brightest among them. Cave sanctuaries which contain complexes of animal’s craniums of Pleistocene epoch (bear, lion, wild hors) belong to another type. Such complexes were found in South (caves Zapovednaya, Sikijas-Tamak) and Middle (caves Kumishanskaya, Tajin, Malutka) Ural as well. From one side cultic Mesolithic sites continues the Paleolithic tradition of using of cave painting in rituals (grotto Bolshoy Gluhoy, Ignatievskaja cave supposed). From the other side appear cave sanctuaries on which the ritual of shooting with a bow towards a cave was the main. In this ritual arrows served as sacrifice gifts for the spirit of the cave, bat they could have different semantic contain. The most brightly this ritual was presented at the unique cave sanctuary in Rock Dirovatij (Chusovaya River) where more then 5 thousand Mesolithic bone and stone arrowheads were found. Sanctuaries at so called shichans - conglomerations of granite boulders up to 10 metros height is the new type of sites of this epoch. Such sanctuaries were found on the shores of Shaytanskoe Lake in Sverdlovsc region. One more type of cultic Mesolithic sites we can fined at the foot of rocks with pictures panted on them. For studying not ordinary Paleolithic and Mesolithic cultic sites it is necessary to create complex programs of research and also to generate teams of specialists for studying this sanctuaries