The Snake Image in Sculpture and Pictures on Sites of the Stone and Bronze Ages in the Northern Eurasia Forest-steppe: An Overview

Purpose. From the earliest period in human history, the snake image has been integrated into the mythological frameworks of ancient societies' worldviews. A complex and multicomponent image is discussed in number of publications in terms of semantics, but there is no special focused paper. The main research goal is to provide an overview of snake images – sculptures, ornaments, and petroglyphs – from archaeological sites from Stone Age to Early Metal Era of the forest-steppe region of Northern Eurasia, also including some sites from adjacent regions of Central Asia and Western Europe. Results. Based on the results, a list of 66 archaeological sites and a map showing the distribution of different art types in different regions were formed – this allows us to identify five main groups based on their location. Conclusion. These groups correspond to the ancient art development areas – the Baikal region, Western Siberia, the Urals, the north of Eastern Europe, and the center of the Russian Plain. There are just under 200 early snake figures in this vast region; this image is widespread. It has its roots in ancient times, when the first beliefs associated with snakes were formed in the Stone Age, and it was fixed in various myths and cults in the Early Metal Era.