The traces of bear worship in the Yakut burial of the 17th-18th century (Mamykan site, Central Yakutia)

The traces of bear worship in the Yakut burial of the 17th-18th century (Mamykan site, Central Yakutia). ALEKSANDRA N. PROKOPIEVA (Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences) The finds of wild animals’ bones and claws are rare in the Yakut pre-Christian burials, the discovery of a bear claw in Mamykan burial in Central Yakutia dating back to the 17th - early 18th century is only the second case of such find. The article examines the characteristics of the burial and the composition of the funeral inventory, as well as attempts to interpret the meaning of the bear’s claw placed in the female burial. To this end, the author refers to the available archaeological and ethnographic information about the bear worship widespread in Eurasia from ancient times.