Cult of ancestors, leaders, and rulers in burial rite

All-Russian conference «Cult of ancestry, leaders, and rulers in burialrite» was held in the Department of Theory and Methodics, Insitute of Archaeology,on November 23-24, 2010. Researchers from scientific institutions of Moscow,St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Barnaul, Abakan, Voronezh, Stavropol, Yoshkar-Ola and Donetsk participated, 29 papers were read. A series of articles on the theme ofthe conference are published in the issue. They discuss the ancestral cult as a characteristicfeature of religious beliefs of many ancient tribes and peoples, closely related but notidentical with cult of the dead and burial rite. The latter includes a description of macrocosm(worlds of the living and the dead), but of microcosm as well (burial, village). The routeto the nether world led via three principal points: a house - a grave - and a dwellingplace of the dead in the other world. The dead (an ancestor) was a mediator betweenthe two worlds, responsible for their relationship and normal functioning of all sectors ofcosmos. Manipulations with burials and remains of the ancestors were thought to entitletheir successors for exploitation or control over the territory and natural resources.