Zoomorphic Images Research Articles

Defining the boundaries of the meaning of ornamental compositions in the art of the Pazyryk culture

The article is devoted to the analysis of the semiotic field of the term "ornamental composition" in the context of definitions of ornament and composition in the art of the Pazyryk culture and its historiography. The subject of the study is ornamental compositions from elite burials of the Pazyryk culture of different periods of its development – the early Second Bashadar kurgan and the Tuekta burial ground and the late Pazyryk burial ground. In addition, the paper examines the specifics of the use of the terms "composition" and "ornament" in order to highlight the history of their meanings, as well as analyzes certain provisions of theoretical works on the study of the theory of composition and ornament. The purpose of the study is to identify the components of the semantic field of an ornamental composition related to the field of interaction of the composition with the viewer, and not to the field of meaning of specific figurative images. The article proposes using the method of formal analysis in combination with some provisions of the Gestalt approach described in the works of E. Gombrich and R. Arnheim to analyze a series of ornamental compositions with and without figurative images in the art of the Pazyryk culture. The scientific novelty of the study is predetermined by the absence in the Russian historiography of works describing the specifics of the meaning of ornamental composition in the context of visual perception in the art of the Pazyryk culture. The researchers note that the significance of ornaments in Pazyryk art could be related to the meaning of multi-figure compositions (when zoomorphic images are included in the ornament) and reflect the worldview of the bearers of the Pazyryk culture, or the types of symmetry used in the construction of ornaments could reflect the social structure of society. However, in both of these trends, the analysis of an ornamental composition without figurative images remains outside the scope as a structural and semantic, integral work of art interacting with the viewer. As a result of the research, the assumption is put forward that it is possible to designate a single semantic field for ornamental and multi-figure compositions in Pazyryk art. Clarifying and expanding the scope of the ornamental composition allows us to identify a single specificity of interaction with the viewer of both figurative and non-figurative images of Pazyryk art, to emphasize the game element in the nature of culture.

Features of the Karakhanid craftsmanship

The establishment of Karakhanid rule in Mawarannahr (942-1212) led to the political unification of vast territories from East Turkestan to Khorezm. Political integrity, economic stability and intensive trade between the urban and steppe communities provided an environment conducive to developing local craftsmanship.This article analyses the mutual influences and common features observed in the craftsmanship of the settled population and nomads in Mawarannahr under the Karakhanids. It demonstrates preservation of the ‘Turkic motifs’ in the new cultural environment. Although the vast territory of the Karakhanid state from Jetisu to Amu-Darya preserved local cultural peculiarities, the formation of universal cultural forms was conspicuous. This article demonstrates the innovations and transformation processes of the Karakhanid era’s craftsmanship, focusing on metal and ceramic products, as well as jewelry. During this period, unglazed pottery of an archaic type, similar to Bronze Age vessels, was widely used, along with fine pottery. These handmade vessels are painted with gray or red engobe. In addition to traditional products of high quality, there are also metal vessels and female jewelry decorated with zoomorphic images. However the presence of these products does not necessarily indicate a decline in the overall quality of craftsmanship in the region.

Transmission of direct speech of characters in the Yakut heroic epic Olonkho

The relevance of the research is determined by the fact that the study of the ways of introducing direct speech of the characters in the Yakut heroic epic would allow us to identify characteristic formulas, representativeness of the style, peculiarities of local traditions, stability or changes in time, originality of textological techniques in fixing olonkho, etc., which is important for understanding the originality of the poetics of the folklore text. The aim of the work is to identify the peculiarities of the transmission of the direct speech of the characters in olonkho. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set: to define direct speech as an element of Olonkho narrative; to study the structure and lexical features of the introduction of direct speech by characters in Olonkho; to characterise characters in formulaic constructions that precede direct speech. Structural, lexical analysis, comparative method, system analysis of Yakut epic poetics were used. It is found that the presentation of direct speech has its own structure, consisting mainly of constructions with verbs of speech, common places, typical expressions, which can be before direct speech, within direct speech and after direct speech. The Olonkho mainly use constructions before and after direct speech. We have discovered an abundance of epic formulae, verbs that characterise the speech and singing of the heroes. In addition, there are sometimes verbs not related to 'speaking' and constructions without a verb. The dialogues of the Olonkho characters by D.A. Tomskaya from the Verkhoyansk region are characterised by simplified repetitions of a single verb. In some cases, while recording the text, the collectors were able to introduce sentences of their own, in which the name of the character and his action are indicated. It turned out that the formulaic constructions that precede direct speech contain character descriptions: first of all, this applies to the abasy bogatyr, female images, shamans, shamanesses, a child, zoomorphic images.

The system of ornamental elements in animal-style images from the Ulandryk I burial ground

The article is devoted to the analysis of the system of ornamental elements on animal style products from the Ulandryk I. The purpose of the study is to identify and classify ornamental elements in zoomorphic and ornithomorphic images. The subject of the study, therefore, are objects with zoomorphic images from mounds 1-4, 6 and 12 of the Ulandryk I. The group of monuments in the context of one burial was chosen mainly for two reasons. Firstly, objects with zoomorphic images were found only in these burial mounds. Secondly, the study of the data on the dating of the monument by the method of wood-ring analysis showed that these mounds were built within 10 years – in 308-298 BC. A short time interval for the creation of mounds allows us to consider the ornamental system presented in their images as a single whole, without separation into individual mounds. The article suggests using the method of formal analysis to clarify the description of ornaments available in the works of V.D. Kubarev – to divide them into elements and motifs, as well as to make a classification. This classification makes it possible to identify ornamental elements characteristic of zoomorphic images and clarify the boundaries of the use of various ornamental elements in the art of the Pazyryk culture. The scientific novelty of the study is predetermined by the absence in Russian historiography of works describing the system of ornamental elements in the images of the animal style of the burial ground, as well as the lack of a developed methodology for such a description in relation to the archaeological materials of the Pazyryk culture. The study of the materials of V.D. Kubarev's excavations, presented by him in a 1987 monograph, as well as the latest publications of the materials of the burial ground by G.V. Kubarev, revealed that despite the presence of ornamental elements both in the images of animal style and in objects of weapons, costume, horse equipment, there is no unified system and the described structure of the ornamental system based on the materials of the burial ground. Researchers identify individual motifs and elements on clothing items, but do not correlate them with similar ones in animal-style images. The relevance is due to the interest in studying various aspects of the meanings of zoomorphic images and ornamental elements in the context of the art of the Scythian-Siberian world.

Interpretations of Zoomorphic Images in the Painted Cave at Sarawak, Malaysia

Interpretations of Zoomorphic Images in the Painted Cave at Sarawak, Malaysia

Коммунальная квартира (коммуналка) в референтном поле современной художественной литературы для детей и подростков

Representation in the modern culture of the Soviet past is associated with such a phenomenon as a communal apartment, which is also in demand in modern literature for children and adolescents. In the article, based on the material of the Corpus of Russian Prose for Children and Youth, as well as the most representative examples from the works of the last decade for children and adolescents, an attempt is made to determine the specifics of the topos of a communal apartment, which has become a “system sign” (referent) of Soviet childhood. The vectors of interpretation of a communal apartment set the ideological and spatial “us vs them” and “individual vs common” oppositions and their assessment. At the same time, various attributes of a communal apartment are significant for artistic modeling, defining the subject organization (neighbor, family member, etc.), the organization of space (room, corridor, kitchen, etc.), subject realities (bell, door, etc.). Modern writers’ work with the topos of a communal apartment is based on the tradition that developed in children’s literature of the Soviet period. The child hero, reproducing the stable components of the associative field of the concept “communal apartment” necessary for the objectification of the attribute, translates a potentially conflict situation associated with the concept of neighbor and determined by a stable set of plot situations and motifs into a comic one. In children’s and adolescent literature, the process of blurring the boundaries between anomaly and norm under the influence of communal life is reflected (the character type “crazy old woman”, zoomorphic images of neighbors, the acquisition of supernatural significance by things, the process of segmentation of “our” space, etc.). The transformation of the binary opposition “us vs them” can occur due to the inclusion of the element “nobody’s”, fixed in the definition of a unique type of character - “nobody’s grandmother”. In modern children’s literature, the situation associated with the marginal position of “nobody’s” old people in communal apartments, due to inclusion in the context of children’s play, loses its negative assessment, due to the functional connection of the types of “nobody’s grandmother” and “nanny”, which leads to the correlation of “nobody’s” and “common” in the picture of the communal world. The semantics of the “common” is more often manifested in relation to referents defining the spatial organization. The allocation of certain loci in a communal apartment that transmit ideas about one’s own and someone else’s or about one’s own and common, returns us to the description of relations with neighbors in the apartment, more precisely, to the predominance of emotive characteristics of the topos in question, objectified through the motif of quarrels and conflicts over the use of common places and property. “Common” loci (kitchen, corridor, restroom), being a boundary space, can, depending on the plot situation, actualize the “own” or “alien” semes. For example, a corridor, in accordance with the strategy of mastering and appropriating someone else’s space during the game, can also act as “own” space. The representation of the topos of a communal apartment in children’s literature, of course, reflects the realities of the Soviet era and the everyday life of the “inhabitants” of the communal apartment, with its “conflict zones”, but the child’s consciousness, acting as a focalizer of the narrative, allows emphasizing the semantics of the common. We can talk about the transformation of the opposition “us vs them” according to the laws of dialectics. The realities of the time, seen through the eyes of a child, allow us to consider the topos of a communal apartment/kommunalka as a “system sign” (referent) of Soviet childhood, as a dialectical image expressing the collectivist pathos of Soviet culture and metaphorically reflecting Iosif Vareikis’ idea of a communal apartment as the USSR. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

Vegetal and zoomorphic imagery as a means of artistic embodiment of the natural/artificial opposition in Guy de Maupassant's novel "Our Heart"

The article is devoted to the analysis of the vegetative and bestiary poetics of Guy de Maupassant's late psychological novel "Our Heart" (1890), which lacks the proper attention of literary scholars both in France and abroad (scientific reflection is focused on short stories and novels of the heyday of Maupassant's realism). Therefore, its poetic study and introduction into the modern literary context is an actual scientific task. The purpose of the article is to define the semantics and symbolism of plant and bestiary imagery in the artistic structure of G. de Maupassant's novel "Our Heart" and to establish its functions in the realization of natural/artificial opposition, that is conceptual for the novel. The research was carried out in the framework of the structural-semiotic method of analysis of the artistic text. The analysis of the novel from the point of view of the artistic functions of floral and zoomorphic imagery proved the special place of these tools in deepening the psychological picture and expressive-emotional expressiveness of the images of the protagonists: André Mariolle and Madame de Burne. The range of these tropes is from vegetal and zoomorphic comparisons and metaphors to elaborate zoo- and dendroanthropomorphic images (Michelle de Burne is first a ‘bird of paradise’, a ‘wild bird’, then a ‘hawk of prey’ and, allusively, an ‘ostrich’, and also an old tired ‘horse’, a ‘nag’; Mariolle – is a ‘trapped wounded animal’, a ‘thrush in a cage’, a ‘small fish caught in a net’). The plant analogue of the heroine is a man-made flower garden, which gradually withers and decays, as her love for Mariolle fades away. Michelle's image is accompanied by numerous floral details that acquire a metaphorical meaning (these are cultural flowers of selected varieties – roses, orchids, carnations, geraniums, lilies of the valley, chrysanthemums, lilies etc.). In contrast to the “artificial” Michelle, the image of the “natural” Elizabeth is associated with wild forest plants – violets, gorse etc. The protagonist is correlated with ramified dendrosymbolism (chestnut, beech, oak, linden etc.) and the image of the forest as a secret liminal space. The symbolism of the wild forest is opposed in the novel by the symbolism of an orderly garden (as one of the options for embodying the natural/artificial opposition). Vegetal and zoomorphic images not only accompany the characteristics of the characters, but are also closely intertwined, passing one into the other (the anthropomorphic image of fused trees turns into the image of a battle between a predatory beast and its victim, plant juices become living blood). Subjective signs of the main character's “artificiality” are the images of stone flowers and stone animals decorating the central spatial locus of the novel – Abbey Mont Saint Michel. So, florisms, dendrisms and animalistic images in the novel perform a characteristic function, convey the dynamics of the feelings of the protagonists, acquiring a metaphorical meaning, and fill the landscape with symbolic details.

Этнокультурная специфика образа коня в кабардинской и русской поэзии

Among the key zoomorphic images in classical literature, the horse occupies a special place. In this article, a comparative analysis of the image of a horse in Russian and Kabardian poetry is per-formed. The results of a comparative analysis of the national-cultural specifics of the image of a horse based on the material of the Russian and Adyghe languages are presented, a variety of hip-pological motives related to issues of fatalism and freedom, ethics and aesthetics, as well as hu-man environmental consciousness are considered. Figurative comparisons of the horse in Kabard-ian and Russian poetry, regardless of their genetic relationship, contribute to the identification of similar and different features, especially their organization and functioning. The conclusion is made about the important role of the image of the horse in Russian and Kabardino-Circassian po-etry, since the horse is a long-time faithful companion of human life, it is a complex, multifaceted and not completely clear symbol.

О некоторых образах архаических монет Ионии и Малой Азии на скифских зооморфных бронзовых бляхах

The article studies the influence of zoomorphic images on the archaic coinage of Ionia and Asia Minor on the Scythian animal style. The borrowing of ancient coin images and designs by Scythians has long been the subject of a separate study. However, as a rule, the attention of researchers was limited to a circle of prestigious things made of precious metals mainly in the second half of the 5 th—4 th centuries BC. As it will be shown in this article, the influence of the Ionian and Asia Minor coinage on the formation of images of the Scythian animal style can be traced at least from the turn of the 6 th—5 th centuries BC and manifests itself not only in prestigious items, but also in quite ordinary bronze plaques, mainly decorating horse bridles. It is proved that in a number of cases, within the framework of the Scythian animal style, there was a direct borrowing of coin images and motifs (the full face of a lion, the motif of a four-fingered clawed paw, composition consisting of three boar heads). In other cases, the influence of coinage on the formation of images of the Scythian animal style seems more than likely (profile images of a cat predator and a lion, the “bird on a fish” plot). It is suggested that the influence of archaic Greek coinage on the Scythian animal style could be associated with waves of Ionian and Asia Minor migrants to the Northern Black Sea region in the second half of the 6 th—early 5 th centuries BC, or with the contacts between the Scythians, Ionians and Greeks during the Scythian-Persian war and the period immediately following it.

Натурморфные образы в славянской и тюркской эмотивной фразеологии: параллели и контрасты

The article is devoted to a comparative study of the naturmorphic images underlying the internal form of emotive phraseological units in Slavic and Turkic languages (Russian, Bulgarian, Polish, Czech, Tatar). These images are noted to correlate with the corresponding code of culture, which assumes a figurative interpretation of the realia of the world with consideration of knowledge about both living and inanimate nature. The revealed images of animals, birds, insects, plants, natural objects and phenomena, elements constitute a well-arranged system, the components of which are analyzed in terms of both frequency and universality/ethnospecificity. These images are actualized when describing a wide range of emotions (joy, sadness, love, resentment, shame, excitement, etc.), but most of them relate to negative states, primarily fear and anger. The most productive are zoomorphic images, as well as images of natural objects, phenomena and elements (such as the sky, thunder, fire, water, etc.), which often reveal universality due to external factors. The inner form of many emotive phraseological units is based on the metonymic principle, according to which emotions are described by referring to their bodily symptoms (chills, tears, facial expressions, etc.). The universality and ethnospecificity of images are proved to have linguistic and extralinguistic reasons.

Decorative Features of the Temple Complex Pura Beji (Sangsit, the Island of Bali)

The author examines the sculptural decoration of the Pura Beji temple – a vivid representative of the style of sacred architecture and decorative plasticity of northern Bali. This temple complex is the sanctuary of the subak irrigation association. It is unique with a peculiar vocabulary of decor, rich texture of stone carvings, masterfully executed in a “pink” paras. The purpose of the article is to use the example of analysis of the decorations of temple buildings (Candi Bentar gates, Candi Kurung, Candi Laras altars, Apit Lawang) and samples of round sculpture to identify the characteristic features of the decorative desing of Pura Beji, to reveal the features of the iconographic reading of individual motifs and images, their spatial configuration. The work is based on empirical material from field studies conducted in April 2019 (Desa Sangsit, kabupaten Buleleng). The study of the temple decor was carried out using the methods of full-scale research, non-standardized interviews; comparative analysis; iconographic, compositional, artistic analysis of images. For the first time, the diverse repertoire of Pura Beji's plastics was analyzed through the prism of the leading iconographic program related to the cult of fertility and the specifics of Balinese Hinduism (with its rich mythopoetics, metamorphoses of the divine and demonic worlds). This predetermined the abundance of floral ornaments and chimerical, fantastic images in the decoration of the temple, their organic fusion. The role of active contacts of the northern coast of Bali with the cultures of Eastern civilizations and Western Europe in the formation of the original style of carving by Sangsit masters is also taken into account. The author comes to the conclusion that the decorative design of Pura Beji is characterized by: rethinking the codified patterns of decor, the use of original motifs and borrowed replicas; compositional freedom of ornamental constructions; continuous filling of the wall surface with sculptural decoration in relief, the applicative manner of applying the ornament. Also noteworthy is the hyperbolized way of articulating decorative elements, manifested in the reception of emphasized grotesque in the interpretation of zoomorphic images and the dominance of a large pattern of leaves and flowers.

Siberian Animal Style: Stylistic Features as Generic Indication

This paper is devoted to the problems of differentiation of stylistic variants in the common phenomenon of the so-called Scythian and Siberian animal styles, which is one of the main distinctive features of Eurasian nomadic art. The animal style is a concept of more scale than an artistic style proper which distinguishes with some formal characteristics and depends directly on generic traditions and ethnic and cultural roots of art. Together with the technical-technological methods these formal features could be evidential indications of the origin of works of art. The Siberian collection of Peter the Great includes some different groups of golden ornaments decorated in animal styles of different origins. The paper focuses on a compact group of items originating from various mostly unknown sites from different territories in Asia including the Oxus treasure, several items from the Siberian collection of Peter the Great from Southern Siberia, a few jewelry pieces from other collections of the world museums as well as items made of leather and felt coming from the First and the Second Pazyryk kurgans. A distinctive feature of this group of zoomorphic images are colored inlays that accentuate a hind-leg or a shoulder of the animal; such inlays have the form of an intricate figure made up of a circle and a curvilinear triangle abutting to it or elongated round brackets. Genetically, such an ornamental motif, which is not generally typical for Persian art, may be linked to a periphery area of the Iranian world and nomadic culture, while the group of sites can be dated back to the 4th–3rd centuries BC. The paper considers a bracelet from the Siberian collection of Peter the Great which is the only item in this category of jewelry type of bracelets. It represents a rare type of ornament with a multi-component structure. It consists of three open-work strips with zoomorphic compositions in an animal style similar to the above-mentioned stylistic group. All three parts of the bracelet are created in a unified style, but obviously in different individual manners. There is no doubt, that the zoomorphic images show three different authors’ hands, and were made by different artisans. So, there is evidence of collective work on the object when each artisan makes his own operation to create a unique jewel at a workshop. Some parts of the composition on the bracelet are similar in style to zoomorphic images from kurgan Issyk in Kazakhstan which perhaps were made in the same workshop. This fact confirms the assumption of the origin of some of Siberian jewelry.

Representation of Zoomorphic Images in Karachay-Balkar Proverbs and Sayings Using Elements of Frequency Analysis

The article is devoted to the representation of zoomorphic images in Karachay-Balkar proverbs and sayings using elements of frequency analysis based on “AntConc” concordancer. During the analysis, we found that the images of sixty animals were reflected in the Karachay-Balkar folklore. To form a more complete picture of the world, the article further reveals the images of individual animals, including by conducting a comparative analysis with proverbs and sayings of other peoples. The author pays special attention to rare zoomorphic images, i. e. those animals that are not represented in the territory of modern residence of Karachays and Balkars (for example, elephants, lions and tigers). The analysis conducted allows to conclude that the zoomorphic images used in Karachay-Balkar proverbs and sayings are largely universal and are reflected in various cultures and languages. However, the most popular images are those that together make up the appearance of the Karachay-Balkar shepherd’s work. The identified animals can be classified into the following four categories: animals watched by the shepherd, his assistants, pests, and animals that make up his ration in the mountains. The results obtained can be used in teaching schoolchildren and students the Karachay-Balkar language, as well as become a starting point for conducting and developing similar studies in the context of other languages, including those belonging to the Turkic language group.

Fasad Sculpture of Provincial Eclectics on the Example of Rostov-on-Don: Iconography, Symbols, Stylistics

The article is devoted to the study of eclectic facade sculpture in the historical center of Rostov-on-Don, considered in accordance with specific neo-styles. Sculpture plays an important compositional role in the design of the facades of Neo-Baroque monuments, emphasizing the rhythmic organization of facades, emphasizing the central and corner parts of buildings. Sculptural decor in the design of facades, designed within the neo-Greek and Neo-Renaissance, obeys the compositional rhythm set by architectural forms, is most often placed in architecturally limited fields, highlights the compositional axes of facades and more actively uses motifs of ancient origin. In general, the iconography of the sculptural decor includes plant motifs (laurel, flower, fruit garlands, flower baskets, acanthus, wreaths, rosettes), images of objects, including symbolic ones (shells, cartouches, caduceus, flowerpots, a cornucopia, a fountain, attributes of industry, trade, sciences and arts, armorial shields), zoomorphic images (mainly lion mascarons, griffins), mixanthropic and anthropomorphic images. Among the latest figurines are putti, mascarons of satyrs, Aphrodite, Hermes; belt herms of Hercules, Omphale, Deianira; sculptures of nymphs, Apollo, Ceres, goddesses of Glory; scenes from the history of Cupid and Psyche. The symbolism of the sculptural decor corresponds to the purpose of the building, expresses the ideas of prosperity and progress: Ceres, Apollo, the goddess of Glory — on the building of the City Duma; musical instruments and theatrical masks — on the theater building; plots symbolizing various types of activities — on the building of the Property Pledge Society; attributes of trade, industry, sciences, arts, mascarons of Hermes and his caduceus, cornucopia — on tenement houses; Hercules, Dejanira, Omphala, Aphrodite’s mascarons are on the mansions. There is a “universalization” of the mascarons of Hermes and his caduceus, which are used everywhere, regional motifs appear (bees, salting fish), the use of neo-style decor on the building, reproducing the type of kuren, is noted. Stylistically, the sculpture is focused mainly on classicism and the Renaissance, using the techniques of mannerism, baroque, rococo. The prototypes are the motifs of the sculptural decoration of famous buildings in St Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin, Brussels, chronologically close to the monuments under consideration.

The Imaginary Beast-the Phoenix Sign as the Bearer of the Chinese Bestial Cultural Code: the Evolution of Meanings

The article considers the formation and development of meanings of the Phoenix as an imaginary beast-sign, a bearer of the bestiary code of Chinese culture. The methodology of highlighting the stages of evolution of the image of the beast-sign and analysis of its meanings is based on the ideas of Russian semioticians V.N. Toporov and A.E. Makhov concerning the historical typology of beast-signs from totem to zoomorphic images, then bestiary images and images-embodies. As a result of the study it was found that the imaginary totemic image-sign Phoenix was formed on the basis of domestic birds: chicken, pheasant, peacock and other animals, the zoomorphic image of the Phoenix symbolised the Sun God, Fire God (female image), Wind God (male image) of the polytheistic pantheon of ancient Chinese Gods, The phoenix became an emblem of imperial power and its female bearers (empresses, princesses, concubines), and finally, in the course of cultural history the image lost its religious and political significance, the phoenix became an emblem of love, femininity, happiness and harmony. Understanding the changing meanings of the phoenix as one of the beast-signs, the carriers of the Chinese cultural code, will enable a better understanding of the aims and values of Chinese culture at different stages of development, as well as the mechanisms of cultural continuity and cultural development in China, making possible endless renewals on the traditional cultural ground.

ОТ ЛОПАТЫ ДО АЙПАДА. КОЛЛЕКЦИЯ БРОНЗОВОГО ЛИТЬЯ С КУЛЬТОВОГО МЕСТА У С. ВЕРХ-СУЗУН (ОПЫТ МУЗЕЙНОЙ ПРЕЗЕНТАЦИИ)

An archeological cult site of the Middle Iron Age, belonging to the Upper-Ob culture (VI-VIII centuries AD) near the village Verkh-Suzun was investigated by the archaeological expedition of the Novosibirsk State Museum of Local History and Nature. 140 bronze objects, mostly anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images, were found at the site. Based on the materials of the findings from the collection of the Museum of Local History and Nature, the museum project Children of Heaven was prepared. The project was carried out in 2018-2021. Based on the materials of the excavations, three exhibitions were held in the museum, as well as an interactive exhibition in the multimedia historical park Russia-My History. Apart from that, an electronic game was created for the museum’s sensory kiosk, and a collection of souvenirs was released. In 2021, an immersive exhibition project Children of Heaven was implemented, which, using sound, multimedia and organization of the exhibition space, provided immersion into the world of an ancient inhabitant of Siberia.

Cow, Bull, Woman, Man (Relief on a Vessel from the End of the Fifth Millennium BC from the Western Black Sea Coast)

In the Varna Eneolithic necropolis three gold applications were found with shapes presenting cattle in profile. They have no clear sexual characteristics. These figures are usually interpreted as bulls. Images with analogous shapes occur rarely on ceramic vessels as well.This paper presents a vessel from the settlement mound Kozareva Mogila (Bulgaria). Two anthropomorphic and two zoomorphic figures are depicted on it. The images are schematic, modeled in relief along the entire middle part, arranged in a horizontal belt and alternating anthropomorphic and zoomorphic. The anthropomorphic ones are presented facing the observer, differing from each other only in that one has embossed female breasts. The zoomorphic ones are presented in profile. In shape they are very close to the gold cattle figures from Varna. Like the human figures, one has a clearly marked sex: a phallus in relief. This indicates that one depicts a bull and the other a cow, a rare example of simultaneous presentation of female and male anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images with clearly marked sex. This scene is a key to identifying the gender of the gold zoomorphic figures from the Varna necropolis, commonly called bulls.

Индо-буддийские заимствования в бурятской Гэсэриаде

Introduction. The article examines an understudied issue of how and to what extent Buddhism had influenced the Buryat epic of Geser. Over the past two millennia, the Buddhist factor — starting from the Xiongnu era — has been to a certain degree reflected in various areas of spiritual life of Turko-Mongolian nomads and their descendants. Goals. So, the work aims to study impacts of Buddhism on such a significant monument of the Buryat oral poetic tradition as Geseriad. Results. The method of comparative analysis proves instrumental in identifying terms and concepts of Indo-Buddhist origin that constitute an ancient dimension in narrative structures of the uliger (epic). Those constants include as follows: hумбэр уула ‘Mount Sumeru’ associated with the world Mount Meru that serves to mark a center of the earth and universe in ancient Indian mythology; hун далай ‘milk sea’ that has an ancient Indian prototype in the Samudra Manthana episode. Similarly, some other cosmogonic concepts of ancient India — such as замби (Sanskr. Jambudvīpa ‘Jambu mainland’) and галаб (Sanskr. kalpa ‘aeon’) — had penetrated the Buryat folk mythological tradition through Buddhism to get completely absorbed and adapted. The Buryat Geseriad also contains traces of Indo-Buddhist mythology at the level of zoomorphic images, especially notable in the case of Khan Kherdig ‘king of birds and devourer of serpents’. Conclusions. The southern borrowings had become organically integral to the epic of Geser — its plot and images — so that nowadays tend to be perceived as quite ‘autochthonous’ and indigenous elements of the narrative. This circumstance attests to that Buddhist vestiges in the Buryat epic have a long history.

Некоторые геометрические мотивы на Кавказе и в Каппадокии в эпоху Средневековья: размышления об их истоках и смысле

Introduction. The article deals with the frescoes of the specific style “red signs” on the rock. They were widespread in the architectural monuments of Cappadocia. The focus of the research is the motifs of triangular and rhombus (with the dots inside and without it) between the 9th and 10th centuries. Methods. These motifs are compared to the similar images on the stone reliefs (architectural decoration) from the territory of the Northern Caucasus and Western Georgia of the medieval period. A certain number of common features are underlined and studied. Analysis. In both situations the representations are made in primitive planar graphic style with the minimal set of technical means. The iconographical repertoire is rich in zoomorphic images (their biological identification is difficult to determine), geometrical signs, and rosettes. The origins of the motif are traced back up to the ancient cultures in Asia Minor, Caucasus and the Near East. Its development is shown by means of ethnographical witnesses. Results. In conclusion, there is supposition that the permanent presence of the motif in sacral and traditional every day culture of the Northern Caucasus and Western Georgia is due to the influence of the Koban-Colchis cultural and historical community. In medieval Christian culture, it could have function of apotropeia. So, the article deals with the specific aspect of very interesting theme that is the culture of the barbaric periphery of the Byzantine empire in the period between 9th and 10th centuries.

POLITICAL CARICATURE AS A KIND OF CREOLIZED TEXT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CRISIS OF UKRAINIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS (ON THE MATERIAL OF THE GREEK PRESS)

Using scientific works in the field of creolized text theory, an attempt was made to analyze the specific features of political caricature in Greek mass media discourse, as well as to identify the role of verbal and nonverbal components of creolized political caricature texts in conditions of hybrid warfare. The research department of 162 political caricatures of national and world political leaders and international events in the context of the crisis of Ukrainian-Russian relations served as the material of the presented work. Illustrations were selected from the Greek media, including newspapers, magazines, social networks, thematic blogs and websites. The subject of research in this work were structural, lexical-semantic, graphic and historical-cultural characteristics of the creolized text of political caricature in Greek and English. In order to achieve this goal, the authors of the article solved the following tasks: 1) define the concept of «creolized text» and give synonymous definitions; 2) identify the characteristics of political caricature as a genre / type of creolized text in political, media and artistic discourses; 3) analyze and describe the relationship between the structural components of the creolized text of a political caricature; 4) identify common stylistic devices of political caricature and give examples. The performed analysis of the works showed that the real world in the information space is transmitted through the prism of metaphor, irony, antithesis, animation, personification, metonymy, and synecdoche. The work highlights the leading anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images of famous political leaders, as well as strategies and tactics of their formation in terms of cognitive metaphor. Common tactics in political cartoons include tactic of «hanging» labels, tactic of contemptuously ironic belittling of any advantages of the target (strength, significance, quality, scale, etc.), and tactic of exaggeration of its disadvantages.