CUMAN SANCTUARY REPNYI 7

VIRTUAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CUMAN SANCTUARY REPNYI 7

Cumans are well known for their stone statues, called "kamennye baby" - for a long time it was assumed that they stood above burials and represented the deceased, but in fact, they were part of special sanctuaries revering the ancestors and the spiritual male and female aspect. Also, it may have represented the dead, but in a more ritual way, during the time while his/hers spirit resided on the verge of the real world and the nether realm, being later buried with special ceremonies.

Such a sanctuaries were found on many places in the Pontic steppe, this one at the conflux of rivers Severskyi Donets and Lichaya. It consisted of one female statue enclosed in the low stone walls, similar to the sanctuaries in the territory of today´s Kazakhstan. At the entrance was a pit with horse bones offered as sacrifice.

Base of the reconstruction - drawing of G. A. Koziumenko in article Ю. К. Гугуев: Половецкое святилище на северском донце. Степи Евеопы в епоху средневековъя Т. 10, 2012.

Credit for the model of statue: https://skfb.ly/opZvM
Credit for the model of yurt: https://skfb.ly/ozECN

Видео CUMAN SANCTUARY REPNYI 7 канала Tolun Bey