Bone sculptures of birds of the Volosovo culture: the context of their location (based on the materials from the Sakhtysh sites in the Upper Volga region)

The paper presents an analysis of the localization of bone pendants in the shape of volumetric heads of birds from the settlements of Sakhtysh I, Sakhtysh II and Sakhtysh IIa, located near Lake Sakhtysh (Ivanovo Region, central part of European Russia), now completely destroyed by peat mining. In total, 14 specimens have been identified: six ones – at Sakhtysh I, six more – at Sakhtysh II, and two ones – at Sakhtysh IIa. They belong to the Volosovo culture and represent figures of duck, goose, swan, crow, wood grouse, eagle, merganser, pelican. All figurines are highly individual, without any canonical ones, repeating in their shape. The context of their location is different: some of them were found in the burial (Sakhtysh 1), others in the «hoards» and on the ritual site of the burial ground (Sakhtysh II), while others in the «sanctuary» on the territory of the burial ground (Sakhtysh IIa), not far from the «sanctuary» (Sakhtysh II), not far from burials (Sakhtysh I and Sakhtysh IIa), in and near dwellings (Sakhtysh I). Most figurines in one way or another are associated with burials and funeral rituals. The connection between the figurines and funerary practices is most clearly traced on the territory of the Volosovo burial ground Sakhtysh II.