HYPOTHESIS OF DURYLIN ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE NORTHERN LABYRINTHS: RITE OF PURIFICATION AND PRAYER TO THE WIND

In the early 1910s, S. N. Durylin explored labyrinths on the Bolshoy Zayatsky Island (Solovki archipelago) and first described the Kandalaksha stone labyrinth. Having collected information: location by the sea, on abusy ancient sea route, good preservation, rituals of the peoples of the North of the 19th – early 20th centuries,S. N. Durylin put forward his hypothesis about the purpose of the labyrinths. In his opinion, the labyrinths were theplace where prayers to the wind and cleansing rites were held before going to sea. The article discusses varioushypotheses of researchers of the XX–XXI centuries. All hypotheses are tested according to four criteria: the location bythe sea, climate, good preservation, the shape of labyrinths. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that when testingvarious hypotheses about the purpose of labyrinths, archeological data were correlated with data from folklorists, whichmade it possible to fit labyrinths into the general system of beliefs of the peoples of the North. The version ofS. N. Durylin meets the criteria and finds indirect confirmation in folklore and literature about sea voyages on sailingships. His hypothesis about the purpose of the northern labyrinths although not having been proved or rejected, is wellgrounded and plausible. Thus the question of the purpose of the northern labyrinths has not yet been resolved andcontinues to remain relevant. The version about the cult-trade ritual (???) and the version about rituals before going to sea, most likely, complement each other as parts of the same belief system, the remains of which folklorists and local historians found in the 20th century.

S N Durylin, northern labyrinths, Kandalaksha “Babylon”, hypothesis about the purpose of labyrinths, rite