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L. A. SOKOLOVA*

The following paper focuses on the Okunev cultural tradition, which is the most celebrated phenomenon of the early Bronze Age in the steppe zone of North Eurasia. That archaeological culture successfully lived in Minusinsk basin, Southern Siberia in III millennium BC (Fig. 1).

One of its outstanding features is a large number of unique images illustrating various aspects of social life of this ancient society: images of gods, rituals, and everyday life (Leontjev et al., 2006). Okunevs made original ceramics and turned to making complex bronze moldings. Another important aspect is a complex and spesific funeral ritual. All these peculiar features make the Okunev complex very recognizable and allow to monitor the movement of Okunev people across the steppe belt of Eurasia.

The Okunev burial ritual includes making rather complex structures, including a square stone fence with graves inside it, and a levee over them, often covered above with stone plates. In ancient times the mound inside the fence looked like a low earth pyramid.

The Okunev cultural tradition had four chronological stages. At an early stage there was just one grave. It was arranged in the middle of the railed-in area and was covered by a mound. Relatively soon the ritual turned to making several graves within one and the same fence (Sokolova, 2009).

* L. A. SOKOLOVA, St. Petersburg, Institute of History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences E-mail: lasokol@hotmail.com

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At the second stage of development of the ritual, additional graves were set up around the central grave. The central grave faced west, and others were positioned around it without any concrete orientation.

At the third stage the graves were all oriented to the west, and the graves were arranged in rows inside the railed-in area.

At the fourth stage the cultural tradition gradually declined, which was manifested in disappearance of the fence as the central element of Okunev funeral rituals (Fig.2).

The shape of the graves was changed, too. At the first stage graves were dug deep into the ground, and several people could be buried in the same grave. At the second stage there appeared boxes made of stone plates puted in the bottom of the graves. At the third stage deep graves were no longer dug, and stone boxes were placed in shallow holes, with the top plate on level with the earth. At the fourth stage the graves were made in older kurgans, or stood separately just as stone boxes (Fig. 3).

Okunevs placed their dead in a very peculiar position: the bodies lay on their back, with their knees raised. Often the knees were so tightly pressed to the pelvis that it made an impression of the dead person being tied up. The arms, however, always lay free. Due to the posture, the graves of Okunevs were usually short and hardly ever exceeded 1.5-1.7 meters (Fig.4).

Okunevs also used peculiar funeral items. Ceramics must be mentioned especially. The design of ceramic articles changed with time. The early ceramics were directly related to local Neolithic traditions. These pieces had a round bottom and a solid ornament of parallel rows of the same stamp. Okunev ceramics differed by that ornaments were placed on the body, the bottom, and the upper rim of the scyphus. On the inside of the rim, a row of indentations was usually made, forming a row of round prominences, called beads (Fig.5).

Later the ornaments of ceramic became simplified: there appeared stripes under the rim and near the bottom. The ornament of the body was more often made with a simple plicate stamp.

Okunev funeral rituals included numerous artifacts: small figures of people and animals made with bone or soft stone; and ingraved images on the walls of stone funeral boxes. Okunev steles with images on them were not only placed in the graves, but in the fences as well, as corner stones (Fig.8).

The Okunev images and the entire complex changed considerably over time. The first images were made in the picketage technique on granite or sandstone blocks.

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Round stones were used oftener because they resembled a human figure. The face was a primitive combination of two eyes and a mouth. Often the image included a high headwear. The early examples show the first signs of deity imaging: the so-called third eye on the forehead, a stripe crossing the face at the level of the nose, and a sun crown over the head.

This simple iconography developed quite fast, and in the second chronological period the articles became quite complex, with many additional details. The faces of gods were featured with cow horns and ears, and with an image suggestive of a plant. The main Okunev image usually reprezents a human body with signs of a pregnant woman, whech ended with the head of predator whith bared teeth. The images in that time were often affixed on flat steles. Some flat steles had images on narrow lateral ends, and that produced a volumetric effect (Fig. 7).

At the third chronological stage the images became gradually more abstract and fancy. Some pieces showed no face at all: a stone served as an indication of a face. In the end of the process the images turned into hieroglyphs, when the stripes crossing the face of the deity became the main, and at times the only element of the image.

Treatment of metal was also peculiar. At the first stage some copper molded two-edged knives were found. At the second stage more complex molded articles appeared, such as barrel spears and ring axes. At the end of the Okunev period there were numerous metal articles but their quality became low (Fig.6).

Okunevs were not only creative, but also rather mobile. We can see some ties to western areas, to the Volga-river. Okunevs also migrated as far to south as the head of the Indus-rever. Here, on the rocks of Karakorum K. Yetmar found masks with quit Okunev signses: stripes on their faces, horns, and sun crown above the head, (Jettmar, 1987).

The Okunevs depicted their means of transportation: light two-wheel carts with spokes (chariots), and four-wheel carts (caravans). The graphic reconstruction showed that this transport was quite functional and fit well for long-distance migrations. Okunevs and Hittitens had similary harness of Okunev oxen and Hittite equids: with the help of a nose loop (Fig.10).

There are numerous other images similar to those in Karakorum: in Okunev complex in Minusinsk valley, in Tuva and in Altai. Plotting these points on the map we can trace the movement of the Okunevs to south (Fig.10, 1,2).

Among the Karakorum images the most remarkable one is the image of a deity with stripes across its face and a solar corona above his head. However, the image also

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contains some elements which are not characteristic of Okunev iconography: with the arms thrown apart, and the legs crossed. This is reminiscent of the image of the buffalo God from the famous Harappa stamp. It indicates the change in the process of deity image transformation (Fig.10, 4).

Okunevs deities also seemed similar to Indian gods. A remarkable example is the mask face from Mohenjo-Daro (2700-2300 BC), found by E.S.H. (Mackay,1951). This artifact is more realistic, with Mongoloid eyes and a small beard. He added ox’s horns and ears. Undoubtedly, the author of that image was familiar with the mythological theme similar to that of Okunev.

Another peculiar find is the figurine of a priest, which is very realistic. He has slanted eyes with heavy upper eyelids. On his forehead is the diadem ribbon with a circle in the middle, which reminds (or imitates) the third eye (Fig.10, 5).

E. Mackay himself, when he published these images, noted that they did not correspond to local traditions and considered them imported. Mackay believed that the figurines had obvious Mongoloid features and differed significantly from other artifacts in the way their faces were made. The figurines were found in one of the lowest layers of Mohenjo-Daro, and testify to the fact that its population could have added some Mongoloid blood to the mix (Mackay, 1951, p. 133).

It must be noted that in terms of anthropology Okunevs were a mixed Mongoloid and Europeoid group with dominating Mongoloid features.

Mackay noted also that the deity, who looked like a human being with horns, was not to be found in modern Indian mythology throughout its history; it must have been brought by the Harappa migrants and disappeared together with them.

So, there is a reason to conclude that the images on the rocks of Karakoram and Mohenjo-Daro testify to a contact with Okunev migrants.

A further question becomes: Did this migration wave move further west?

When comparing Hittite reliefs with Okunev art, scholars notice common features, such as zooanthropomorphic features of deities, horn-shaped tiaras on the gods’ heads, and tall headwear items on royal images.

But, however there are more differences: the characters are male; there are no stripes on the faces; arms, authority symbols and clothes are also different. But I think it is hard to expect any more commonalities, given the distance and difference in epochs. Most likely that we see the cultural impulses, which bring together local and foreign features, art traditions and myths.

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As we could see from the present review, the Okunev society developed over a long period of time. The specific Okunev iconographycal style reflected and illustrated the increasingly more complex world of mythological images. Okunev goddesses reflected attributes of the human world and nature in a complex combination of predators, ungulates and plant features.

The Okunev tradition disappeared in the first part of the second millennium BC. It means that the Hittite culture could inherit the image of zoomorphic deity only in indirect and changed form. It seems possible that the elements of Okunev migration complex could appear in more ancient times. So, this problem needs serious reserch work.

Leontjev N.V., Kapelko, V.F., Esin Yu.N. Sculptures and stelas of Okunev culture. Abakan, 2006.

Jettmar, Karl, Between Gandhära and the silk roads: Rock -carvings along the Karakorum highway. London, 1987.

Mackay E. Y. H., Early Indus Civilizations. Moskow., 1951: 67,133, табл.XVI-4, XVII-9.

Sokolova L.A. Formirovanie Okunevskogo kulturnogo kompleksa. SPb, 2009.

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Fig: 1

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Fig 3: Types of graves in Okunevan cultural complex

Fig 2: Typology of funeral arrangements in Okunevan cultural complex

Fig: 4

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Fig. 6: Types of copper artifacts Fig. 7: Types of Okunev’s monumental art

Fig. 8: Types of small-size artwork Fig. 9: Managing oxen and equids through ‘nasal control’

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Fig.: 10

L. A. SOKOLOVA