The Snake Image in Sculpture and Pictures on Sites of the Stone and Bronze Ages in the Northern Eurasia Forest-steppe: An Overview.
https://doi.org/10.25205/1818-7919-2025-24-7-82-96
Abstract
Purpose. From the earliest period in human history, the snake image has been integrated into the mythological frameworks of ancient societies' worldviews. A complex and multicomponent image is discussed in number of publications in terms of semantics, but there is no special focused paper. The main research goal is to provide an overview of snake images – sculptures, ornaments, and petroglyphs – from archaeological sites from Stone Age to Early Metal Era of the forest-steppe region of Northern Eurasia, also including some sites from adjacent regions of Central Asia and Western Europe. Results. Based on the results, a list of 66 archaeological sites and a map showing the distribution of different art types in different regions were formed – this allows us to identify five main groups based on their location. Conclusion. These groups correspond to the ancient art development areas – the Baikal region, Western Siberia, the Urals, the north of Eastern Europe, and the center of the Russian Plain. There are just under 200 early snake figures in this vast region; this image is widespread. It has its roots in ancient times, when the first beliefs associated with snakes were formed in the Stone Age, and it was fixed in various myths and cults in the Early Metal Era
Keywords
sculpture,
ornament,
petroglyphs,
snake image,
Stone Age,
Bronze Age,
Northern Eurasia forest-steppe
Supporting agencies: The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 23-18-00424
About the Author
Yu. N. Nenakhova
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Yuliya N. Nenakhova, Candidate of Sciences (History)
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For citations:
Nenakhova Yu.N. The Snake Image in Sculpture and Pictures on Sites of the Stone and Bronze Ages in the Northern Eurasia Forest-steppe: An Overview. Vestnik NSU. Series: History and Philology. 2025;24(7):82-96. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25205/1818-7919-2025-24-7-82-96
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