Abstract
The particularity of the Uralic and Siberian Upper Paleolithic is the almost complete absence of fi gurative images in the visual practice of the Upper Paleolithic era. In recent years on 5 Upper Paleolithic monuments of the Ural-Volga region, objects of pictorial activity have been found on the basis of natural stone forms: in the Prikamye (Shirovanovo II), in the Southern Urals (Sergeevka-1), in the mountainous part of the Southern Urals (the Shulgan- Tash cave (Kapovaya) and Bayslantash, the Shulganovo-4 site. Their distinctive feature is the selection of fi gure-like pebbles that have a certain similarity to animals or humans, while they were only slightly adjusted by humans. Depending on the material and purposes, different processing techniques were used: upholstery, picketing, sawing. The processing is always aimed at obtaining important details that emphasize the similarity of the natural form with the imaginary phenomenon, if it is the head – the eyes, mouth, or if it is a mammoth - a notch between the back and the head, as well as the trunk. The content of works of visual activity in the Paleolithic era divides into: images of a human – in duplicate (Shulganovo-4), animals – in triplicate (Sergeevka-1, Shulgan-Tash cave), birds (Baislantash cave) and ornamented pebbles – in a single copy (Sergeevka-1). For the Upper Paleolithic, we can assume that the use and veneration of natural forms is an important and specifi c way of symbolization within the framework of visual activity in the Ural-Volga region. It is one of the characteristics of the cultural tradition of the “Urals” and, more broadly the “Siberian” Upper Paleolithic.
Keywords
Upper Paleolithic, sculptures from pebbles, Ural
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