Customs and Ceremonies Connected to Deer and Some Problems of Domestication of Reindeer in Yakutia
Alexeev A.A.
Problems of domestication of reindeer in Yakutia, customs and ceremonies, connected to deer are considered. On the basis of petroglyphs of Central and South Yakutia it is suggested that the Tungus tribes which were settled in upper reaches of the Lena, Vitim, Olyokma, Aldan and Amga Rivers were the first reindeer breeders of Yakutia in the II thousand BC. The solar images of deer of the Neolithic and Bronze Eras and The Early Iron Age investigated in the territory of Yakutia are discussed. The types of sacred deer at the Evens and other Tungus peoples, ceremonies, connected to deer, including sacrifices in different cases are described.
Key words: reindeer breeding, domestication, custom, ceremony, petroglyphs, traditional culture, solar, Tungus.
Science and Education, 2014, No.3, pp.13-19