Part of shaman's amulet: lamb shoulder with cross

Buryats

Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic

early 20th century

Museum of the Peoples of the USSR

Bone; metal; cloth: cotton

shoulder 14.7 х 10.2; length of braid 31.0; cross 3.8x2.9

РЭМ 8761-7652/2

An Orthodox cross, which is attached to a cotton ribbon, is tied to the narrow ends of two ram shoulder blades. The shoulder blades were used by the shaman for divination and predictions about the future to relatives. The presence of an Orthodox cross as part of a shamanic amulet is evidence of syncretism in the religious beliefs of the Buryats.