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Shaman's breast plate. Evenki

Title:

Shaman's breast plate

Ethnic groups:

Evenki

Territory:

East Siberia, Trans-Baikal Oblast, Nerchinsk Okrug

Date:

late 19th - early 20th century

Material:

Leather, cloth, hair, metal, bone

Collectors-person:
Golovachev Dmitri M.
Number:

РЭМ 1923-5/3

Annotation:

The reconstructed decoration features an iron skeleton of an ancestor on the shelves, strips of suede leather with six serpentine figures on the back—symbols of the shaman's paths through the worlds—and a strip with iron pendants depicting animals and anthropomorphic figures, as well as cosmic objects of the sky and sun, and the passage to the underworld. These strips with pendants are called "arkalans" and are worn only by powerful shamans of the final initiation. Two breastplates are sewn together as narrow strips of suede leather with embroidered figures of iron loons, depicted in profile, representing guides through the worlds. The overall symbolism of the costume is the deer bird.

Rus:
Нагрудник шамана. Эвенки