Ornamented Posts on Graves among the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars: Image of the Shamanic Ladder-Tree?

Abstract

This article discusses the semantics of the ornamental motif of transverse grooves and notches made in vertical rows along the entire perimeter at an angle to the ground in the upper and middle parts of carved wooden posts which are set on graves among the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars. These structures above graves may be compared with vertical objects (trees, posts, etc.) which symbolized ladders for traveling through the worlds during shamanic rituals for shamans. Comparative linguistic, archaeological, and ethnographic evidence is provided in support of this hypothesis. Lexical connections of the term bagan / bagana, designating the post, demonstrate wide occurrence of the related words in the languages of the Altaic language family. Etymologically, the concepts of “post,” “support,” and “step of the ladder” are connected, creating a common semantic block. According to archaeological evidence, images of symbolic ladders appeared on Okunevo steles, Torgazhak pebbles, and petroglyphs of Central Asia and Southern Siberia. These images can be interpreted as reflection of the idea of path or more specifically ladder for ascent of spirits and shamans. Ladders in the form of a tree, post, or log with special notches or crossbars forming steps are particularly notable among the ethnographic evidence. Such objects most fully appear in the shamanic practices of Southern Siberian Turkic groups (Teleuts, Shors) and Northern Selkups. Individual elements, such as “spiral” trajectory of shaman’s movement along the tree and horizontal stripes painted in red fully comply with iconography of posts set on graves among the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars. Comparative data confirms that shamanism as a cultural phenomenon of the Turkic groups on the Western Siberian Plain, which was the basis of the pre-Islamic worldview, as well as traditions of revering sacrificial and sacred trees and groves were prerequisites for emergence of the cult of shamanic ladder-tree. The ornamental motif of transverse notches on the posts on graves is a relic of this cult.