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Images on the Stones at Scebiaraky Village in North-West Belarus ANDREI PROKHOROV 168 a pole is one of the best known ceremonial events among the Eastern Slavs. The tops of the poles were often crowned by solar signs, these columns then forming the focus of all ritual actions. It is also customary among Lithuanians to erect a column or a tree of the Sun – Saulės Medis – on the day of summer solstice – on Kupolė or Rasa. In eastern Lithuania, three branches placed on top of a column were explained as being the Sun, the Moon and a star. The cosmological semantics of an erected column is clearly visible in calendrical rites. The main central column in the village dwellings of Slavs and Balts, which supported the roof, was especially revered. This central column was particularly significant in the ritual life of families of Eastern Slavs (Bajburin 2005, p.174). A very significant reflection of this occurs in the Belarusian wedding ceremony called “столбовой обряд” “column rite” because the basic actions took place around a column. Gods were present here, and the application of a ritual formula meant that these gods would “forge” the wedding, performing the main ceremony of connection between the newly-weds. N. Nikols’kii has compared this column in dwellings with the family altars of Mediterranean and Near Eastern antiquity (Nikol’skii 1956, p.144- 176). Belarusians have also preserved the sacred nature of the central column in ancient names for it, such as “дзед” ‘grandfather’, “каневы слуп” ‘horse’s column’ or simply “конь” ‘a horse’. For a long time, the last two have been compared with Sanskrit аśva-yupa ‘a horse-column’ which was represented as “a world column”. It follows that this name can be linked to ancient Indo-European heritage (Bajburin 2005, p.174; Ivanov 1974, p. 75-138). The cosmological semantics of the column supporting the roof in Lithuanian houses was emphasized by the engraving of symbols of the Sun, Moon, and stars in the upper part and images of horses or grass-snakes in the lower part. Fig. 5. Cross from the town of Slonim. Lithuanians had a custom of erecting special columns during significant events, such as a marriage, illness, or epidemic, or to proposition for a good harvest. Maria Gimbutas proposed that such columns with symbols of the Sun, Moon and stars at the top had a cosmological meaning (Gimbutas 2004, p.204; Vaiškūnas 2005, p.195-206). In sum, the mythical semantics of a column represent, first of all, cosmological ideas on the creation of sacred communication with the other world at the necessary ritual moment. Penetration of paganism into Christian tradition? We have already mentioned that the use of the symbol of a pole with a semicircle on funerary stones could be connected with the spread of Christian customs of erecting tombstones with Christian symbols. But pagan symbolism may also have penetrated in a different way into practices among the conquering Christians. During the Christian epoch a transition took place from the use of a column to the use of a cross. As a result, the cross itself had evident pagan overtones for local populations. The Catholic authorities understood this and struggled against it: thus in 1426, the Bishop of Sambia
characteristically prohibited the erection of crosses in a cemetery, an example that demonstrates well the pagan basis of the local Baltic tradition (Čepienė 2000, p.45). We are able to observe the continuation of the symbolism of the “pole-column-axis” in Catholic crosses both in Lithuania and western Belarus. In Lithuania, these traditional iron crosses on churches are well studied (Kontrimas 1991). Unfortunately, however, this cultural phenomenon has not been investigated in the territory of western Belarus, despite the fact that such crosses are still widespread. These crosses typically have a compound form (Fig. 5 and Plate V: Fig.6). One of their main characteristics is that their upper ends often approximate to the shape of a sphere. The lower part, on the other hand, is either free from images or (more frequently) carries a symbol of the young Moon. Thus, these crosses also form a semicircle-sphere. Studying the continuity of the symbol of a pole with a semicircle and the traditional iron crosses of Lithuania and Belarus could be very perspicacious. Conclusions KARPENKO, J., 1985. Nazvanija zvezdnogo neba. Moskva: Nauka. KONTRIMAS, Č., 1991. Lietuvos geležiniai kryžiai. Vilnius: Mintis. KVIATKOVSKAIA, А., 1998. Jatviazhskije mogil’niki Belarusi (konec XI – XVII vv.). Vilnius: Diemedžio leidykla. LAIME, S., 2003. Cosmological Ideas in Latvian Rock Carvings and Distaff Designs. Cosmos, 19, 2–20. LATYSHSKIJE PREDANIJA, 1962. = Latyshskije narodnyje predanija. Izbrannoje. Riga: Izdatel’stvo Akademii nauk Latviiskoi SSR. LIAUKOU, E., 1992. Mauklivyja svedki minuuschyny. Minsk: Navuka i tekhnika. NIKOL’SKII, N., 1956. Proishozhdenije i istorija belorusskoj svadebnoj obriadnosti. Minsk: Izdatel’stvo Akademii nauk Belorusskoi SSR. POVEST’, 1999. = Povest’ vremennyh let. Sankt-Peterburg, 1999. VAIŠKŪNAS, J., 2005. Representations of an Ancient Cosmovision on Lithuanian Distaffs. In: M. KOIVA, I. PU- STYLNIK and L. VESIK, eds. Cosmic Catastrophies: a collection of articles (Proceedings of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture (SEAC) 2002. Tartu, 195-206. Received: 3 November 2007, Revised: 10 November 2008 ŽENKLAI ANT STEBERAKŲ KAIMO AKMENŲ ŠIAURĖS VAKARŲ BALTARUSIJOJE ARCHAEOLOGIA BALTICA 10 Unfortunately, it is impossible at the moment to give a definitive interpretation of the semantics of the Scebiaraky stone complex. However, it is clear that it connects with Baltic sacred stones stabas and represents the ceremonial “world axis” directed towards the North Star. Thepurpose of constructing the stone complex was to create such an axis and to connect the world of living people with the upper world. This unique stone complex could give us significant insights into the manner in which paganism developed in the Baltic-Slavic contact zone and into the formation of religious ideas within the Great Duchy of Lithuania. References BAJBURIN, А., 2005. Zhilisce v obriadah i predstavlenijah vostochnyh slavian. Moskva. ČEPIENĖ, I., 2000. Historia litewskiej kultury etnicznej. Kaunas: Šviesa. CETWIŃSKI, M., Derwich, M. 1987. Herby, legendy i dawne mity. Wrocław: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza. GIMBUTAS, М., 2004. Balty. Liudi jantarnogo moria. Moskva: Centrpoligraf. HRONIKA, 1975. = Hronika Litovskaja i Zhamojtskaja. Polnoje sobranije russkih letopisej. Т. 32. Moskva: Nauka. IVANOV, V., 1974. Opyt istolkovaniia drevneindijskih ritual’nyh i morfologicheskih terminov, obrazovannykh ot aśva – “kon’” (zhertvoprinoshenie konia i derevo aśvattha v drevnei Indii). In: G.A. ZOGRAF, V.N.TOPOROV, eds. Problemy istorii jazykov i kul’tury narodov Indii. Moskva: Nauka. Andrei Prokhorov Santrauka Straipsnis skirtas ženklams, aptiktiems ant penkių Steberakų (Сцебяракі) kaimo akmenų Vileikos rajone. Dažniausiai šiuose ženkluose pasikartoja stiebo su pusapskritimiu arba tam tikros konfigūracijos kryžiumi motyvas. Geografinė kompleksą sudarančių akmenų orientacija šiaurės kryptimi byloja apie astronominę orientaciją į Šiaurės žvaigždę ir kosmologinę simbolio prasmę. Stiebas su pusapskritimiu vaizduoja pasaulio ašies laikomą dangaus kupolą. Vertė Vykintas Vaitkevičius V V. REFLECTIONS OF ASTRO- NOMICAL AND COSMOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE IN MONUMENTS, LANDSCAPES AND ARCHITECTURE 169
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ARCHAEOLOGIA BALTICA10 Astronomy an
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UDK 902/904 Ar 46 Volume 10 Editori
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Vytautas Tumėnas. The visual and t
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PREFACE Jonas VaiškūnaS Preface T
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Jonas VaiškūnaS Preface cists, ma
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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS List of Contri
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List of Contributors Dimitar Kolev
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List of Contributors 16 Dainius Raz
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Second Parts can always be better!
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Conference Summary: A Historian’s
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THE MILKY WAY AND ITS STRUCTURING F
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THE MILKY WAY AND ITS STRUCTURING F
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CECILIA PAULA GÓMEZ Venus And The
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CECILIA PAULA GÓMEZ Venus And The
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Astronyms in Belarussian Folk Belie
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Traditional Astronomical Knowledge
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Traditional Astronomical Knowledge
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A Solar Calendar from Latvian Daina
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A Solar Calendar from Latvian Daina
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SAULĖS KALENDORIUS PAGAL LATVIŲ D
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Mesopotamian Influences on Persian
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THE BIRTHDAY OF ASAKKU ARKADIUSZ SO
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ARKADIUSZ SOŁTYSIAK The Birthday o
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ARKADIUSZ SOŁTYSIAK The Birthday o
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NOEMI MIRANDA, JUAN A. BELMONTE, MI
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NOEMI MIRANDA, JUAN A. BELMONTE, MI
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Tracing the Celestial Deer - an Anc
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Tracing the Celestial Deer - an Anc
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Calendrical Deer, Time-Reckoning an
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The Mythological Moon Horse as Refl
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The Visual and the Mythical- Poetic
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VYTAUTAS TUMĖNAS The Visual and th
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Some Peripheral Forms of the Medite
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JONAS VAIŠKŪNAS Some Peripheral F
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Were the 185 A.D. and 369 A.D. “G
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Indigenous Astronomical Traditions
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A new attempt to date the Xia, Shan
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GÖRAN HENRIKSSON A new attempt to
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Eleventh-Century Supernovae: Anothe
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Eleventh-Century Supernovae: Anothe
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The Date of Purim and Calendars in
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The Date of Purim and Calendars in
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Page 142 and 143: David W. Pankenier, Ciyuan Y. Liu,
Page 144 and 145: The Xiangfen, Taosi site: a Chinese
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Page 152 and 153: GIULIO MAGLI On the Origin of the R
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Page 156 and 157: The Nuraghic Well of Santa Cristina
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Page 164 and 165: ANDREI PROKHOROV Images on the Ston
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Page 170 and 171: Thracian Dolmens and their Orientat
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Page 184 and 185: MARCELLO RANIERI A Geometrical Anal
Page 194 and 195: A Geometrical Analysis of Mesoameri
Page 196 and 197: LUCILLA LABIANCA, IDA SCIORTINO, SI
Page 198 and 199: An Archaeoastronomical Study of the
Page 200 and 201: Some Cosmological Aspects оf Catho
Page 204 and 205: RIMVYDAS LAUŽIKAS Some Cosmologica
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Measurement Systems for Mathematics
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Integrating Archaeoastronomy with L
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LIONEL SIMS Integrating Archaeoastr
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Integrating Archaeoastronomy with L
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From Umm Al Qab to Biban Al Muluk:
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Juan Antonio Belmonte, Antonio Cés
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Juan Antonio Belmonte, Antonio Cés
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From Umm Al Qab to Biban Al Muluk:
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The Orientations of Central Alentej
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Cardinal and Lunisolar Alignments a
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Cardinal and Lunisolar Alignments a
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Searching for the Astronomy of Abor
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Alternative Archaeoastronomies - An
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Alternative Archaeoastronomies - An
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THE CASE STUDY OF THE BOORONG The C
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The Case Study of the Boorong JOHN
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The Case Study of the Boorong JOHN
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Nationalism and Politics in the Rec
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Nationalism and Politics in the Rec
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Cosmic Catastrophes and Cultural Di
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In Memoriam Izold’s interests wer
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Klaipėdos universiteto leidykla AR
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Plates 2 6 1 3 Plate II. Antonio C
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Plates 12 11 10 9 8 7 Plate IV. IV
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Plates 1 11 Plate VI. VI Antonio C
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Plates 2 3 Plate VIII. VIII Lucilla
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