Early Shamanism around 34,000-20,000 years ago: Sungar (Russia) and Dolni Vestonice (Czech Republic)

Art by Damien Marie AtHope

Art by Damien Marie AtHope

Art by Damien Marie AtHope

Early Shamanism around 34,000 to 20,000 years ago:

Sungar “Gravettian culture” (Russia) and

Dolni Vestonice Pavlovian/Gravettian culture (Czech Republic)

“notes, I gathered and somewhat arranged for my book, but most will go, it’s just more fun more fully explained”

30,000 Years Ago – (Eurasia), found evidence that the earliest human burial practices varied widely, with some graves are ornate while the vast majority were fairly plain but it seems to be a more common ritual showing the further solidification of ritualizing was blooming. Overall, between 35,000 years ago and 10,000 years ago there is a wide variation in human burial customs. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221084747.htm

32,050 – 19,000 Years Ago – Sungar (Russia), found posable evidence of shamanistic Gravettian culture burials and that seem to match the latter indigenous American shamanistic burials in Alaska at the Tanana River site with around 11,500 years old duel infant burial very similar shamanistic grave offerings like decorated stone weapons.

To further a clear connection is the Bluefish Cave (Yukon Territory Canada) that held bones with cut marks which is possibly as old as 24,000 to 19,650 years ago and the youngest are around 12,000 years old seem to offer strong support for the “Beringian hypothesis” human population dispersed to North and South America.

To me, is seems Siberian is the general origin of native Americans at least by around 11,000 years ago, by the land bridge “Beringia” from Asia by way of Siberia in Russia over to Alaska in the Americas, which the Paleoindians had crossover on, finally flooded over by rising sea levels and was submerged. Siberia has a large variety in climate, vegetation, and landscape. Siberia’s Prehistory demonstrates several distinct cultures sometimes transferring ideas, other times not, and some split from earlier cultures creating new ones often in illation, mainly starting with hunter-gatherer nomadism. During glaciation around 115,000 to 15,000 years ago, the Siberia tundra extended south and an ice sheet covered area of Russia around the Ural Mountains that while some of the oldest mountains are more like large hills, and the area to the east of the lower Yenisei River basin, which in the general area of central and southern Siberia. Some of the first nomadic peoples entered Siberia about 50,000 years ago. Ancient nomadic tribes such as the Ket people and the Yugh people a separate but similar group lived along its banks. Shamanism among Kets shares characteristics with those of Turkic and Mongolic peoples thus not at all homogeneous in expression though neither is shamanism in Siberia in general. As for shamanism among Kets had several types of Ket shamans and shared characteristics with those of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.

The Yana River sites, in Siberia, demonstrate that modern human populations had reached Western Beringia by 32,000 years ago then engaging in an early dispersal possibly by 24,000 years ago. At around 45,000 years old human remains (Ust’-Ishim man) found in Western Siberia the beginning fought that went to central Siberia then eastern and then over to the Americas maybe beginning as early as 30,000 years ago, though based on genetic from Haplogroup Q studies sometime around 15,000 years ago. the artefacts found are similar to the Dyuktai culture in Eastern Siberia possibly originating as early as 22,000–20,000 years ago. Moreover, the Ust’-Ishim man, a hunter-gather found at the Irtysh River whose source is in the Mongolian Altai. The Altai Mountains first colonization came from Southwest Asia around 38,000 years ago. Ust’-Ishim man, with DNA seeming to connect to the first wave of humans to migrate out of Africa into Eurasia and now closely related to modern indigenous peoples of the Americas, East Asian, Oceanian, and Eurasia populations, such as the current residents of the Ust’-Ishim area located in southwestern Siberia sharing borders with Kazakhstan to the south. Modern Tibetans have the most in common with Ust’-Ishim man but Siberian and East Asian populations shared 38% similar ancestry. Ust’-Ishim man has genetic links to the 24,000 years ago 4-year-old Mal’ta boy part of the Mal’ta–Buret’ culture from south-central Siberia west of Lake Baikal, who’s shamanistic burial including a presumed anthropomorphic female figurine as well as connects to 14-38% similar ancestry to Native Americans.

One of 29 female figurine “horn/bone cut Mal’ta Venuses” with a gaunt face “possibly sacred” portable art for a nomadic portable people at Mal’ta, near Lake Baikal dated to around 23,000 years ago expressing similarities to both the around 13,500-year-old shamanistic totem the “stone cut Urfa man” with a gaunt faced man from Southeast Turkey and the around 11,000-year-old shamanistic totem the “wood cut Shigir Idol” with a gaunt faced man from in Russia and Shaman’s cache schematic figure that is similar to both Urfa man’s face and the Mal’ta Venus’ face as well as tapered end. It is other figurines in carved bone, ivory, and antler most commonly depicting of birds and human females believed to cold significance as a totemistic fertility rite. Generally, these figurines were tapered at the bottom, and it is believed that this was done so they could have been stuck into the ground or placed upright and could have symbolized totem “spirit dolls”, which seen in ritual use nearly world-wide, including currently in Siberia. The Mal’ta–Buret’ culture from south-central Siberia west of Lake Baikal is closely related to Ochre Grave/Yamna culture peoples the Yamnaya, Siberians, Native Americans, indigenous Mansi Western Siberia, indigenous Nganasans north Siberia descendants of Paleo-Siberian peoples who were culturally assimilated by various Samoyedic peoples, indigenous Yukaghirs one of the oldest peoples in North-Eastern Asia ranging originally from Lake Baikal to the Arctic Ocean and Kets in central and southern Siberia. “Avam people.”

The Avam-Nganasans refer to themselves as “friend tribe,” “Avam” signifying the “real people” which is also what they call the neighboring tribe the Madu Enets, whereas the Vadeyev Nganasans to the East prefer to refer to themselves as “brother,” which is also what they call the neighboring tribes the Evenk or Dolgan. The Yukaghir peoples still practice shamanism with ancestral spirits, the spirits of Fire, Sun (highest cult), Hunting, Earth, and Water. Dead spirits go to “Aibidzi” watching and helping whereas when a shaman “Alma” dies they were often treated as a kind of deity spirit thus the vary bones of the dead shaman-god parts where then seen as sacred clan totem relics. Also, among Kets differing shamans was different sacral rites, power, and associated animals (deer or bear) and many other Siberian peoples like the Karagas who all seem to have a shared iconography using skeleton symbols. These skeleton symbols, could be a precursor to the later skull cult motivation in the fertile crescent, it may be bones of a helper animal or an ancestor used by a shaman, possibly joining the air and underwater worlds for a kind of shamanic rebirth expressed among some other Siberian cultures. The term “shamanism” which probably originates from the southwestern dialect derived from the Sym-Evenki peoples, connects to the Evenki word “Saman.” The Evenki language has three large dialect groups: the northern, the southern and the eastern dialects formerly known as Tungus or Solon member of the northern group of Tungusic languages (“Tungusic” referring to the Evenks/Evenki Indigenous peoples of Siberia, Northeast China 56 ethnic groups/ Mongolia 535 ethnic groups referred to as Khamnigan; a Mongolic language spoken east of Lake Baikal in Russia, located in southern Siberia) and especially the Oroqen language.

The general area that is believed to be the native land of Evenki people involves a vast regions of Siberia between Lake Baikal and the Amur River. The Ewenki language forms the northern branch of the Manchu-Tungusic language group and is closely related to Even and Negidal in Siberia. Moreover, the term “shamanism” was first applied the ancient religion of the Turks, Mongols, Tungusic, and Samoyedic-speaking peoples but now describe even unrelated magico-religious practices in ethnic religions in Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas; which do to the seeming similarity in some themes and practices. 11,000 years The Shigir Idol (Totem pole) wooden sculpture of what seems to be a man with seven faces, only one is developed along (images of spirits/ansestors) with geometric symbols, wavy lines or zigzag symbolised the watery element, snake, in the peat bog Kirovgrad, Sverdlovsk region, in the Ural Mountains western Siberia. The Shigir peat bog contains 68 sites and this artifact Seems similar to totem pole symbols the animistic peoples of western North America, word totem derives from the Algonquian (most likely Ojibwe) meaning “kinship group” and carvings may symbolize or commemorate cultural beliefs that recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events. symbol to the animistic peoples of western North America. The Okunev culture Southern Siberia left large numbers of ‘masks’ and engravings, on totem pole like rocks several of feet tall and are seen as the Siberian ethnic grouping most closely related to Native Americans.

The Okunev culture often used the images of animals in their carvings, such as, one with a shamanistic being depicting a gaunt-faced and shake at either side and rays shooting out the head. There is a special burial dated to around 4,500 to 3,800 years ago of a shaman or noblewoman’s grave was found in the Khakassia region of Siberia f note was an incense burner in the grave goods that shows drawings of the sun and match rock art found in the region. Her burial contained a child seeming to clutch her left side around the level of her pelvis was with around 100 decorations made from the teeth of different animals, items carved from bone and horn, two jars, cases with bone needles, a bronze knife, and more than 1,500 beads that on a seeming special funeral costume. The woman and child with a stone box grave common to these peoples are thought to have belonged to the Okunev people who DNA and cranial studies have suggested are the long-ago ancestors of hunter-gatherers that traveled from southern Siberia to North America some 12,600 years ago.

In southern Turkey Gobekli Tepe totemism somewhat similar massive temple stone totems that involve anthropomorphic/zoomorphic one of which is clearly a “totem like fertility” and most others are “T-shaped pillars” generally consisting of a circle. One of importance is at the sites central temple with a dynamiter of over 30 ft that consists of intermittently spaced 13 ft. zoomorphic (animal reliefs) stone pillars totems and two anthropomorphic (human like reliefs) 18 ft. central pillars in the circle of pillar stones constructed at around 12,000 to 11,000 years ago. Gobekli Tepe totemism similarities match nearby Nevali Cori cult buildings dated to around 10,400 years ago and the Shigir Idol in Russia is seen in a stone head (broken from a larger source) found with a similar strong nose but rather featureless face. In addition, this around 11,000-year-old shamanistic totem the “Big wood cut Shigir Idol” semis to have a face representation to the 13,500-year-old shamanistic totem the Urfa man/Balikligol statue, is a human-size statue of a gaunt faced man Southeast Turkey around the time and general area as the Gobekli Tepe manmade religious temple complex with the T-shapes seen with similar V-shape neck design as well as the significance of the referencing of embracing the navel and birth to the Urfa man embracing his genitals as all possibly totem iconography seems to be expressing a fertility cult in likely in a shamanistic/animistic religious persuasion. Around the time of 11,700 to 8400 years ago was a period totemistic ritual and shamanistic cultic objects such as human busts, plaster human skull, Kfar HaHoresh in northern Israel, human mask at Jericho in the West Bank eastcentral Israel, human busts and human figurines grouped at Ain Ghazal in western Jordan all of which have similarities in face symbiology to bot the Urfa man Idol and the Shigir Idol.

Moreover, The Urfa man Idol is around the same age as the anthropomorphic (expressionless faced man) to featureless face represented at Nevali Cori that also has a ” human head and bird-like body stone totem pole and also a gaunt faced man similar to the Shigir Idol in a stone statue at Gobekli Tepe with a protruding erection that points to fertility symbolism. Speaking of fertility, a comparison of Ust-Ishim and Kum6 to an Asian Upper Paleolithic individual confirms that Kum6 shows more affinity to early Europeans. Kum6 6,700-years-old individual (at Kumtepe in northwestern Turkey) carries a DNA frequently found in early farmers of Europe and the Near East that falls between modern-day West Asians and Europeans as well as shows the greatest genetic similarity to Sardinians (an island in the Mediterranean located west of Italy), Greeks, and Cypriots (an island in the Mediterranean located south of Turkey) but also a genetic link that is the most common in Europe and the Near East which likely originated in the Near East 25,000–30,000 years ago and is also observe in a more limited amount in the later Yamnaya culture who were part of a wave of nomadic herders that interbred with local farmers beginning around 5,000 years ago involving a large migration in different directions, including Europe, Siberia to Scandinavia to originating peoples who lived in the Minusinsk Basin and the Altai Mountains that originally colonized by Southwest Asia around 38,000 years ago. Southern Siberia and Mongolia around 5,500 to 4,500 years ago whose burials where in a flexed position covered in ochre and included animal bones under mounds and were among the first people to drive carts with wheels and tame horses also links them to people in central and eastern Europe including the later Yamnaya culture. The Tekkekoy Caves in northcentral Turkey at the Black Sea coast seems to demonstrate that people that lived between 60,000 to 12,000 years ago. Moreover, genetically the Yamnaya of the northern steppe of Russia were indistinguishable from the Yenesey region of southern Siberia.

The ancient DNA of two closely related 7,700-year-old women from a mountainous cave in far east Russia Chertovy Vorota Cave, the humans were found with pottery, harpoons, and the remnants of nets and mats woven from twisted blades of wild sedge grass. Interestingly enough, there is evidence of a Paleoindian wrapped in tule matting around 12,000 to 11,000 years ago from Nevada in America where several Native American groups make tules into many waved items. These women from 7,700 years ago most closely relate to the “Ulchi” an indigenous people live in Khabarovsk Krai, the Russian Far East that has genetic similarities to Native American groups. Moreover, the Native American A–D DNA originated in different parts of Siberia, northwestern and northern Siberia to which the indigenous Mansi and the Ket belong thus a confirming commonality in a Siberian ancestor of Paleoindians. Moreover, the closest genetic relatives to the indigenous peoples of the Americas B2 DNA originated in the indigenous Tubalar the Altai region and the indigenous Tuvan/ Uriankhai in southern Siberia whose religion of Tuvans is a type of Turkic animistic shamanism similar to Tengrism.

Tengrism is a Central Asian religion characterized by shamanism, animism, totemism, ancestor worship and polytheism/monotheism as well as was the prevailing religion of the Turks, Mongols, Hungarians, Xiongnu, Huns, and the religion of the five ancient Turkic states: Gokturk Khaganate, Western Turkic Khaganate, Great Bulgaria, Bulgarian Empire and Eastern Tourkia (Khazaria). Tengri is mentioned as god of Turks and in modern Turkey, Tengrism is known as the (“Sky God religion”) which sems to also connect to how Mongolians still pray to Munkh Khukh Tengri (“Eternal Blue Sky”). A movement similar to Tengrism is Burkhanism concentrated in Altay situated at the Altai Mountains. Burkhan means “god/buddha” in Mongolic languages, yet but is not limited to Buddhist is used in shamanistic beliefs like how in Mongolian Shamanism, the most sacred mountain is Burkhan Khaldun “god Mountain” situated in northeastern Mongolia, with mountain worship going back sever thousands of years. In southern Turkey Gobekli Tepe’s totemism/shamanism is somewhat similar to the massive Shigir Idol totem with its massive temple stone totems, that involve anthropomorphic/zoomorphic one of which is clearly a “totem like fertility” and most others are “T-shaped pillars” generally consisting of a circle. One of importance is at the sites central temple with a dynamiter of over 30 ft that consists of intermittently spaced 13 ft. zoomorphic (animal reliefs) stone pillars totems and two anthropomorphic (human like reliefs) 18 ft. central pillars in the circle of pillar stones constructed at around 12,000 to 11,000 years ago. Gobekli Tepe totemism similarities match nearby Nevali Cori cult buildings dated to around 10,400 years ago and the Shigir Idol in Russia is seen in a stone head (broken from a larger source) found with a similar strong nose but rather featureless face. In addition, this around 11,000-year-old shamanistic totem the “Big wood cut Shigir Idol” semis to have a face representation to the 13,500-year-old shamanistic totem the Urfa man/Balikligol statue, is a human-size statue of a gaunt faced man Southeast Turkey.

Around the time and general area as the Gobekli Tepe manmade religious temple complex with the T-shapes seen with similar V-shape neck design as well as the significance of the referencing of embracing the navel and birth to the Urfa man embracing his genitals as all possibly totem iconography seems to be expressing a fertility cult in likely in a shamanistic/animistic religious persuasion. Moreover, The Urfa man Idol is around the same age as the anthropomorphic (expressionless faced man) to featureless face represented at the Two female figurines at Tell Fekheriye dated to around 11,000 to 9,000 years ago with bitumen and stone inlays and at Nevali Cori dated to around 10,400 to 10,100 years ago with also has a human head and bird-like body stone totem pole and also a gaunt faced man similar to the Shigir Idol in a stone statue at Gobekli Tepe with a protruding erection that points to fertility symbolism. Speaking of fertility, a comparison of Ust-Ishim and Kum6 to an Asian Upper Paleolithic individual confirms that Kum6 shows more affinity to early Europeans. Kum6 6,700-years-old individual (at Kumtepe in northwestern Turkey) carries a DNA frequently found in early farmers of Europe and the Near East that falls between modern-day West Asians and Europeans as well as shows the greatest genetic similarity to Sardinians (an island in the Mediterranean located west of Italy), Greeks, and Cypriots (an island in the Mediterranean located south of Turkey) but also a genetic link that is the most common in Europe and the Near East which likely originated in the Near East 25,000–30,000 years ago and is also observe in a more limited amount in the later Yamnaya culture who were part of a wave of nomadic herders that interbred with local farmers beginning around 5,000 years ago involving a large migration in different directions, including Europe, Siberia to Scandinavia to originating peoples who lived in the Minusinsk Basin and the Altai Mountains that originally colonized by Southwest Asia around 38,000 years ago.

There seems to be a connection between southern Siberia and Mongolia around 5,500 to 4,500 years ago whose burials where in a flexed position covered in ochre and included animal bones under mounds and were among the first people to drive carts with wheels and tame horses also links them to people in central and eastern Europe including the later Yamnaya culture. Moreover, genetically the Yamnaya of the northern steppe of Russia were indistinguishable from the Yenesey region of southern Siberia. The ancient DNA of two closely related 7,700-year-old women from a mountainous cave in far east Russia Chertovy Vorota Cave, the humans were found with pottery, harpoons, and the remnants of nets and mats woven from twisted blades of wild sedge grass. Interestingly enough, there is evidence of a Paleoindian wrapped in tule matting around 12,000 to 11,000 years ago from Nevada in America where several Native American groups make tules into many waved items.

These women from 7,700 years ago most closely relat to the “Ulchi” an indigenous people live in Ulchsky District of Khabarovsk Krai in the Russian Far East who have genetic similarities to several Native American groups. Moreover, the Native American A–D DNA originated in different parts of Siberia, northwestern and northern Siberia to which the indigenous Mansi and the Ket belong thus a confirming commonality in a Siberian ancestor of Paleoindians. Moreover, the closest genetic relatives to the indigenous peoples of the Americas B2 DNA originated in the indigenous Tubalar the Altai region and the indigenous Tuvan/ Uriankhai in southern Siberia whose religion of Tuvans is a type of Turkic animistic shamanism similar to Tengrism. Tengrism is a Central Asian religion characterized by shamanism, animism, totemism, ancestor worship and polytheism/monotheism as well as was the prevailing religion of the Turks, Mongols, Hungarians, Xiongnu, Huns, and the religion of the five ancient Turkic states: Gokturk Khaganate, Western Turkic Khaganate, Great Bulgaria, Bulgarian Empire and Eastern Tourkia (Khazaria). Tengri is mentioned as god of Turks and in modern Turkey, Tengrism is known as the (“Sky God religion”) which seems to also connect to how Mongolians still pray to Munkh Khukh Tengri (“Eternal Blue Sky”). A movement similar to Tengrism is Burkhanism concentrated in Altay situated at the Altai Mountains. Burkhan means “god/buddha” in Mongolic languages, yet but is not limited to Buddhist is used in shamanistic beliefs like how in Mongolian Shamanism, the most sacred mountain is Burkhan Khaldun “god Mountain” situated in northeastern Mongolia, with mountain worship going back sever thousands of years. Another link of importance is a Okunev culture grave of importance on shore of Lake Itkul, Siberia containing a one-year-old infant, which was also dated to around 4,500 years ago with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic engraving.

A total of eight 3-inch long carved figurines with the faces of humans, birds, elk and a boar were on the infant’s chest strung in a necklace of figurine pendants similar to shrunken totem poles. This shamanistic/totemistic pendant neckless were intricately carved from antlers some are hollow seeming rattles that may have held some shamanistic charm quality more evident in how the traces of red paint are in the grooves of the carved figurines possibly to protect against evil spirits. The indigenous Koryak wood masks depicting gaunt-faced men for purging kalas (evil spirits) seem to have a similar imagery to the face of the Shigir Idol similar to masks from Barrow, Alaska but Koryak wood masks are only human rather than animal or semi-human form as in Americas. immediately north of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Kamchatka Krai and inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea that create human rather than animal or semi-human form as in America. Similarly, Koryak women would use an anthropomorphic fireboard thin male depicting gaunt-faced person similar imagery to the face of the Shigir Idol and was also use to protect against evil spirits like many other charms. The Male face of the Shigir Idol could demonstrate an indigenous symbiology understood as “Man/men, people.” The term Ket means “man” (plural understood as “men, people”) thought to be the only survivors of an ancient nomadic people believed to have originally lived throughout central and southern Siberia descendants of the tribes of fishermen and hunters of the Yenisey taiga, who adopted some of the cultural ways of those original Ket-speaking tribes, who are suggested to be part of the Na-Dene language family represents a distinct migration of people from Asia to the New World. Na-Dene languages seem likely to connect to the Yeniseian languages of central Siberia into a Dene–Yeniseian in which it has been purposed the Na-Dene languages of North America seem to connect to the Yeniseian languages of central Siberia into a Dene–Yeniseian family as a common origin in a language spoken in Beringia, between the two continents. Na-Dene (Proto-Athabascan–Eyak–Tlingit) also his also been purposed to have a connection to Haida, thus seemingly linking several isolated languages between the Asian and North American continent spreading religious thought. The Athabaskan languages, thus could possibly connect with both Northern (mainly northern parts of North America) and Southern (mainly southern parts of North America) Athabaskan of Native languages in the Americas. Northern Athabaskan connected dialects seem to be associated with such indigenous speakers in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Alaska, parts of Oregon, and northern California. and the American Southwest to northern Mexico. And in Southern Athabaskan or Apachean, and includes Apache and Navajo languages.

Furthermore, the origin of the Evenks seems to involve a complex mixing of different ancient aboriginal tribes from the north of Siberia with tribes related in language to the Turks and Mongols. The language of these tribes took precedence over the languages of the aboriginal population “Vasilevich” meaning the Tungusic languages aborigianals the Kets in Evenkia and Yukagirs in Yakutia. A chum (similar to a Native American “tipi”) came from Komi word “com” or Udmurt word “cum” which both mean “tent like shelter” is a temporary dwelling used by the nomadic Uralic people of northern Ural (Nenets, Nganasans, Enets, Khanty, Mansi, Komi) reindeer herders of northern/northwestern Siberia of and the Tyvan Todzhans of southern Siberia have a similar chum/tipi structure. The Evenks, Tungusic peoples, tribes, in Russia, the southernmost reindeer herders, of the Todzha region of the Republic of Tyva as well as their over-the-border relatives in northern Mongolia and China all use chums/tipis. Around 115,000 to 15,000 years ago, Siberia was a time if glaciation generally consisting of a cold dry clement with tundra extending far south and some forest formations in the river valleys while an ice sheet covered area of Russia around the Ural Mountains that while some of the oldest mountains are more like large hills, and the area to the east of the lower Yenisei River basin, which in the general area of central and southern Siberia. Some of the first nomadic peoples entered Siberia about 50,000 years ago.

The nomadic tribes Ket people Yugh people lived along the Yenisei River. The Yenisei basin originating Mongolia following north through central Siberia rock art images of shamans from the Middle Yenisci River flows north and the Middle lena River which flows northeast just 4 mi west of Lake Baikal that relatively connects to the Altai region, “Altai” means “Gold Mountain” there are images depicted on historical shamanic drums demonstrate a striking similarity with what is shown on the rock engravings. Images were painted on a drum·skin and served as symbols and sources of secret knowledge. Some of the pairings on existing drums are almost exact duplicates of the images on the rocks seemingly demonstrates a possible relationship between the shaman and the decoration of drums in a shamans totem to help take them to other spheres of the universe, as another form of a protective covering that makes the drum noise of war animals and believed as a model of the universe itself embodying the ancestral connection to the owner of the drum and the female or male shaman him or herself drum owner. Some Siberian people perceived a drum as having once been a “female being” later transformed by a new ‘owner’, the shaman, who received the rights to the drum by undergoing a ceremonial marriage with the rocks (shamanistic rock art. These images, perhaps have a relationship between the medicine weal symbol seen in some Native American cultures as a metaphor for a variety of spiritual concepts and was also made into stone monument that illustrates this shaman’s totem. Medicine (“medicine” denotes sacred) weal symbols (similar to a metaphor concept used by multiple Native Americans tribes) sacred hoop of life) where often constructed with stones circle and with internal spokes formed into patterns on the ground on the ground oriented to the four directions. by several different Indigenous peoples in North America, especially those of the Plains nations.

Seen as sacred architecture associated with religious ceremonies where the Circle of Life teachings are believed to promote the creation of knowledge through relationship building and take into consideration the four elements of being: physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional traditional drumming circles may also have a Circle of Life/ medicine weal symbiology achieving balance between these four elements. Stone medicine wheels are sited throughout the northern United States and southern Canada, specifically South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The majority of the approximately 70 documented stone structures still extant are in Alberta, Canada. Ceremonial Drums are painted with Hand drums as Aboriginal women hand-drumming practices has been an integral part of Aboriginal cultures likely far into prehistory where to some the drumbeat represents the kind of heartbeat of Mother Earth and interestingly the North American Aboriginal cultures Ojibwe tradition suggests that, historically, drumming was predominantly the role of men, accept Ojibwe women traditionally used medicine drums, in particular the water drum. Water drums are used all over the world, including American Indian music made of various materials, with a membrane stretched over a pot. Water drumming is actually of African origin simplest form involves striking the surface of water directly with one’s hands. Aboriginal women had a hand drum to sing lullabies to their babies believing it helps the baby connect with its mother’s heart beat again as well as become connected to the spiritual culture. The Painted Drum (a sacred Ojibwe drum) in traditional views surrounding Indigenous birthing and mother-child relationship ceremony.

The story of the drum, is a traditional story a little girl brought the two nations together around the traditional drum as the Creator had explained to her, to play the drum together and unite the Mohawks and Ojibwe nation who before where always at war started to play, they played loud, and proud, providing Mother Earth’s heartbeat ending the waring. The drum may be seen in Siberia as one of the essential shamanic aubrites, of crucial assistance in attaining an altered state of conciseness. this ritual confirmed the drum as a living entity. and it was following this act that images were created on it. The painting of the drum-skin with different motifs thus completing the final action in the process of drum creation. The drum and drumstick together there after became personal attributes of the shaman who then was believed to gain the ability to change the essence of things and (0 transform themselves into anything that the shaman might need in the course of his or her activities from things like a spiritual journey or during a struggle with the shaman’s enemies. Many shamanistic figurines seem to have the Shigir Idol face iconography in many places through a vast amount of time, here are a just a few, such as, 9,000 years old stone masks in Israel, possibly a shaman’s cult regalia many of which like dead people others look like mischievous of malevolent but all seem to have a similar shamanistic face representation as the Shigir Idol. Furthermore, a stone sculpture of two women embracing found at Catal Hoyuk in central Anatolia and the faces of dogu figurines one of which hold similarities the Shigir Idol was made around 8,000-year-old. Around 7,000 The “Thinker and his Wife” which are two sitting figures that seem to have faces that are similar to the Shigir Idol attributed to the Karanovo Culture in eastern Bulgarian found in the same grave. Moreover, this face iconography is also seen in other Karanovo culture figurines with faces that is similar to the Shigir Idol such as the “Lady of Pazardzik” figurine of a siting woman dated to around 6,500 years ago.

Lastly a Jomon goddess dates to around 5,000 and another from japan dates to around 4,000 years ago statue of a “Masked Goddess.” Speaking of Japan in relation to Siberian and indigenous peoples of the Americans, which is that bout 25,000 years ago it seems genetically that a group of people in Western Europe that started moving east, mixed with some people in central Siberia, and that genetic group of people kept on going east further possibly mixing with some east Asians, possibly northern Japanese and eventually crossed the land bridge to the Americas leaving a genetic lineage in the indigenous peoples of the Americans. Until around 15,000 years ago Japan was connected to several land bridges, one connecting Hokkaido to Sakhalin and the Siberian mainland allowing mixing, another linking the Ryukyu Islands to Taiwan and Kyushu, and yet and another linking Kyushu to the Korean peninsula. Likewise, the Philippines and Indonesia were also connected to the Asian mainland allowing migrations from China and Austronesia towards Japan, about 35,000 years ago. These were the ancestors of the modern Ryukyuans (Okinawans), and the first inhabitants of all Japan. Taiwanese aborigines are the Austronesian peoples, with linguistic and genetic ties to other Austronesian which includes other ethnic groups in the Philippines, Malaysia, China, Japan, Madagascar and Oceania. The Ainu came from Siberia and settled in Hokkaido and Honshu some 15,000 years ago, just before the water levels started rising again.

By around 13,700 years ago the sea level was about 245 ft. below present, and by 8700 years ago the sea level was still some 65 ft. below present. In modern times the Ryukuyans, the Ainus and the Japanese are considered three ethnically separate groups. the Austronesian language family is proposed to originate in mainland southern China and the Hemudu or the Liangzhu culture. First the Hemudu culture inhabitants worshiped a sun spirit as well as a fertility spirit. They also enacted shamanistic rituals to the sun and believed in bird totems and an afterlife and ancestor ghosts and this relates to the Shamanistic roots of Chinese culture around 3,700 years ago. Chinese shamanism called Wuism Wu (shaman, sorcer), features connections to the cultures like the Hongshan culture. Relics of Xinglongwa Culture the origin of Hongshan Culture seem to have a similar face to the Shigir Idol and how the Xinglongwa Culture’s masks dated to around 8000 appear similar to the 9,000 years old stone masks in Israel. Chinese shamanic traditions are intrinsic to Chinese folk religion encapsulating all the indigenous religions of China. Also, Taoism has some of its origins from Chinese shamanism such as striving for the status of a xian (“mountain man”, “holy man”). A Wuism “shaman/wizard/spirit medium”, believed to commune with “spirits”, “gods” was first recorded during the Shang dynasty, which was around 3,600-3,046 years ago, a time when a wu could be either sex onwards and shamanistic and/or totemistic worship developed around ancestral worship with the main gods being are virtuous deified. The term “wu” was is considered to possibly to mean “female shaman/shamaness/witch/sorceress, and not until around 2,400 years ago the word “xi” was created to refer to “male shaman/warlock/sorcerer.” Interestingly the Sino-Tibetan root word mjaɣ “magician/sorcerer” seems similar to Chinese wu, Tibetan ‘ba’-po “sorcerer” and ‘ba’-mo “sorcereress/ female shamaness” in Bon a Tibetan religion.

There is thinking that the Bon religion like the Oroqen peoples in northeast China possibly connects parallels between the ancient shamanic traditions of Tibet with the Siberian shamanic tradition of Lake Baikal. The Dorset culture a pre-Inuit people are noted on Greenlandand ganedicly have a larger connection with several Siberian populations such as the Naukan, Chukchi, Koryak and Yukaghir over other Native Americans, including Aleuts. Moreover, genetics from an around 40,000-year-old Tianyuan individual from China whoes autosomal DNA very close to Circum-Pacific populations (East Asians, Native Americans and Australasian Aborigines) but after splitting from West Eurasians. But most interesting is that the Tianyuan remains of Northern China show not a tad of greater affinity to East Asians (nor to Native Americans) than to West Eurasians. Also, of note both the indigenous Tujia an Ethnic minority and indigenous Oroqen also a recognized ethnic minority in China are way more ancient a people than most of East Asian peoples to Tianyuan but also to Anzick-1 the Paleo-Indian male infant found in western Montana Tungus shamanism. The Tujia peoples a Tibeto-Burman language mainly worships a white tiger totem and some in western Hunan worship a turtle totem. Oroqen shamans called jardalanin (“second spirit”) who accompanies the rituals and interprets the behavior of the shamanbut jardalanin is not a shaman as well as if the second spirit is female, she must be an experienced adult, just as how no menstruating female can be present during healing rituals. The Oroqen language a Northern Tungusic language, is very similar to the Evenki language to the point that the word similarities mean 70% of the other language can be understood by the other language’s speaker.

The Oroqen accounts of a shaman identified Buni as the ritual journey to the lower world, which is a term was similar to the Nanai people of Siberia identifie accounts of shamans for the lower world or land of the dead is identical to similar usage by the Nanai people of Siberia in accounts of shamans identified seemingly linking the two. Moreover, the Chinese term wu has been linguistically linked to not only with Sino-Tibetan languages, as well as with Mongolic, Austronesian, Mon–Khmer, Turkic, and Indo-Iranian language groups. Genomic analysis of cultivated coconut (Cocos nucifera) has shed light on the movements of Austronesian peoples. By examining 10 microsatelite loci, researchers found that there are 2 genetically distinct subpopulations of coconut – one originating in the Indian Ocean, the other in the Pacific Ocean. However, there is evidence of admixture, the transfer of genetic material, between the two populations. Given that coconuts are ideally suited for ocean dispersal, it seems possible that individuals from one population could have floated to the other. However, the locations of the admixture events are limited to Madagascar and coastal east Africa and exclude the Seychelles.

This pattern coincides with the known trade routes of Austronesian sailors. Additionally, there is a genetically distinct subpopulation of coconut on the eastern coast of South America which has undergone a genetic bottleneck resulting from a founder effect; however, its ancestral population is the pacific coconut, which suggests that Austronesian peoples may have sailed as far east as the Americas. Let’s back to Sungar Russia and the shamanistic Gravettian culture burials that seem to match the latter indigenous American shamanistic burials in Alaska in addition, the Gravettian people’s origin seems to appear simultaneously all over Europe including Russia. Like their Aurignacian predecessors, they are well-known for their Venus figurines some of which may connect to a fertility rite. And the Gravettian peoples of eastern Europe where quite religiously shamanistic which seems expressive with their Venus figures and unique burials. The Kostenkian, Kostenki-Avdeevo and Kostenki-Streletskaya cultures are the examples of the cultures of the eastern European Gravettian. Not far from Sungir also in Russia, there is another well-known Gravettian site in western Russia at Gagarino seems to further follow this ritualistic/totemism/shamanism of the dual burial’s significance with an interesting dual head to head figurine sculptures found there, which can be interpreted to shows a woman/girl and a man/boy in a way similar to that of Sungir. One of these highly-ritualized graves is of a man buried with ivory beads, with partial burning to the bones of his feet, suggesting that he was placed on embers. In the settlement area, there was three additional burials one of an older man and two adolescent children all where adorned with elaborate grave goods that included ivory-beaded jewelry which included more than 13,000 beads, clothing, and spears, Red ochre covered these four burials along with the examples of elaborate grave goods demonstrate these where early examples of ritual burials and thus constitutes important evidence of the antiquity of human religious practices.

In addition, two human skeletons outside the settlement area without grave goods which could also be evidence of classes or different social status. found evidence of modern human ritual graves consisting of an adult male in a single grave and a duel grave with a girl and a boy all buried wearing very heavily beaded clothing and grave goods. The male was around 50-65 years of age covered in red ochre buried in an extended position with his hands folded over his groin. He also had a beaded cap with some fox teeth, along with mammoth ivory bracelets some showing red and black paint and several thousand mammoth ivory beads. Moreover, a female skull had been placed beside a stone slab in an area stained with red ochre, and was found overlying the old man’s burial. The double burial is of a boy, 12-14 years old and a girl, 9-10 years old, buried head to head in a long, narrow grave, covered with red ochre, and ornamented with grave goods. Artifacts with the burials include several thousand mammoth ivory beads, hundreds of perforated arctic fox teeth, ivory pins, disc-shaped pendants, and ivory in geometric and animal carvings. Such as a small horse pendant next to the boy’s shoulder. He also had a beaded cap with some fox teeth and a decorated belt of polar fox teeth and an ivory pin at his throat. On his chest was a carved ivory pendant in the form of an animal. A long spear of straightened mammoth ivory almost 8 feet long on one side as well other smaller ones where placed alongside the double child’s burial. The girl also wore a beaded cap and an ivory pin at her throat, but her burial contains no fox teeth though at her side where two pierced antler batons, one of them decorated with rows of drilled dots. Moreover, a headless skeleton was found immediately on top of the two adolescents. Overall, there is an extraordinary mastering of technology expressed in quite a wide range of techniques cutting, sawing, scraping was used to create collections of bones, antler and ivory artifacts. Furthermore, it seems ivory tools were only used as hunting, art or ornament objects and that such things were also found in the burials may have a symbolic meaning. Lastly, two human skeletons outside the settlement area without cultural remains.

Art by Damien Marie AtHope

Early Shamanism: 31,000 – 20,000 Years Ago – Dolni Vestonice (Czech Republic)

31,000 – 27,000 Years Ago – The Venus of Dolni Vestonice (Czech Republic), found a ceramic female figurine, together with a few others from nearby locations, symbols of fertility and success, or representations of a female mother goddess. Human burials were found as well two men and one woman. One grave of an adult woman, possibly a shamaness, contained burial goods including several stone tools, five fox incisors, and a mammoth scapula. In addition, a thin layer of red ochre was placed over the bones, indicating a specific burial ritual. A carved ivory figure in the shape of a female head was discovered near the huts. The left side of the figure’s face was distorted. One of the burials, located near the huts, revealed a human female skeleton aged to 40+ years old, ritualistically placed beneath a pair of mammoth scapulae, one leaning against the other. Surprisingly, the left side of the skull was disfigured in the same manner as the aforementioned carved ivory figure, indicating that the figure was an intentional depiction of this specific individual. The bones and the earth surrounding the body contained traces of red ocher, a flint spearhead had been placed near the skull, and one hand holding the body of a fox. This evidence suggests that this was the burial site of a shaman. This is the oldest site not only of ceramic figurines and artistic portraiture but also of evidence of female shamans. The number of mammoth bones found on some Pavlovian sites indicates, that mammoths were not only hunted but also worshiped in a way. The picture represents a free image of a shaman, which is about to communicate with the spiritual world to influence the moves of the herds. Some 28,000 years ago (23,500 RCYBP), a 10-year-old boy began to suffer from an excruciating, even unbearable pain in his hands and legs. He suffered from periostitis, the bone illness. Was buried in a ritualistic sacred way. He possessed a fascinating cap sewn with some 600 shells (of the Dentalium badense), big stone pectorals, a figurine of a man, many discs made of various materials and several animal skulls. When he died, the survivors broke his drumstick, and one of its parts was placed to his grave together with the other things that he was using. It is possible that they placed the other part on the grave together with the drum. Such a custom is still alive in some Arctic communities. Although the artifacts in the burial remind of those of the Pavlovian and the burial itself was considered to be the oldest one of a shaman, the radiocarbon dating shows that it was more recent and belonged to the Kostenki-Willendorf culture. The Kostenki-Willendorf culture Upper Palaeolithic culture of central Europe and the Russian plain dating to around 30,000-20,000 years ago. This culture is based on assemblages containing backed blades, shouldered points, and Venus. The Venus of Kostenky (Kostienki) is among the oldest known examples of prehistoric sculpture in Russia. It is one of a series of European venus figurines that proliferated during the period of Gravettian art (c.25,000-20,000 BCE). In fact, the term “Venus of Kostensky” is a misnomer, since – like the “Venus of Gagarino”, the “Avdeevo Venuses”, the “Mal’ta Venuses” and the “Zaraysk Venuses” – it refers to a group of venues, in this case found at Kostenky, in the Don Region. The most famous Kostenky venus is the ivory carving known as “number 3 from Kostienki 1” (see figure 1), which has been indirectly dated to about 22,000 BCE. It is part of the Paleolithic art collection of the Hermitage Museum, in Saint-Petersburg. Though less famous, a second mammoth ivory figurine from the same site is considered to be more representative of the Kostenky-Avdeevo-Gagarino style.

http://archaeology.about.com/od/dterms/g/dolnivestonice.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/ancient-humans-sex-mystery-species-dna_n_4302031.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=318215b=facebook

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/venus-of-kostenky.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doln%C3%AD_V%C4%9Bstonice_(archaeology)

http://www.anthropark.wz.cz/pavlova.htm

It was Moravia that yielded the largest collection of bones of the Palaeolithic modern Homo sapiens. Every single burial and bone material of the Gravettian people is extremely scarce and inestimable. The Gravettian people did not practically bury the dead below the ground, although there were many rituals and ways of burying. Mostly disabled people, people with pathological features or peculiar individuals were put into a shallow hole in the frozen ground and covered up with earth. It is possible that some of the burials were, in fact, secondary burials, when only bones were buried. Such a secondary burial is depicted in the picture above. This is a reconstructional imitation of the burial in Předmostí, where Karel Maška found the remains of 19 Gravettian people under these stones in the nineteenth century. http://www.anthropark.wz.cz/pavlova.htm

Primary Gravettian burial sites looked probably like this. The dead were put above the ground or on the ground, and only some of the human bones were sometimes put into shallow holes. http://www.anthropark.wz.cz/pavlova.htm