Anthropomorphic faces in the ancient art of Western and Eastern Siberia

The subject of this research is anthropomorphic images in the form of a human face (masks), which are recorded in the monumental (rock paintings, statues) and mobile art of the ancient peoples of Western and Eastern Siberia in the Neolithic-Early Bronze Age. The article discusses the genesis of local artistic traditions, interregional cultural contacts. In Western Siberia, a large number of images of masks of anthropomorphic figures were recorded on ceramics of the Samus culture. According to the results of stylistic analysis, a semicircular contour of masks prevails here. In Eastern Siberia, images of masks are common among the rock paintings of the Angara. Most looks have a heart-shaped outline. The borderland (Middle Yenisei) has the largest number of anthropomorphic images. They are recorded both among the rock paintings and on the statues of the Okunev culture. Many masks of the Okunev culture have a rounded outline with different entourage. Each region had its own artistic tradition origins. On the example of anthropomorphic images, close intercultural ties can be traced. They are reflected in the iconography of the masks. The art of Okunev culture had a strong influence on the artistic traditions of neighboring regions. In the art of Western Siberia, it can be traced on the example of the external design of masks of anthropomorphic figures: “horns”, central vertical line / triangular contour, “sun” rays. On the Angara - on the example of the horizontal manner of “tattooing” masks. The Angara traditions can be traced in the art of the Okunev and Samus cultures by the example of masks with a heart-shaped outline. The influence of the art of the Samus culture is marked by the presence of semicircular masks on anthropomorphic figures, the presence of three identical lines of “horns” among the petroglyphs of the Lower Angara and the Middle Yenisei. The appearance of masks in the ancient art of Eastern and Western Siberia is a stage phenomenon in the socio-economic and cultural development of human society, when already in the Neolithic era anthropomorphic images resembling a human face began to appear to replace zoomorphic objects of worship. It was a revolutionary event: frontal projection onto the plane of a person’s body and face. This tradition was born on a Neolithic basis. It received artistic embodiment first on organic media (wood, bone, leather, etc.), and later on stone. In the Early Bronze Age, sacred centers were marked with statues (Middle Yenisei), boulders, rocks with petroglyphs (Angara). In Western Siberia, one of the sacred centers was the settlement Samus-IV. The lack of monumental, durable carriers of sacred information led to the mass production of ceramics with anthropomorphic images. The plots of the decoration of vessels illustrate the basic positions of the worldview, mythical plots, the appearance of objects of worship. The iconography of images was formed both on a local basis and under the influence of other cultures. Using the example of anthropomorphic images, one can trace the cardinal changes in the worldview of the ancient societies of Siberia, the features of their artistic culture, vectors of intercultural contacts in the Neolithic-Early Bronze Age.

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