Ceramics as funeral rite element of Russian population of Altai in 19 - early 20 centuries

The funeral rites of the Russian population of Altai in the19th - first quarter of the 20th century were the most resistant form of the traditional culture, which had a certain subject line used in theceremony. The ceremonial functions of ceramics, as one of its elements, have not been researched by scientists of Altai. The purpose ofthis article is an attempt to identify the location of ceramics in the funeral rite of the Russian population of Altai in the given period onthe basis of a number of different sources. The sources for study were the published and the unpublished materials of history andethnographic, archaeological expeditions of Altai archaeologists, museum workers, members of school of natural history clubs; thecollections of the state and municipal museums of the region. In the Russian tradition the structure of the funeral ritual consisted of aseries of ritual complexes: 1) actions, associated with the premortal state of the person, the time of death, with dressing the dead andplacing in the coffin; 2) lift from the house, funeral service in the church, burial; 3) funeral. The complex of materials collected on theterritory of Altai region reflects the tradition of the use of ceramics in the first two complexes of the rite. Russians used a pot with waterwhen washing the deceased, which they later broke. In the Altai territory this custom was recorded in settlements of Soloneshenskiydistrict. So, the old believers-"Poles" after washing the dead poured the water and broke the pot. The historical-ethnographic andarchaeological materials have documented the tradition of using ceramics by the Russian of Altai in the second ceremonial complex -the burial. The Russians and other eastern Slavs had a custom of putting different objects connected with the professional activities ofthe dead, favourite things and foods in the coffin or in the grave. The Russian population of Altai had the tradition of putting food in thecoffin or the grave. But for the dishes with food they also found clay utensils with ash or charcoal in the burials on the territory of theAltai territory. As a rule, in such graves the crockery was on the covers of the coffins, decks or next to them. In the opinion ofNovosibirsk scholars it was connected with the ritual of "fumigation".Thus, the use of ceramics as an element of the funeral rite of theRussian in Altai at the end of the 19th - first quarter of the 20th centuries was fixed in settlements. Simplification of the buryingmemorialrites, which began in the 1920s - 1930s, led to the disappearance of many rituals including the use of ceramics. In Altai thistradition is the local peculiarity of groups of the population. For further comprehensive study of this problem it is necessary to conductethno-archeological expeditions on the territory of Altai villages.

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