ISSN 0320-961X (Print)
ISSN - (Online)


mollusk shells

About Interpretation of the one Group of Finds from Excavations of Rural Sanctuaries of the Crimean Azov Region

Layers of mollusk shells on the floors are feature of any rural sanctuary in the Crimean Azov region. Single shells, as well as fish bones, were found in some places of sacrifices. In the ritual practice of rural sanctuaries marine attributes were included in the context of ritual actions determined by the archaic ideas about the world model, which sustained among the rural population during the centuries. «Sea» attributes, on the one hand, symbolized abundance, fecundity, and in this meaning belonged to the circle of symbols of fertility gods.