Shamanic ladder in the Muslim cemetery: to the semantics of the ornamented on-grave posts of the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars

2026/3(46)

Contents

HISTORICAL RESEARCH

Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, the search for the Northeast Passage and Russian maritime culture in the late 16th century

APPLIED RESEARCH

Role of popular science tourism infrastructure in the popularization and preservation of scientific and technical heritage

Zinovieva N.

Network culture in the context of two approaches to research issues

Kovbasyuk T.

Significant extension to an existing property on the example of the World Heritage site ‘White monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal

Kostina N.

Methodological approaches to working with the cultural heritage of the region in the context of the cultural and educational policy of modern Russia

Khilko N.

Objectification as a form of digital reconstruction of lost cultural heritage in the urban environment of tourist sites Western Siberia

INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

Kitov Yu., Egorova M.

Genesis and development of Evenki circle dances as a cultural phenomenon of historical and modern Yakutia

CULTURAL HERITAGE STUDIES

Kukhterin S., Yermolov E.

Karbas of the 17th century. An Oransky find on the coast of Novaya Zemlya

Okorokov A.

40 years of the Marine Arctic Complex Expedition of the Heritage Institute

Seleznev A.

Shamanic ladder in the Muslim cemetery: to the semantics of the ornamented on-grave posts of the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars

Selezneva S.

Identification of immovable cultural heritage objects in Russia: conceptual, regulatory and regional aspects

HERITAGE PRESERVATION

Soloviev A., Berezina N.

International and foreign models for the preservation of immovable cultural heritage: a comparative legal and cultural analysis

Spivak D.

Cultural heritage in actual UNESCO strategy

MUSEOLOGY

Pleshchenko V.

The corporate museum as a tool for preserving the history and accumulating the business reputation of the company

Sarkisova E.

School as a center for the preservation of cultural heritage: from the experience of cultural and educational activities of school museums

Publ. 18/09/2026

Archives

DOI 10.34685/HI.2026.87.76.004

Seleznev A.

Abstract. The article examines the semantics of the ornamental motif of the carved wooden on-grave posts of the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars – transverse grooves-notches in the upper and middle parts, applied in vertical rows along the entire perimeter at an angle to the ground plane. The hypothesis is discussed that these on-grave constructions can be compared with vertical objects (trees, posts, etc.), symbolized the ladders for the shamans traveling through the worlds during the kamlanie performance. Comparative linguistic, archaeological, and ethnographic materials are provided to support this hypothesis. These data provide to confirm that such cultural phenomena of the Western Siberian Plain Turkic groups as shamanism, forming the basis of the Pre-Islamic worldview system, as well as traditions of sacrificial and sacred trees and groves worshiping, create the initial prerequisites for the formation of the cult of the shamanic ladder-tree.

Key words: on-grave constructions, ladder, Tobol-Irtysh Tatars, shamanic rituals

Seleznev Alexander Gennadievich,
PhD in History, Associate professor,
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography,
the Siberian Branch of RAS (Novosibirsk)
Email: seleznev@myttk.ru

Published: The Heritage Institute Journal, 2026/3(46)

URL: http://nasledie-journal.ru/en/journals/900.html

Founder

Likhachev Russian Research
Institute for Cultural
and Natural Heritage

Publisher

Likhachev Russian Research
Institute for Cultural
and Natural Heritage

Certificate

of the Mass information media
registration:
ЭЛ № ФС 77–60211,
date: 17.12.2014

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4 issues per year

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