ASTRAGALS OF HORNED CATTLE IN CULTURES OF bRONzE AGE STEPPE AND FOREST-STEPPE EURASIA
The authors of the paper consider an existing of astragals of horned cattle in cultures of the Bronze Age steppe and forest-steppe Eurasia (Sintashta, Petrovskaia, Alkaulskaia, Timber Grave, etc.). The analysis of the data collected by authors testifies that these astragals served as raw materials for manufacturing of utilitarian products, mainly tools, on the one hand, and were attributes of various ceremonies, on the other hand. In particular, the bones were placed in graves as grave goods (mainly in burials of teenagers and women). They were also put on covers of graves, next to grave pits, in ditches, i.e. on the borders which separate the live from the dead. During ceremonies at settlements astragals of horned cattle were left on borders of dwellings (next to walls, corners, entrances), and also in pits and wells which were obviously considered as communication channels with the other world. According to the authors, the astragals of horned cattle in cultures of Bronze Age were poly-semantic, i.e. their sign loading was different depending on character of a ceremony. In particular, these objects could be used for opening of a communication channel with the other world or its blockings, to be symbols of animals as well