The elements of totemism on the religious systems of the Bronze Age tribes of Southern Trans-Urals (based on archaeological sites)
The reconstruction of the religious system of ancient societies is extremely difficult. Based on the materials of archaeological sites, the authors studied the manifestations of totemic beliefs in the material culture of the Bronze Age tribes of the Southern Trans-Urals. The main sources are symbolic and naturalistic images, sacral artefacts and ornaments made from animal bones, the use of animal remains in ritual installations other than standard sacrificial rituals. Most clearly recorded are the manifestations of the cult of the snake, veneration of the productive forces of wildlife. The elements of totemism in the late Bronze Age of the Trans-Urals are recorded in a rudimentary state, but the manifestation of worship of the natural force embodied in wild and domestic animals is clearly noted in the use of their bones and teeth to create jewelry-pendants that had the function of amulets. The rarity of such ideas is evidenced by the further disappearance of these traditions. In later Indo-European peoples, the role of jewelry is played by completely man-made objects made of artificial (metal) or natural (stone, bone), but completely modified materials.