THE PROBLEM OF SYSTEMATIZATION OF ZOOMORPHIC IMAGES
The article discusses the problem faced by all researchers of antiquities with images of animals - ordering and systematization of monuments of ancient art. The most commonly used methods are classification and typological methods. The analysis of historiography has shown that the classifications offered by researchers are most often artificial, serving the purposes of the primary ordering of the material. The typological method is focused on the study of individual finds, so the natural classifications based on it are rather special and closed, for a narrow circle of homogeneous objects. A holistic study of the image structure of multicultural zoomorphic images in the conditions of constant growth of the source base requires their universal ordering.