Кокшаров С.Ф.   Партанов Н.К.  

ETHNO-ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE VEZHAKORY FORTRESS

Reporter: Кокшаров С.Ф.

In august 2012, the Yugra archaeological expedition (Yekaterinburg sity) conducted a comprehensive archaeological and ethnographic survey of the fortress Vezhakory in Lower Ob area (Beloyar`sky district, Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous okrug). Information about this archaeological site is contained in the works of V. N. Chernetsov, I. A. Talitskaya, Z. P. Sokolova and other researchers. In the course of the work, a plan of the settlement was drawn up, stratigraphy was studied, pottery utensils dating from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages were collected. It was established that a significant part of the archaeological site was destroyed by the collapsing cost and pagan sanctuary in honor of the patron spirit Yalpus oyka (or Konsyng oyka), which has been operating to our time, arose on the site of a medieval fortress (11th–16th centuries). The ethno-archaeological complex Vezhakory also includes a “big house” for holding bear ceremonies, which is located on the opposite, left bank of the Ob`. The facts point to the centuries-old depth of the historical memory this local population. The scale of the sacred space, which has developed over the centuries, makes Vezhakory unique.