The Odinov people, named after a Bronze Age settlement in the basin of the Ishim river, where they lived were cattle-breeders who also reared horses and sheep. But they also were hunters and anglers.
A team of Russian scientists from Novosibirsk Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography has discovered a unique statuette at a mass burial of Odinov people in Western Siberia, Russia. The statuette, made of clay, was put on the shoulder of a woman, who was buried 5,000 years ago, lying face down on top of a man and the two skeletons were wrapped in a cocoon of birch bark, which archaeologists say was set on fire before the burial. Researchers say the two were most likely lovers.
Besides these skeletons the team also discovered the remains of two adults and three teenagers with severed heads. Prof Molodin, head of the expedition, said Odinov people had a skull cult.
“It is a characteristic feature of this culture that they had graves with cut-off heads. They were perhaps put into a sanctuary, or buried separately in a different way”, Molodin said.
However, the gem of the expedition is the aforementioned statuette. The size of a human palm, it had a hollowed out section in the middle, where archaeologists found a bronze plate and an unknown organic material. Scientists are now conducting a chemical test to establish its origin. Moreover, the statuette had a mask made of a horse vertebra. Scientists believe the mask depicted a bear’s muzzle. The figurine is not dressed, which archaeologists say is very unusual. The head of the statuette, which was found on the woman’s skeleton, was broken off and turned upside down.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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