NOVOSIBIRSK STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Andrey Borodovsky, Professor of the Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University (NSPU), in his recent article summarized the data of artefacts discovered in the Omsk region. He came to an unusual conclusion: the findings of the last five years significantly expand our understanding of the Bronze Age cultures that existed in Siberia, their religious beliefs, and most importantly, their interactions.
Two artifacts coming from the Sedelnikovsky district are especially interesting. These are a pair of copies with the image of two faces on each side, looking in different directions. They are commonly called "Janus-shaped" named after the ancient Roman god Janus.
They date back to the 17th century BC and keep traces of two cultures at once.
“The spears themselves represent the Seima-Turbino cultural tradition, spread from the Urals to Chinese Xinjiang in the Bronze Age. And the image of the faces indicates belonging to the Okunev cultural tradition”, - says Prof. Borodovsky.
According to the scientist, the two-faced Janus was not a product of the religious beliefs of the inhabitants of the Apennines, he came there from the distant east.
The spears clearly demonstrate that there were close connections between the two traditions. This was reflected in the manufacture of various products.
Representatives of the Seima-Turbino (XXII-XVII centuries BC) culture were famous for jade jewelry, as well as bronze weapons: arrow and spear tips, celtic axes and daggers.
A distinctive feature of the Okunevo people (XXVI-XVII centuries BC) was their well-developed art. More than 300 monumental steles were discovered in the territory of the Minusinsk Basin, the epicenter of culture. A piece of granite five to six meters high was normally crowned with an anthropomorphic image, which was quite unusual.
Idols could have three eyes, horns, or several heads facing in different directions. Monuments of the Okunev culture are found mainly in the territory of Khakassia. Fewer of them are also found in other regions, e.g. Novosibirsk and Omsk.
At the beginning of the last century, during excavations on the Ir River in the Krutinsky district of the Omsk region, an unusual thing was found: a stone staff with a bizarre top and two faces in different directions. There are still many debates about its purpose.
Paleoethnographers draw parallels with similar objects from other cultures. For example, in the 1930s, in Xincun (Henan Province, China), archaeologists discovered a bronze handle with a similar two-faced character. In the Chinese mythology it is called the Stinging Worm. The god was worshiped to keep away evil spirits from the house.
Another interesting example comes from the northeastern part of Eurasia. It was a walrus tusk shaft head from the Vankarem III site. In the upper part there are oppositely directed heads. It is assumed that this was how the Inua spiritual beings were depicted.
“They are the owners or guardians of objects, animals, natural phenomena. Inua is found near rocks, lakes, capes and similar features of the relief, wind directions, sleep and other states of humans and animals,” - wrote the Soviet ethnographer Lev Fainberg.
They could take the form of a small man with a deformed or double face. And their most important task was to guard the entrances and exits to the other world.
Based on these comparisons, scientists suggest that the staff, found on the Ir River, performed the same function: it closed and opened the passage to the spiritual world.
For many years, the staff was considered a random and atypical finding for Siberia. Now, the excavations in the Sedelnikovsky district have given scientists new thoughts about world history as the spears, found there, have the same image.
“It becomes obvious that peoples in the south of Western Siberia, as well as throughout Eurasia, were creating the idea of a Janus-shaped god, also known in the ancient tradition,” - says Andrey Borodovsky.
What about the Roman Janus? At the dawn of the future empire, he was given a very significant role of a god-creator. But later Jupiter took this function and Janus became the patron of all transitions and the keeper of doors, entrances and exits.
The cult statue of Janus portrayed the god bearded with two heads, holding a staff in his right hand and a key in his left. These were the main attributes of a watchman in the ancient times.
As it turns out, not everything that we considered to be genius creations of the ancient tradition was originated there. Something came from our neighbors, even as far away as Siberia. And then it appeared in the Mediterranean region and became “its own”, concludes Prof. Borodovsky.
