ANTHROPOMORPHIC, ZOOMORPHIC, AND SOLAR SYMBOLISMS ON BRONZE AGE CERAMICS FROM THE WESTERN BAIKAL REGION

Artistic features and semantics of anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and solar images on Bronze Age ceramics from the Western Baikal region are described. Themes and stylistic characteristics of images on ceramics are paralleled by petroglyphs found in the same area. Anthropomorphic images on ceramics fall into four stylistic groups. Representations of the Baikal ceramics resemble those on the contemporaneous Samus pottery found in Western Siberia. The similarity of the themes, artistic features, and ideological stereotypes indicate broad intercultural contacts between Bronze Age cultures.