The IV International Bashkort Ata Festival is currently taking place near Lake Grafskoye in the Baymak district. And the place was chosen for a reason — recent archaeological research confirms the cult of the horse among our ancestors.
More recently, archaeologists discovered the Ishmukhametovsky kurgan here (VII-VI centuries BC). Several burials were found in it, including presumably a priest or a shaman. And on the outskirts of the mound there are many horse bones, which indicates the role of the animal in funeral rites.
Rashit Sultanov, a researcher at the Irendyk Museum-Reserve, commented: "Judging by the number of bones and their position, disturbed by plowing, it is likely that whole or large parts of a horse and possibly other animals were buried here. Given the mixing of the bones, our archaeozoological colleagues will have to find out their exact number and determine the species composition."
The cult of the horse was incredibly strong here and persisted for a very long time. As Rashit Sultanov adds: "The cult of the horse in these parts persisted until the middle of the twentieth century. Villagers hung the skull of this animal on the fence of their houses or in a barn to ensure the welfare and protection of livestock, and used it as a pawn during the construction of a new building. The presence in Bashkir mythology and fairy tales of the magical horses Akbuzat and Tolpara, possessing supernatural abilities, indicates that horses have been revered and deified since ancient times."
More recently, archaeologists discovered the Ishmukhametovsky kurgan here (VII-VI centuries BC). Several burials were found in it, including presumably a priest or a shaman. And on the outskirts of the mound there are many horse bones, which indicates the role of the animal in funeral rites.
Rashit Sultanov, a researcher at the Irendyk Museum-Reserve, commented: "Judging by the number of bones and their position, disturbed by plowing, it is likely that whole or large parts of a horse and possibly other animals were buried here. Given the mixing of the bones, our archaeozoological colleagues will have to find out their exact number and determine the species composition."
The cult of the horse was incredibly strong here and persisted for a very long time. As Rashit Sultanov adds: "The cult of the horse in these parts persisted until the middle of the twentieth century. Villagers hung the skull of this animal on the fence of their houses or in a barn to ensure the welfare and protection of livestock, and used it as a pawn during the construction of a new building. The presence in Bashkir mythology and fairy tales of the magical horses Akbuzat and Tolpara, possessing supernatural abilities, indicates that horses have been revered and deified since ancient times."
