Svetlana V. Oshibkina

Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow (savanna_kasper@mail.ru)

Key words: the Mesolithic epoch of the Eastern Europe, Veretje 1, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic “masques”.

1500 square meters of a cultural layer, cross-covered with two layers of peats from different times, have been opened by the excavations at the settlement Veretje 1 (Archangelsk Oblast) and the remains of three big dwellings have been discovered. A “masque” (from a moose scapula), which has the prominent anthropomorphic features, has been found in a destroyed building 2. The second “masque” from a moose horn with three tines remains zoomorphic features. It has been discovered in the hollow covered with a sand layer at the exit from the dwelling 3. It is suggested that the inhabitants of the settlement may have used the masques during hunting or, probably, in magic acts and ceremonies. Such sacral items are popular with hunters-gatherers of the forest zone of the Northern and Eastern Europe in the Mesolithic epoch.