Abstract: This article presents the raw materials of Yakut clothing and its symbolic meaning based on the materials of Yakut traditional folklore (Olonkho texts, proverbs and sayings). In all cultures, archaic ideas about clothing are associated with sacred ideas about the surrounding world, space, apothecary, social, aesthetic meanings are put into the costume, and animals play an important role in this phenomenon, acting here not only as material resources, but also carrying mental content, endowing a garment with special meanings, and a person special qualities. The costume is in direct contact with the human biological body, which is perceived in all cultures not just as a biological object, but as something related to the human personality. The main text of the article is divided into two semantic parts: folklore data revealing the social significance and material value of animal skins, and ideas about the apotropaic, magical functions of animals transmitted to humans through clothing. Previous studies of the traditional Yakut costume have been devoted to issues of visual appearance, sacred functions, and costume transformation. In this article, an attempt will be made to consider the ideas of the Yakuts about animals reflected in the materials of traditional clothing, which is the novelty of the study. The considered ethnographic data, texts of epic folklore and Yakut proverbs and sayings showed that animal motifs in clothing definitely carry sacred functions: animal morphological motifs are used in Yakut traditional clothing not only for aesthetic, but also for apotropaic purposes. Proverbs and sayings, along with descriptions of the clothes of mythical characters of Olonkho, show that the ranking of valuable / not valuable, sacred /ordinary is reflected in everyday vocabulary and folklore. These data allow us to evaluate not only the attitude towards fur as a material, but through them we can trace the spiritual attitude towards animals expressed through the costume.

Keywords: Yakutia, clothing materials, proverbs and sayings, fauna, animal representations, folklore, Yakut clothing, traditional Yakut costume, Olonkho, natural resources

Abstract: The object of the study is the perception of the "inner" traveler of the nomadic people of the Russian Empire on the example of the Kalmyks. The research material is the "Description of the Kalmyk people" by the poet, translator and publisher A. F. Voeikov (1779-1839), which was based on the diaries of a trip to the south of Russia in 1813. In his travel notes, the writer pays special attention to understanding the customs and traditions of the Kalmyks. The study of Voeykov's biography and work revealed the context of the appeal to the history of the Kalmyks. In the context of the rise of national consciousness and the ethnographic boom after the Patriotic War of 1812, literary travel pursues both educational (knowledge of another culture) and ideological goals ("increment" of the province to the empire). Usually harsh and sometimes unscrupulous, Voeykov tries to avoid looking "from above" in the description of Kalmyks. Noting the archaic social structure, ignorance and superstitions of the people under the rule of their secular and spiritual rulers, he draws the Government's attention to the need for further integration of the Kalmyks. The narrative of the "Description" combines the tasks of the traveler and the author-narrator. On the one hand, Voeykov draws on early works on the Kalmyks and actively introduces quotations from ethnographers, scientists and administrators into the text, on the other hand, he tries to make a personal analysis of another culture. To create an image of the "Other", the text uses a number of lexical means, which include the use of evaluative words and expressions ("superstitious Kalmyks"), comparisons ("the Kalmyk way of life resembles primitive human societies", intelligent gernguters /ignorant Kalmyks), metaphors ("peaceful shepherds").

Keywords: Nikolai Strakhov, Benjamin Bergman, image of Kalmyks, Kalmyk laws, Lamaist clergy, everyday life, nomads, Kalmyk economy, Kalmyks, Alexander Voeykov

Abstract: The subject of this article is a set of ethnographic sources related to agricultural activities. This complex includes items from the expositions of ethnographic museums, photographs from the collections of local historians and the Internet, as well as the autobiography of the peasant I.S. Karpov. The use of ethnographic sources for the study of agricultural activities in the Middle Ages is extremely important due to the fact that archaeological material does not always reach our days in complete preservation. For example, such complex devices as ploughing implements in archaeological collections only have iron tips of their working parts, therefore, it is necessary to refer to ethnographic materials to restore their appearance. The same can be said about the technology of cultivating the land. To select the necessary material for this study, the works of Russian ethnographers and archaeologists devoted to the history of agriculture and folklore were studied. A selection of photographic materials from the collections of local historians and publicly available photographs from the Internet was also carried out. The article presents an overview of various types of ethnographic materials and the experience of their application for the reconstruction of agricultural activities of the inhabitants of medieval Novgorod according to archaeological data. The main contribution of the author to the research of the topic is the expansion of the range of ethnographic sources, which are most often involved in this kind of research. In this work, the experience of using not only physical material and photographs from the collections of ethnographic museums, but also folklore, was demonstrated for the reconstruction of agricultural processes that cannot be interpreted according to archaeological data. Traditional economic activities such as farming, hunting or various crafts are rooted in the deep past and retain their characteristics for a long time. This feature allows researchers to fully reconstruct certain processes about which only archaeological evidence has been preserved, which do not always reach our days in full.

Keywords: the peasantry, material culture, archaeological sources, plowing, photos, folklore, agricultural implements, ethnographic sources, Veliky Novgorod, agricultural industry

Abstract: The subject of the study is the transformation of rites and rituals in the structural part of the traditional Ysyakh holiday among the Yakuts. In the traditional sense of the Yakuts, ysyakh was a calendar and ceremonial holiday after which the economic cattle breeding year began. In addition, the traditional holiday vividly reflected the religious ideas of the Yakuts – receiving blessings from the bright deities of Ayyy. During the genesis and transformation of this holiday through the prism of historical periods, the appearance of the holiday and religious beliefs are transformed, but the use of ritual utensils and food remains within the framework of rituals. In the work, the subject of research is mainly revealed through the prism of tradition and modernity. The work is divided into the structure and rituals of the traditional holiday in the first part, in the second half the authors' materials on the modern celebration of Ysyakh in 2022. The main methods in the article are diachronic, the method of included observation, as well as interviewing. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that the national holiday Ysyakh is considered within the framework of its genesis, from tradition to modernity. Today, the holiday is an important ethnocultural and regional event in the territory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the work contains relevant materials from the Olonkho Ysyakhs and the local urban district in the territory of the Vilyui group of uluses for 2022. As a result of the work, the authors conclude that despite the historical conditions through which this holiday passed, it retained its original idea: the beginning of a new economic cycle, the birth of nature, the worship of the bright deities of Ayyy, the preservation of the sacredness of food in rituals and rituals.

Keywords: cultural code, transformation, sprinkle koumiss, rite, food, Ayyy, ysyakh, holiday, ritual, yakuts

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to describe, study and analyze traditional methods of divination in the culture of the Tatars of Western Siberia. Such practices occupy an important place in the spiritual heritage of the people. They are valuable material for studying the traditional culture of the people, their worldview. They allow us to highlight the transformation of the worldview of the people under the influence of different cultures. These methods of divination were widely used by the people in the past, and some of them have been preserved and used to this day. The research was based on ethnographic sources and field materials collected by the author in 2002-2023. The works of domestic researchers in the field of history and traditional culture of Turkic and Muslim peoples served as a methodological basis for the article. The paper gives a historical and comparative analysis of traditional rites of divination widespread among the Tatars of Western Siberia. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that the article is the first to record and describe the method of divination among Siberian Tatars called "tastar tartu", which, according to the available information at the moment, was widespread only among the Tatars of Western Siberia. In addition, the article provides a historical and comparative analysis of such methods of divination as "nogyt bulu", "kitap atsu", with other Turkic and Mongolian peoples. The study has shown that some of the described methods of divination among Siberian Tatars, having arisen on the basis of the common Altai, Turkic tradition in the early period, were transformed under the influence of the Muslim worldview in the later period. Also through the Islamic culture the methods of divination of other Muslim peoples began to spread among Siberian Tatars.

Keywords: tastar tartu, nogyt bulu, predictions, divinations, rituals, spiritual culture, shamanism, Turks, Siberian Tatars, kitap atsu

Abstract: The subject of this study is parallels in the solar myths of the Turks, Mongolian peoples and Eastern Finno-Ugric peoples. This article is a continuation of a previously published article devoted to the review and analysis of lunar motives in the beliefs of these ethnic groups. As in the previous work, the authors attempted, based on a comparative analysis of mythological images and plots, and specifically solar myths, to provide additional arguments in favor of confirming V.V. Napolsky's hypothesis about the existence of a special North Asian community of mythologies of the peoples of Northern Eurasia. Based on the conducted review analysis, based on the research scientists, the authors came to the following conclusions. Firstly, among the Turks, Mongolian peoples and eastern Finno-Ugric peoples, solar myths retain a number of common archaic features: the insignificant role of the sun compared to the role of the moon in some beliefs and rituals, the idea of ancient, several suns. Secondly, as it was already pointed out in the previous article, the mythologeme about the emergence of the sun from water acts as a characteristic Ural-Altai element. Images of the sun in the form of a man, an animal, an eye, a monster, and a predominantly female character should also be attributed to the category of ancient features in the solar myths of these peoples. Thirdly, the Turks, the Mongolian peoples and the eastern Finno-Ugrians already have a noticeable rise in the role of the sun, the cult of the "sun king", which is associated with the change of matriarchy to patriarchy, the transition to agriculture and cattle breeding. Thus, new arguments were obtained in favor of V.V. Napolsky's assumption about the existence of a North Asian mythological union.

Keywords: Northern Eurasia, Mari people, Bashkirs, Eastern Finno-Ugrians, Mongolian peoples, ancient Turks, Turks, solar myths, Goddess of the Sun, sun horse

Abstract: Parallels in lunar myths of the Turks (ancient Turks), Mongolian peoples and Eastern Finno-Ugric peoples (Mordvins, Mari, Komi, Udmurts) are the subject of this research. So far, lunar motifs in beliefs of these ethnic groups have not been specially compared with each other. In the article, the authors make an attempt based on a comparative analysis of mythological images and plots, and specifically, lunar myths which are essentially universal for all peoples of the world, to provide additional arguments in favor of confirming the hypothesis of V.V. Napolskikh about the existence of a special North Asian community of the Northern Eurasian peoples mythologies. Based on the review analysis and the research, the authors have come to the following conclusions. Firstly, the moon deity in myths of the Turks, Mongolian peoples and Eastern Finno-Ugrians is a predominantly male deity having a close link with the underworld and the image of the death god. Secondly, the mythologeme about the origin of the moon from the water is another specific Ural-Altai element. Thirdly, in the mythology of the Turks, Mongolian peoples and Eastern Finno-Ugrians, the deities of the moon, most likely, go back to totems in the form of birds (primarily waterfowl), a bull, probably more related to the water element. Thus, the assumption of V.V. Napolsky about the existence of a North Asian mythological union receives additional support.

Keywords: Scandinavians, Kalmyks, Northern Eurasia, Eastern Finno-Ugric peoples, Mongolian peoples, ancient Turks, Turks, lunar myths, North Asian, mythological union

Abstract: This article presents the results of a study of the bear image in the Yakut hunting culture and the Yakut bear holiday "kurum". The aim is to identify the bear holiday among Yakuts. The cult of bear veneration can be traced in many peoples of Siberia, but until later it was believed that Yakuts had no bear holiday, only in the 19th century R. K. Maak recorded a bear holiday among Yakuts and Tungus population in the Vilyuysk district of Yakutia. The bear festival can also be traced among the Tungus population in the Vilyui district, where they lived closely with the local Yakuts and entered into various ties, which most likely caused the Yakuts to adopt some Tungus traditions. The source base of the work is ethnographic materials of researchers of the XIX-XX centuries, as well as previously unpublished field materials collected in Suntarsky district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The main conclusion of the study is that the Tungus population of the Vilyui district, who had a fairly well-developed bear cult, took an active part in the formation of the bear ritual "kurum" among the Vilyui Yakuts. In the central and northern regions of Yakutia, the "kurum" festival as a bear ritual is not mentioned, in other words, it was not widespread, although the term itself is found in the Yakut lexicon and means a wedding feast.

Keywords: predator, ritual, hunting activity, bear hunting, Vilyuysky district, cult, bear, tungus, Yakutia, yakuts

Abstract: Shapsugs in the first half of the XIX century were the largest group of Adygs and settled in several natural zones of the north-western Caucasus – on the plain, in the foothills, in the mountains, on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. The article explores the mutual influence of traditional economy and cultural landscapes of Shapsugia, i.e. the dependence of agriculture and cattle breeding of that period on the landscape and other natural conditions, and the transformation of landscapes in the course of human economic activity. The article implements an ethnoecological approach and uses a comparative method to identify the features of economic activity and cultural landscapes in various parts of Shapsugia, as well as the main options for adapting shapsugs to the natural environment. Such a comparative study was conducted for the first time. Previously, this issue did not arouse sufficient interest among scientists. It is concluded that Shapsugs had different ways of adapting to the natural environment. This was expressed in the different ratio of agriculture, cattle breeding and gardening on the plain and in the mountains, in the use of various agrotechnical techniques, in the cultivation of various types of crops and in the breeding of various types and breeds of livestock. It was also noted that the cultural landscapes of the lowland Shapsugia had great similarities with other lowland areas of the northwestern Caucasus inhabited by the Adygs, and the Black Sea coast - with more southern lands where Ubykhs, Sadzis, and Abkhazians lived.

Keywords: viticulture, gardening, cattle breeding, agriculture, cultural landscape, shapsugi, the adygs, north-western Caucasus, black sea coast, adaptation

Abstract: This article explores the establishment and retention of the ethnic consciousness of Armenians in the conditions of Persian and Byzantine dominion based on the example of the activity of Bagratuni royal dynasty. The subject of this article is the activity of the Bagratuni princely family that alongside other Armenian dynasties (Mamikonyan, Siunia, Artsruni, Amatuni) was an important actor of the political process in the region in the conditions of Byzantine-Sasanian rule. The object of this research is the naharars (elite household guards) of Bagratuni, who played a significant role in the question of restoration of the Armenian Kingdom in the late IV – VI centuries. Special attention is given to the problem of ethnic consciousness of the Armenian people at the time of the loss of statehood, and commitment of Armenian princes to restore the national state and recover from the dominance of neighboring powers. Methodological framework is comprised of the methods that help to determine certain traits in formation of ethnic identity. Spatial analysis is used in studying the geographical conditions affecting people’s worldview and self-identification. Comparative analysis reveals the peculiarities of ethnic groups. For detailed explanation of specificities of the evolution of identity, the author employs comparative-historical method. Historical-typological comparison contributes to revelation of common features of heterogeneous ethnic elements. The novelty consists in comprehensive analysis of the activity of naharars of Bagratuni dynasty from the perspective of ethnic consciousness n the conditions of Byzantine-Sasanian rule. The attracted materials allowed assessing the nature of activity of the Bagratuni princes on the Byzantine Emperor’s service, as well as at the Persian court. This conducted analysis indicates the degree of engagement of Armenians in the social structure of Byzantium and Sasanian Iran. The conclusion is made that the Armenian political elite was committed to preserve ethnic identity by restoration of sovereignty of the Armenian Kingdom in the conditions of –Byzantine-Sasanian dominion. Bagratuni princes were the most appropriate candidates for the Armenian throne. By the end of the IX century, namely due to the efforts of Bagratuni princes the Armenian Kingdom was restored.

Keywords: medieval Armenia, middle Ages, Bagratuni, national struggle, Iran-Byzantine wars, Armenian princes, Sassanian Iran, Byzantine Empire, Armenia, Armenian marzpanism

Abstract: The subject of this research is the phenomenon of heterogeneity among the world's oldest Armenian diaspora. The research object is the modern Armenians living in Moscow. The author examines in detail the concept of “heterogeneity”, its essence and the need to use this term in order to comprehend the basic components of the national and cultural identity of the Armenians and its binding foundations. To describe the multi-layered nature of the Armenian diaspora, which was formed as a result of migrations for centuries, the author examines the particularities and the general formation process of the Armenian diaspora in Russia and particularly in the capital. The empirical basis of this study is the "field" materials from the year 2018 that were collected within the framework of the project “The Formative Features and the Development of the Armenian Diaspora in Moscow at the End of the 20th - Beginning of the 21st Centuries”, supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research grant No. 18-59-0500718. The survey of participants, representatives of the Armenian diaspora of different sex, age, place of birth and social status, was carried out in the form of a questionnaire with elements of a formalized interview. Based on the survey, the author provides a classification of the Spyurk into national-cultural subgroups, as well as a currently relevant analysis of the specifics of the Armenian diaspora's functioning in Moscow. As a result of this study, the author made a number of preliminary conclusions about the most relevant assimilation and integration trends among representatives of Moscow Armenians.

Keywords: Karabakh Armenians, Azerbaijani Armenians, Armenian Armenians, Moscow Armenians, national and cultural identity, Moscow, heterogeneity, Armenian diaspora, Georgian Armenians, Central Asian Armenians

Abstract: The article is focused on the Germans (the so-called converts), who converted to Islam, being born and living on the territory of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Germany. The aim of this study is to identify the factors behind the religious conversion. The author's main task was to determine what reasons influenced the adoption of Islam among Germans. The author analyzes the connection between the decision to adopt Islam and the place of residence of newly converted Muslims, the influence of political attitudes within German society towards immigrant Muslims, family circumstances and cultural preferences. The article is written based on the author's field material. The author applied the methods of field ethnographic observation, non-formalized interviewing, as well as an analysis of the literature on this topic. The scientific novelty of this research lies in the fact that this is the first study in Russian historiography on the reasons for the conversion of Germans to Islam, conducted on field material. The author comes to the conclusion that the Germans' decision to adopt Islam was not significantly influenced by political and territorial factors. Neither does distance from the Muslim world hinder conversion. Negative attitudes towards Muslims also do not play a significant role in making a conscious choice regarding the transition to the religion. The main reasons for adopting Islam were personal and family.

Keywords: Germany, religious organizations, Muslim community, new Muslims, converters, Islam, conversion motifs, religious conversion, Rostock, german Muslims

Abstract: The aim of this theoretical article is to discuss the relevance of the field of education for the subject area of the specialization "Ethnography, Ethnology and Anthropology." The content of the specialization "Ethnography, Ethnology and Anthropology" is the study of the history and of the modern state of mankind in the form of its specific groups - ethnoses. The directions indicated in the passport of the named specialization cannot be limited to only the study of ethnoses. The field of application of ethnography and of the ethnographic method can be linked to the study of such a sphere of culture as education. The conclusions of this study are based on an analysis of domestic and foreign scientific anthropological theoretical literature on education. The study of the field of education for the specialization "Ethnography, Ethnology and Anthropology" is tied to the following reasons: education is part of culture; education is an important element of everyday life; education as a state institution can influence and level out certain elements of ethnic culture; the interaction of different ethnic groups with the sphere of education is different from one another; education is the tracing-paper with the ethnic processes in society; the state provides the variability of the forms of individual elements within the content of education in view of the ethnic factors; education is an important part of research within applied ethnology.

Keywords: education, anthropology of education, transmission of culture, ethnography of school, cultural anthropology, Soviet ethnography, cultural universals, cultural dominant, George Spindler, ethnic identity

Abstract: This article is focused on Gothicism – historical myth, according to which all nations of the Northern Europe are of Goth descendance. The myth takes its origin in the 15th century Scandinavia. Two centuries later it was adopted by the English and in the 17th century – by the Scots. The subject of this research is the concept of Gothism in Scotland. According to this concept, the Scots were proclaimed as the ancestors of the Piсts – a nation, whose ethnogenesis is still a subject of wider debate. They were assigned to have German origins, and therefore – the Scottish nation supposed to be of the same origin. The aim of this article is to broaden the concept of Gothicism in Russian historical science that has mostly worked with German and Scandinavian sources and has used the infamous Norman theory. This article follows the development of Gothicism concept in Scotland. Due to specific character of this research, the author used the historism methodology, which in this case meant the learning of Gothicism’s role and place in its historical context. Nevertheless, the author explored the value of Scottish Gothicism for modern science, – as an idea of Picts’ German origin. This article states that the concept of Gothicism had demonstrated the consequences of country’s separation into Lowlanders and Highlanders-Gaels. In order to avoid comparisons with the Irish and “the wild Celts” (whose image was extremely popular among the English), representatives of Scottish intellectual circles created a new identity, borrowing the concept of Gothicism from the English. This article also makes the case that Gothicism, as a version of Scottish national myth, had existed for a hundred years and was later succeeded by the concept of Teutonism, in terms of which the german origin theory was developed.

Keywords: Great Britain, lowlands, 19th century, celts, Goths, 18th century, Picts, Gothicism, national myth, Scotland

Abstract: The subject of this article is the formation of the institute of public environmental control on the example of the experience of the Perm Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia, who led a traditional way of life tied to fishery, hunting, gathering, and reindeer breeding. These peoples comprise: the particular Komi (Zyrian) sociocultural ethnic type that includes eight ethnographic groups (Udoria, Izhma, Vym, Upper Pechora, Sysola, Luza, Lower Vychegda, Upper Vychegda), all of which understood their common origins, firmly rooted in their self-identity, their shared territory, language, psychological disposition and unique socio-normative ethnical culture, as well as their close kinship with the Zyrian sociocultural ethnic type Udmurt and Komi (Permyak) peoples. The research object of this study is the individual historical sources and information cited in modern mass media, which reveal specific questions regarding the formation of the public's participation in solving environmental issues. The authors examine particular examples of participation in the formation of public environmental control mechanisms in the Interregional Public Movement of Izhma Komi "Izhvatas", the Committee for the Protection of the Habitat of the Izhma Region Population and others. The methodological base for this study is composed of philosophical methods (dialectical, metaphysical, phenomenological) and general scientific methods used on both the empirical level (observation, measuring etc.) and on the theoretical level of knowledge (idealisation, formalisation, modelling). This research also uses the individual scientific methods of study (comparative-legal, statistical, historical, and others), applied in such scientific fields as history, ecology, sociology, environmental right, and others) and the interdisciplinary approach as the totality of various integrative methods existing at the crossroads of different scientific fields. This article presents the first comprehensive research attempt to study a society's historical experience in solving environmental issues on the example of the experience of the Perm Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia, who led a traditional way of life tied to fishery, hunting, gathering, and reindeer breeding, including the unique Komi (Zyrian) sociocultural ethic type, which includes eight ethnographic groups. As conclusions the authors provide specific participation examples of the Izhma Komi and other groups in public environmental control for the defence of the environment protection.

Keywords: sociocultural ethnic type, Komi (Zyrian), peoples, Finno-Ugric, Perm, control, environmental, public, Izhma Komi, interaction with nature

Abstract: The subject of this study is the interrelation between ethnic communities and their surrounding natural environment during the process of ethnogenisis. The specific research object is the paleoecological models of ethnogenisis on the model territory of the Baikal and Olkhonsky region. The author examines in detail such aspects as the traditional adaptive natural resource management, the ties of domestic technologies and culture with changes in natural habitat and climate, and an ethnic group's passionary energetic renewal. Particular attention is paid to the synergetic modelling of ethnonatural systems in order to reveal the particularities that cannot be identified through the standard methods of ethnology, geography, history, anthropology, and ecology. The author uses the methodological approach of the general theory of systems, synergetic modelling, systematic-statistical, historical-genetical, ethnosociocultural, comparative-geographical, and other methods. The study's novelty lies in its use of the general theory of systems for the paleoecological modelling of ethnonatural interactions, which resulted in the obtainment of original information. Also, on the basis of this modelling, the author describes in detail the history of the Baikal region's settlement. The modelling of ethnonatural systems depends on the theory of constructing models of the past, on the examination of societies and cultures from different historical periods in their dynamic development, on space and time conjugation, on revealing their ties with environmental conditions, and on the evolution and dynamics of the surrounding natural environment. The posed questions and derived results will help to stimulate regional studies of the historical experience of man interacting with nature. The historical experience of ethnonatural relations and their paleoecological models allow us to recognise the most important moments for an economic territorial and landscape planning in the region today. Its subsequent execution will allow to identify and substantiate the functioning mechanisms of sustainable ethnonatural systems, which will serve as a basis for the development and approbation of promising strategies in natural resource management in the administrative units of the Russian Federation. It will also ensure cohesion, orderliness and subordination in all the administrative-territorial, social-economic and political structures of society.

Keywords: Baikal region, paleoecological models, ethno-environmental systems, synergetics, theory of systems, man and landscapes, ethnogenesis, natural resource management, sustainable development, regional strategies

Abstract: Although the structure and content of the “ethnography field” has radically transformed and the science of ethnography itself, clearly, is reorienting from the ethnic to the cultural-anthropological sphere, the myth of ethnography as a predominantly field discipline maintains its inertial influence in the professional environment. However, scientific practices – in the past and currently – attest to a multitude of research strategies (including their diverse combinations), rather than to the domination of a single one. The efficacy of one or another strategy is defined by its scientific fecundity. In the author’s hypothesis, empiricism and theoretical generalisation are not different stages, but are qualitatively diverse forms of scientific activity. Facts do not precede theory, but exactly the opposite: theory, setting forth an observation angle and structuring our perception of reality, shapes the subject field of science. Facts outside of theory do not exist. Yet the theory itself also has a starting point, which is based on a scientist’s pre-theoretical experience. Our ideological and political beliefs, our cultural baggage, and even our individual psychological profile and personal temperament, if do not strictly define, at least predispose towards the choice of a particular research position. Thus, a scientist’s chosen strategy is not so much a projection of rational calculations, as much as an intuitive (unconscious) inclination. Objective circumstances – ideological and political context, cultural and moral backgrounds, development level of the scientific discipline, type of socialisation – inevitably pass a succession of mediations through the human mentality. Only in this case can they have an influence on a researcher’s scientific priorities.

Keywords: Dmitry Nikolaevich Anuchin, Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay, , nationality discourse, strategies in ethnography, ethnographic field, history of Russian ethnological studies, Siberian “regionalism”, Yulian Vladimirovich Bromley, collecting ethnography, functionality in ethnography

Abstract: The article presents an overview of the transformations in the language and mythological notions of the Papuans on the Maclay shore after the departure of the scientist. A short description of the region’s ethnic composition permits to take a different look at the cultural processes happening there from the 1890s to the 2010s. The authors cite several legends connected with the appearance of the Russian scientist in the Astrolabe bay, and also of the soviet expeditions “in the footsteps of N. N. Miklouho-Maclay” of 1971 and 1977. They analyse as well the Russian-language adoptions in the Maclay shore languages, while eliminating existing false assumptions of borrowing. The figure of the scientist in mythological folktales significantly altered during the course of the 20th century: in the 1900–1930s he appeared as a cultural hero, in the 1940–1970s – as the transmitter of cargo-treasures, in the 1980–2010s he attains the characteristics of a real person, cooperating with the Bongu Papuans. The article compares the figure of N. N. Miklouho- Maclay with that of Augustus Hanke, who had lived in Bongu for 30 years. The authors come to the conclusion that all of the pertinent legendary tales contain little historical facts and are subjected to the general evolutionary laws of mythological texts. It is therefore necessary to continue the study of the heritage of the Russian scientist in the Papuan culture of the Maclay shore.

Keywords: Austronesians, acculturation, Maclay shore, geographical legends, cargo cults, N. N. Miklouho-Maclay, mythology, Madang, Papua – New Guinea, Augustus Hanke.

Abstract: This article provides a cultural and ethnographic description of the Druze ethnic group. The author analyzes the demographic aspects, the present distribution of the Druze in the Middle East, cultural and religious grounds of Druzes’ ethnic identity, grounds of social cohesion between community members.

Keywords: cultural studies, the Druze, ethnic and cultural identity, ethno-confessional group, religion, the Druze religion, the Middle East, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan

Abstract: The article explains the concept of “two-stage burial ritualism”; based on the example of Japan, Okinawa, China and other cultures of the Asian-Pacific Region the phenomenon of such ritual in traditional societies is considered as the historical-cultural problem. It is shown that in these societies, body and its remains are manipulated in a two-stage process of funeral rites, a symbol of their cultural systems.

Keywords: history, two-stage burial ritualism, traditional societies, Japan, Okinawa, China, Asia-Pacific Region, body, ancestors, deities