«Ab ovo»: яйца-писанки в курганном погребальном обряде восточных славян
“Ab ovo”: Painted Eggs in the Kurgan Burial Rite of Eastern Slavs

Summary/Abstract: The authors address the finds of ceramic painted eggs in the Kurgan burials of the Eastern Slavs of the 11th — the beginning of the 12th centuries on the space from the left bank of the Dnieper to Northeast Russia. As a rule, painted eggs are an attribute of child burials. Currently, such finds are interpreted as children’s rattles or as protective amulets. However, given the semantics and the meaning of the egg in the beliefs and myths, this interpretation seems to be incomplete. Supported by ethnographic data, the authors suggest that these eggs can be interpreted as a sacred attribute that gives the deceased person the possibility of a new birth. Born in a new body, the dead man with an unspent vitality could complete a full-fledged life path without turning into a hazardous infernal essence for tribesmen. The article contains a corpus of painted eggs found in burial complexes.

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