EARLY FORMS OF THE EPIC TRADITION IN THE ART OF THE

NOMADS OF CENTRAL ASIA

Abstract

The article deals with the issues of dating archaic forms of the epic tradition of cattle breeders of Central Asia. The sources used are the data of fine art - objects of toreutics and petroglyphs. For the first time, M.P. Gryaznov drew attention to the proximity of the image on paired plaques from the Siberian Collection of Peter the Great and the plots of the legend of «Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan-sulu». The plaques are dated by analogy with the objects of the Pazyryk culture in the second half of the I millennium BC. A certain sequence of scenes and characters from the legends of the Turkic, Mongolian and Tungusic peoples can be found in a large petroglyphic cluster on the rocks of the Fourth Chest. Petroglyphs, judging by the manner of their depiction, belong to the Tesin archaeological culture and date back to the end of the I millennium BC. Archaeological materials demonstrate that plots known from Turkic legends existed among the population of Central Asia already at the end of the I millennium BC and at the turn of the era.

This scientific article was prepared as part of the implementation of the AR08053219 project «The study of Turkic folklore in the aspect of new humanitarian knowledge» for 2020-2022.

Keywords: early nomads, petroglyphs, archaic forms, epic tradition, peoples of Siberia and Central Asia.